Bellevue Baptist Church

Bellevue Baptist Church is a large, Southern Baptist megachurch in the Cordova area of Memphis, Tennessee, United States.

History

Bellevue Baptist began in 1903 in a small, log-cabin-like facility. 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 more than 7,500, on a 400 acre (1.6 km²) campus in Cordova, a Memphis suburb, in 1989. Current church membership is more than 30,000, making Bellevue the second largest Southern Baptist church in the United States. [Trevor Aaronson, [http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/nov/25/india-bellevue-baptist-goes-on-global-mission-h/ Bellevue Baptist goes on global 'mission'] , "Commercial Appeal", November 25, 2007] Based on attendance, Bellevue is the 65th largest Protestant church in the country. [Outreach Magazine, [http://www.outreachmagazine.com/docs/top100_2007_largest.pdf] , "2007 Outreach Report:100 Largest US Churches", June, 2007] The church's location near Interstate 40 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. [http://www.bellevue.org/templates/cusbellevue1103/details.asp?id=1360&PID=5130 Bellevue Baptist Church's History and Vision] from bellevue.org]

Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary is located on 51 acres across the street from Bellevue (35 of the acres were donated by Bellevue). However, Mid-America operates independently from Bellevue.

Leadership

Bellevue has been led by only four pastors since 1927. Robert G. Lee was senior pastor from 1927 to 1960, and he was followed by Ramsey Pollard from 1960 to 1972. The church's most well-known leader, Dr. Adrian Rogers, 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 28,000 and the church moved into a new facility. On July 10, 2005, members voted to make Dr. Steve Gaines the new pastor. Gaines previously served as pastor at First Baptist Church in Gardendale, Alabama for fourteen years. His first sermon as new pastor at Bellevue was on September 11, 2005. Rogers, who was pastor until March 2005, acted as Pastor Emeritus until his death in November 2005.

Theology

Bellevue was a key supporter of the conservative faction within the 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.

Controversy

Relocation

After being located in the heart of Midtown, Memphis for over 80 years, Bellevue relocated to its current campus in Cordova. Citing growth reasons, in 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. [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-13830733.html Churchgoing: Bellevue Baptist Church near Memphis] , by Randall Balmer, "The Christian Century", May 5, 1993.]

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. [http://www.rhodes.edu/files/Baptist_Convention.pdf Doctrine, Demographics, and the Decline of the Southern Baptist Convention in Shelby County, Tennessee] , by Andrew Trundle, "The Rhodes Journal of Regional Studies", Volume II, 2005.] The former location has since been purchased by another local community church.

Website

In September 2006, "The Commercial Appeal", Memphis' predominant newspaper, reported that recent changes at Bellevue have led to protests by some members. [http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local/article/0,2845,MCA_25340_5006287,00.html Is Bellevue changing?] , James Dowd, "The Commercial Appeal", September 20, 2006.] 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", 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." [ [http://savingbellevue.com Savingbellevue.com] , website critical of the church's leadership] 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. [ [http://www.bellevue.org/templates/cusbellevue1103/details.asp?id=1360&PID=388727&Style= Bellevue Leadership Report from September 24, 2006] ] 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. [http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local/article/0,2845,MCA_25340_5043083,00.html Bellevue pastor is urged to resign] , by James Dowd, "The Commercial Appeal", October 5, 2006] Other newspaper articles discussing subsequent developments followed in October. [http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local/article/0,2845,MCA_25340_5046319,00.html Bellevue leaders say 'nonsense'] , by James Dowd, "The Commercial Appeal", October 6, 2006] [http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=24193 Bellevue conflict bleeds onto Internet, into Public Square] , by Gregory Tomlin, "Baptist Press", October 18, 2006]

In November, 2006, the church formed a communication committee to address the controversy. In mid-November, a website was launched by the committee. [http://www.bellevuecommunicationcommittee.org Bellevuecommunicationcommittee.org] ] 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 in the 1980s. [http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local/article/0,2845,MCA_25340_5225600,00.html 'People losing trust' in Bellevue pastor, seminary leader says] , by James Dowd, "The Commercial Appeal", December 20, 2006. Accessed December 21, 2006.] 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. The same week, Michael Spradlin, who is president of Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary (located across the street from Bellevue's campus), told the "Commercial Appeal" that " [i] f a minister has first hand knowledge of child molesting and does nothing about it then that minister should resign." Spradlin later noted that James Dobson supported his statement, with Dobson reportedly telling him, " [w] hen prominent leaders have no accountability and make these kinds of decisions, other prominent leaders must stand up and hold them accountable." [http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local/article/0,2845,MCA_25340_5233314,00.html Seminary head hears Gaines reaction] , by Yolanda Jones, "The Commercial Appeal", December 23, 2006. Accessed December 23, 2006.]

On December 20, 2006, Gaines addressed several hundred members of his congregation, saying he would like to remain pastor at Bellevue. [http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local/article/0,2845,MCA_25340_5228058,00.html Gaines wants to remain at Bellevue] , by Jody Callahan, "The Commercial Appeal", December 21, 2006. Accessed December 21, 2006.]

On January 28, 2007, a church committee released a report on its investigation of Williams' conduct and the staff's handling of Williams. The report alleged that Williams had sexually molested his son in the 1980s, that Williams and his wife had informed Jamie Fish, the church's minister of biblical guidance, of his past actions in May 2006, that Steve Gaines met with Williams and his wife in June 2006 to discuss the issue, a meeting that was kept confidential, and that Williams was retained on staff thereafter. In early December 2006, Williams' son, the target of the alleged abuse, met with Gaines to discuss why Williams was allowed to remain on staff. The report found that no other children were molested by Williams. The report criticized both Gaines and Fish for not immediately coming forward with the information related to the abuse, either to the church or to authorities as possibly required by Tennessee law. [ [http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local/article/0,2845,MCA_25340_5312421,00.html Bellevue details 'moral failure'] , by James Dowd, "The Commercial Appeal", January 29, 2007. Accessed January 29, 2007.]

On January 29, 2007, a group of fifty Bellevue members formed a non-profit called "Integrity Does Count" with the aim of restoring more control of the church to the congregation. [ [http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local/article/0,2845,MCA_25340_5314460,00.html Members of Bellevue form group] , by James Dowd, "The Commercial Appeal", January 30, 2007. Accessed January 30, 2007.] 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."

On February 21, 2007, the Associated Press reported that the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests was beginning a campaign to prevent sexual abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention, based in part on the recent allegations and purported cover-up at Bellevue. [ [http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/21/southern.baptist.ap/index.html Sex abuse victims' advocates go after Southern Baptists] , Associated Press, February 21, 2007]

References

External links

* [http://www.bellevue.org Bellevue.org] , official website