Bellevue Baptist Church - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Bellevue Baptist Church is a large Southern Baptist

Southern Baptist Convention

The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...

megachurch

Megachurch

A megachurch is a church having 2,000 or more in average weekend attendance. The Hartford Institute's database lists more than 1,300 such Protestant churches in the United States. According to that data, approximately 50 churches on the list have attendance ranging from 10,000 to 47,000...

in the Cordova

Cordova, Tennessee

Cordova is a community in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. Cordova lies on Memphis' northeast side, north of Germantown, and northwest of Collierville....

area of Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

History

Bellevue Baptist was founded in 1903 by Central Baptist Church as a mission church on the outskirts of Memphis. With a small $1,000 gift from member Fannie Jobe, pastor Thomas Potts, led 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 Bellevue's first pastor, Dr. Henry Hurt. Thirty-two founding members signed the 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 more than 9,000 members. The church relocated to its current building (2000 Appling Road), which seats 7,000, on a 377 acre (1.6 km²) campus in Cordova, a Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee

suburb

Suburb

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

, in 1989. Bellevue is ranked 80th in the largest and fasting growing churches in America by LifeWay Research for Outreach Magazine. The attendance has been up to 6,567. The church's location near Interstate 40

Interstate 40

Interstate 40 is the third-longest major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90 and I-80. Its western end is at Interstate 15 in Barstow, California; its eastern end is at a concurrency of U.S. Route 117 and North Carolina Highway 132 in Wilmington, North Carolina...

is marked by a display of three crosses that are visible from several miles away. The center cross is 150 feet (45.75 m) tall, flanked by two 120-foot (36.5 m) crosses.

Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary

Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary

Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary prepares students for vocational ministry. It provides associate, masters and doctorate theological degrees, and is accredited by The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools....

is located on 51 acres (206,389.9 m²) across the street from Bellevue (35 of the acres were donated by Bellevue). However, Mid-America operates independently from Bellevue. Nevertheless, the Seminary has maintained a close relationship with the congregation ever since it moved to Memphis in 1976; former Bellevue pastor Adrian Rogers was an influential figure at MABTS.

Leadership

Bellevue has been led by only four pastor

Pastor

The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....

s since 1927. The first service was held on July 12, 1903 with Bellevue’s first pastor, Dr. Henry Hurt, saying that he hoped the new church would become “one of the greatest powers for good” that the city of Memphis had ever seen. Hurt served as pastor for the first 11 years, resigning because of poor health in 1914. When his health improved, he later served as pastor of Union Avenue Baptist Church in Memphis. He also served on the building committee for Baptist Memorial Hospital and as commissioner for the Memphis Housing Authority. A two-story wooden frame building was added to the original stone structure in 1910, with evening services sometimes held on the rooftop.
Dr. Richard M. Inlow served as pastor from 1915–1920, followed by Dr. William M. Bostick, pastor from 1920 to 1927. Because of the growth in membership, a 1,000-seat auditorium was constructed on Bellevue Avenue, replacing the stone chapel. Dedication for the new building was March 16, 1924.

Robert G. Lee (1927-1960)

On December 11, 1927, Dr. Robert Greene Lee preached his first sermon to the congregation at Bellevue. The membership was 1,430 when he became the church's fourth pastor. Lee was born in a log cabin on November 11, 1886. The son of a South Carolina sharecropper

Sharecropping

Sharecropping is a system of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crop produced on the land . This should not be confused with a crop fixed rent contract, in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a fixed amount of...

, he worked his way through school, ultimately graduating with a doctorate in international law from Chicago Law School

University of Chicago Law School

The University of Chicago Law School was founded in 1902 as the graduate school of law at the University of Chicago and is among the most prestigious and selective law schools in the world. The U.S. News & World Report currently ranks it fifth among U.S...

in 1919.

