Blackburns' Chapel

Blackburns’ Chapel’s mission is connecting with Christ, and through Christ connecting with each other and our neighbors. We accomplish this mission through contagious hospitality, radical service and mission, rejuvenating worship, and intentional spiritual growth.

Worship With Blackburns’ Chapel at 9:00 am
3986 Todd Railroad Grade Rd., Todd, NC 28684
Breakfast Church

Blackburns’ Chapel is offering a fresh, unique worship service this summer. Breakfast Church is a gathering around a table, connecting through song, prayer, Scripture, and conversation. You are invited to join the community on Sundays at 9:00 am!

Blackburns’ Chapel is known for its friendly and intimate personality. You will feel as you walk through the doors of the church that everyone matters and is embraced. No matter where you are on your faith journey, we welcome you! Blackburns’ is a safe place to question and explore, and to gradually grow in faith and service within a loving community that feels like family!
Our unique and beautiful setting in the heart of Todd gives us the privilege to witness God in the beauty of creation each week. We regularly gather in our church with the doors of the church fully open when its warm or gazing through our large chapel windows when it’s colder to notice the splendor of nature surrounding us. Blackburns’ is always full of good surprises whether it’s one of the friendly neighborhood dogs that strolls through our open doors to join us, a spontaneous eruption of laughter throughout the congregation in the middle of Sunday worship, or one of the many lively speakers and musicians we regularly invite from the local area to lead. Blackburns’ is truly a place that is fun, relaxed and hospitable!

Pastor Laura Byrch looks forward to meeting you. If you would like to learn more about Blackburns’ Chapel and find out how you can get involved, click here to visit Blackburns’ Chapel website.

History

Nestled near the South Fork of the New River, Blackburn’s Chapel United Methodist Church has a rich history that can be traced back to one of American Methodism’s first bishops Francis Asbury, who was directly ordained by John Wesley, the founder of our denomination. Blackburn’s Chapel’s origins were true to John Wesley’s foundational commitments to personal and social holiness, a personal spirituality that is lived out in community through mercy, compassion and justice. One of the church’s early leaders Levi Blackburn and other lay Methodist leaders used the church’s gathering space not just for religious worship but also schooling, meetings and public/political affairs.

In recent history, Blackburn’s Chapel faced the threat of having to close its doors due to declining membership. In 2006 the few members remaining began praying and planning for God’s direction for the church. These leaders believed that God still had ministry and mission for the church to do in our community. Several key projects emerged to pursue congregational vitality. In 2007 the church decided to turn over the legal and administrative authority of its property to Boone UMC. Several members of Boone UMC went beyond this legal relationship to begin attending Blackburn’s Chapel and volunteering to assist in its plan for revitalization. What emerged in 2011 from this prayer and planning was the Blackburn House project, an intentional community and mission program for young adults pursuing ministry. The partnership with Boone UMC and the outreach ministry of Blackburn House has provided important resources for Blackburn’s Chapel’s members’ commitment to revitalization. The church has grown since 2007 from a few members with little impact in the wider community of Todd, to now maintaining an average of 35-40 in attendance for Sunday worship and having a concrete impact within Todd through relationship-building, service and care. Click here to learn more about our community engagement efforts. To learn more about Blackburn Community Outreach, click here.