Church of Christ, 202 Chilton Street, Nashville, TN

Chilton Street is in south Nashville east of Nolensville Road.  Look for it just south of the Antioch Pike/McCllelan Avenue intersections at Nolensville in the Glencliff neighborhood.  202 Chilton Street looks like a private residence converted to accomodate worship; perhaps such accomodations were fashioned by the Church of Christ which met there at least from 1971 to 1984.  On 1 March 1971 Myrtle Reece Cole, for the sum of ten dollars, deeded Lot. 27 of Nolen Heights subdivision to M. F. Doss, O. R. Slate and Douglas McWhorter, trustees of the Chilton Street Church of Christ. On 21 December 1984 the property was sold for $35,000 to Nashville Southside Church of Bible Covenant.  On 7 July 2000 Ann Meeks, for the sum of ten dollars, deeded 202 Chilton Street to True House of Praise Church of God in Christ.

Whence the Church of Christ at 202 Chilton Street?  A stone’s throw northwest is Radnor Church of Christ which sits only a block or two across Nolensville Road at its intersection with McClellan.  Not too far northeast is Wingate Church of Christ.  Were Messrs. Doss, Slate and McWhorter earlier members at one of these congregations?  They are Trustees of 202 Chilton Street; are they also Elders of the congregation which worshipped in that enlarged living room?  And what of them by New Year’s Day 1985?  In the 1987-1988 edition of Where the Saints Meet the Church of Christ at 202 Chilton Street is listed as having 25 members and is classified as ME (i.e. Mutual Edification, or “oppose using one preacher to present most of the sermons; generally oppose institutions”).  This congregation is not listed inChurches of Christ in the United States (1991).  However, that edition lists, for the first time, an ME congregation at 1221 Brick Church Pike in North Nashville consisting of ten members established in 1953.  Is this the same congregation as met on Chilton Street, only by now in a new location?  A different congregation altogether?  None of the above?

It has been twenty-five years now and I wonder who remains that remembers Chilton Street Church of Christ and the shape of its ministry in its community.  In this post I have raised only a few basic questions…I have no answers, yet.

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Stone-Campbell Movement congregations in Nashville One Hundred Twenty-Five Years Ago

Christian Churches as listed in the 1887 Nashville City Directory:

M. M. Kline, compiler. Nashville City Directory. Volume 23. 1887 — Containing a General Directory of the Citizens, A Classified Business Directory, Miscellaneous Information, and a Correct Map of the City. Nashville: Marshal and Bruce, 1887, p. 23.

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Christian.

Church Street Church — Elder R. Lin Cave, pastor, Church bet S. High and S. Vine.

North Nashville Church — Elder ——-, pastor, N. Spruce bet Jefferson and Monroe.

South Nashville Church — Elder ——-, pastor, Fain’s Hall, S. Cherry bet Elm and Ash.

Woodland Street Church — Elder R. M. Giddens, pastor, Woodland bet S. Fifth and S. Sixth.

COLORED.

Gay Street Church — Rev. P. Taylor, pastor, Gay bet N. Vine and N. Spruce.

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This list only includes the congregations within the 1887 city limits of Nashville which were then not much larger than the interior of the present interstate loop around downtown, plus the western edge of what is now East Nashville (then a recent addition to the city…formerly a city unto itself: Edgefield).  The county congregations are not on the radar screen for M. M. Kline and the folks at Marshall & Bruce.  However, from this short list we see that the Restoration presence gained a congregation or two since the Civil War ravaged Nashville.  The old Second Christian Church is now known as Gay Street Christian Church.  Preston Taylor has came to Nashville in 1884 and Second Church will remain the African-American presence among the Reformers until the congregation split and Lea Avenue Church is formed.  Gay Street and Lea Avenue were able to put differences aside and merged, forming Gay-Lea Christian Church.  They now minister under the name New Covenant Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  However, out of Gay Street church would by the end of the century come Jackson Street Church of Christ, the ‘mother church’ of black Churches of Christ.