Lee's Famous Sermon

Lee preached the sermon Pay-Day Someday more than 1,200 times at Bible conferences , in state capitol buildings, churches, universities, youth camps, and ballparks across the nation and around the world. At the time of his death on July 20, 1978, an estimated 3 million people had heard him preach Pay-Day Someday. To accommodate the crowds that came to hear Lee preach the hour-long sermon each year on the first Sunday in May, Bellevue moved services to Ellis Auditorium in Memphis. In 1954 Westminister Films captured him in Technicolor

Technicolor

Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...

delivering his signature sermon. Lee authored 56 books, written primarily from his sermons.

Accomplishments

While he was pastor of Bellevue, Lee served three consecutive terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention

Southern Baptist Convention

: 1949, 1950 and 1951. Presiding at the 1951 meeting in San Francisco, he introduced a young Billy Graham

Billy Graham

William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...

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 construction of a new sanctuary to seat 3,000, with the capacity to seat 600 more. The new building was located on the same block where the original stone chapel had stood. When Lee retired in 1960 after serving as pastor for 32 years, Bellevue's membership had grown to 9,200, making it the largest Baptist church east of the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

and the second largest church in the Southern Baptist Convention.

Annual Love Offering

Under Lee's leadership, a church tradition began during the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

. In December 1934, Lee called for a special "love offering" to help pay off the church building debt. The goal was set at $30,000, but church members contributed $36,000. The tradition continues today, with an annual offering taken before Thanksgiving. Facility construction and campus improvements are financed through the offering, along with local and foreign mission endeavors.

Dr. Ramsey Pollard (1960-1972)

William Ramsey Pollard was pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee

Knoxville, Tennessee

Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...

, when Robert G. Lee retired. On Easter Sunday, April 17, 1960, the church voted to call him as pastor after he preached at Bellevue. He continued to preach as an evangelist until his death on April 26, 1984. He was named Pastor Emeritus in 1979.

Awards and honors

Pollard received the top achievement award for evangelism from the Tennessee Baptist Convention

Tennessee Baptist Convention

The Tennessee Baptist Convention is the Tennessee statewide organization of churches associated with the Southern Baptist Convention. It maintains offices in Brentwood, Tennessee. Members include 68 Baptist associations and about 3,200 churches....

in 1962, and he was president of the board of World Evangelism Foundation of Dallas, Texas. He was elected president of Southern Baptist Convention in 1959 and unanimously re-elected in 1960.

Community Influence

During Pollard's twelve years at Bellevue, the church hosted an annual Medical Professional Day. Bellevue financed and constructed a branch church, first known as Lauderdale Heights Baptist Church and later as City View Baptist Church. An activities building was added in 1966 for evangelistic outreach as well as for the congregation. In honor of the Pollard's, it was named the Pollard Activities Building in 1970. Mrs. Pollard founded the Tennessee Ministers' Wives Association, and in 1965 the Pollards organized a church group for senior citizens.

Dr. Adrian Rogers (1972-2005)

The church's most well-known leader, Dr. Adrian Rogers

Adrian Rogers

Adrian Pierce Rogers served three terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention , a Southern Baptist pastor, and a conservative author....

, was the senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist from 1972 until March 2005. During this period, the church's membership grew from 9,000 to over 29,000. In June 1972, members of the pulpit search committee traveled to Philadelphia to hear Adrian Rogers preach at the Southern Baptist Convention Pastors Conference.

History

The 40-year old native Floridian was pastor of First Baptist Church in Merritt Island, Florida

Merritt Island, Florida

Merritt Island is a census-designated place in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is located on the east coast of the state on the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2000 census, the population was 36,090. It is part of the Palm Bay – Melbourne – Titusville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area...

. On August 13, 1972, at the request of the search committee, Rogers preached his first sermon at Bellevue. That morning after he preached, the congregation unanimously voted for Rogers as the next pastor.
In 1979, Rogers was elected on the first ballot as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the world's largest Protestant denomination. During a period of theological controversy within the SBC, Rogers helped to lead the SBC back to its historical roots of biblical inerrancy, an effort known as the "Conservative Resurgence". He was elected president of the SBC again in 1986 and 1987. In 2000, he headed a SBC committee charged with revising the denomination's statement of faith, The Baptist Faith and Message.

