Cades Cove Methodist Church

We visited Cades Cove during the first of this month & witnessed some folks having a funeral at this church. We've walked through most of the cemeteries in the Cove & seeing the hearse in front of the church got me to thinking about the old days. I thought about the lives that were changed after hearing the sermons there. I thought about the couples who started their journey by being married there. I also thought about all of the families who have had to say goodbye or as I like to say, "see you on the other side" there. The stories those walls could tell! All of this thinking got me to wondering about the history of the church.

"One of the more treasured Cades Cove images is that of the Methodist Church as captured from the Rich Mountain Road. Cove churches were forces for integration of the community's religious, social, and communications needs. The penetration of the Methodists into the Cove may have preceded that of the Baptists as Methodist circuit riders ministered to many isolated mountain communities in the early 19th century, Dr. Abraham Jobe's childhood memories included Rev. George Eakin preaching as early as 1823.

Sparse record exist for the events and circumstances of the early Methodist Church. The Cades Cove Church, is included among those of the Holston Conference's Little River Circuit in 1830. A Methodist church house was not erected until after 1840 when James F. Deaver deeded three acres of land for $25 to the Methodist Episcopal Church Trustees. Religion was a "shared" community experience with the church house often used by several congregational affiliations for individual and joint services such as revivals. Initial church houses were of log construction and typically functioned as schools also. The Feezell family, led by George W. Feezell and son William A. "Billie" Feezell, were prominent supporters of the Methodist Church. Billie deeded land in 1874 which provided the site for at least two church houses and a cemetery. The present church house was built by Rev.John E. McCampbell in 115 days for $115! It featured two doors and a physical divider to segregate males and females for the minimization of spiritual interruption with more earthly issues. The adjacent cemetery contains at least 100 graves and is the second oldest church cemetery in the Cove. During the Civil War, the political environment resulted in a "split" of the Methodists and the subsequent provision for a Methodist Episcopal Church North, initially using a log house and ultimately the Hopewell Church House on a knoll donated by Dan Lawson just east of his former home site. Although the building is gone, the Lawson Cemetery remains as a reminder of this church. The Methodists, never as dominant as the Baptists in the Cove, served the community well and provided value which certainly exceeded that of the images which are now so popularly represented." (via Cades Cove Preservation Association.)

If you'd like to know more about the life of the early circuit riders, you can read an earlier post of mine here.

 I have always loved to learn about the history of places that I visit and I hope that you've enjoyed learning a little more about on of my favorite places. My husband proposed to me at the Elijah Oliver Cabin so I may have to dig up the history behind it to share with you in the future. Have you ever gotten to visit Cades Cove? What is your favorite part about it? 

Circuit Riders

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ.- 2  Corinthians 4:6
*Photo by Sharon Fox*

I saw this picture, taken and shared by Sharon Fox, in a Facebook group that I follow. After reaching out to her to ask permission to use it, this scripture verse (2 Corinthians 4:6) came to mind. That verse led me to wonder what the early churches of Appalachia were like...which led me to think about circuit riders. 

Honestly, the only thing I knew about circuit riders (before researching and writing this blog post, of course) was what I had learned from television or books that I'd read. The first character who came to mind was Preacher (Clint Eastwood) in Pale Rider. While I think that it is an EXCELLENT movie and that Clint Eastwood is an EXCELLENT actor, director and producer, it's not a great source for information on circuit riders. So, I turned to my books on Appalachia and the internet.

Circuit riders, also known as saddlebag preachers, were a group of primarily Methodist ministers who would travel to two or more churches which were spread out in a rural area that was 200-500 miles in circumference, known as a circuit. A minister was expected to visit each church on the circuit at least once a month, and possibly start some new ones. Far and wide, they preached as often as possible, at any site available be it a member's cabin, a school house, barn, or the great outdoors. 

The typical circuit rider was a young, single man whose life had been suddenly transformed by a dramatic conversion experience. In the majority of cases, the only difference between a Methodist preacher and his audience was what side of the pulpit he was on. A formal Biblical education was rare. This served the ministers well in that their members felt as if they were cut from the same cloth. 

Everything these men owned was usually what could be carried with them in their saddle bags. They truly trusted in God to provide a place for them to lay their heads and for what food filled their bellies. These men knew that their calling wouldn't lead to a comfortable, prosperous life but that didn't matter because they wanted to help bring God's light to the dark desolate corners of these rural areas. Most preachers didn't live to be 30 years old due to the wear and tear from constant travel and the harsh conditions of life. 

Knowing that their time with each congregation was a short one, generally every two weeks to once a month, sermons had to be treated as a golden opportunity to reach people for Christ. When one is convinced that possibly but for this one sermon, souls are on the way to hell, it tends to make one take the task at hand very seriously. For the most part, sermons centered around converting the lost and the converts were then left "to work out their salvation with fear and trembling" on their own. The way might have been blunt (repent or go to hell), but it was effective. 

To the lonely people, back in the dark hollers and coves, these circuit riders were their entertainment, their source of outside news, their moral compass, and most importantly, their preacher.