Among the white congregations the Woodland Street Church was formed over a decade earlier in Edgefield, a very nice easterly suburb across the Cumberland River.  E. G. Sewell is no longer regular teaching minister there in 1887, but remains as an elder.  A nasty division is likely already in the works at Woodland Street in 1887 as the seeds of ‘society-ism’ are first planted at Woodland Street church by Giddens and A. I. Myhr and certain of Sewell’s fellow elders.  Plus, some members who moved in from other parts of the country brought with them to Woodland Street inclinations, if not outright intentions, to establish a Society presence in Nashville.  About five years later Sewell and about forty others, J. C. McQuiddy among them, left Woodland Street to form Tenth Street Christian Church only five blocks east.  But first others will form Foster Street Christian Church in 1888-1889 in Northeast Nashville (or North Edgefield).  Woodland Street continues in Eastwood Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  Tenth Street became Russell Street Church of Christ but closed in 1998.  Foster Street became in 1926 Grace Avenue; they closed in 1977.

In 1887 Church Street Christian Church met about where the downtown library now sits, but they will within a year or so sell the old building (built in 1820) and begin work on a new church building on upscale Vine Street (now 7th Avenue North where the library parking garage is).  A block or so north along Vine Street is the Governor’s Mansion and beyond that is the State Capitol.  I’ve read where Vine Street was a nice quiet street of upscale homes…preferred in part because the street was too steep going up to the Capitol and therefore lacked a noisy streetcar.  Vine Street continues as Vine Street Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), but left downtown in the 1950’s to upscale Belle Meade.

The North Nashville and South Nashville Christian Churches are in large measure the result of David Lipscomb’s efforts to establish congregations across the city where people live.  The city was growing and Lipscomb is convinced that each neighborhood will be well-served by an active and vibrant congregation of Disciples.  North Nashville Christian Church was variously known as The Church of the Disciples, North Nashville Church of Christ and North Spruce Street Christian Church.  It was the outgrowth of Lipscomb’s preaching in the old Civil War barracks in the vicinity of what is now Bicentennial Mall.  North Nashville Church continues today as Eighth Avenue Church of Christ, which has met on the same ground for 125+ years.

South Nashville Christian Church exists today as Lindsley Avenue Church of Christ.  About a year later, in 1888, they will have finished a building, dedicated it, chosen elders (among whom is David Lipscomb), and will be well on their way to being a leading congregation of Disciples in Nashville.  Arguably this is the most vigorous congregation of Disciples in 19th century Nashville.  That particular story is one I am yet researching and documenting.  Suffice it to say that this congregation alone is responsible for much of what had happened in Nashville by 1912 (as far as church plants go).  Neither North nor South Nashville churches have a regular pastor in 1887.  South Nashville will not have a regular located minister for about a decade until Cornelius A. Moore begins work there.  North Nashville will not have a ‘located minister’ until the 1940’s.

West Nashville is about to come into the picture, but in 1887 all we have, it seems, are plans.  Eventually Line Street Christian Church (later Jo Johnston Avenue Church of Christ) and West Nashville Christian Church are established.  Jo Johnston disbands by 1943 in part due to the changed racial landscape of that neighborhood (17th and Jo Johnston…north of Charlotte Ave.).  Charlotte Avenue Church of Christ continued West Nashville’s ministry until the early years of the 21st century when they merged with West Nashville Heights Church of Christ to form Charlotte Heights Church of Christ.

In 1887 things are starting to happen in the Nashville Stone-Campbell scene.  The half has not been told.  What is vital to the telling of that story is the paper produced by these congregations, particularly the early paper.  I’m talking minutes books, membership ledgers, business meeting minutes, photographs, bulletins, correspondence.  If you have or know anyone who mas anything along these lines, please contact me at       icekm [at] aol [dot] com

 

 

Willard Collins Preaches at Lischey Avenue Church of Christ, April 26-May 10, 1942

A friend gave me this card about a year ago while I was teaching a class on Stone-Campbell history. While his mother attended Lindsley Avenue Church of Christ as a child, she occasionally visited family across the river in North Edgefield at Lischey Avenue Church. Going through an old scrap book he found this card and graciously gave it to me, knowing it would be a treasured part of my collection (which it is!).

Collins’ meeting-card opens a window into the life of one congregation seventy years ago. It helps us understand how this congregation (Lischey Avenue) and this evangelist (Willard Collins) prosecuted a “gospel meeting.”  All but forgotten now in most urban and suburban churches, ‘gospel meetings’ or ‘revivals’ were common across Protestant denominational lines generations ago.   They are part revival (for those already members of the congregation), part evangelistic or outreach event (for those who are not members of the congregation) and part teaching event (for all concerned).

