We are a small, loving, welcoming church that has a lot of history tied to the local town of Rutherford College. The namesake of our church is the late Dr. R.L. Abernethy who was the founder of Rutherford College for which the town is named. The college was destroyed by fire and eventually merged with Brevard College. The college is no longer in existence. Much of the property that the college was on is located where Valdese General Hospital is now.
Our church was built in the 1930s in memory of Dr. Abernethy whose college provided educational opportunities to so many.
We are a United Methodist Church and member of the Catawba Valley District in the Western North Carolina Conference.
 | 
