New Prospect Church was formed in 2019 when the current congregation of Prospect United Methodist Church merged with the congregation of Resurrection United Methodist Church (formerly Gateway Church and Boggs Chapel United Methodist Church respectively).
Boggs Chapel United Methodist Church was built on the Jefferson River Road shortly after the Civil War and first opened its doors on June 11, 1876. Over 100 years later in 1996, Boggs Chapel United Methodist Church was renamed Gateway Church. Gateway Church built a new facility and moved from Jefferson River Road to Jefferson Road in 2005.
In 2015, the church relocated again and changed its name to Resurrection United Methodist Church. A couple of years later, in 2019, a merger with Prospect United Methodist Church occurred and New Prospect Church began.
Our current sanctuary was built in 1890. It was the third building on the location of Prospect Church Road. Prospect United Methodist Church started under a brush arbor, and the first building was likely Fort Strong. In 1834, an act was passed to create Prospect Academy, which would become the church’s second building, and a local school. Remarkably, earlier records point to a wedding being conducted at the church in 1788, which was only five years after the Revolutionary War ended!
Both churches had origins in historic church properties that are reflections of even more significant spiritual heritages that followed the traditions of historic Methodism and the teachings of John Wesley. The current congregation of New Prospect Church affirms classical Wesleyan doctrine and the historic Christian faith, which both congregations readily embraced from their beginning. In that spirit, New Prospect Church is a charter member of the Wesleyan Covenant Association.