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| About us |
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Who we are, about our church,
and our beliefs. |
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A History of the Church |
It was
early in 1958, and two young
men named Richard McKinley and
Jimmie Knifley were interested
in starting the ground work
for a New Testament church
located just outside the city
limits of Campbellsville, in
the small rural community of
Mannsville. Both of them were
members of the Campbellsville
Christian Church, both were
actively involved in the full
time ministry, and both had
attended Cincinnati Bible
Seminary (now Cincinnati
Christian University).
Although both had some
preaching experience, neither
had ever had charge of a
church, let alone form one
from scratch. They were met
with encouragement and
discouragement as the two
youngsters sought out an
opportunity to expand the
Kingdom. Relying on their
faith and determination, they
pressed on toward their goal.
It wasn’t long until they met with some success. The
upstairs over Jack Hartman’s
Grill was rented to them in
order to hold services until a
better location could be
secured. It was on March 2,
1958 that Richard, Jimmie, and
14 other individuals assembled
for the first meeting of the
Mannsville Christian Church.
The services were simple and
down to earth, with Sunday
School starting at 10 AM and
Morning Worship at 11 AM. On
that Sunday morning, Brother
Richard McKinley preached the
first sermon. At 7 PM that
evening, the group assembled
once again for an in-depth
Bible Study, and at 8 PM,
Brother Jimmie Knifley
preached the evening sermon.
This laid out the foundation
for the regular service
schedule at the newly born
congregation in Mannsville.
In 1958 and 1959, two major revivals were held on the
grounds of the Mannsville
School, which at that point
were the property of Howard
Penn. In each of these events,
crowds from sister
congregations and from the
community gathered into the
tent, filling it to capacity
every night. The evangelists,
Paul Bohrer and Ray Bennett,
preached the gospel as it was
written and not based on the
doctrines of men, coining the
phrase Ray used most often
about his preaching, "Heaven
High, Hell Deep, Shotgun
Barrel Straight, and World
Wide."
During this time of spiritual activity, an acre of land
was purchased from Mr. and
Mrs. Kenney Cox as the site
for the church building, an
all purpose brick housing with
a full basement. Ground was
broke on June 29th, 1959
during a service presided over
by Brother Paul Bohrer. This
task could not have been
achieved without the help of
the men of the church,
including Jimmie and Richard,
and to organizations such as
Men For Christ who donated
time, labor, finances, and
energy to its completion.
Both preachers worked together to bring the Gospel to
the people of
Mannsville--Richard in the
morning, and Jimmie at night.
On January 1, 1960, just
before the completion of the
new building, Jimmie accepted
a call to preach at Gum Lick
Christian Church, just 10
miles down Highway 70 from
Mannsville. Jimmie's work at
Mannsville was just the start
of a career steeped in
building up of the New
Testament Church, as he also
helped to plant the Greensburg
Christian Church, and serve as
minister at a number of sister
congregations.
On April 10, 1960, Mannsville Christian Church
assembled for the first time
in its present location.
Richard McKinley served as
minister, and preached the
first sermon that spring
morning. The 14 charter
members blossomed into 59
active members by 1963. The
original elders included Vance
Pennington and Robert Bryant,
and were assisted by deacons
Carl Tedder and Gilbert
Knifley. In the late 1970’s, a
new group of elders and
deacons were ordained to
serve.
Not only had the people changed a great deal over time,
but the land, property, and
church building have as well.
Originally, a trailer was
placed on site as the
congregation's first
parsonage. In March of 1978,
it would be replaced with the
3 bedroom, 2 bath brick ranch
that still stands today. The
church has also gone through a
number of facelifts, including
the finishing up of the
basement, the
 replacement
of wood paneling with dry
wall, and the replacement of
the front screen doors with
glass ones.
Though the faces, buildings, and landmarks have changed
over the course of 50 years,
one thing that has remained
true is the love the people
within share for one another,
for visitors, and, especially,
for the Lord. At Mannsville,
the word Christian means so
much more than a
denomination-it is the way of
life.
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Frequently Asked
Questions |
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What is the Christian
Church all about? |
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How do you interpret the
Bible? |
The Bible is God's inspired
and perfect revelation (or
plan) for mankind. We are to
accept the Lord at His Word.
There isn't any authority over
God, nor His Word. So when we
open up the Bible for
information and inspiration,
we shouldn't take one verse
and make a lifestyle from it.
That would be like signing a
mortgage and looking at the
really good rate you'd be
receiving that day, but
ignoring the rest of the
contract (including the fine
print) and finding out that
your interest rate would soon
soar. The Bible is to be
taken as a whole, and not just
a verse, paragraph, or
author's letter. God lays out
in detail how we can choose to
seek Him out within the Word.