This meeting begins Sunday April 26th and goes through two full weeks to Sunday May 10th.  Collins preaches twice on Sundays and nightly at 7:40pm.  I am not sure exactly how he handled the two Sunday services since only one title is given on the card.  Nevertheless, judging from the titles alone, Collins’ sermons are at once evangelistic, moralistic, doctrinal and hortatory. He initiates the meeting by first laying out the gospel before proceeding through several conversion stories in Acts. The middle sermons are moralistic: he draws a bead on hypocrisy and congregational life and then addresses the ‘household code.’  I am unsure of what he means by ‘addition problem.’  Collins addresses what appears to be the basic life situation for most of the his auditors at Lischey: church-going working and middle-class families with children.  How ought these folk live?  What is good and right, what is noble?  It appears that these are his overarching moral concerns for the middle of the meeting.

The final three sermons conclude the meeting on a decisive note.  Why should visitors to this meeting seriously consider the Lischey Avenue Church of Christ rather than, say, North Edgefield Baptist Church a short distance away? By 9 May 1942 the United States had been at war with Japan right at six months.  Given the circumstance of spring 1942, how should we live as citizens of a nation at war?  Finally, in what must have been a powerful conclusion: the title is telling: “The Burial of Those Who Die Out of the Lord.”  His last sermon moves his hearers to decision.  Collins’, if anything, was persuasive and moving.

By April 1942 Collins, age  26, preached for Old Hickory Church of Christ about three years.  Old Hickory is a few miles east of Nashville (it is now in the city limits of Metro Nashville), right on the banks of the Cumberland River.  Old Hickory was a thriving little hamlet and Collins’ church was an active, thriving, aggressive congregation.

Lischey Avenue Church of Christ began in 1907 through the door-to-door efforts of two women who canvassed the neighborhood around Joy’s Flower Gardens in North Edgefield.  Joe McPherson preached a tent meeting on James Avenue in August 1909.  By May 1910, thanks to the generosity of T. S. Joy’s donation of a lot, the little church had a frame meetinghouse on Jones Avenue.  They outgrew the building and moved to 1310-1312 Lischey Avenue in May 1923, completing a new building in January 1925.  They then outgrew that building, and in early spring 1942, seventy years ago this week, completed a $20,000 facility.  They arranged for Willard Collins, a dynamic young evangelist, to hold the first two-weeks’ meeting in the new building.  In March 1942 Lischey Avenue was a congregation of about four hundred members.  Collins, writing in his report of the meeting to the Gospel Advocate, says, “The Lischey Avenue meeting, in Nashville, closed May 10, with six hundred fifteen present.  The previous largest crowd in the history of the church was five hundred nineteen.  Fourteen were baptized and one was restored.  This is an active congregation and a pleasant one with which to work.”

While Colllins held forth in East Nashville, Old Hickory was equally busy in a meeting of their own.  In the midst of the Lischey Avenue meeting Collins wrote this report for the Advocate: “One hundred eight have been baptized here and thirty-eight restored in the past eight months.  Nine hundred fifty-two attended Bible classes Sunday for an all-time record.  Hulen L. Jackson just closed a meeting here….”  Collins left Old Hickory in 1944; two years later he began preaching at Charlotte Avenue Church of Christ in West Nashville when Athens Clay Pullias accepted the Presidency of David Lipscomb College.  Collins would soon direct the Lipscomb Expansion Program in the late 40’s, helping DLC move from a two-year Junior College to Four Year Accredited Senior College status.  After years of decline, Lischey Avenue moved out of the neighborhood and, with Parkwood Church, formed Northside Church of Christ in 1976-1978.  Lipscomb College expansion and East Nashville decline, though, are topics for further research reflection.

A single ephemeral handout card, as I have demonstrated here, can be quite helpful.  From this item we have open before us a window into one two-week period in the life of Lischey Avenue Church of Christ.  From it we have some idea of their theological commitments and the program of preaching and teaching they pursued in their community at that time.  In tandem with a few other sources, we are able to see a bit more clearly.  In the fascinating world of research, at times some questions are answered, while new ones are posed, and still altogether different questions surface.

There may be other such cards out there somewhere that may give us additional understanding.  Maybe not…maybe a good deal of the history of this congregaion is lost to time.  There is a lot of history to be written, if only the primary source materials are available.  Do you have any old paper from Lischey Avenue, or any other Church of Christ or Christian Church in Nashville?  If so, I’d like to talk with you about how those important materials can be preserved.  For my plea along those lines, see my 3 July 2009 post, Save the Paper.

