Following Christ in building relationships, we provide resources and offer hope to our Reelfoot Lake neighbors.
In February of 1963, Hilda McKinnie and Tenne Butler made the decision to change what they could for poor children in Lake County, Tennessee. They recruited the use of the Mooring Methodist Church building that had been closed years prior. Each Sunday morning they offered these children and families loving support, biblical teaching, and a warm meal. From these initial relationships, broader needs were revealed. Reelfoot Rural Ministries was founded to meet the needs of the community.
In 1965, Miss Pauline Precise, a Methodist Deaconess, was assigned as RRMs first director. Her office at that time was the trunk of her car. During those early years, RRM was housed in numerous locations, including Mooring Church, Mooring School, Cloverdale School and in the Armory at Reelfoot Lake. But in 1970, Mr. and Mrs. L E. Maloney donated land for the RRM Community Center. The “permanent home” was completed in 1972.
Reelfoot Rural Ministries is a mission agency founded by the people of the Memphis Conference of the United Methodist Church. RRM is located in rural Obion County, serving Northwest Tennessee and Southwest Kentucky.
This rural area surrounding Reelfoot Lake is an area of extreme poverty. In fact, Lake County has the lowest per capita income of any county in Tennessee and is consistently ranked as one of the lowest in the nation. The combined lasting effects of farm mechanization, limited factory employment, and a seasonal lake culture have left economic marks difficult to change.
Reelfoot Rural Ministries is a 501 (C) (3) corporation, with multiple sources of funding, serving people without regards to religious affiliation, age, race, color, creed, sex, or any other legally protected status.
