History

A $10 note was all it took to buy Cedar Grove from Joshua and R. P. Gott. “The Grove,” as the property was called, was a knoll covered with cedars bounded by a road that   followed an old bison and Indian trail. The Cedar Grove Methodist Episcopal Church, South was erected the same year. It was a one room log structure, mud-daubed and  whitewashed with split logs for pews. At one end of the building was a stone fireplace with four windows on each side of the building. The building was also used during the  week as a “subscription school’ until the 1890s.

The church’s name changed in 1847 to Mount Lebanon Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In 1860 we became a part of the Fall Branch Circuit. Mount Lebanon was also  used as a voting place for the county. In the late 1800s, rumor had it that a fire burned the original log structure. Whatever occurred led to the building of the second church by Mr. Patton Mitchel using timber from the Birdwell place toward Kingsport. The logs were hauled to Harris Wexler’s sawmill near Fordtown where they were sawn into lumber. The structure was completed in 1890. It was described as a white, weather-board structure with a steep roof. Three windows were on each of the two lateral sides with the only door being at the center front. There were four single seats near the chancel rail that served as the mourners’ bench. The bell tower was situated at the center front of the building providing the foundation for the steeple. A bell was donated to the church with the inscription: “In memoriam, Bertha E. King, the Christian child of E. W. and Alice King, who died in Bristol, Tennessee, October 3, 1886, aged ten years, one month, three days. By her Uncle N. Gregg.” The church had a pump organ located at the front in the right hand corner. but was seldom played “cause we couldn’t find anyone that could play it.” Heat came from two pot-bellied stoves located in the center of the nave. Light was provided inside by way of the windows and large oil chandeliers completed with hand painted shades and crystal tear drops. A walnut crafted pulpit centered upon the chancel area with a walnut table in front of the pulpit always adorned with a white linen table cloth and a Bible with crystal pitcher filled with water and a glass for the preacher. The bell, pulpit and table are the only things left from that church. The church held monthly services on a four church circuit.

The church house ceased to be a school in 1934. Some classes were held once again in our church after a fire destroyed the original Miller-Perry School. It was also a time when the railroad was being built. Three Italian immigrants were killed in an explosion near the church. They were buried in our cemetery that still bears the name Mt. Lebanon.  In 1938, a basement was dug beneath the one room clapboard building. Two new rooms for the children’s classes were opened in the basement with an adult class and youth
class upstairs.

Other events that marked the mid 20th century and beyond included:
• 1939 marked a year of healing for the church when the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South reunited with the Methodist Episcopal Church to form the
Methodist Church.
• 1950, Ray Curtis donated the property located between where the church
building then stood and where the side road bordered the building.
• 1952, we became a station church  and started the Hour of Prayer Wednesday
night meeting.1956, the new brick building was erected.
• 1957, church changes names again to Colonial Heights Methodist Church.
• 1959, trustees purchase the Shipp property near present day lower parking lot.
• 1961, ground is broken for educational wing.
• 1968, Sullivan County Schools opens a kindergarten in our facility with Joann
Wood as director.
• 1968 the Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren Church unite to form the
United Methodist Church.
• 1970, fire destroyed part of the sanctuary the night before the church broke
ground for its new sanctuary. Church was held at the Colonial Heights Middle
School until the completion of renovations. The first services were held in the
new sanctuary on Easter, 1971.
• 1990, Chancel renovations completed.
• 1997, monthly contemporary worship services implemented.
• 1999, tennis/basketball courts removed and lower parking lot paved.
• 2004 – 2005 ground was broken and Ministry Center was constructed.
• 2005, Contemporary Service, now the Front Porch Service, moved into the
Ministry Center growing from a guitar and singers to a full Praise Band and
Praise Singers. We are also able to house families from Interfaith Hospitality one
week quarterly and housed evacuees from Louisiana’s hurricane.
• 2003 – established Clothes Cottage and Food Pantry for those that wish to
purchase good, clean, used clothing and/or food. Under special circumstances,
there is no charge whatsoever.