Last week I posted a photo of the first Methodist church established in Tennessee. Not wanting to be accused of playing favorites, here is the first church of any denomination in Tennessee,
Sinking Creek Baptist Church. Located between present-day Johnson City and Elizabethton, TN, the church was organized in 1772, with the log structure you see above being built in 1783. Services are still occasionally held in this very old sanctuary on occasion in the summer months.
Directions: Click
here for map.
On Mother's Day Sunday 2009 I returned to the home of my youth (Elizabethton, TN. Having grown up as a member of the Sinking Creek Baptist Church I never fully appreciated it's history until I became a career military wife and for years have missed my beloved East Tennessee mountains and her people. Although my career does not now allow me to return permanently, it is a pleasure to occasionally "go home." Following a fellowship luncheon (prepared by the men of the church in honor of Mothers in the congreation) the "old log church" was opened for a look inside, my Uncle Bill is now the custodian of this historic landmark. Pastor Harris is as I membered; soft spoken, kind hearted, and reaches you with just the right amount of humor. May God bless these people and their work.
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