Bellevue Baptist Church is a large Southern Baptist megachurch in the Cordova area of ​​Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Bellevue is the largest church in Memphis and is one of the leading churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. Bellevue's goal is to "Love God, Love People, Share Jesus, and Make Disciples." The head of the church pastor has been Steve Gaines since 2005.
Video Bellevue Baptist Church
Histori
Bellevue Baptist was founded in 1903 by the Central Baptist Church as a mission church in the suburbs of Memphis. With a small $ 1,000 gift from Fannie Jobe's member, Reverend Thomas Potts leads the congregation to build a one-room stone chapel at the corner of Bellevue and Erskine Avenues. The first service was held on July 12, 1903 with the first Bellevue priest, Henry Hurt. The thirty-two founding members signed an official charter on August 9, 1903. The church completed a 3,000-seat building in 1952, which was one of the first air-conditioned churches in Memphis. Bellevue became one of the largest Southern Baptist churches in the United States in the 1950s with over 9,000 members. The church was transferred to its current building (2000 Appling Road), which housed 7,000 people in the main sanctuary, on a 377-acre (153Ã, ha) campus in Cordova, a suburb of Memphis, in 1989. Bellevue is ranked # 80 in the largest number and fasting. church growth in America by LifeWay Research for Outreach Magazine. Attendance has reached 6,567.
The location of the church near Interstate 40 is characterized by a three-cross view. The ceremony was held on New Year's Eve, 1999. During the clocks of the last millennium, the Bellevue family prayed at the foot of the cross. At midnight, the cross was lit. They look a few miles away. The center bar is 150 feet (46 m) high, flanked by two 120-foot (37 m) crosses.
Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary is located at 51 acre (21 ha) across from Bellevue (35 acres (14 hectares) donated by Bellevue). However, Mid-America operates independently from Bellevue. Nevertheless, the Seminary has maintained close ties with the trial since moving to Memphis in 1976; former Bellevue priest Adrian Rogers is an influential figure at MABTS.
Maps Bellevue Baptist Church
Leadership
Bellevue has been led by only four priests since 1927. The first service was held on July 12, 1903 with the first Bellevue priest, Henry Hurt, saying that he hopes the new church will be "one of the greatest strengths for good" that the city of Memphis has ever seen. Wounded as pastor for the first 11 years, resigned because of poor health in 1914. When his health improved, he then served as a pastor at Union Avenue Baptist Church in Memphis. He also serves on building committees for Baptist Memorial Hospital and as a commissioner for the Memphis Housing Authority. A two-story wooden frame building was added to the original stone structure in 1910, with night service sometimes held on the roof. Richard M. Inlow served as a minister from 1915-1920, followed by William M. Bostick, pastor from 1920 to 1927. Due to growth in membership, the 1,000-seat auditorium was built on Bellevue Avenue, replacing the stone chapel. Dedication to the new building is March 16, 1924.
Robert G. Lee (1927-1960)
On December 11, 1927, Robert Greene Lee preached his first sermon to the trial at Bellevue. His membership was 1,430 when he became the fourth pastor of the church. Lee was born in a log cabin on November 11, 1886. The son of a South Carolina farmer, he worked at school, eventually graduating with a doctorate in international law from the University of Chicago Law Faculty in 1919. Lee preached his sermon Pay-Day Someday more than 1,200 times in Bible conferences, in parliament buildings, churches, universities, youth camps, and ballpark throughout the country and around the world.
At the time of his death on July 20, 1978, about 3 million people had heard him preach Pay-Day Someday . To accommodate the crowds coming to hear Lee preach an hour sermon every year on the first Sunday in May, Bellevue transfers service to Ellis Auditorium in Memphis. In 1954, Westminister Films arrested him at Technicolor delivering his typical sermon. Lee wrote 56 books, written primarily from his sermons.
