This church began as a non-denominational congregation organized by pioneer settlers of the Peters Colony in 1846. Itinerant preachers were invited to hold services in a log church/school building located about one quarter mile northwest of here. The log chapel was on 10 acres called Antioch donated by North Carolina immigrants Mary Stowe Chinn (1808-1871) and Elisha Chinn (1802-1876) for church and cemetery purposes.

The church was admitted to the North Texas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South in 1872, as Chinn’s Chapel Methodist Church. Sunday School classes began that year. In 1877, the church purchased 4 acres here at the site of freshwater springs and early camp meetings. A sanctuary was erected and a tabernacle built for summer revivals. The property also included a combination Woodmen of the World Lodge Hall / Public School from 1884 to 1921. Chinn’s Chapel served as the main gathering place for the area.

Though membership declined sharply after World War II, the church endured. Through denominational merger it became Chinn’s Chapel United Methodist Church in 1968. Local efforts to revive the institution began in the late 1980s, and an active membership was re-established. The building was renovated in 1996.

Genesis 31:49:

“May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.”