Refuge Church was established in 1858. The original building was constructed of logs and located where the cemetery is located today. Around 1893 the logs were sold to the father of the Rev. Wiley J. Nail, who built a barn using them. A new wooden structure was then built on the same site. On July 6, 1916 a tornado blew all of the building away except the floor, the pulpit with an open Bible still resting on it, and the piano. A new wooden building was then constructed just south of where the current rock structure stands. A spring with good drinking water was located just south of that building.
The current block and stone building was built in the late 1940's. Local stone was used and the men, women and children of the community provided most of the labor.