National Influence

In 1996, the Religious Heritage of America named Rogers Clergyman of the Year, and in 2003, he was inducted into the National Religious Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Rogers consulted and prayed personally with four U.S. Presidents, and was invited by George W. Bush to speak at the National Day of Prayer in 2001. In 1994, he was asked by Focus on the Family founder and president, James Dobson, to serve on the organization's board of directors. Rogers published 21 books and 52 booklets, including Adrianisms, two volumes of his quotes. His biography, Love Worth Finding: The Life of Adrian Rogers and His Philosophy of Preaching, was published in 2005.

Retirement and Death

Upon his retirement in 2005, Rogers was named Pastor Emeritus. At his retirement celebration on March 4, the Memphis City Council

Memphis City Council

The Memphis City Council is a legislative body of Memphis, Tennessee. The city is governed by Mayor A C Wharton and thirteen city council members....

honored Rogers by naming a segment of Appling Road that runs in front of the west entrance , the Adrian P. Rogers Parkway. Before Steve Gaines

Steve Gaines (pastor)

Dr. John Steven "Steve" Gaines is an American Southern Baptist pastor. He is currently serving at Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova , one of the largest congregations in the Southern Baptist Convention. On Sunday, July 10, 2005 the Pastor Search Committee of Bellevue Baptist Church presented Dr...

preached his first sermon as Bellevue's seventh pastor on September 11, 2005, Rogers demonstrated his support for his successor in the morning worship services by washing Gaines' feet and placing a cloth mantel across his shoulders to symbolize the transfer of leadership.
On November 15, 2005, Rogers died of complications following colon cancer treatment at age 74. More than 10,000 attended his memorial service at Bellevue on November 17, 2005. Local television station WPTY and Daystar Christian Television

Daystar Television Network

The Daystar Television Network is an American evangelical Christian television religious broadcasting network headquartered near Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in Bedford, Texas...

network broadcast service live. Speakers included James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Rogers' successor, Steve Gaines.

Dr. Steve Gaines (2005-present)

On July 10, 2005, members voted to make Dr. Steve Gaines

Steve Gaines (pastor)

the new pastor. Gaines previously served as pastor at First Baptist Church in Gardendale

Gardendale, Alabama

Gardendale is a city in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States, and a northern suburb of Birmingham. The population was 11,626 at the 2000 census. 2009 Census estimates propose a population of 13,720.-History:...

, Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, for fourteen years. His first sermon as new pastor at Bellevue was on September 11, 2005. Since 1996, Gaines had preached once a year at Bellevue by Rogers' invitation. After eight months of reviewing potential candidates for senior pastor, the search committee reached a unanimous decision.
In the 14 years that Gaines was the senior pastor in Gardendale, 3,251 people were baptized, leading the Alabama Baptist State Convention in baptisms seven out of ten years. For Easter 2005, First Baptist Gardendale held community-wide services at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex with more 10,000 attending.

Accomplishments

A graduate of Union University

Union University

Union University is a private, evangelical Christian, liberal arts university located in Jackson, Tennessee, with additional campuses in Germantown, Tennessee, and Hendersonville, Tennessee...

with a master's and doctorate degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he served on the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message
Baptist Faith and Message
The Baptist Faith and Message is the confession of faith of the Southern Baptist Convention . It summarizes key Southern Baptist thought in the areas of the Bible and its authority, the nature of God as expressed by the Trinity, the spiritual condition of man, God's plan of grace and salvation,...

revision committee for the Southern Baptist Convention

Southern Baptist Convention

along with the committee chairman, Adrian Rogers. In seminary, Gaines received the H.C. Brown, Jr. Preaching Award for Outstanding Achievements in the study and practice of preaching. The evangelism faculty also presented him with the W. Fred Swank Evangelism Award. Fred Swank was the legendary pastor or Sagamore Hill Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.

