The church was used as a temporary jail for prisoners in the aftermath of the Coal Creek War, a labor uprising that began with the seizure of a convict stockade in Briceville in 1891.

This hill rises approximately 20 feet (6.1 m) above the surrounding terrain, allowing the church to be visible from almost anywhere in the community.

[1] Historian Karin Shapiro credits institutions such as churches for creating a sense of local unity that contributed to the Coal Creek War,[2] a labor uprising that erupted in 1891 over the Tennessee Coal Mining Company's decision to use convict labor to break a strike at its Briceville mine.

[4] The Briceville Community Church was used as a temporary jail to hold dozens of miners arrested by the militia in the conflict's aftermath.

Many of the victims of this explosion were buried in a circular formation known as the Cross Mountain Miners' Circle on the slopes of Walden Ridge,[5] although several were buried in the Briceville Community Church Cemetery, among them Eugene Ault (1889–1911), whose monument is inscribed with the "farewell message" Ault had written on a wall of the mine as he lay dying.

The church is still used for community events such as weddings and funerals, and serves as an evacuation place for Briceville Elementary School (located across the street) in case of emergencies.

The building would be a simple vernacular structure but for the two Gothic Revival-style towers connected at oblique angles to the corners of the facade.

A set of wooden stairs accesses the church's basement, which contains a fellowship hall and Sunday school classrooms built in the 1950s.