Bibliography:

Willard Collins’ meeting reports:

       Gospel Advocate, May 7, 1942, page 450
       Gospel Advocate, May 21, 1942, page 498

More about Lischey Avenue history and work:

“Lischey Home-Coming in New Building,” Gospel Advocate, March 5, 1942, page 237.
Batsell Barrett Baxter and M. Norvel Young, Eds. New Testament Churches of Today, Volume 1. Nashville:                       Gospel Advocate Company, 1960, page 237.

For a helpful study of the intersection of local history and congregational history, with a focus on the Old Hickory Church of Christ, see:

C. Philip Slate, Du Pont’s Old Hickory Employee Movement and the Spread of Churches of Christ” Restoration Quarterly 39:3 (1997) pages 155-174.

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Lischey Avenue Church of Christ’s 1942 (with a ca. 1959 classroom building) building yet stands at 1312 Lischey Avenue.  This is as it appeared about two years ago:

Stone-Campbell Movement congregations in Nashville One Hundred Years Ago

Christian Churches as listed in the 1912 Nashville City Directory:

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CHRISTIAN

Belmont Avenue Church, Grand av n e cor 16^th av.

Boscobel Street Church – r 401 S 17^th

Carroll Street Church of Christ – 96 Carroll. Rev. Owen Henry, pastor; h 98 Carroll

Cherokee Park Church of Christ – 6113 California Av. No regular pastor.

Eastland Church, Gallatin rd s w cor Sharpe av.

Eleventh Street Christian Church Mission – 515 S 11^th.

Foster Street Church – 210 Foster

Grandview Heights Church – w s Nolensville rd 2 s of Woodbine

Green Street Church – 146 Green. Elder J G Allen, pastor; h 132 Green

Highland Church of Christ – s s Powhattan av 2 w of 25^th av S.  No pastor.

Hinton’s Chapel – e s Orlando av 2 s of Charlotte rd.

Jo Johnston Avenue Church – 1703 Jo Johston av.  No pastor.

Jones Avenue Church – w s Jones 1 s of Trinity

Joseph Avenue Church – Richardson s w cor Joseph av.

Lawrence Avenue Church – n s Lawrence av 2 w of Elliott av.

New Shops Church – 27^th av s w cor Torbett av.  No pastor.

North Spruce Street Church – 1217 8^th av N.

Park Avenue Church – Park av s w cor 37th av.

Reid Avenue Church – Reid av s w cor Ridley av.

Scovel Street Church – 1717 Scovel. Elder Lytton Alley, pastor; h 1035 Monroe

Seventeenth Street Church – 1700 Fatherland.  Elder H. M. Stansifer, pastor

Sixth Avenue Mission – 1801 6^th av N.  Elder T. B. Moody, pastor.

South College Street Church – 805 3d av S.  Elder Cornelius A Moore, pastor; h 69 Carroll.

Tenth Street Church – 10^th s e cor Russell.  Elder E. G. Sewell, pastor; h 801 Boscobel.

Twelfth Avenue Church – 1816 12^th av N.

Vine Street Church – 140 7^th av N.  Elder Carey E Morgan, pastor.

Warioto Settlement – Hume nr 8^th av N.

West Nashville Church –Charlotte av n e cor 46^th av.

Westwood Church – Hefferman s e cor 26^th sv.

Woodland Street Church – 507 Woodland.  Elder R. Lin Cave, pastor, h 230 Woodland.

Colored

Church of Christ – 1308 Jackson.

Lea Avenue Church – 709 Lea av.  Rev Preston Taylor, pastor; h 449 4^th av N.

Second Church – 706 Gay

Willow Street Church – South Hill s w cor Willow.  Rev A J Lawrence, pastor; h w s Willow 1 s of South Hill

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Nashville City Directory 1912.  Nashville: Marshall-Bruce-Polk Company, 1912, p. 64.

