Fairhaven United Methodist Church stands on West Walnut Street on the west side of Johnson City, Tennessee, sharing a pastor and a parish identity with two sister congregations, Otterbein and West Market Street, in the Three Rivers District of the United Methodist Church. The church's name on the building is a quiet witness: "Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors." Inside, the order of worship follows the historic pattern of Word and Table, with the Ten Commandments prayed as a corporate litany, collects said for peace, grace, and aid against perils, and the Psalter sung between the Old Testament lesson and the Epistle. A small congregation in numbers, Fairhaven has invested in a long-running online ministry, posting a daily scripture verse, a daily Bible reading, a monthly pastoral letter, and full Sunday manuscripts that run to several thousand words of sermon, prayer, and intercession.
The Sunday Pattern on West Walnut Street
Sunday School meets at 10:00 a.m. and worship follows at 11:00 a.m. The rhythm is unhurried. Children remain with their families, and a children's message is offered from the chancel so that even the youngest worshipers are addressed. The bulletin is light. The order of worship is heavy in the ways that matter most to a United Methodist congregation of the historic type: a call to worship, an Old Testament lesson, a psalm, an epistle, a Gospel reading, a sermon, prayers of the people, the Lord's Prayer, and a benediction.
Fairhaven's identity sits inside the wider United Methodist tradition. The Cross and Flame, the denomination's registered trademark, is used under license from the General Council on Finance and Administration in Nashville, the legal note explains, so that the symbol may continue to mark the church as a United Methodist congregation. The teaching in the pulpit assumes the doctrines of the Christian Church across centuries: the Trinity, the incarnation, the atoning death and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the return of Christ in glory, the resurrection of the body, and the life of the world to come.
Worship, Word, and the Lectionary
Worship at Fairhaven is led by the lectionary. A typical Sunday carries four readings, an Old Testament lesson, a psalm appointed as the Psalter, an epistle, and a Gospel. The Gospel for the day receives the longest exposition, but the preacher sets it inside the whole counsel of Scripture. The church's own blog records, for example, that on Trinity Sunday of 2021 the Gospel from John 3 was unfolded around the serpent lifted in the wilderness from Numbers 21, with the preacher insisting that the salvation of the world in Christ is not a transaction worked out in the abstract but a work in the flesh, in the body, and through the cross.
The collects said aloud each Sunday are taken from the historic Book of Common Prayer tradition. A Collect for Peace asks the God who is the author of peace and lover of concord to defend the congregation as humble servants in all assaults of enemies. A Collect for Grace asks the Lord, our heavenly Father, Almighty and everlasting God, who has safely brought us to the beginning of this day, to defend his people with his mighty power. A Collect for Aid against Perils prays, "Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ." In times of sickness a special collect is added, asking God to deliver his people from peril, to give strength and skill to all who minister to the sick, to prosper the means made use of for their cure, and to grant that the congregation, perceiving how frail and uncertain our life is, may apply their hearts to that heavenly wisdom which leadeth to eternal life.
The Litany that follows is full voiced. The congregation responds to each bidding. "O God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth; Have mercy upon us. O God the Son, Redeemer of the world; Have mercy upon us. O God the Holy Spirit, Sanctifier of the faithful; Have mercy upon us. O holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, one God; Have mercy upon us." The intercessions that follow name those in authority, all rulers and magistrates, all bishops, priests, and deacons, all who travel by land, by water, or by air, women in child-birth, the sick, young children, prisoners and captives, the fatherless, the widows, and all who are desolate and oppressed. The congregation prays for the harvest, for true repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, negligences, and ignorances, and for the grace of the Holy Spirit to amend their lives according to God's holy Word.
