A Hundred Years on Harrison Bay
New Bethel Baptist Church sits along Harrison Bay Road in the small community of Harrison, Tennessee, just outside Chattanooga in Hamilton County. The congregation looks back on a century of ministry and forward to the work that remains in the neighborhood it has called home since 1924. Its motto, "A Beacon of Hope in Harrison Bay," captures both the church's identity and its sense of place: a steady light for a rural stretch of the Tennessee valley that has changed around it.
From a Brush Arbor to a New Sanctuary
The story of New Bethel begins with a Presbyterian layman named Grant Yarnell. In 1924, Yarnell started a Sunday School for the community's children in a brush arbor. Later that same year, the church was organized with twenty charter members, and Yarnell suggested the name New Bethel Baptist Church, which was accepted. Ben Crocks and his heirs gave the land, and a school teacher named Myrtle Robinson joined a building committee that raised funds and oversaw construction. The community worked hard and faithfully, and services were held in the new building on the first Sunday of August 1925. The church joined the local Baptist association in 1927 and was formally dedicated the second Sunday of January 1928.
In 1940, A. L. Goins gave the land where the church now stands. The original property was bought by the Tennessee Valley Authority to make way for Chickamauga Lake, and the building was moved to its present location that same year. A new sanctuary was added alongside the original structure in 1975. The old building was torn down in June 1994 after suffering the ravages of time, and a new education wing was dedicated and occupied in December of that year.
Shine, Embrace, Absorb, Share
The church frames its life around a fourfold vision. New Bethel exists to be a beacon of hope by helping individuals become followers of Jesus Christ who absorb the light, embrace the light, share the light, and shine the light. In practice, that means absorbing the light through the study of God's Word, embracing the light through worship, sharing the light through ministry in the community, and shining the light through missions in the world.
The mission statement spells out the gospel that anchors the church. It points to Jesus Christ as the Son given to pay for sin on the cross and raised three days later, and to the promise that everyone who believes in his resurrection and confesses him as Lord will not perish but have eternal life. Believers, in turn, are sent out to make disciples. The leadership also holds up the two greatest commandments from Matthew 22: loving the Lord with all the heart, soul, and mind, and loving neighbors from every background and life experience. The Harrison Bay area, the church says, is not simply a location but the community God has called it to love, and that calling shapes everything from the way the building stays open to the ministries it supports.
Sunday: School, Worship, and the Word
Sunday is the heart of the week at New Bethel. The day begins at 10:00 AM with Sunday School classes in the Fellowship Hall, where children, youth, and adults gather by age group to study Scripture and grow together as the family of God. At 11:00 AM, the congregation comes together for the Sunday Morning Service, a time of worship through music and the preaching of the Word. For those who want to go deeper still, the doors open again at 6:00 PM for an evening Bible Study.
Wednesday: Kids, Prayer, and Bible Study
Wednesdays belong to prayer and the next generation. From 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM during the school year, K-12 children take part in Awana, a high-energy program built around Scripture memory, games, and small-group time. During the summer, those same hours are filled by Bethel Kidz and Teenz, the church's warm-weather alternative for the same age range. Adults meet in a parallel hour from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM for a Bible Study and Prayer Meeting, a straightforward setting to dig into a passage and pray together.
Children and the Next Generation
Children's ministry is woven into both the Sunday and Wednesday rhythms. Sunday School offers a class for kids during the 10:00 AM hour, and the Wednesday night program carries that teaching forward through the week. Visitors who want to be baptized, join the church, or get involved in children's ministry can mark those next steps on the Plan Your Visit form on the church's site.
A Pastor and a Church That Loves the Bay
Stephen Halstead serves as Senior Pastor. He and his wife Morgan are raising their children Elijah and Lucy to follow the Lord, and the family enjoys singing, reading, and writing together. Halstead has said he is wonderfully blessed to pastor New Bethel, and that if the Lord wills, the family looks forward to seeing His kingdom grow in Harrison and throughout the world.
The staff team is described by the church as determined, creative, and Christ-centered, and the wider congregation is known for staying plugged in throughout the year. Anyone interested in getting more involved is welcome to speak with a staff member after a service or reach out through the contact information on the church's site.
Open Doors on Harrison Bay Road
New Bethel Baptist Church is located at 8740 Harrison Bay Road, Harrison, Tennessee 37341, with a mailing address of P.O. Box 161. The phone number is 423-344-9283, and messages can be sent to NewBethPastor@gmail.com. The church keeps an active presence on Facebook and YouTube, where sermons and updates are shared with the wider community. Visitors planning a first trip can fill out the Plan Your Visit form, and those who prefer to give online will find a giving option on the church's site. The doors are open, and the light, as the church likes to say, is meant to be shared.