History

Early

We are a simple country church with a long and rich history. Lane's is the oldest church in the area, with roots dating back even before April 1794, when Methodist Bishop Francis Asbury purchased Cox's Meeting House for five shillings. Located just one-and-a-half miles from our present site, the original log Meeting House was already an established place of public worship, used in all probability by different denominations during the early republican era. Bishop Asbury first visited this existing congregation on February 10, 1788, noting in his journal that there was a "prospect of good". Six years later, local landowner John Cox formally sold the building to Asbury. The Bishop frequently traveled these routes on his journeys North and South, preaching here several times on the circuit from New Bern:

"Monday, Feb. 25, 1799: It was cold to purpose and we had twenty four miles to ride to William Cox's on Neuse River, near the mouth of Contentney: Here my text was I John 4:16-17. We hence fled through the counties of Craven, Lenoir, Glasgow, and Edgecombe." - Asbury's Journal

The old log Meeting House would burn during the Civil War. It was rebuilt soon after and ultimately given to a local Black congregation, now Alum Springs Church of Christ.

Reconstruction

Our present land was purchased in 1868, and a wood sanctuary was built soon after, originally facing Neuse Road. As the Methodist Episcopal Church South expanded, Lane's was part of the Neuse, then the Craven, then the Dover circuits and supplied by circuit-riding preachers. Like the old Cox house, the chapel was named after the local Lane family. In 1891, several families from Lane's founded Bethany Methodist Church led by Reverend J. G. Johnson. Rev. Johnson would also establish Epworth Methodist and Dover Methodist. 

The physical church continued to evolve with its congregation; in 1938, the sanctuary was moved to its present location on the property and renovated. Later, to accommodate a rapidly growing Sunday School, the church broke ground in 1953 to enlarge the sanctuary, add an educational wing and add an assembly hall. In the 1990s, the south fellowship hall was added with help from the Duke Endowment.

Recent

In the 2010s, Bethany Church merged back with Lane's Chapel. 

In the 2020s, a long-brewing schism occurred in the United Methodist Church between liberals and conservatives. Like many other conservative churches, Lane's Chapel prayerfully decided to disaffiliate.

Lane's remains committed as always to listening to God's Holy word, to loving our neighbor, and to expanding the kingdom in obedience to the Great Commission. We hope you will join us.