Considering Moving to Rural Area Outside Nashville

[DonCorleone]

Sounds like you may have received your answer about the church issue...

Originally Posted by southronlady

Thanks for all the information. I was wondering about Westmoreland. Is there much shopping there? Where is the closest Kroger?

Probably the closest Kroger is in Gallatin. Same for Publix. There is a Walmart Supercenter in Lafayette, though. That would be about a 20 minute drive I think. There's also a Food Lion in Portland...that's probably also about 15-20 minutes towards I-65. Although I have to admit it has been a long time since I've been up that way so I may be wrong about the drive times. I see a couple of smaller markets on Google Maps in and around Westmoreland, but honestly there is not a lot there.

If I were that close to the KY state line, I would probably consider grocery shopping in Kentucky at least for large purchases. TN has sales taxes on groceries, KY does not. For an extra 20 minute drive probably, you will save about 8-9% depending on local taxes. It's definitely worth checking out. And there is a Walmart Supercenter in Franklin KY, just across the state line.

As for Lafayette, I don't know much...it is very rural but does have a little more to offer as far as commerce goes compared to Westmoreland. I would think Portland would be a good place for you to look as well. Still fairly rural, but also close enough to the interstate and highway 109 where you could be in a more commercial area pretty quickly...like within 20-30 minutes.

Hope that helps.

[vivelafrance]

Yes, everyone in Northern Sumner County goes to KY (Franklin or Scottsville) to do their grocery shopping. I doubt a major supermarket will ever choose to build there even in fast growing Portland due to the sales tax issue. Northern Sumner has became pretty attractive to distribution centers in the past 5-10 years due to it's central location between Nashville and Bowling Green. It's a nice place to live if you don't mind a 30 minute drive to either Hendersonville or Bowling Green for major shopping, restaurants, or movies.

[VixenKS]

My mom is into that KJV-Only stuff too, except she is from Johnson City (way out east) so that's not helpful to you. Best way to find a church is to grab an atlas, and then yahoo or google the town you are considering and "baptist church". For example, "Clarksville Baptist Churches" and every Baptist church will be listed. Not all have websites, but you can always email those ones and see if they believe the KJV is the one-and-only. Used to be you could get a phonebook, but seems those are gettin' hard to come by! Generally the KJVO churches state loud and clear on their home page that they sing only hymns and only use KJV. Smaller towns are less likely to have those megachurches, but these days even smaller churches are getting those rock bands in them.

Way of Life is a good resource for finding the fundamental independent Baptist churches you are wanting. KJV folks where I live hammer in on that one thing and act like complete jerks, so watch out for that. Anyway, best way is to check out individual cities, and many will have photo galleries. Check those galleries to see if they dress they way you want.

[southronlady]

Just wanted to update my post to let you all (and anyone else who might be looking) know that I DID FINALLY find what I was looking for after a LONG search. . . .a little KJB (King James Bible) church meeting on the town square of Lafayette, TN about an hour northeast of Nashville. Anyone looking for a family friendly, loving church small enough to genuinely care should check out New Song Baptist! It is a conservative little church with lots of old-fashioned preaching and teaching and very friendly folk. Thanks to all who responded!!

[southronlady]

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to update you all and thank you for helping me in MY SEARCH. You were all most helpful! Just wanted you to know that we did find EXACTLY what we were looking for. . . in Macon County. We purchased a 4 br home on 5 acres and were able to purchase another adjoining 5 acres--all in our price range!! We are just a little over an hour to Nashville. We are also now regularly attending a nice little conservative KJV Baptist church--New Song Baptist--that meets in a store-front in the old part of Lafayette on the town square. The people there are very sincere, friendly folk who have really reached out to our family and have made us feel right at home. Also, there are a lot of home schoolers in the area that we are beginning to meet. The preaching and teaching at church is old-fashioned, conservative, and supportive of strong values (very rare today) and yet very applicable to current events. They are also very music-focused. Wanting to share his love of music with others, the Preacher encourages the congregation to take up an instrument or practice voice. He teaches a short lesson on music theory twice a month before Sunday church. My children have enjoyed bringing their stringed instruments and joining in to play with the other youth. Some of the older woman come to also learn and to help us better our voices. I have never sung in church before, but this Sunday, a group of us are actually singing together our different parts--soprano, alto, tenor, bass. What great fun!! Hope this happy report helps anyone else who might be looking for the same thing. Thanks again!! You guys were right on!!

[BirdieBelle]

Congratulations! It's great that you have found your "home."

Does the minister do all that musical teaching for free? That must be quite a workload. I'm sure you have discovered a lot of hidden talent in the congregation. "New Song" indeed.

[southronlady]

Yes, the music lessons are free. A member of the congregation who is fluent in Spanish is teaching Spanish now, too, on Tuesday evenings from 6:00-6:45 pm. Those lessons are free as well for anybody who wants to participate. Anybody from the community is welcome--young or old. They especially want to be a blessing to homeschoolers.