The Ten Commandments as the Church's First Liturgy
Fairhaven preserves the Ten Commandments in the language of the older English liturgies. After each of the commandments, the people pray, "Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep thy law." The final commandment, against coveting, is met with the longer response, "Lord, have mercy upon us, and write all these thy laws in our hearts, we beseech thee." The Litany then moves to the Greatest Commandments of Jesus from Mark 12 and Matthew 22. The people pray, "Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us." The intent is catechetical as much as devotional. The commandments and the summary of the law are the place where the congregation hears what the Christian life looks like in plain speech, and the responses are the only right ones: mercy, and the request that the Lord would write his law in the heart.
Rev. Paul Longmire and the Johnson City Parish
Fairhaven shares its pastor with two other United Methodist congregations in Johnson City. The arrangement is called the Johnson City Parish, and it brings together Fairhaven, Otterbein, and West Market Street under the pastoral leadership of Rev. Paul Longmire. Each of the three congregations keeps its own building, its own identity, and its own services, but they share a single ordained pastor and a single parish leadership. The Three Rivers District of the United Methodist Church, in the Holston Conference, holds the parish in its supervision. A district superintendent, Lauri Jo Cranford, was the officer who worked with the parish on the careful reopening of in-person worship after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Pastor Longmire's preaching voice is recognizable across the years of sermon manuscripts posted online. He sets each Gospel reading inside its Old Testament roots. He names the Greek and Hebrew words in the text. He traces the creeds of the church through the disputed questions of the day. He writes at length about the bodily resurrection of Jesus, the importance of the Ascension as more than figurative language, the work of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and the believer's call to be a witness to the ends of the earth. He also tells stories: of his great-grandfather finding a Methodist church in a crossroads town in South New Jersey in the early twentieth century, of the smell of wild roses in a North Carolina thicket no one else could detect, of a former classmate's slow path back to faith through years of university chaplaincy, of the playwright whose characters feel like caricatures until you have lived among their real counterparts. The voice is pastoral, doctrinal, and unmistakably Methodist in its plainness.
Midweek Life: Prayer Circle and Bible Study
The week at Fairhaven is held together by two regular meetings. On Tuesday morning at 10:30, the Prayer Circle gathers. On Wednesday afternoon at 3:00, the Bible Study meets. The Prayer Circle is the place where the church's intercessions are lifted in person: for the sick, the sorrowful, the afflicted, for those in trouble of body or soul, for the concerns of the wider Johnson City community, and for the needs of the United Methodist Church in the district and the conference. A weekly prayer list is kept and posted, the way it was in December 2020 when the church made a public weekly prayer list as part of its online ministry.
The Bible Study is a working engagement with the text. The pastor's sermons often carry the same biblical references the Bible Study will cover, so the two feed each other. In the long record of the church's blog, the Bible Study is also the place where the day's appointed readings from the lectionary and the pastor's exposition are taken up together, with attention to the historical, the linguistic, and the doctrinal dimensions of the passage.
Daily Words and the Read the Bible Together Plan
Fairhaven's online ministry has become one of its distinguishing features. Each day, the church posts a brief Word for the day, a single verse chosen for its strength and its pastoral warmth. A few examples from September 2026 give the texture. On a Saturday in late September, the verse was Isaiah 49:13: "Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones." On the Friday before that, the verse was Psalm 107:9: "For he satisfies the thirsty, and the hungry he fills with good things." On the Thursday before that, the verse was Psalm 86:11: "Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name." The verses move across the Old and New Testaments and the Psalms, and they are chosen for the comfort they offer to ordinary lives.
Alongside the daily verse, the church posts a daily reading under the heading Read the Bible Together. The reading plan takes the congregation through the Bible in canonical order, a few chapters at a time, with the Psalms appointed for the same day. The congregation is thus reading the same chapters on the same day, and the pastor's sermons, prayers, and Bible Study are all keyed to the same broad reading of Scripture. The plan moves steadily. In late September 2026, the readings were in Matthew 1 through 14, the Minor Prophets, and Psalms 124 through 127. Over time the plan carries the congregation through the whole Bible, with the Psalms cycling alongside.
