The Sanctuary - Newton

The Sanctuary of Newton was founded in January 2011 by Rev. Carey and Sis. Edith Horner. “We received a word from God in 2009 that it was time for us to move back to Meridian, Mississippi, from Stone Mountain, Georgia. We did not know where God wanted us to work until January 2010. God spoke to Bro. Horner and told him the people of Newton needed a church. We called Bro. T.M. “Mack” Roberts and told him we were moving back in hopes of starting a church in Newton. He was so excited and told us he had been praying about this. We answered the call and moved back to Meridian in July 2010. We were approved for Home Missions status November 2010. We had already begun handing out flyers, door knocking, and doing Bible studies. We did not have a building. We had our launch service January 30, 2011, at a rented facility that would only allow us to have that one service. We had many family members and friends in attendance but more importantly, we had 12 people from the City of Newton. We remained hopeful that God would give us a place for services.

Newton is a small city of 3,900 people. There were not a lot of places to rent, and most were overpriced. We had gotten a word from God and Because of the Times from a message that Bishop Huntley had preached. He said, ‘Don’t let the circumstances around you frustrate you when God has given you a word.’ He then said, ‘Sometimes, instead of a building, you may have to use a hotel room... just hang on to the Word you got from God!’ We were not able to find a building for almost three months. We had service on Sunday in a hotel room with a sign on the door saying, ‘The Sanctuary is worshipping here.’

The owner of a building we had looked at and really liked called us on Sunday evening, April 10, and told us that she and her husband wanted to rent to us and would take the rent down to the amount we could afford. She said she felt that renting to us was connecting to something great, and they wanted to be a part of that.

We had our first service at 103 South Main Street on April 24, 2011, which was Easter Sunday. We remain there today. We started with just us two. We have seen many come and go, but we remain faithful and believe God is going to have a great church in Newton, Mississippi. We currently have 24 in attendance. We have kids and adult Sunday School classes, Life in Focus classes for Alcohol and Chemical dependency, young minister mentoring classes, and Women’s Better You classes. We currently give out school supplies every year to over 175 kids. We are chamber members and are involved in our community in outreach and community needs.

We continue in His service and serve in whatever capacity He leads” - Pastor and Sister Horner