While he was a priest at Bellevue, Lee served three consecutive tenure as president of the Southern Baptist Convention: 1949, 1950, and 1951. Presiding at a 1951 meeting in San Francisco, he introduced the young Billy Graham to the SBC. Years later, Graham paid tribute to Lee at his death calling him "one of the towering giants of the 20th century". Church membership grew steadily, and Lee led the way for the construction of a new shelter to accommodate 3,000, with a capacity to accommodate 600 more. The new building is located in the same block where the original stone chapel stands. When Lee retired in 1960 after serving as a pastor for 32 years, Bellevue membership has grown to 9,200, making it the largest Baptist church east of the Mississippi River and the second largest church in the Southern Baptist Convention.
Under Lee's leadership, church tradition began in the Great Depression. In December 1934, Lee asked for a special "love offer" to help pay the church building debt. The goal is set at $ 30,000, but church members donate $ 36,000. The tradition continues today, with annual offerings taken before Thanksgiving. The construction of facilities and campus improvements are financed through bidding, along with local and foreign mission efforts.
William Ramsey Pollard was pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, when Robert G. Lee retired. On Easter Sunday, April 17, 1960, the church decided to call him pastor after he preached in Bellevue. He continued to preach as an evangelist until his death on 26 April 1984. He was named Pastor Emeritus in 1979. Pollard received a peak performance award for evangelism from the Tennessee Baptist Convention in 1962, and he is president of the World Evangelical council. Foundation of Dallas, Texas. He was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1959 and unanimously re-elected in 1960. For twelve years of Pollard at Bellevue, the church organized an annual Medical Professional Day. Bellevue was financed and built a branch church, first known as the Baptist Church of Lauderdale Heights and then as a Baptist Church of City View. An activity building was added in 1966 for evangelistic outreach as well as for trial. In honor of the Pollards, the building was named the Pollard Activity Building in 1970. Ny. Pollard founded the Tennessee Minister's Wife Association. In 1965, the Pollards organized a church group for senior citizens. Adrian Rogers (1972-2005)
The most famous church leader, Adrian Rogers, was the senior pastor of the Bellevue Baptist from 1972 to March 2005. During this period, church membership grew from 9,000 to more than 29,000. The original Floridian of 40 years is a pastor of First Baptist Church in Merritt Island, Florida. On August 13, 1972, at the request of the search committee, Rogers preached his first sermon at Bellevue. That morning after he had preached, the congregation unanimously chose Rogers as the next minister. In June 1972, a pulpit search committee member went to Philadelphia to hear Adrian Rogers preach at Southern Baptist Conference. In 1979, Rogers was elected to the first vote as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the world. During the period of theological controversy in the SBC, Rogers helped to lead the KTSP back to the historical roots of biblical inerrancy, an attempt known as the "Conservative Awakening". He was elected SBC president again in 1986 and 1987. In 2000, he chaired the SBC committee accused of revising the faith statement of the denomination, Baptist Faith and Message . In 1996, the American Religious Heritage was named Rogers Clergyman of the Year, and in 2003, he was inducted into the National Religion Broadcasting Hall of Fame. Rogers consulted and prayed privately with four US Presidents (including Ronald Reagan), and was invited by George W. Bush to speak on National Day of Prayer in 2001. In 1994, he was asked by Focus to the founder and president of the Family James Dobson, to serve on the board of directors of the organization. Rogers published 21 books and 52 booklets, including Adrianisms , two volumes of quotations. His Biography, Seeking Love: The Life of Adrian Rogers and His Preaching Philosophy, was published in 2005. After retiring in 2005, Rogers was named Father Emeritus. On its March 4 retirement celebration, Memphis City Council honored Rogers by naming Appling Road segment that runs in front of the west entrance, Adrian P. Rogers Parkway. Before Steve Gaines delivered his first sermon as the seventh Bellevue priest on September 11, 2005, Rogers showed his support for his successor in the morning service by washing Gaines's feet and placing a cloth overcoat on his shoulders to symbolize the transfer of leadership. On November 15, 2005, Rogers died of complications after colon cancer treatment at age 74. Over 10,000 attended his funeral service at Bellevue on November 17, 2005. Local television stations WPTY and Daystar Christian Television broadcast live service broadcasts. Speakers include James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Rogers' successor, Steve Gaines. Steve Gaines (2005-present)
On July 10, 2005, the members chose to make Steve Gaines a new pastor. Gaines previously served as pastor at First Baptist Church in Gardendale, Alabama; suburb of Birmingham, for fourteen years. His first sermon as a new clergyman at Bellevue was on September 11, 2005. Since 1996, Gaines has preached once a year in Bellevue by Rogers invitation. After eight months of reviewing potential candidates for senior pastors, the search committee reached a unanimous decision. In the 14 years that Gaines was a senior pastor at Gardendale, 3,251 people were baptized, leading the Alabama Baptist State Convention in baptism seven of ten years. For Easter 2005, First Baptist Gardendale hosts a public service at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex with over 10,000 attendees. A graduate of Union University with a master's and doctorate from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he served on the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message revision committee for the Southern Baptist Convention along with committee chairman Adrian Rogers. At the seminary, Gaines accepted the HOC. Awards Preach Brown, Jr. for Extraordinary Achievement in the study and practice of preaching. Evangelical teachers also gave him the W. Fred Swank Evangelization Award. Fred Swank is the legendary pastor of Baptist Church Hill Sagamore in Fort Worth, Texas.