Gaines was the only Southwestern Seminary graduate to receive both awards. He was ordained to the ministry in 1980 by his hometown church First Baptist Church of Dyersburg, Tennessee

Dyersburg, Tennessee

Dyersburg is a city in and the county seat of Dyer County, Tennessee, United States, north-northeast of Memphis on the Forked Deer River. The population was 17,145 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Dyersburg is located at...

. He pastored churches in Texas and in west Tennessee before becoming pastor of Gardendale's First Baptist Church.

Mission statement

The Mission Statement of Bellevue Baptist Church is "Love God. Love People. Share Jesus. Make Disciples". The eight core values are:

Loving God through Genuine Worship
Loving God through Fervent Prayer
Loving People through Compassionate Ministry
Loving People through Loving Fellowship
Sharing Jesus through Intentional Evangelism
Sharing Jesus through Local, National, and International Missions
Making Disciples through Relevant Preaching and Teaching
Making Disciples through Biblical Discipleship

Theology

Bellevue was a key supporter of the conservative

Conservative Christianity

Conservative Christianity is a term applied to a number of groups or movements seen as giving priority to traditional Christian beliefs and practices...

faction within the Southern Baptist Convention

Southern Baptist Convention

during the "conservative/moderate" controversy 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 local and foreign missions. Pastor Robert G. Lee preached in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

and Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

in 1955. Through the Southern Baptist Mission Board in 1962, Pastor Ramsey Pollard led Bellevue in being the first church to adopt a Cuban refugee family and help establish them in America. Pastor Adrian Rogers led missions crusades in Brazil (1990) and Romania (1992) with many church members participating. In 1999 the church began a missions emphasis in Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

, with the goal of planting churches. Bellevue continues to send out mission teams all over the world each year, spending $5.5 million, one-fourth of its $22 million annual budget on missions. In 2007 a missions team from Bellevue’s women’s ministry led a conference in Hyderabad, India. Bellevue has also planted churches in Honduras

Honduras

Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...

, Uruguay

Uruguay

Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

and Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...

Relocation

After being located in the heart of Midtown, Memphis

Midtown, Memphis

- Overview :Architecturally, Midtown Memphis, Tennessee is marked with residential vintage housing, specialty stores, and high-rise buildings, often all located on the same avenue...

for over 80 years, Bellevue relocated to its current campus in Cordova. By 1983 additions to Midtown campus encompassed a city block. On October 30, 1983, the membership voted to move to the current campus, completing the move in 1989. Bellevue's main reasoning behind the move to the other side of the city, besides needing more room, was that its membership had changed, with the majority of it now located in the eastern part of the Memphis metro area. . The new campus would be closer to 60 percent of the members' residences. Groundbreaking for the 7,000-seat worship center was July 19, 1987. On Sunday, November 19, 1989, overflow crowds attended back-to-back morning worship services at 2000 Appling Road in Cordova. In 1991 the church opened Bellevue Woods, a retirement residence near the church. A family life center, preschool wing, athletic complex, and multipurpose wing with a west lobby entrance were added to the worship center and two original wings in subsequent years. Property debts were paid off in 2001. Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church purchased the Midtown property at 70 N. Bellevue in 1992.

The move created some controversy both in the city and church communities. Some saw it as Bellevue abandoning a community that could use the church
while others saw it as a growing issue of White flight

White flight

White flight has been a term that originated in the United States, starting in the mid-20th century, and applied to the large-scale migration of whites of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions. It was first seen as...

Website

In September 2006, The Commercial Appeal
The Commercial Appeal
The Commercial Appeal is the predominant daily newspaper of Memphis, Tennessee, and its surrounding metropolitan area. It is owned by The E. W. Scripps Company, a major North American media company. Scripps also owned the former afternoon paper, the Memphis Press-Scimitar, which it folded in...

, Memphis' predominant newspaper, reported that recent changes at Bellevue have led to protests by some members. A website contains allegations by some church members that the church is, under the leadership of Gaines, moving toward becoming part of the "church growth movement

Church growth

Church Growth is a movement within evangelical Christianity which emphasizes mainly missionary work combined with sociological awareness of the target population. The "seeker sensitive" label for this approach characterizes the would-be converts as "seekers".-History:Church Growth began with the...