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The Nashville City Directory lists thirty-four “Christian” congregations; four of these are ‘colored,’ the remainder are white.  The city directories are rather consistent in locating the meeting places of the churches if not by street address then by approximate location.  For example, Second Christian Church is located at 706 Gay Street in the northern shadow of the state capital in the heart of the city.  In the southern suburbs of the city, the Willow Street congregation evidently lacks a street address; it can be located, however, by looking at the southwest corner of the intersection of South Hill and Willow Streets.  The Willow Street pastor’s residence is on the west side of Willow Street, one house south of the intersection.  The abbreviations may be tedious, but they are helpful.

Eleven pastors are listed; nine are white and two ‘colored.’  Both African-American pastors are Reverend.  While the conservative congregations shunned the use of “pastor” as a moniker for their regular located preachers or ministers, a number of these congregations rely on regular minister to do most, if not all, of the regular preaching.  Of the eleven ‘pastors’ six preach for conservative churches; all of the congregations which are indicated as having “no regular pastor” are conservative.

Of the thirty-four congregations, Eastland, Seventeenth Street, Vine Street, Woodland Street, Lea Avenue and Second Christian Churches are clearly among the Disciples.  Only Warioto Settlement (perhaps a mission?) and Westwood (perhaps a forerunner of Clay Street Christian Church?) are unknown to the extent that I do not know how to classify them…either as conservative or progressive.  In 1912 three-fourths of the Stone-Campbell congregations in the city limits of Nashville, 28 of 34, are clearly among Churches of Christ: they are all acapella and provide neither financial nor moral support for missionary societies.  However, just four congregations are listed as Churches of Christ: Carroll Street, Cherokee Park, Highland and Jackson Street Churches of Christ.  None of these four would have been considered ‘progressives’ as generally understood within Restoration Movement circles in 1912.  In fact, Jackson Street began as a conservative reaction to Rev. Preston Taylor and the Gay Street and Lea Avenue Christian Churches.

It appears, then, that unless otherwise noted the names of thirty congregations are XYZ Christian Church.  The City Directory appears to follow this policy in the listings of congregations of other denominations: unless a particular congregation’s name differs from the parent group, it is to be understood as bearing the name of the parent group.  For example, Jo Johnston Avenue Church may be understood as having as their full name Jo Johnston Avenue Christian Church (in fact, so reads the deed to the property; Jo Johnston was formerly known as Line street Christian Church, also on the deed).

That said, I have in my files a copy of a photograph of Twelfth Avenue, North, congregation’s meetinghouse.  It has as its name on the sign by the front entrance: Twelfth Avenue Church of Christ.  The photograph appears to date from ca. 1910.  Clearly datable photographs of the church buildings or other documentary evidence will afford the best way to chronicle the changing nomenclature, and thereby the separation, on the ground, of the Stone-Campbell congregations in Nashville.  Until such evidence comes to light, our conclusions about how and when the full implications and results of the division played itself out on the ground among the various congregations must remain tentative.

Central Congregation, Nashville

.
CENTRAL CONGREGATION, NASHVILLE
BY E. H. IJAMS.

