Our History

ROCK BRIDGE CHURCH OF CHRIST IS ESTABLISHED & ITS EARLY YEARS [1908-1948]

In the early 20th century, men and women in the small community of Rock Bridge, TN (between Portland & Bethpage), who believed on the Word of God and desired to follow his commandments, began meeting together and eventually established the Rock Bridge Church of Christ congregation. They planted seed among their relatives and neighbors. Some of their descendants still attend here today. The 1908 church was built of wood and sat on rock pillars. It had two front doors, one back door, windows on the sides, a wood stove, kerosene lamps on the walls, a water bucket and dipper, and a framed picture hung on the wall which read "The Harvest is Plenteous, but the Laborers are Few - Matthew 9:37." Most people walked to services in the earlier days and they did not always have a preacher available, but always met for classes, singing, and communion. They were baptized in local creeks. There are church ledgers dating back to 1913 listing names of members, some including the dates they were baptized (one dating back to 1878), those who served as elders and deacons, and men who have preached here through the years. 

Records were kept of weekly contributions and expenses. Even in the early years, they helped people in need, missionaries, and orphan homes. In 1940 they started a new building fund. There is a recorded entry June 3, 1948, in the amount of $79 "for wrecking old house." Immediately, construction began. There are detailed records of the names of the laborers including hours worked and wages paid and the cost of materials from the beginning to completion. During this time, the congregation met at the Chestnut Grove School until the basement was completed and then met in the basement during construction of the upstairs. Renovations have been made to maintain and improve the 1948 building through the years. The main building that stands and is used today are the sturdy remnants of that original structure.

LATER YEARS & STRUCTURAL ADDITIONS [1948-2016]

Since 1948, the building has been updated as needed several times. The congregation in the 1980s and 1990s also saw a good deal of growth in numbers. Before the turn of the 21st century, the Elders agreed to purchase the adjoining property, which was planned to be used for expansion. Construction on the new 2-level building addition was begun in 2003 and it included new classrooms, a nursery, restrooms, a spacious fellowship hall, a kitchen, and an outdoor drive-thru overhang for loading and unloading. This structure and its additions have been host to thousands of hours of Bible classes and studies, potluck meals, fellowship activities, and the joyful gathering of God's people of the Rock Bridge congregation.

In the summer of 2008, after decades of use, the old theater style folding seats in the auditorium were removed and replaced with new, padded pews. The new pews were a welcomed addition. The entire auditorium was also carpeted with brand new carpeting (covering entirely the old wood floors) and a fresh coat of paint was put on the walls. Some feared that covering the wood floors would dampen the singing, but the hearts of the congregation have remained full and the singing worship has continued to be a powerful part of the assembly still today.

TECHNOLOGY UPGRADES [2016-2019]

In March 2016, a project was begun to update the audio system. The Elders agreed to hire Timothy Tucker to work with minister Rich Shockley to design & install a brand new, state-of-the-art sound system that would include a combination of wired and wireless mics as well as hearing assistance devices. The system was installed and went live in June 2016, just in time for the annual Gospel Meeting that year. This new system would also make it easy to capture & distribute audio recordings of the worship services, Bible classes, and sermons. The installed equipment was mounted on the far back left corner auditorium wall (looking from the front of the auditorium).

Then in 2018, another big project was decided upon - to add a projection and video system as well as a security system. After some discussion, the small office/room off the entryway at the back of the building was to be converted into a media room where all the primary computer and monitoring equipment would be placed.  It was decided to also move the audio system components to this room so that everything would be in one place.  Over the course of the next several months several men including James Spears, Kenneth Rush, Chuck Durham, Glenn Tuttle, Reid Anderson, Luke West, Jason Shockley, Rich Shockley, Gene Butler, & Julian Hill worked on the updates & renovations. The necessary equipment was purchased and several new electrical lines were run along with the network cabling needed for the security cameras mounted outside of the building. A "viewing window" was cut out in the wall separating the new media room and the auditorium. Two new projectors were mounted on the back wall of the auditorium and a 75-inch flat screen TV was also mounted to the back wall for the song leaders, teachers, and preachers to be able to see the presentations. Two large projection screens were then mounted to the front of the auditorium - one on either side of the pulpit area - for ease of viewing by all, regardless of where they sit in the auditorium. The new system went live in February 2019. Since that time, small periodic updates and improvements have been made to keep the system from becoming too outdated to be maintained for the long-term.