Gaines is the only Southwestern Seminary graduate receiving both awards. He was ordained to ministry in 1980 by the birthplace of the First Baptist Church in Dyersburg, Tennessee. He pastored churches in Texas and in western Tennessee before becoming pastor of the First Baptist Church in Gardendale.
Theology
Bellevue was a key supporter of conservative factions in the Southern Baptist Convention during the "conservative/moderate" controversies of the 1970s and 1980s (Rogers served as SBC President for three terms), and the church remains conservative today.
Missions
Since 1903 Bellevue has been active in both local and foreign missions. Father Robert G. Lee preached in Japan and Korea in 1955. Through the Southern Baptist Mission Board in 1962, Father Ramsey Pollard led Bellevue to become the first church to adopt a Cuban refugee family and help build it in America. Father Adrian Rogers led crusade missions in Brazil (1990) and Romania (1992) with many participating church members. In 1999 the church began a mission emphasis in Central America, with the aim of planting churches. Bellevue continues to send mission teams around the world every year, spending $ 5.5 million, a quarter of its $ 22 million annual budget for missions. In 2007, a mission team from the Bellevue women's ministry led a conference in Hyderabad, India. Bellevue has also built churches in Honduras, Uruguay and Nicaragua. The Bellevue team also works in Seattle, WA; Vancouver, BC; and Dakotas.
Controversy
Relocation
After being in the heart of Midtown, Memphis for more than 80 years, Bellevue moved to his current campus in Cordova. In 1983 the addition to the Midtown campus included the city block. On October 30, 1983, the membership chose to move to the current campus, completing the pace in 1989. The main reason Bellevue behind moving to the other side of the city, in addition to requiring more space, is that its membership has changed, with the majority now located in part east of the Memphis metro area. The new campus will be closer to 60 percent of the member's residence. Groundbreaking for a 7,000 seat worship center was July 19, 1987. On Sunday, November 19, 1989, the overflowing mob attended a morning-back-to-back service at the 2000 Appling Road in Cordova. In 1991 the church opened Bellevue Woods, a retired house near the church. The center of family life, preschool wings, athletic complexes and multipurpose wings with a western lobby entrance added to the center of worship and two original wings in the following years. Property debt paid off in 2001. The Mississippi Christian Church of Boulevard purchased the Midtown property at 70 N. Bellevue in 1992.
This move created some controversy in both the city and church communities. Some see it as Bellevue leaving a community that can use the church while others see it as a growing issue of white flight.
Website
In September 2006, The Commercial Appeal , Memphis's main newspaper, reported that recent changes in Bellevue had caused protests by some members. A website contains allegations by some church members that the church is, under the leadership of Gaines, moving towards becoming part of the "growth movement of the church", moving towards a form of government led by the elder (as opposed to a congregation-led government), mismanagement. finance, paying too much leadership, intimidating members who want church leadership to be more open, and vice versa "away from their traditional roots." According to the Bellevue leadership, information on websites has appeared and disappeared repeatedly, and quotes and information about church leadership decisions have been out of context. In response to the site's allegations, Gaines said that the church does not abandon its traditional roots, is not part of the church growth movement, and that the website creates confusion.
