The Primitive Baptist Church on Alum Ridge Road has been revitalized, with its new chapter beginning as Resurrection Way Fellowship settles in. Many locals will remember the small white building as the old Greasy Creek Church in Willis. After several transitions, it seems that Resurrection Way Fellowship will call it home for the foreseeable future.
There is a long history surrounding this building. The New River Association of Baptist Churches previously dismissed 30 members from West Fork Primitive Church to establish a new congregation in the Willis area, leading to the formation of Greasy Creek Primitive Church in the fall of 1898. J.M. Dickerson and J.N. Akers were appointed as pastors. By 1899, at least seven new members had joined. For a century, the church served as a primitive Baptist congregation. Hope Smith, a member who lived to be 104, recalled that wagons would line up around the church three or four rows deep during Sunday services. With the windows wide open, the overflow of worshippers could still hear the message. The first burial in the expansive cemetery adjacent to the building occurred in 1899, involving a child under the age of two. Mrs. Smith, along with many relatives of some current trustees, is also buried there. One of the trustees’ fathers, Donald Clay, had once served as the preacher at Greasy Creek.
In the early 1990s, a group from the Rivendale Community, a non-denominational group, reopened the church and added bathrooms. Subsequently, the Church of the Brethren used the building until recently.
Resurrection Way was founded in the fall of 2021 by Jennifer Miller, who, along with her husband Chris, moved to Floyd in May 2018. They operate StoneHaven Bed and Breakfast on Christiansburg Pike. The Millers were actively involved in Abundant Life Fellowship in Pilot, where Jennifer taught Wednesday night Bible study and occasionally filled in for the pastor. When asked by the Bishop to serve as an interim at another location, she responded to the call. Resurrection Way was established by eight devoted attendees who met in the dining room of StoneHaven for two and a half years. In the spring of this year, they discovered the vacant white church and arranged to move in, with their first service held on May 5th.
Over the past three months, they have undertaken necessary renovations, repairs, and upgrades. The church has seen salvations, baptisms, transformed attitudes, and a contagious joy. A regular attendee from Greensboro comments, “If you want to hear truth in love and grace, this is the place for you. There are no religious do’s and don’ts—just God’s grace.” Another faithful attendee shares, “As the Bible says, ‘You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ I was liberated from the old sermons of guilt, shame, and condemnation at Resurrection Way Church and finally heard the truth of God’s grace for my life!”
Pastor Jennifer, her husband Chris, and the Resurrection Way community invite everyone to join them for services. Services are held on Sundays, starting with coffee and fellowship at 10:30 am, followed by praise and worship at 11:00 am. For more information, visit their Facebook page: Resurrection Way Fellowship, and their YouTube channel: The Re-Connection with Jennifer Miller.
Resurrection Way Church
621 Alum Ridge Rd.
Floyd, VA 24091