• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
The Leader

The Leader

Tipton County's Newspaper since 1886

  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Business
    • Churches
    • Courts
    • Education
    • Election 2024
    • Events
    • Local Government
    • Local Politics
    • Military
    • Public Records
    • Public Safety
  • Sports
    • All
    • Baseball
    • Basketball
    • Cross Country
    • Fishing
    • Football
    • Golf
    • Soccer
    • Softball
    • Volleyball
    • Wrestling
  • E-Editions
  • Public Notices
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • Contact Us
    • Submit News
    • Advertise With Us
  • Where to Buy

Munford’s River of Life Church destroyed in overnight fire

By Echo Day on January 7, 2022

Munford’s River of Life Church, at 220 Beaver Road, burned overnight. The blaze took about eight hours to get under control. Photo courtesy Gilt Edge Fire

Munford’s River of Life Church was destroyed by fire overnight.

Fire chief Jeremy Reeves said the department was dispatched just before 11:30 p.m. and the building was already 75 percent involved.

“The old part was on fire and was pretty much destroyed before we got here,” he said. “There was so much fire and we had so few resources at the time.”

Nine of the other 10 fire departments in the county – Atoka, Brighton, Covington, Mason, Tipton County, Gilt Edge, Quito Drummonds, Three Star, and Charleston – showed up to help get the blaze under control. Reeves said it took about eight hours and the fire hydrants were frozen as firefighters arrived. The temperature was 18 degrees.

The fire remains under investigation.

This is the third fire for the congregation in its 93 years.

Munford’s River of Life Church, at 220 Beaver Road, burned overnight. The blaze took about eight hours to get under control. Photo courtesy Gilt Edge Fire

According to “River of Life: A History of Munford First Assembly of God Church,” written by Atoka Alvin Plexico, Ph. D., the church was born from revival just as the Great Depression began. Members of the congregation grew cotton to help raise money for a building and, on Christmas Eve 1929, women and children pulled the cotton stalks to clear the site where the church stands as the men dug the foundation. Church services were held in various homes until the building was completed.

Firefighters work to bring the blaze under control. Photo courtesy Munford Fire Department

Tragedy first struck not too long after. Church history reports the original building was doused in coal oil and burned, so the congregation was forced back into using a tent as they did in the very early days of revival.

The second building was constructed in the 1930s and it burned down on Oct. 20, 1946 after a member of the church lit the basement stove to warm up the church. A special business meeting was called by the pastor that morning and it was decided the congregation would have the church rebuilt on its present lot.

Congregants are pictured in front of the church in the summer of 1946. Photo from “River of Life: A History of Munford Assembly of God Church” by Dr. Alvin Plexico.

While the third building was constructed, in the late 1940s, Munford Presbyterian Church offered its building to Munford Assembly of God’s congregants for worship on Sunday afternoons. In a personal interview Dr. Plexico conducted with Faye Ellis in 2013, she told him the young people of the church volunteered to chop and pick cotton to help raise money.

“We wall wanted to do our part, she said. “Even the children wanted to do their part to help rebuild the church.”

Congregants are pictured in front of the third church building, constructed after the 1946 fire, in 1948. Photo from “River of Life: A History of Munford Assembly of God Church” by Dr. Alvin Plexico.

A new sanctuary was added and completed in September 1974. They have since added the gym, which is where Pastor Greg Tempke said services will continue.

He addressed his congregation early Friday morning via video.

“We just want you to know we love you and God’s in control,” he said. “We have lost our building but we have not lost our church. We are the church. And we are thankful tonight that faith is arising in the hearts of God’s people. God has a plan.”

There were no injuries reported.

Related Articles:

As confirmed cases grow, Covington and other cities declare a state of emergency 88a1f9fc Cb86 11e5 9a3f 23ceb1c14e77The unbelieving religious rulers Remembering Tipton County’s fallen servicemembers on Memorial Day Chris David pulls 80-pound flathead catfish out of the Hatchie River

Posted Under: News Tags: alvin plexico, Atoka Fire, brighton fire department, charleston fire department, church fire, covington fire department, Gilt Edge Fire Department, greg tempke, Jeremy Reeves, mason fire department, munford fire department, quito drummonds fire department, river of life church, river of life fire, three star fire department, Tipton County Fire Department

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search

Featured News

Brighton High fishing duo will compete for national title next month

May 28, 2025 By Jeff Ireland

Jaxon Sherfield, a … [Continue Reading...] about Brighton High fishing duo will compete for national title next month

Munford baseball finishes second at Class AAA state tournament

May 28, 2025 By Jeff Ireland

Saturday's Class 3A … [Continue Reading...] about Munford baseball finishes second at Class AAA state tournament

Brighton High grad Dalton Rushing now playing for reigning World Series champs

May 20, 2025 By Jeff Ireland

Making a Major … [Continue Reading...] about Brighton High grad Dalton Rushing now playing for reigning World Series champs

Covington softball team downs South Gibson, advances to state tournament

May 20, 2025 By Jeff Ireland

There were not a lot … [Continue Reading...] about Covington softball team downs South Gibson, advances to state tournament

Tags

auvic white black history braxton sharp brighton baseball brighton basketball brighton football brighton high school city of covington City of Munford coronavirus covid-19 covington Covington Baseball covington basketball Covington football covington high school covington police covington police station Election 2020 events homicide J.R. Kirby Jalen Fayne Jamarion Dowell jeff huffman john edwards Jordan Bell JR Kirby munford baseball Munford basketball munford football munford high school murder ronnie gorton sex crimes shooting Slade Calhoun tcso Tipton-Rosemark Academy Tipton County Museum tipton county schools tipton county sheriff's office town of atoka town of mason TRA basketball

Footer

The Leader is a weekly newspaper, published on Thursdays, serving Tipton County, Tenn. since 1886.

Contact us: news@covingtonleader.com

Editor’s Choice

Here’s how Home Depot and a team of volunteers helped make over CIAA

December 5, 2019 By Echo Day

Black History Month: Mason’s John W. Boyd went from slavery to the statehouse

February 7, 2020 By The Leader

Search

Copyright © 2025 · The Leader | Legacy Media · Log in