On September 24, 2006, Gaines delivered criticisms during night worship. Other newspaper articles covering further developments followed in October.
In November 2006, the church established a communications committee to overcome controversy. In mid-November, a website was launched by the committee. The Communications Committee website discusses the recent reviews of pastor's credit card spending. According to the site, deacons from the church met on November 5 and reviewed Gaines credit card bills, unanimously not finding any inappropriate spending. The Communications Committee website has since been removed.
Error handling minister
On December 17, 2006, the church announced that Paul Williams, a minister and staff in the church for 34 years, had been placed on leave with a pending investigation into "moral failure," identified by Gaines and others as alleged child abuse in the year 1980s. The following day, December 18, Gaines released a statement confessing that he had been aware of the allegations since June 2006 but he had not dealt with it for several months because Williams had attended professional counseling, due to confidentiality concerns, and out of compassion for the staff.
On January 29, 2007, members of Bellevue formed a non-profit organization called "Uncounted Integrity" with the aim of restoring the church's congregation of church finances to the congregation. The group is limited to 50 voting members to avoid infiltration by those who oppose it, although the actual group is much larger. Among other concerns, the main concern is that traditional conservative leadership has been replaced by a more progressive regime that generates $ 20,000 donations to other denominational churches, which openly support homosexual relations and abortion. Some members of the church argue that this objective contradicts Bellevue's historical philosophy of "serving pastors, deacons, operated by committees and approved by the congregation." The group, "Integrity Does Count" broke up within a year, after applying for a financial document that they were entitled under state law of the church and denied the right to review any financial information. The group members who want to follow biblical guidelines and are confident that they will be forced to pursue their request through the secular court system, decide not to pursue their search anymore.
Satellite Church
Bellevue has three satellite churches in Memphis and Shelby County. Impact Baptist Church (now called Bellevue Frayser), within the Frayser community, is the largest and fastest growing Southern African Baptist Church in Tennessee. In 2009, the trial began meeting at a facility formerly occupied by the Georgia Hills Baptist Church in 3759 N. Watkins. Bellevue Frayser operates a weekly food pantry, with Bellevue volunteers distributing food every Saturday morning to about 175 families. The campus also offers thrift stores and guidance for students. Iglesia Bella Vista is a Hispanic church plant near summer and highlands. A third church plant, Bellevue Arlington, began meeting at Arlington High School in September 2009. In the fall of 2013, over 400 people met at Bellevue Arlington every week.
Achievements
In July 2007, Bellevue Baptist was named one of the 50 most influential churches in the country, ranked 38th. This is the first time Bellevue has entered the top 50 most influential churches in the United States. The survey was tabulated through more than 2,000 emails sent to non-Catholic church leaders.
Music and theater
The Bellevue's Girls Quartet, formed in 1928, sings at conferences and denominational meetings in the South. The Bellevue drama service, held in 1951, was the first drama service at the Southern Baptist Convention. The ground floor of the sanctuary of 1952 was designed for Christian theater presentations such as "The Robe" (1957, 1959) and "Ben Hur" (1961). In 1948, Bellevue telephoned Thomas P. Lane to build a comprehensive music program for children through adults. He was the first full-time music minister at the Southern Baptist Convention, and when he retired 38 years later, he had the longest tenure of every Southern Baptist Convention music minister. For more than three decades he directed the choir nursing students at the Baptist Memorial Hospital known as Nightingales. Lane serves with three Bellevue priests who are each elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention: Robert G. Lee, Ramsey Pollard, and Adrian Rogers. For the community they present 38 consecutive appearances of Handel's Messiah , as well as other classics such as The Seven Last Words of Christ and Mendelssohn Elijah . Lane was awarded the Southern Baptist Convention Church Music Award for Outstanding Service, and in 1986 he was appointed Minister of Music Emeritus of Bellevue.
