Spruce Pine church remains active 135 years and counting

By Tyler Hargett for the FCT

Remember the old church your parents took you to when you were a kid? Do you ever wonder if it’s still around? It can be hard to find a church that has stood the test of time. However, Spruce Pine happens to have one that has done just that.

Mountain Home Presbyterian Church, located at 100 Mountain Home Church Road, was organized Sept. 12, 1882, under the Cumberland Presbyterian Church organization. The original pastor was the Rev. J.C. Blanton.

After the original Friendship Baptist Church – located where the Friendship Cemetery now stands – was destroyed, its members began attending Mountain Home’s services. During that time, the church would switch between a Presbyterian and a Baptist preacher every other Sunday.

Even though the Baptist church was eventually rebuilt as New Friendship Baptist Church, the congregations of Baptist and Presbyterian church-goers will remain a big part of the church’s history.

“One of our members, Marvelene Taylor, can remember when she used to go there as a child that the church would be full, and people were standing outside the windows to hear,” said Terry Dempsey, current member of Mountain Home.

Terry and his wife, Charlene, have been members of the church since 1967. After joining the church, Terry became one of the volunteers to help keep up the grounds and the church building. Since he retired, Dempsey has become the main groundskeeper, with his brother Perry mowing the cemetery’s grass. The cemetery is special to Terry as his parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins are all buried there; he and his wife also plan on being buried there.

People in the community say one of the standout features of the church is the cemetery decoration, which, according to Terry, has been around for “as long as I can remember.” The decoration was started to allow the families and friends of the deceased to come and clean and decorate the graves. The decoration is held the first Sunday in June, with the graves typically getting cleaned a week or two before, and a singing and potluck lunch are then held at the church.

In order to help upkeep the cemetery, a cemetery fund was started by Ann Glasgow, who went to the church with her husband. Along with the fund, the Mountain Home Memorial Cemetery Fund Committee was created to oversee it. Terry serves as chairman of the current five-member board.

The church is currently a congregation of Presbyterian Church (USA). While it might not have the large crowds it used to, Mountain Home is still standing strong.

“(We’re still here) by God’s will,” said Terry. “If it wasn’t His will, we wouldn’t have existed this long. We have been down lower than what we are now, (but) we’ve come back. He provided the way.”

Services are held every Sunday at 8:30 a.m. by the Rev. Jess Smith. The building is also open to funerals and weddings.