Our History

Since the early 1900s, the Church of God (Anderson) has had a presence in the area. A one room building in Shanesville was the site for Sunday morning services. On their way to service, several families from the Barrs Mill area traveled past a deserted Lutheran church in the center of town. One Sunday morning, Nora Wright (one of the founding members) asked “Why am I taking my family all the way into Shanesville when there is a perfectly good church standing empty right here?” Thus began the Church of God movement in the town of Barrs Mill.

In 1939, a small group of families came together and purchased the abandoned church for $300. These families became the first parishioners of the Barrs Mill Church of God. Many of the original families still attend today. This is a testament to the fact that one group's sacrifice can have a lasting effect for generations.

For over 45 years Barrs Mill Church of God flourished and helped to bring people to Christ. Many important leaders and pastors of the Church of God movement, preached or were raised at this small church.

As the congregation grew, a problem arose. The building was becoming too small. The leaders would have to come up with a plan to combat this "problem". The first thought was to add on to the old building. The problem with this idea was that the church was locked in by other property owners. As one of the elders said, “Even if we could add on, we had nowhere to park the people when they would come.” The second option was to build a new church. The question with this option was 'how could a blue collar congregation afford a large scale building project?' As we have come to learn, God will make a way.

The building project began in the mid 1980s and by the end of the decade, the church as we know it, was completed. It rests on top of the hill overlooking the original church in the center of Barrs Mill.

The growth of the spiritual church and the construction of the building, is a testament to doing the will of God. The sacrifice of few has helped bring generations of people to Christ. We welcome you to view the video (linked in the sidebar) entitled "Obedient To The Heavenly Vision" which better explains the history of our church.