Knob Creek Church of Christ located approximately 5 miles east of Dukedom, Tennessee, was the first

Restoration Movement The Restoration Movement (also known as the American Restoration Movement or the Stone–Campbell Movement, and pejoratively as Campbellism) is a Christian movement that began on the United States frontier during the Second Great Awakening (179 ...

Church established in the Kentucky section of the Jackson land purchase of 1818, Christian Chronicle website, '' ‘The church is people, and people matter’'', article by Lynn McMillon and Erik Tryggestad dated April 6, 2015
/ref> but only just so as the original location was very close to the Kentucky-Tennessee border. The Roan's Creek

Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * When used in the plural, a New Testament designation for local groups of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ: "...all the churches of Christ greet you", Romans 16:16. * The entire body of Ch ...

in Carroll County, Tennessee, was the first such congregation formerly established west of the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...

in 1825. Some of the early settlers arriving in southern

Graves County, Kentucky Graves County is a county located on the southwest border of the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,649. Its county seat is Mayfield. The county was formed in 1824 and was named for Major Benjamin Fra ...

, and northern

Weakley County, Tennessee Weakley County is a county located in the northwest of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 35,021. Its county seat is Dresden. Its largest city is Martin, the home of the University of Tennessee at Martin. The ...

, brought with them the teachings of

Barton W. Stone Barton Warren Stone (December 24, 1772 – November 9, 1844) was an American evangelist during the early 19th-century Second Great Awakening in the United States. First ordained a Presbyterian minister, he and four other ministers of the Washingt ...

and the "Christians Only" movement, and wanted to have a local church where they could worship. These settlers located John Parkhill from

Calloway County, Kentucky Calloway County is a county located in the southwest part of the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,103. Its county seat is Murray. The county was founded in November 1822 and named for Colonel Richard C ...

and sent one of their members to summon him to help found the congregation. In June 1834, Parkhill established the congregation, incorporating the "Christians Only" teachings of Stone and the "Reformed Baptist" teachings of Alexander Campbell, Stone and Campbell having merged their movements in 1832. The church was established in the home of member Simon Foy and his wife Charlotte Simms Foy, who had migrated to the area in about 1828 from Limestone County, Alabama, and whose homestead was on Knob Creek, near the present Clinard farm. The first church building was erected in about 1845, south of the Foy homestead on the border between Kentucky and Tennessee, about a mile west of where the present building stands. Although no longer located on Knob Creek, the congregation retained the original name. This was one of the earliest Restorationist congregations to use the name "

", a name now in use by thousands of Restoration Movement congregations worldwide. The founding members were Simon and Charlotte Foy, their daughters Charlotte and Elizabeth, their sons James and William, John Johnson and his wife Elizabeth, and Uel Olive. Uel's home was used to hold the first meetings of the church; Google Books website, ''The Churches of Christ'', by Richard T. Hughes, page 276
/ref> James Olive went on to set up the Silver Creek Church in Illinois. The Church has since been through three buildings. The latest was built in 1957 and sits on State Line Road, east of Dukedom, Tennessee, on the Kentucky/Tennessee state line. It currently has 19 members. The church jokes about sitting on the state line, and the line is literally in front of the communion table. The minister stands in Kentucky and preaches to the congregation which sits in Tennessee during the services. Many other Churches of Christ have branched from this particular church and are still in existence today. The current minister is Steve Cochrum. Past ministers include Charles Wall, Dennis Crutchfield, David Wilson, James Shockley and Jimmy Canter. According to Carl H. Royster's (the great-great-great-great-grandson of Simon and Charlotte Foy) directory "Churches of Christ in the United States", the congregation was established in 1834.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knob Creek Church Of Christ Restoration Movement congregations Churches in Kentucky Church of Christ congregations Buildings and structures in Graves County, Kentucky