Sunday School: 10:00 AM, Sunday Morning: 11:00 AM, Sunday Evening: 6:00 PM, Wednesday Evening: 6:00 PM If we could turn back the pages of history, we would find a small community of people that settled along the banks of New River. Maybe they chose this location because of the life-sustaining water provided by the river. For whatever reason, they came and built a community. The people, like our fo
refathers, were God-fearing people, and faith in Him was the center of their life. Survival depended on their strength, which came from faith in God. As time passed, people realized that the life sustaining river also provided a means of economic opportunity. The economic growth came mainly from the lumber business. As the lumber business grew, the community also grew and prospered. In time, New River Church, located in Huntsville, was relocated to the town of New River. The original location is not a known fact, but later a building on the hill above the river was used to hold church services. The "meeting house", as it was called, was an important addition to the small community. They could meet at the church to worship God, exercise their faith, and fellowship with their brothers and sisters in Christ. To them, this spiritual river was much more important than the natural river that provided physical needs. Unlike the natural river, the spiritual river gave the people eternal hope through Christ their savior. It taught people the real values of life. Even with the hardships of life they enjoyed happiness and peace of mind.There were many other blessings from God as a result of their devotion and dedication to Him. Their children followed in their footsteps and passed their Christian values to future generations. According to records in Campbell County, Tennessee, the New River Church was given a deed from Thomas Lawson in 1826 for land in the area that came to be known as Huntsville. The church had been given the land seven years before in 1819, but Mr. Lawson stipulated that the site had to be used for a church for seven years before the deed would be executed. For reasons unknown, the deed was not recorded until 1842. To get a perspective on the time this all took place, it was during this time that Davy Crockett was elected to Congress, Andrew Jackson defeated John Quincy Adams for President of the United States, and the infamous "trail of tears" for the Cherokee Indians had begun in 1838.
