Our Beginning in East Jenkins

In 1941, Rev. J L Guthrie came to East Jenkins from Harlan County and held a two-month revival which resulted in the establishment of the East Jenkins Church of God.  The church began in a building that had once housed Vanover Store.  The church was at street level and the Guthrie family lived in an apartment on the ground floor.

Charter members were Mike and Laura Vanover, Bertha Bartley, Lillie Adams, Victor and Nellie Slaughter, Mary Hunt, Beulah Fouts, Bell Tyree and J. L. Guthrie.

Rev. Guthrie was a carpenter, so in 1944 the church bought property and two "company" houses from the coal company that built Jenkins, dismantled them and used the material to build the church at its current location.  It has undergone remodeling several times since then but the original basic structure is still there.

Original building and congregation circa late1940's-1950's

Click on picture for enlargements

Picture 1 (on left)--It has been suggested that Rev. Willie Cook was the pastor at this time, and that it is he who is kneeling in the light colored suit in front.  If anyone has information about this, please send us an email.

A Brief History of the Church of God

It was 1886, in a crude meeting house on the Tennessee-North Carolina border, where the Church of God traces its roots. There, a group of eight sincere Christians had a deep desire for a closer relationship and life with Christ. Realizing the futility of reforming their own churches, they established a new church whose objective would be to restore sound scriptural doctrines of the Bible, encourage deeper consecration and promote evangelism and Christian service. Twenty-one years after the formation of the Christian Union that evening at the Barney Creek Meeting House, the growing movement would establish themselves permanently as the Church of God.

From this seemingly insignificant origin has grown one of the most influential worldwide Pentecostal denominations. For nearly 120 years the Church of God has been a distinctive movement focused upon communicating the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. Presently, the Church of God has a world-wide membership of over 7 million with a presence in nearly 160 countries. Leaders of the Church of God are recognized as some of the most respected Pentecostal leaders of today.

The call of the Church of God today beckons back to those early days at Barney Creek. Church of God congregations around the globe are experiencing the fire of the Holy Spirit today more than ever. Reports of revivals where hundreds are saved and filled with the Holy Spirit are frequent and on-going. The call of the Church of God is for world evangelization. It is a call to discipleship and prayer. It is a call of commitment. It is a call for the Church of God to be a channel for Pentecostal revival well into the new millennium.

For further information on the history of the Church God, recommended reading is the book Like A Mighty Army, by Dr. Charles W. Conn, available through Pathway Press. Visit their web site at www.pathwaypress.org or view our Resource Center

The source of this information is the Church of God web site at http://www.churchofgod.cc/ 

Our current look

Reorganization

The East Jenkins Church of God was renamed New Life Church of God in October, 2003; but it is still in the original location where Rev. J. L. Guthrie built it.  Rev. David and Debbie Lickliter are current pastors.  They have one son, Josh.   The congregation feels blessed to have this family as leaders.