Pastor

/ Andrew Chapel Church is a congregation of conservative, evangelical Christians in the Wesleyan Arminian tradition. Our faith is grounded in the infallible, inerrant, inspired Word of God. We believe that the scriptures are God's revelation of Himself to us, as well as the rule of faith, containing all the truth necessary for faith and Christian living.

We believe that God has revealed Himself in three distinct persons... the Father, the source of all life; the Son, the mediator of God's life; and the Spirit, the extension of God's life to us. This 3-in-1 God has made us for fellowship with Himself.

In order for sinful man to know and experience God, we must first accept God’s plan of salvation for us.  The sacrifice of Jesus for the sins of the world is the only way to the Father.  As Jesus said, “No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  (John 14:6).  As God draws the sinner, through what is called prevenient grace, the sinner turns to God, repents of his sins, and rests in Christ as his Savior.

When saving faith is active, God’s response is threefold.  First, God forgives all sin (justification).  Second, God breathes His life in the soul that is dead in trespasses and sin (regeneration, Ephesians 2:1).  Now that God’s life is at work in the soul of the born again Christian, God accepts him as His own, and the Spirit witnesses to his spirit that He is born of God (Adoption, Witness of the Spirit, Romans 8:15, 16).  God’s saving grace is continued as His sanctifying grace.  Sanctification begins with regeneration and is culminated in entire sanctification.  A true life of holiness is impossible without the inner cleansing of our nature by the Spirit’s fullness.

We believe that Christians are meant to be an active part of the body of Christ. The Church is where encouragement, spiritual growth, and the development of spiritual gifts occur. The Church’s purpose is also for equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry. Our community, our nation, even our world, is our responsibility. As John Wesley stated, "I consider all the world as my parish." The Church, therefore, is to be the physical manifestation of Jesus to its community and world. This is accomplished by the indwelling Spirit empowering the saints to continue the ministry and publish the message of Jesus.

BRIEF HISTORY

Where We Came from and How We Got Here

Andrew Chapel Church was born as a congregation in Brush Arbor meetings in 1841, under the ministry of Tobias Gibson, a circuit rider sent to Mississippi by Bishop Francis Asbury to plant churches in the Natchez area.

The small, unnamed congregation met in a log school house in the Lizelia community.  Like all Methodist churches in the 18th and early 19th centuries, Andrews Chapel was a part of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America, which was founded by John Wesley in 1784.  In 1844, the Southern Methodist conferences separated from the M.E. church and formed the Methodist Episcopal Church South. 

When a man named John Morrow gave the fledgling congregation three acres of land in late 1872, they began construction of their first church building, where the modern church now stands.  That yet un-named congregation began as part of the Marion Circuit and was named after a traveling preacher, whose surname was Andrews, who preached the first sermon in the first church building in 1873.  The original building had to be replaced in 1894, and has since undergone numerous building programs and renovations.

At some unknown point in time, the “s” was dropped from Andrews and Andrew Chapel has been the unofficial and official name of the church for generations.  Andrew Chapel became a part of the Methodist Episcopal Church again in 1939 when the M.E. Church, the M.E. Church South and the Methodist Protestant Church all merged with the Methodist Church.  

In 1968, the Methodist Church merged with the Evangelical United Brethren to become the United Methodist Church.  During the 1970s, the UMC made a distinct move toward progressive liberalism which began a decades-long period of dissension within the denomination, particularly concerning the varying views among jurisdictions of the UMC concerning the denomination’s stand on human sexuality, the authority of scripture, and the accountability of Bishops.

After several contentious General Conferences, a special General Conference was held in February 2019 to prepare to divide the UMC denomination for the good of all United Methodists.

One of the results of the 2019 General Conference was the formation of a protocol to allow individual UMC congregations to disaffiliate from the UMC, to keep their property, and become independent.  Andrew Chapel United Methodist Church had been at odds with the Council of Bishops and UMC agencies for decades concerning the increased liberalism and acceptance of LGBTQ activities within the denomination and availed itself of the opportunity to leave the UMC and become an independent Wesleyan congregation.  

On March 21, 2021, with the District Superintendent presiding, Andrew Chapel UMC officially voted by ballot 58 for and 0 against disaffiliation with the UMC.  This action was the culmination of two years of discussion and discernment following the 2019 General Conference.  Following Mississippi Conference and General Conference guidelines, Andrew Chapel UMC became Andrew Chapel Church in July, 2021.

For 180 years, the congregation that started in a Brush Arbor meeting in the Lizelia Community and worshipped and served under four Methodist denominations, Andrew Chapel Church has come full circle to become an independent  church that looks to the future under the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Only the Gates of Eternity know how many thousands of lives have been or will be positively influenced and affected by the members and pastors of Andrew Chapel Church.

We commit ourselves, as did our Brush Arbor ancestors, to bring God glory through worship and service in the Wesleyan tradition.    7/1/2021