Members of the Central church of Christ, Nashville, Tenn., met for the first time on Sunday, October 4. The first meeting was devoted to worship and organization, and was a very significant service because of its simplicity and spirituality. Humility and reverence characterized everything said and done. The Central congregation is meeting for the present in a residence located on the church property. The buildings which will house the activities of the church later are under construction, but will not be available for sixty or ninety days. In the meantime the congregation will continue to meet in the residence building at 143 Fifth Avenue, North. The Central congregation is beginning its meetings at this time, in advance of the completion of its buildings, border “to take heed to itself” and study the all-important subjects of Christian grace and growth. It has planned an extensive program of gospel teaching and preaching, coupled with an equally extensive program of good works. The brethren joining hands and hearts in this work realize that consistent service in the name of Christ requires a high degree of individual Christlike devotion, spirituaI-mindedness, and godliness of character. Hence, the Central congregation is resolved to look very carefully to itself, and is making the most of present opportunities to build itself up in spiritual understanding and grace, whereby it can “offer service well pleasing to God with reverence and awe.” The present congregation will work and pray for the grace to imitate the apostle Paul, who said: “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Its meetings will be planned with this purpose in view. The elders of the Central church of Christ are Dr. J. S. Ward, C. E. W. Dorris, J. E. Acuff, and E. H. Ijams. After a prolonged period of study and prayer, these brethren were chosen with the unanimous approval of the congregation. No doubt their selection will be quite generally approved wherever these brethren are known. Dr. Ward was for more than twenty years associated with David Lipscomb and others in the work of the Nashville Bible School and of David Lipscomb College. Brother Acuff is one of the trustees of Burritt College and is well and favorably known as an elder and preacher in the church of Christ. Brother Dorris has contributed many fine articles to the Gospel Advocate during the many years in which he has preached and lived the truth of Christ. Brother Ijams is a member of the present faculty of David Lipscomb College and an experienced teacher. With these loyal and mature brethren as elders, nothing can be expected of the Central church of Christ but unquestioned loyalty and steadfastness to Christian truth and purpose.  The program of work outlined by the Central congregation ought to appeal to the best aspirations of every Christian. It is located in a field of abundant opportunity.  It will have in the heart of the city an auditorium in which to hold gospel services every day in the week.  Every day except Sunday these services will be broadcast by radio station WDAD. The congregation is also preparing to systematically seek the sick and the needy and minister to their necessities. It is also planning to “go teach” the erring and the unsaved and try to bring them to a knowledge of the truth. Daily Bible lessons will be given to all high-school or college students who will attend them in the afternoon after school. Several able Christian teachers have agreed to give night lessons to those who want to prepare for some definite form of Christian service or leadership. In addition to all this, the congregation will try to give constant heed to the language of the great commission, which says: “Go teach all nations.” In pursuance of this purpose, the congregation has already taken over in full or in part the support of these brethren laboring in mission fields: C. M. Sitman, Jr., Amite, La.; J. P. Sanders, Jackson, Miss.; W. O. Norton, Hartselle, Ala.; Hugh E. Garrett, Columbus, Ga.; C. W. Landers, Pensacola, Fla.; T. H. Burton, Union, S. C.; J. W. Shepherd, Richmond, Va.; Roy Vaughn, Mississippi; J. A. Hines, Fort Collins, Col.; John Sherriff, South Africa; W. Percy Pittman, North India. In short, the Central church of Christ proposes to emphasize “doing” the word, as well as “hearing” it, and to make the doing humble, godly, and in every respect consistent with all the teaching of the New Testament. The congregation hopes to show its faith by its work. Brother A. M. Burton and the other brethren associated with him in undertaking this work have set these high standards of achievement with the clear understanding that they can be accomplished, not with material means or with organization, but only through the personal devotion, sacrifice, and zeal of men and women whose minds and hearts are truly converted to the gospel of Christ.  Sustained effort to serve God with works of faith and righteousness must depend on the God-given strength which comes to the sincere, spiritual-minded followers of Christ. Therefore, the members of the Central church of Christ ask the prayers of brethren everywhere to the end that they may, individually and collectively, offer fruitful service to God with reverence and humility. The elders will be glad to have encouragement and counsel from any fellow worker in the vineyard of the Lord.  Address any of them at 143 Fifth Avenue, North, Nashville, Tenn.  It is perhaps well for brethren at large to remember that the Central congregation at present has very limited quarters in which to work and worship. Much of the work which it plans to do must be deferred until its buildings and equipment are in place. It cannot at present invite the general public to its services. However, reports of progress will be given out from time to time, and announcements made as rapidly as preparations are made to take up the different phases of the work. In the meantime the Central congregation very earnestly requests the prayers of all God’s people.

Gospel Advocate, October 8, 1925, p. 976

—Thanks to Hugh Fulford for emailing me this item in digital form.  I have in my files a color postcard of the buildings which housed Central Church (not the building you see now at 145 5th Avenue, North).  One of my favorite antique-store postcard finds, above is scan of it.  These buildings were purchased from the Timothy family (owners of a downtown Nashville dry goods firm) by Andrew Mizell Burton et al. in the summer of 1925.  Both had lots behind the buildings on which, in late fall of 1925 as the article indicates, an auditorium was constructed.  When ground for it was broken the congregation was having around 150 per Sunday.  It could seat 1000 and by the end of the decade it would be full most weeks.  Until the construction was complete they met in the parlor of the mansion…I believe…on the right.  The postcard shows the auditorium behind the row house on the left…it is the one-story addition running straight back to the alley.  In December 1928 the ‘Administration Building’ of five stories plus basement was completed with Nicholas Brodie Hardeman preaching in a special dedication meeting.  It is/was art-deco and was built by famed local firm Foster & Creighton.  In about 1987 the facade was bricked and new windows installed.  Across Commerce Street towards Broadway (and almost directly across the street from the Ryman Auditorium) stood an old hotel/boarding house which Burton purchased for use as the “Girls’ Home.”  Boys lived in dormitory space above the administration building; girls in the Girls’ Home.  Many romances developed as you would imagine.  I have spoken to dozens of former residents, some now dead, of these homes and they remember it was a very special time of their lives.The photograph below appeared in Burton’s 1932 book Gleanings.