Rogers serves with two music ministers: Thomas P. Lane and James D. Whitmire. After working together as a minister and music minister at First Baptist Church in Merritt Island, Florida, Rogers and Whitmire reunited at Bellevue in 1975. Whitmire was minister of youth music until Lane's retirement in 1986. In December 2005 when he retired as a senior music minister, 5,000 adults and children enrolled in Bellevue's vocal and instrumental program. Whitmire premiered The Singing Christmas Tree in 1976, with a record high attendance of 56,000. The Easter Program, Living Pictures, introduced in 1981, evolved into The Memphis Passion Play on an expanded church stage at Cordova's congregation center in 1990. In 1984, Whitmire embarked on an annual patriotic program, Celebrate America! Under his direction, the Bellevue choir sang at the seven annual Southern Baptist Convention meetings. Whitmire also served as SBC Music Director in 1997 and 2006.
Mark Blair succeeded Whitmire as Music Minister in 2006 and has developed his music program by creating School of Performing Arts (SPA) and Bellevue Orchestra.
Bellevue's School of Performing Arts teaches over 400 students through private weekly lessons with expert teachers. The SPA also hosts a show at the end of the semester where each student can show their talents to their parents and friends. The program is led by the Orchestra and members of the Kevin Price church.
The Bellevue Orchestra consists of over 50 musicians ranging from high school students to adults. The orchestra played in a Sunday Morning service of 9:20 and directed by Mark Blair, Minister of Music. The orchestra also plays at special occasions like Christmas Tree Singing.
Broadcasting
On January 5, 1958, Bellevue became the first church in the world to broadcast a worship service using its own television equipment. Under Pollard's leadership, the church continued to broadcast its services, upgrade to color cameras and equipment in 1970. Instead of selling it, the congregation chose to donate original black and white cameras and equipment to the mission. Bellevue continues to broadcast its services locally.
Crosses on Interstate 40
Three large crosses, visible from Interstate 40, mark the location of the church. The central cross is 150 feet (46 m) tall with two flanking crosses at 120 feet (37 m). The cross is engineered to withstand 70-mil winds per hour (110 km/h) and is constructed from four pieces of structural steel and a white painted white elbow. The sign of the cross was dedicated to a special ceremony with choir, orchestra, and hundreds of church members at midnight on New Year's Eve, 1999. In September 2008 three crosses became the central image in the church logo.
Bellevue Likes Memphis
In 2007, Gaines started an ongoing voluntary church service for Memphis and the community. On September 28, 2009, the Tennessee State House of Representatives issued a proclamation recognizing Bellevue as an institution that has demonstrated "an unflagging capacity for love, spiritual dedication, and faith in God" and to enrich the lives of people in their community. The proclamation cites Gaines 'priest for leading in showing "Jesus' love for the City of Memphis by meeting the practical needs of the population" and for "embracing Bellevue Loves Memphis as a way of life." The document mentions the church sponsor of the Christian Mobile Dental Clinic providing free dental care for the underprivileged, and funding the church of The Vue, a student ministry located near the University of Memphis and accessible to other local college and university students.. The Proclamation notes that on six working days, 5,300 volunteers have contributed between 30,000-35,000 hours through page work, painting, construction, and others to get 40 schools, two junior high schools, 44 churches, 55 family homes, 14 parks, nine cities/government buildings, 16 hospitals, 47 ministries, and ten Memphis City School soccer fields. The proclamation also noted that Bellevue Loves Memphis provided every city fire station with copies of the movie "Fireproof," aided by the cleaning of the City of Memphis, and assisted by ten party blocks. The document also recognizes the church to host the graduation of Tennessee Technology Center 2008-2009. In 2009, Father Gaines was awarded the Open Door Award for his leadership with Bellevue Loves Memphis. The annual award was given by the 4th Memphis Foundation on 4 April. From 2008 to 2013, the church opened its doors to municipal and district schools to conduct their initial training. The Fourth of July annual celebration, Starlight Spectacular, also attracts thousands of people from the community.
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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