", moving toward an elder-led (as opposed to congregation-led) form of governance, mismanaging its finances, paying its leadership too much, intimidating members that want the church's leadership to be more open, and otherwise "moving away from its traditional roots." According to Bellevue's leadership, information on the website has appeared and disappeared repeatedly, and quotes and information about church leadership decisions have been taken out of context. In response to the site's accusations, Gaines said that the church is not leaving its traditional roots, is not a part of the church growth movement, and that the website is creating confusion.

On September 24, 2006, Gaines addressed the criticism during the evening church service. Other newspaper articles discussing subsequent developments followed in October.

In November, 2006, the church formed a communication committee to address the controversy. In mid-November, a website was launched by the committee. The Communication Committee's site discussed recent reviews of the pastor's credit card expenses. According to the site, deacons from the church met on November 5 and reviewed Gaines' credit card charges, unanimously finding no inappropriate expenditures. The Communication Committee's website has since been taken down.

Handling of minister misconduct

On December 17, 2006, the church announced that Paul Williams, a minister and staffer at the church for 34 years, had been placed on leave with an investigation pending regarding a "moral failure," identified by Gaines and others as alleged child molestation

Child sexual abuse

Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...

in the 1980s. The next day, December 18, Gaines released a statement that acknowledged that he had been aware of the allegation since June 2006 but that he did not address it for several months because Williams had been attending professional counseling, because of confidentiality concerns, and out of compassion for the staffer.

On January 29, 2007, Bellevue members formed a non-profit called "Integrity Does Count" with the aim of restoring congregational awareness of church finances to the congregation. This group was limited to 50 voting members in order to avoid having an infiltration by those opposed to it, although the actual group was much larger. Among other concerns, a principal concern was that the traditionally conservative leadership had been replaced with a more progressive regime which resulted in the donation of $20,000 to a church of another denomination, which openly supported homo-sexual relationships and abortion. Some church members have argued that this aim is contrary to Bellevue's historical philosophy of being "pastor-led, deacon-served, committee-operated and congregation-approved." The group, "Integrity Does Count" disbanded within a year, after submitting request to obtain financial documents to which they were entitled under state law from the church and being denied the right to review any financial information. The members of the group wishing to follow Biblical guidelines and convinced that they would be forced to pursue their request through the secular court system, decided to no longer pursue their quest for truth and honesty. The licensing for the website that had been formerly set up by the group expired and was reactivated by others that are unknown to members of the group and now displays a simple scriptural admonishment to live in peace with others

Satellite Churches

Bellevue has three satellite churches in Memphis and Shelby County. Impact Baptist Church, in the Frayser community, is the largest and fastest growing African-American Southern Baptist Church in Tennessee. In 2009 the congregation began meeting in a facility formerly occupied by Georgian Hills Baptist Church at 3759 N. Watkins. Impact Ministry operates a weekly food pantry, with Bellevue volunteers distributing food each Saturday morning to approximately 175 families. Impact also offers a thrift store and tutoring for students. Iglesia Bella Vista is a Hispanic church plant near Summer and Highland. A third church plant, Bellevue Arlington, began meeting at Arlington High School in September 2009.

Accomplishments

In July 2007, Bellevue Baptist was named one of the top 50 most influential churches in the country, coming in 38th. This was the first time Bellevue was included in the top 50 most influential churches in the United States. The survey was tabulated through more than 2,000 emails being sent to non-Catholic church leaders.

