Sundays at Eleven on Vance Drive
First United Methodist Church of Bristol sits on a hilltop between Vance Drive and Sparger Road in the Holston Hills neighborhood of Bristol, Tennessee. Its brick and glass building, classrooms, fellowship hall, and sanctuary are easy to find, and the congregation has been gathering on this spot since the summer of 1957. Members and visitors come each week for the same reason: to worship God, grow in faith, and serve their neighbors. The church's motto - Welcomed, Beloved, and Sent - appears beneath its name and shapes everything that happens inside.
Sunday worship begins at 11:00 a.m. in the Sanctuary and is also livestreamed on YouTube for those who cannot attend in person. A second, smaller gathering called Common Ground Fellowship Worship meets at 10:30 a.m. in the Chapel. Both services follow the Revised Common Lectionary and are rooted in the United Methodist tradition of Word and Table. Holy Communion is celebrated regularly, and all who seek to follow Jesus are welcome at the table. Worship is traditional, with a Hymn of Praise, anthem, scripture readings, sermon, and a Hymn of Benediction each week. Hymns like Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah, Crown Him With Many Crowns, Love Divine All Loves Excelling, and How Firm a Foundation find their place alongside newer pieces, with accompaniment provided by music minister Phil Haga, organ, and accompanists Randall Vaught and Betty Curtis.
The Chancel Choir Sings Every Sunday
Music is central to the life of this church. Beginning in September, the Chancel Choir moved from performing once a month to twice a month, and now to every single Sunday. Rehearsals take place immediately after worship, and newcomers are warmly welcomed. No prior experience is required; only a willingness to lift one's voice and share simple, beautiful songs of faith. The choir is supported by a Dyer pipe organ, which was dedicated in October 1992 and continues to undergird congregational singing with its rich tone. Phil Haga directs the music ministry and frequently joins the choir as a soloist, as in his rendition of Now I Belong to Jesus on a recent Sunday.
Beloved Children Launches
In early September, the congregation officially launched Beloved Children, its new children's ministry. The launch was celebrated during worship and marked a deliberate investment in the youngest disciples of the church. Beloved Children exists to give children a place to know they are loved, grow in faith, and discover what it means to follow Jesus. The program was prepared by a team of volunteers whose work Pastor Chris publicly thanked, and it complements the intergenerational welcome that runs through the rest of the congregation's life.
A Pastor Called from the Sidelines to the Pulpit
Chris Duble serves as Lead Pastor. A former high school coach and youth pastor, he answered the call to ministry after experiencing what he describes as the transformative grace of Christ in his own life. He is passionate about helping people discover they are God's beloved and about building communities centered on grace, justice, and deep connection. Chris completed his Master of Divinity degree at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, and at the 2026 Holston Annual Conference at Lake Junaluska, he was commissioned as a provisional member preparing for ordination as an Elder in The United Methodist Church. He has also begun serving part-time as Associate Pastor at State Street United Methodist Church under the leadership of Rev. Laura Rasor.
Before Bristol, Chris served as pastor of Mountain View United Methodist Church in Abingdon, Virginia. His ministry is shaped by the wisdom of liberation theology, open and relational theology, and the Wesleyan tradition of personal and social holiness. He brings a heart for helping churches grow in vitality and outreach, ensuring that faith is lived out through love and service in the community. Chris and his wife Caitlin are parents to two daughters, Nora and Sutton, and the family enjoys football, lifting weights, and time together.
In his weekly letters, Pastor Chris speaks openly about grief and current events, and the congregation has come to expect a sermon that connects scripture to the headlines. Recent weeks have included reflections on the parable of the wheat and the weeds, the Canaanite woman, Jesus walking on water, and the prophet Isaiah's call - alongside pastoral responses to community shootings, Pride Month, the treatment of transgender neighbors, the legacy of Juneteenth, and the calling of Christian nationalism. The letters end with a signature line: Peace for the journey.
A Building Built for Mission
The Vance Drive campus is more than a sanctuary. The Fellowship Hall once served as the worship space itself, and today it hosts Wednesday Open Table community meals, monthly Fellowship Meals after worship, the United Women in Faith yard sale, the annual fall festival, and family movie nights. The Carroll Skeen Memorial Chapel, created from what had been the Boy Scout room, holds a stained-glass window salvaged from the original Seventh and Anderson Street building, placed there in memory of the Rev. Absalom Bunn, an early minister and charter member. The Sanctuary was consecrated in May 1976, with the Dyer organ added sixteen years later. Other named rooms include the Conference Room, the Yoga Room, and Tankersley Hall. A second-floor space near Tankersley is being reconsidered for ministry use as the church continues to grow.
A Century on Vance Drive
The congregation's roots reach back more than a century. For almost twenty years, a small band of Methodist families in Bristol longed to start their own church. Their hope took shape in 1907, when Rev. Smith Whittenburg's preaching at a revival in the old Fairmount Tabernacle inspired new energy. In 1909, the Rev. David G. Pyle, then a District Superintendent, came to organize the church. Thirty-two members gathered at the King Printing Company on Shelby Street, soon moved up the street to the YMCA auditorium for $30 a month, and by 1911 had built an imposing brick structure at Seventh and Anderson Streets. The building was dedicated on January 21, 1912, in a packed house, with morning and afternoon offerings totaling $12,170 toward the $14,000 cost.