The Pastor's Musings and the Monthly Newsletter
Each month, Rev. Longmire writes a longer reflection that the church posts under the heading Pastor's Musings. The musings are wide-ranging. In the July 2026 newsletter, the pastor reflected on the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence and on the release of the film Young Washington, and on what it means to be a gentleman in the founding sense of the word. In the August 2026 newsletter, he wrote about the wonder and the trouble of present communication, of anyone being able to make a video distributed worldwide, of platforms that allow all sorts of things and that also take down the most helpful. In the September 2026 newsletter, the topic was mathematics, an equilateral triangle, and the surprising beauty of marking the midway points. In the May 2026 newsletter, the topic was comedy, and the observation that nothing is funny if it has to be explained. In the April 2026 newsletter, the topic was the algorithms of social media and an interview with a surviving conspirator from the Watergate Scandal. In the March 2026 newsletter, the topic was the apostolic witness and the words of 2 Peter 1:16, "For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty."
Earlier newsletters are gathered in the same archive. The November 2025 newsletter borrowed a colleague's coinage for the season, "Hallowthankmas," and reflected on the transition from the end of the church year to the beginning of Advent. The October 2025 newsletter worked from Joshua 4 and the twelve stones of remembrance. The December 2025 newsletter reflected on the word Advent itself, on the way the church marks times and seasons, and on the question of whether the cycles of the year carry purpose. The body of work is a long-running pastoral letter, addressed to the congregation and to anyone who finds it online.
Sermon Manuscripts Online
The Sunday sermon manuscripts are also posted online, in the Meditations category. The manuscripts are full liturgical texts, with the call to worship, the Old Testament lesson, the psalm, the epistle, the Gospel, the sermon itself, and the intercessory prayer, all laid out for the reader. The Sunday before the Ascension in 2021, for example, the Gospel was from Acts 1, the Epistle from Ephesians 1, the Old Testament lesson from Daniel 7, and the psalm was Psalm 47. The sermon unfolded the meaning of the Ascension as a bodily event, the importance of the right hand of God in the Old Testament, the difference between the empty promise of human kingdoms and the everlasting kingdom of the Son of Man, and the call of disciples to be witnesses to the ends of the earth.
Pentecost Sunday of 2021 was given over to Acts 2, to the sound of the mighty wind, the tongues of fire, the international witnesses who heard the mighty acts of God in their own native languages, and Peter's sermon that did not spare the hearers' sensibilities. The sermon noted the list of peoples present, beginning with the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, out of which came Abram and his family when God called, and the same land of ancient enemies. The point was that God's promise and work continues, and continues the world over, even among those who are of ancient enemies, and in those places well beyond our control.
Easter 2021 was given over to Mark 16, the young man at the tomb, and the strange clue that the description of the young man in Mark 16:5 matches the description of the cleansed man in Mark 5, clothed and in his right mind, on the right side of Jesus. The sermon's argument was that to meet the risen Christ, the disciples were to go where Jesus was working, and there they would see him. Maundy Thursday and Good Friday of 2021 also appear in the archive. The church has, in this way, made a substantial body of preaching available to anyone with an internet connection, a small congregation with a long reach.
Sixty Years on West Walnut Street
Fairhaven United Methodist Church was founded in 1962, and in May 2022 the congregation marked its 60th anniversary. The 60th Anniversary Celebration was the headline announcement of the spring, the way the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the 60th anniversary of the church arrived in the same season, and the pastor's newsletter of July 2026 took up the thread, writing about the founding of the country and the founding of the church together. Two photographs are captioned "tinersmckinley," a name that suggests the early congregation's roots, and "history-of-fairhaven." The History page is the home of those images, alongside the Pastor page, the Groups and Meetings page, the Photos page, and the Contact page that round out the Explore menu.
The United Methodist Women and the Wider Fellowship
A dedication reads: "In Memory of Charlotte Phillips by United Methodist Women." The presence of the United Methodist Women at Fairhaven is the continuation of one of the oldest women's mission organizations in American Methodism, and the church is one of the small United Methodist congregations in which the women have often been the backbone of fellowship, food, and pastoral care. Children's programs and other small groups meet under the heading Groups and Meetings, the page that holds the photographs of the children of the church and the meetings of the various circles.