Our very faith comes from the
words He has laid on the
hearts of men (Romans 10:17). |
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How does one become a member
of the Church? |
In order to answer this, we have
to know what the Bible says the
Church is. Many today look at
the worship facility they go to
and label it their church. But
the Church isn't glued down to
the ground on a concrete
foundation, it is a living,
moving entity that is comprised
of the very people who wear the
name of Christ (Acts 2:47). We
do not have a group of
individuals telling us how to
operate, as we are completely
autonomous, functioning under
the local leadership of elders,
and seeking to build up the
kingdom got the only Head of the
Church--Jesus Christ. So the
next question we have is how
does one seek to be a part of
such a vibrant body? By
following the plan of salvation
that is illustrated throughout
the New Testament. Some would
like to argue with the necessity
of some parts over others, but
in Christ's teachings and those
of the apostles, each of these
were implemented so that people
could seek to obey the Lord.
Believe in Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 11:6, John 8:24, Acts
16:31
Repent of your sins. Luke
13:3, Acts 2:38, 3:19, 17:30
Confess faith in Jesus.
Matt. 10:32, Acts 8:37, Romans
10:9-10
Be baptized. Matt. 28:19,
Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, 10:48,
22:16, Colossians 2:12, Titus
3:5
Once one has become a
born-again child of the Lord,
they seek to follow the Father's
instructions on proper living
(II Tim 2:15). The Church helps
the new Christian by answering
questions, lending an ear for
listening, and a heart of
understanding.
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Is Baptism more important
than belief? |
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As mentioned above, there are
some that like to take out
what they feel is simply not
necessary in order to be
saved. Generally, the number
one target is Baptism.
Baptism, defined as the
complete immersion of a
believing individual in water,
is looked at by many as a
symbol, rather than a means
toward salvation. Many
ministers are nervous about
preaching about it, saying
that they don't feel
comfortable saying baptism is
essential (although I Peter
3:21 states that very truth).
Some contend that is a work of
man, others say that the water
has no power to save. First
off, both of these last points
show that an individual or
group has some biblical
knowledge. No, man's works
cannot save anyone, and no,
the water cannot save in and
of itself. But what else does
the Bible say about the
subject.
1) Man doesn't do the work,
God does. Colossians 2:12
states that just as God raised
from the dead, He does the
same in us through baptism.
Romans 6:3 asks us if we knew
that when we were baptized we
were buried with Christ in His
death, burial, and
resurrection.
2) Going back to the water, I
Peter 3:21 also says that the
water isn't for washing away
dirt, but our crying out to
God for a clean conscious--not
that we already had one, but
that we were looking forward
to the point where we were
saved. Acts 2:38 says once we
are baptized, the Holy Spirit
resides within us, and aids us
in the application of God's
Word. In short, obedience is
key to following God and
living for Him.
So is baptism more important
than belief. ABSOLUTELY NOT!
It is just AS important--just
as important as repenting and
confessing Christ. All parts
of the plan of salvation move
us toward obedient faith in
Christ.
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What is the Lord's Supper?
Why take it weekly? |
The Lord's Supper is the
centerpiece of the weekly
worship service. It is a
sobering reminder of the price
that was paid for our sins,
through the body and blood of
Jesus Christ. It was first
instituted by our Savior the
night before his crucifixion,
and was observed by the 12
disciples. The bread is
representative of His broken
body, the cup representative of
His life blood. After Jesus'
resurrection, the act was
repeated by the remaining
disciples on the first day of
the week (the New Testament
Church was started on Pentecost,
which took place on a Sunday,
see Acts 2:1-42). Paul, in his
travels throughout the regions
of Europe and Asia Minor, took
timeout to observe the Lord's
Supper (Acts 20:7). Likewise,
we too take the time to remember
all that Christ has done for
us.
Today, the majority of
"churchgoers" feel that the once
a week observance takes away
from the reverence. So they
proceed to do it quarterly,
sometimes only once or twice a
year. The question we have to
ask ourselves is simply If the
Bible indicates that it took
place weekly, and that as
Christians we need to look back
and remember Jesus' sacrifice
with reverence, how can we not
practice it? We have to
maintain the same amount of
attention to worship in our
observance of the Lord's Supper
as we do to singing praises to
Him and leading others to
Christ.
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Men For Christ |
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Kentucky Men For Christ is an
organization that helps plant
Bible-based Churches in the state.
Mannsville is just one such plant! |
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KYOWVA |
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There are many ministries that KYOWVA
offers to Christians and Churches,
from Bible lessons to videos to church
planting! |
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The Restoration Movement |
Some may wonder where the Christian Church
came from and how we came to understand
God's Word the way we do. If you would
like to learn more, check out the
Restoration Movement history page.
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Creation Museum! |
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We're heading to the Creation Museum on
August 9th at 7 AM. Money for tickets
needs to be in by Friday, July 25th. |
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Summer Gospel Concert |
The Annual Singing is taking place on
Saturday, July 19th starting at
6 PM. |
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| Make a donation |
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Grundy Mountain Mission |
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Paper Drive going on now! |
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Mannsville Christian Church is presently
taking part in a massive paper good
drive for the Grundy Mountain Mission
School in Grundy, VA. |
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