EARLY 2020

In February 2020, the Elders made a historic decision when they agreed to hire then-part-time Minister, Rich Shockley, as the first full-time Minister for the congregation. Brother Shockley had been preaching for the congregation since July 2002 and he was excited to continue on in the work in a much larger capacity, thankful for the blessings that God had bestowed on Rock Bridge, allowing them to extend this offer.

COVID-19 PANDEMIC [MARCH 2020-SUMMER 2021]

Then in March 2020, the world was deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It may have been the first time since the early 1900s the congregation (just as many other congregations all over the world) ceased in-person worship services and Bible classes. But thanks to the groundwork that had been laid in the 4 years prior with the technology upgrades, the congregation was able to live stream/broadcast services and classes to their members via the social media platform, Facebook, allowing there to be an on-going and active presence during what was a most difficult time. The first live broadcast was streamed on Sunday morning, March 15, 2020 using a simple desktop webcam. That would be the last in-person assembly until May 31, 2020 - at which time only the Sunday morning service was resumed. Bible classes, Sunday evenings, and Wednesday evenings would not resume in-person until mid-August of 2020. During this time, a phone-in only option was also offered so that folks who did not have internet could still listen in during our worship services. That was eventually discontinued with only the live stream option remaining. Several other important tech updates were made during this time - including a high definition camera - to provide a high-quality experience for any who might view the worship/class streams live or view them at a later time.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a lot of issues and tensions for the church between March 2020 and the summer of 2021. Many congregations opted to continue meeting in-person believing it violated God's will to allow fear of a virus to override the church's command to assemble in faith in worship to God. Many other congregations opted to dismiss in-person services believing God gave modern congregations of the Lord's body the technology and abilities to be able to keep a church family connected and even somewhat active despite mandates to remain at home and to keep a safe distance from others (especially the elderly, young children, and those who had preexisting infirmities that could turn deadly if exposed to the new virus). The Elders at Rock Bridge during this time - James Spears, Kenneth Rush, & Chuck Durham - took the congregation's health and safety (both physical and spiritual) very seriously opting only to remain dismissed from in-person assemblies as long as was absolutely necessary to help curb any viral outbreaks. It was blessed with very few positive cases in the overall time period in which the pandemic was at its worst. No positive cases led to deaths at Rock Bridge. Other congregations throughout the world were not so fortunate. Unfortunately, there were many throughout the brotherhood of the church that saw members completely leave their faith behind & never return to the worship assemblies again. However, many new converts came to Christ and were saved.  The long-time traditional ways of doing things were confronted with many congregations adjusting the way in which they continued worshiping and serving their communities. It was seen by many as an opportunity to do away with those practices that no longer worked and introduce practices that were believed to be more in line with New Testament Christianity amidst a world that had changed much in the past 100 years or more. It was a challenging time for people's faith in Christ, but one that provided great growth and foundations for the next generation of the church of Christ.

2021 AND THE FUTURE

As the pandemic began to finally subside in late 2021, Rock Bridge, like most, was able to begin moving forward again. By 2022, most of the normal activities pre-pandemic had been restored and the congregation was slowly recovering.  In mid-2022, the average attendance on Sunday mornings had returned to around 65/70 - but the core of the congregation was very strong and poised for a time of growth. As of this writing (July 2022), it is not known what the future holds, but as the old song says, we know Who holds the future.

For more than 100 years, the Rock Bridge Church of Christ has truly been blessed in countless ways and stood as a beacon of the light of Christ in it's community. We pray that this congregation remains steadfast and fruitful for as long as time shall stand and that its influence from the local community and throughout the world will always point to Jesus & the Salvation found in Him. And we look forward to reuniting with our fellow Christians and worshiping God together for eternity.

**Special thanks to Wayne Crowder for assisting in providing names and dates for this history archive.