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Welcome to Higgins!
Thanks for checking out our website! Whether this is your first time visiting our site, or you're following up from a recent visit, we're glad you're here! You are always welcome at Higgins! For Your First Visit We invite you to join us for one of our Sunday morning worship services. 8:30 am - a contemporary service in our Family Life Center 11:00 am - a traditional service in our Sanctuary We recommend arriving about ten minutes before the service begins to allow time for parking. We also have a contact form online where you can request information or send comments to us. |
Who We Are |
Located in beautiful Yancey County, Higgins is part of the Global Methodist Church. We welcome people of all ages, races, and backgrounds. Come as you are! We offer opportunities for seekers and believers to grow in their faith in Jesus Christ and to serve Him and our community.
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Our Vision |
Welcome to the new web address of the Higgins Methodist Church. We may have a new name, but our Methodism is deeply rooted in the Burnsville Community. We are not an independent church, we are members of Higgins Methodist, a Global Methodist Community.
We are glad you are here. We want to offer you an invitation. What is the difference between a welcome and an invitation? An invitation is more than a greeting. An invitation is a deliberate request for someone’s presence. Invitations are motivated by purpose and intention. This is your invitation - not just to visit our church, but to come and find out who Jesus Christ is. Our conviction, as members of the Higgins Methodist Church, is to make disciples of Jesus Christ who worship passionately, love extravagantly and witness boldly. We are a 21st Century congregation - a neat mix of ages and stages of life. We are people in love with Jesus Christ. He remains “the same yesterday, and today and forever”. Hebrews 13:8 We want Jesus to be at the center of everything connected to our lives and the life of our church. Anyone who takes us up on our invitation to meet Jesus, will be welcomed. Jesus is waiting to transform your life and walk with you. You won’t be alone on your journey of transformation. We are a community of believers who will walk beside you through the thick and thin of life and pray for you. We all experience God’s grace and the journey of grace is spirit led. Higgins offers many opportunities for growth and service. We invite you to come and join us on this pilgrimage, as we respond together to God’s calling. This website is part of your invitation - a way to start, a first step. Feel free to look around, but there is no substitute for in person worship. As you learn a bit about our church story, we look forward to learning more about you and your story. We hope you will visit a worship service, have a meal with us, or join a bible study this week. We look forward to walking beside you. |
Our History |
We are a church family with a rich history!
Methodism arrived in America in 1784. At this time, the Reams Creek Circuit was established, including what is now Buncombe, Henderson, McDowell, Mitchell, Yancey, and Madison counties. Two preachers would travel this circuit on horseback, taking two months to make rounds. Meetings were held in homes were or held at Cane River. Yancey County remained in this circuit until 1841, when the Burnsville Circuit was established (Yancey, Mitchell, Madison, and a part of Buncombe counties). In 1845, the Burnsville Circuit was divided into two congregations, Northern and Southern. The Southern congregation meeting at the Yancey County Courthouse. In 1851, the Burnsville Academy was established and began being used for church services by both the Baptists and Methodists. After the Civil War, the Academy had to be renovated, so believers once again held meetings in the Courthouse. By 1876, the church had grown to 356 members. In 1881, our first building was erected, making Burnsville Methodist Church the first Methodist church built in Burnsville, NC. It's construction was supervised by Reverend J.F. Wampler, whom also supervised the building of Bald Creek Church. Our original building was built on the site where the Reconciliation House now stands. In 1916, after a tent revival that raised $9,000, John Wesley Higgins & others built our second structure, the sanctuary, on land donated by Laura Carter & her daughter, Pansy Carter Ray. Dedication of the building was delayed until 1918 because the congregation wanted to be debt free. Concurrently, a parsonage was built on the former church site. Much of the materials used in each constructions were from the old church. During the erection of the new church building, members once again met in the Courthouse, the minister preaching from the place reserved for the court judge. By 1926, the basement was added under the sanctuary. And, in 1927, the church known as Burnsville Methodist Church was renamed Higgins Memorial in honor of John Wesley Higgins. In 2003, our Family Life Center was added for our growing congregation, and so that we could be better equipped to serve our community. Because of COVID in 2020 many churches closed their doors, but not Higgins. We continued to meet by placing our praise band in the breezeway, we were live on Facebook and many of our congregation brought chairs or listened to our radio broadcast, while sitting in their cars in the parking lot. In February of 2023 the members of Higgins were given the opportunity to vote to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church. The vote carried and on July 6th Higgins became a member of the Global Methodist Church. Our church has a rich heritage and history in local and foreign missions. As we step out into a new beginning, we ask you to consider coming alongside as we make disciples of Jesus Christ, who worship passionately, love extravagantly and witness boldly. We welcome you to become a part of our story! *Most of this information taken from A History of the Methodist Church in the Toe River Valley, by Lloyd Bailey |