Our Story
Lucy Rush Burnes is a direct descendant of two of the founding families of Rush Chapel Methodist Church. Burnes is a lifelong member of the church and has helped to compile the church’s history. It states that after the removal of the Cherokee, settlers got land through a lottery. Five families with the names Aycock, Davenport, Lister, Rush, and Watters were among those who settled the area. The church first known as Rush Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church soon followed. Aspects of the church’s early years remain shrouded. Burnes knows there were two buildings at the site in the mid-1800s — a log-cabin church and the “academy.” The exact relationship between the two buildings is unknown, though tradition states the church used the academy to perform its works. The log-cabin church gave way to a frame structure about 1845 or 1850. An addition to the church was made in 1861, though the academy burned down about the same time and was not rebuilt. Decades passed, and the congregation realized the church needed repairs. Instead of repairing, they built a new structure in 1910. Since then, its members have built a parsonage in the 1960s, an annex in 1996, and a new playground several years later. The church’s restoration was completed in 2012. “It’s a small church, but it has a very active ministry,” Burnes said. “We have a very active congregation. We have a lot of children. It’s a place you feel at home.”
Since its founding in 1838, Rush Chapel is a spirit-filled community that has been proclaiming the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. Rush Chapel was built by the hands of those who had a vision to be a beacon of light and hope to the world around them. A long time faithful member, Annie Leigh Rush, a descendant of one of the Rush Chapel founders family, was one who had that vision. She passionately wrote about the influence Rush Chapel had in her life and her dream for Rush Chapel moving forward. She wrote, "Each morning at day break and each evening at dusk, I can look out of my front door and see the security light on at the church. It reminds me of the great influence and blessing the church has been to me since early child hood. My dream, for years, has been that Rush Chapel will grow in size and influence. We have been greatly blessed by those who have gone before us and our heritage cannot be ignored. Those who were responsible had a vision of the future and it behooves us, the present members, to continue to increase the potential of the church in its many avenues of service. May God continue to bless us was we strive to do His will."
Since its founding in 1838, Rush Chapel is a spirit-filled community that has been proclaiming the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. Rush Chapel was built by the hands of those who had a vision to be a beacon of light and hope to the world around them. A long time faithful member, Annie Leigh Rush, a descendant of one of the Rush Chapel founders family, was one who had that vision. She passionately wrote about the influence Rush Chapel had in her life and her dream for Rush Chapel moving forward. She wrote, "Each morning at day break and each evening at dusk, I can look out of my front door and see the security light on at the church. It reminds me of the great influence and blessing the church has been to me since early child hood. My dream, for years, has been that Rush Chapel will grow in size and influence. We have been greatly blessed by those who have gone before us and our heritage cannot be ignored. Those who were responsible had a vision of the future and it behooves us, the present members, to continue to increase the potential of the church in its many avenues of service. May God continue to bless us was we strive to do His will."