Music and Theater

The well-known Bellevue’s Girls Quartet, formed in 1928, sang at conferences and denominational meetings across the South. Bellevue’s drama ministry, organized in 1951, was the first drama ministry in the Southern Baptist Convention. The ground floor of the 1952 sanctuary was designed for Christian theatre presentations like “The Robe” (1957, 1959) and “Ben Hur” (1961). In 1948, Bellevue called Thomas P. Lane to build a comprehensive music program for children through adults. He was the first full-time minister of music in the Southern Baptist Convention

Southern Baptist Convention

, and when he retired 38 years later, he had the longest tenure of any Southern Baptist Convention minister of music. For more than three decades he directed the student nurse choir at Baptist Memorial Hospital known as the Nightingales. Lane served with three Bellevue pastors who were each elected Southern Baptist Convention president: Robert G. Lee, Ramsey Pollard, and Adrian Rogers. For the community they presented 38 consecutive performances of Handel's Messiah, as well as other classical works like The Seven Last Words of
Christ and Mendelssohn's Elijah. Dr. Lane was awarded the Southern Baptist Convention’s Church Music Award for Outstanding Service, and in 1986 he was named Bellevue’s Minister of Music Emeritus.

Rogers served with two ministers of music: Dr. Thomas P. Lane and Dr. James D. Whitmire. After working together as pastor and minister of music at First Baptist Church in Merritt Island, Florida

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 senior minister of music, 5,000 adults and children were enrolled in Bellevue’s vocal and instrumental programs. Whitmire premiered The Singing Christmas Tree in 1976, with a record attendance for as high 56,000. An Easter program, Living Pictures, was introduced in 1981,evolving into The Memphis Passion Play on the church’s expanded stage in the Cordova worship center in 1990. In 1984, Whitmire began an annual patriotic program, Celebrate America! Under his direction Bellevue’s choirs sang at seven annual meetings of the Southern Baptist Convention, and in 1997 and in 2006 he served as SBC Music Director.

Broadcasting

On January 5, 1958, Bellevue became the first church in the world to broadcast worship services using its own television equipment. Under Pollard’s leadership the church continued broadcasting services, upgrading to color cameras and equipment in 1970. Rather than sell it, the congregation voted to donate the original black and white television cameras and equipment to missions. Bellevue continues to broadcast services locally.

Crosses on Interstate 40

Three large crosses, visible from Interstate 40

Interstate 40

, mark the church’s location. The center cross is 150 feet high with two flanking crosses at 120 feet. The crosses are engineered to withstand 70-mph winds and are constructed of four pieces of structural steel and angle iron painted white. The landmark crosses were dedicated at a special ceremony with choir, orchestra, and hundreds of church members at midnight on New Year’s Eve, 1999. In September 2008 the three crosses became the central image in the church logo.

Bellevue Loves Memphis

In 2007 Gaines initiated a church-wide, ongoing volunteer ministry to Memphis and the community. On September 28, 2009, the State of Tennessee House of Representatives issued a proclamation recognizing Bellevue as an institution that has demonstrated “unflagging capacity for love, dedication of spirit, and faith in God” and for enriching the lives of people in their community. The proclamation cited pastor Gaines’ for leading the way in showing “Jesus’ love to the City of Memphis by meeting practical needs of residents” and for “embracing Bellevue Loves Memphis as a way of life.” The document mentioned the church’s sponsor of a Christian Mobile Dental Clinic that provides free dental care to the underprivileged, and the church’s funding of The Vue, a ministry for college students located near the University of Memphis and accessible to students of other local colleges and universities. The proclamation noted that on six workdays, 5,300 volunteers have contributed between 30,000-35,000 hours through yard work, painting, construction, and more to benefit 40 schools, two post-secondary schools, 44 churches, 55 family homes, 14 parks, nine city/government buildings, 16 hospitals, 47 ministries, and ten Memphis City School football fields. The proclamation also noted that Bellevue Loves Memphis provided every city fire station with a copy of the movie “Fireproof,” assisted with the City of Memphis clean up, and assisted with ten block parties. The document also recognized the church for hosting the Tennessee Technology Center’s 2008-2009 graduation. In 2009 pastor Gaines was awarded the Open Door Award for his leadership with Bellevue Loves Memphis. The annual award is presented by the April 4th Foundation of Memphis. In 2008 and 2009, the church opened its doors to city and county schools for holding their commencement exercises. An annual Fourth of July celebration Starlight Spectacular, also draws thousands from the community.

External links

Bellevue.org, official website

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