By 1925 the 337 resident members were already talking about a new, larger building. The Great Depression and the Second World War delayed action, and by the end of the war membership stood at 437 and parking had become nearly impossible. In 1954 the church purchased a lot between Vance Drive and Sparger Road in Holston Hills and launched a $175,000 building fund campaign. On June 30, 1957, the congregation moved into the brick and glass-walled structure with spacious classrooms and a roomy fellowship hall. Members celebrated out-of-debt Sunday on March 18, 1973, by burning the notes. Plans moved forward to convert the Boy Scout room into the Carroll Skeen Memorial Chapel and to build a real sanctuary, which was consecrated in May 1976.
The church's name has changed alongside American Methodism itself. It began as First Methodist Episcopal Church, became First Methodist Church when three branches of Methodism united in 1939, and took its present name of First United Methodist Church when the Evangelical United Brethren and the Methodist Church merged in 1968.
United Women in Faith
United Women in Faith is one of the church's most active organized groups. Members meet on the second Tuesday of each month at 5:30 p.m., bringing a dinner or snack to share as they fellowship, pray, and study together. The group's annual yard sale, held most recently on the first weekend in October, is a major fundraiser and a signal of how seriously members take the connection between faith and generosity. Proceeds from the most recent sale supported Haiti missions, Christmas poinsettias for shut-ins, the church's general budget, the VA Avenue Food Bank, Family Promise, new tablecloths, funeral flowers, and Hunt Memorial Mission.
Local Outreach and Trips to Haiti
Outreach is woven into the identity of the church. The church has a long-standing pattern of participation in Habitat for Humanity, mission trips to Haiti and other places, Love Meals, Meals on Wheels, buying school supplies for students at Anderson Elementary School, and Raceway Ministries. When Hurricanes Katrina and Rita brought devastation to the Gulf Coast in 2005, the congregation sent not only generous donations of money, health kits, and flood buckets but also an entire truckload of bottled water. The church also supports a Blessing Box stocked through monthly food donations, and the building hosts community groups that feed and care for neighbors who are not members of the congregation.
Recovery, Yoga, and the Building as a Community Hub
The Vance Drive building is shared with the wider community in ways that go well beyond Sunday morning. AA meetings are held on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings; NA meetings fill Monday, Friday, and Saturday; and a Sunday afternoon DAA meeting serves another group on the recovery journey. Chair Yoga meets in the Yoga Room on Monday evenings, and the Misfit Gypsies Belly Dance beginner's class uses the same space on Wednesday evenings. Wednesday nights also bring Open Table, a weekly community meal at 6 p.m. that brings together members and neighbors around food. These rhythms reflect the church's commitment to being a place that serves people at every stage of life, not only on Sunday mornings.
An Open Welcome in a Divided Time
First United Methodist Church of Bristol has become known in its community for an explicit welcome that includes LGBTQ neighbors and friends. Each year the church has a table at TriPride in Cumberland Park in Bristol, Virginia. Pastor Chris has written openly in his weekly letters about the cost of that witness, about the church's grounding in the United Methodist Book of Discipline's affirmation of the sacred worth of all people, and about reading scripture honestly rather than using it as a weapon. The 2025 resolution of the Holston Annual Conference opposing Christian nationalism is referenced as part of the same confession of faith. Members speak of being a place where people of every age, race, ethnicity, culture, gender identity, sexual orientation, family structure, ability, economic background, and life experience are treated with dignity, respect, and love.
Bible Study, Fellowship Meals, and the Choir Loft
Discipleship is built around several weekly touchpoints. Pastor Ray leads a Bible study on Tuesdays at 10 a.m. in the Conference Room. Choir practice follows worship on Sundays at 12:01 p.m. The monthly Fellowship Meal after worship on the fourth Sunday gives the congregation a chance to sit down together, and food donations for the Blessing Box are collected at every gathering. A weekly e-newsletter keeps members informed about upcoming events, meetings, and community activities, and pictures and announcements are submitted through a Google form for inclusion in each issue.
Part of the Holston Conference and Clinch Mountain District
The church belongs to the Clinch Mountain District of the Holston Conference of The United Methodist Church, which stretches across much of East Tennessee, southwest Virginia, and a portion of north Georgia. Members are encouraged to subscribe to the Clinch Mountain District e-newsletter to stay connected with district ministries, events, and opportunities. The district's Together In New Beginnings theme appears regularly in church communications, reflecting the partnership between local congregations and the wider connection.
Beliefs
As a congregation of The United Methodist Church, First United Methodist Church of Bristol teaches that God's grace is at work in every person before they ever step through the doors. Members seek to respond to that grace by loving God, loving their neighbors, growing together in faith, and serving the community with compassion and justice. The life of the congregation centers on worship, prayer, Scripture, the sacraments, and service. Communion is celebrated regularly at Christ's open table, and all who seek to follow Jesus are invited to receive. Members believe faith is more than what one believes; it is how one lives, and the church seeks to be a people of grace, reconciliation, and hope, working alongside neighbors to care for those in need, pursue justice, and participate in God's ongoing work of renewing the world.
Giving and Practical Details
Online giving is available through the church's Realm portal, with credit and debit card gifts accepted (a 2 percent card processing fee applies). Members and friends can also support the church by linking their Kroger Community Rewards card to First United Methodist Church, Bristol, TN, under code BE100, with a portion of qualifying purchases returned to the congregation. Office hours are by appointment, with the pastor reachable by email at pastor@fumcbristol.org or by phone at 423-782-0291. The church office number is 423-652-2811, and the physical address is 322 Vance Drive, Bristol, TN 37620. For those who cannot join in person, the Sunday 11 a.m. service is livestreamed on YouTube.