Come to North Boulevard Church tonight

I look forward to speaking tonight at North Boulevard Church of Christ. We’ll be surveying the story of the Nashville Churches of Christ in the 19th century…Philip S. Fall…Church Street Christian Church…Tolbert Fanning…David Lipscomb and the mission to the emerging post-Reconstruction-era suburbs.  Ultimately, we’ll talk about how our history can inform our mission.  Join us at 6:30 pm in Murfreesboro.

Nashville Churches of Christ History Group on Facebook

Nashville Churches of Christ History group is open to anyone interested in the Stone-Campbell movement in Nashville and Davidson County.  Here is the first post I made a few days ago:

I envision this community as a place to share common interest in the rich story of the Stone-Campbell Movement in Nashville. I am conducting research for a book which will highlight each congregation of Churches of Christ and Christian Churches from the 1820’s to the present…basically the entire movement from its beginning in our city until now. I envision this group as a place to share memories, photos, news and generate discussion and interest. Please join and contribute. Please feel free to contact me directly at icekm (at) aol (dot) com.

The group is open to all.  Help spread the word and generate interest.

Goodbye Charlotte Avenue?

It appears so.  After two years on the market, the building of the Charlotte Avenue Church of Christ will very likely come down…and soon.  Soon as in a matter of days (pending formalities and the removal of the windows). I snapped a few photos Tuesday on my lunch break.

Here is one of the most recent news stories.  Google will turn up more stories going back to 2007 when the congregation merged with West Nashville Heights to form Charlotte Heights Church of Christ.  Be sure to look at this one to see a fabulous shot of the interior.  It has received considerable attention in the Nashville media due to efforts in the area to revitalize Charlotte Avenue and the surrounding neighborhood.  Years before I-40, West Nashville was an early, bustling suburb close to downtown.  Charlotte Avenue is a main east-west corridor in and out of Nashville.  Churches, shops, schools, parks and neighborhoods filled the area.  The interstate opened new opportunities to live outside the city and commute in and the area decayed.   46th and Charlotte is something of a landmark intersection in Nashville, due in large measure to the Charlotte Avenue building and the I-40 interchange at 46th.  This sign atop the educational wing at the rear of the church greeted interstate traffic for as long as I can remember:

The church met on this corner for over a hundred years.  The tan brick building is a 1921 replacement of the original red brick building.  With an interior patterned after the Ryman Auditorium, it was completed not long before N. B. Hardeman began his twenty-year Tabernacle Sermon series.  As the pictures show, it grew over time to include a large educational facility.  At one time the congregation numbered around 1,000 members, placing it among the largest churches (of any denomination) in Nashville and one of the largest among Churches of Christ east of the Mississippi.  Preachers during those years were Athens Clay Pullias, Willard Collins and Mack Wayne Craig.  C. E. W. Dorris lived for many years on Morrow Road.  I suspect he may have worshipped and perhaps preached at old West Nashville Christian Church.

The landmark has become a lighting rod: a quick check of the comments on the online news stories will reveal how divided the community has become.  In fact, as I was snapping pictures one lady driving by rolled down her window and hollered out…”Get yer pictures quick!  Reckon they’ll tear it down!”  That day may be sooner than we think.  If when so, I’ll post more pics.

Happy Birthday Owen Chapel

Owen Chapel Church of Christ, just south of Nashville, recently celebrated 150 years of ministry.

See this article for a bit more information.

Genealogical Workshop

Genealogists in the Nashville area will want to know about this event:

Located in the buckle of America’s Bible belt, Nashville, Tennessee is home to several major repositories of religious records.  Denominational archives, publishing boards, and local congregations offer a wide array of research opportunities.  In addition to documenting de­nominational histories, religious archives also preserve information that tells the stories of the individuals and families who comprise each faith. This workshop provides an overview of historical records, manuscripts, and other documents in Nashville’s religious archives.

PDF flyer: Religious Archives-Registration Form (2)