The Pandemic and the Care of the Congregation
In the spring of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic reached the Tri-Cities region, the Johnson City Parish churches were directed by District Superintendent Lauri Jo Cranford to remain closed for in-person worship, with the announcement posted on July 1, 2020, that the rising number of cases in Carter, Greene, and Washington Counties had made the painful decision necessary. The full opening policy was published in the same month, with detailed guidance on self-screening, the wearing of cloth masks, the marking of six-foot intervals on the outdoor walkways, the role of door-keepers in sanitizing hand rails, the use of the elevator at Otterbein, the taking of attendance for contact tracing, the seating of household groups together, the suspension of congregational singing in the first phase, the handling of bulletins and hymnals by one designated person with gloves, the placement of stationary offering receptacles, and the directions for orderly entrance and exit. The policy was reviewed by the church councils, the insurance carriers, the appropriate forms, and the district superintendent, and it was understood that failure to follow the policy as approved by the district superintendent would result in the closing of in-person worship for two weeks or longer for the time needed to enable compliance. In-person worship resumed on July 5, 2020, with the reopening under the conditions set out in the policy and in accordance with the Holston Conference's plan, Taking Steps Forward Faithfully and Safely. The parish also considered the use of an FM transmitter to broadcast the service to the parking lot, in accordance with FCC regulations, so that members who were not yet ready to come inside could listen from their cars.
Wider Mission: Help Ukraine and the Pastor's Heart for the World
In March 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Fairhaven posted a Help Ukraine announcement, and the church joined the wider United Methodist response to the refugee crisis that followed. The pastor's sermons of the period had already been praying for peace, for restraint upon those who seek their own way by manipulation, coercion, violence, and oppression, and for the enlightenment of all bishops, priests, and deacons, and all the servants of God, with true knowledge and understanding of his Word. The mission of the church, in other words, is not only local. It is the wider mission of the United Methodist Church, of which Fairhaven is a part through the Three Rivers District of the Holston Conference.
Beliefs in Plain Speech
The church's stated beliefs, set out across the collects, the litany, the Ten Commandments, the prayers, and the sermons, are those of the Christian Church in the historic sense. The Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is one God. The Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is God in the flesh, who took all our sin and injustice into himself, who died on the cross, and who was raised bodily on the third day, and who ascended to the right hand of the Father. The Holy Spirit is the giver of new life, who comes to the disciples at Pentecost and who continues to guide the Church into all truth. The Bible is the Word of God, the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments together, and is to be read in the communion of the Church, in continuity with the creeds and the historic liturgy. The Christian life is the life of Word and Sacrament, of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, of the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection of the body, of the life of the world to come. The Law of God, summarized in the Ten Commandments, is not abolished but written on the heart by the Holy Spirit, so that the people of God may love the Lord their God with all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their mind, and with all their strength, and may love their neighbor as themselves. The mission of the church is to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that Christ has commanded.
What a First-Time Visitor Will Find
Worship begins at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, after Sunday School at 10:00 a.m. The congregation is small, the sanctuary is plain, and the order of service is the historic one. The pastor preaches from a manuscript, the prayers are said aloud, the psalm is sung or read responsively, the Gospel is the high point of the liturgy, and the benediction sends the congregation out. There is a children's message in the chancel. Parking is at the church on West Walnut Street. The phone number is 423-928-1543, and the pastor's email address is revpaullongmire@gmail.com. The church can also be found on Facebook, and the daily scripture verse, the daily Bible reading, the monthly newsletter, and the Sunday sermon manuscripts are all posted at the church's online address. For anyone who wishes to be a witness to the ends of the earth, Fairhaven United Methodist Church is a quiet place to begin, with the historic collects on the lips and the day's Gospel opened wide.