The members and friends of Mt. Lebanon Missionary Baptist Church, 222 Lime Stone Road are celebrating 155 years in the ministry. On Sunday, August 19th two services will be held at the church.
At 11:00 a.m. the special guest speaker will be State Representative of the 54th District, Brenda Gilmore, and at 3:00 the guest speaker will be the Rev. Harmon Stockdale, Jr., pastor of Kayne Avenue Missionary Baptist Church.
With a theme, “We Have Come This Far By Faith,” the church maintains a rich history from 1863-2018.
When the negroes found freedom in the state of Tennessee in the year of 1863, the slaves from adjoining farms and their children who believed in and served God, organized this historic Missionary Baptist Church.
In its beginning stages, there was no permanent place to worship, so they would sometimes meet in the same building with Brooks Memorial Methodist Church or in homes for prayer meetings.
Rev. Larry Thompson joined in with the devoted servants of God under a maple tree on Hardscuffle Road and organized the Mt. Lebanon Missionary Baptist Church. Prior to his resignation following a few years of service, he was responsible for erecting a small frame church; and the church grew spiritually and numerically.
Rev. C.C. Duncan took up where Rev. Thompson left off, with the purchase of a lot where the building was moved to. The building, which served as a schoolhouse, was sold in 1908 for $150 to the Williamson County School board of directors.
Other serving pastors were: Rev Davis, Rev. Samuel Wright, Rev. Shelton, Rev. Watson and the Rev. J.J. Freeman who organized the first choir in 1926 along with the purchase of a piano. Others to follow were: Rev. Bell, Rev. C.C. Bass, Rev. James W. Alexander, Rev. Robert E. Hunt, Jr., Rev.. R.D.Hunt, Rev. Prince Peters, Jr. and Rev. Stanton R. Easley who was the longest reigning pastor of Mt. Lebanon for 32 years.
In the year of 2010, the Rev. James J. Green was called to serve as the pastor of Mt. Lebanon.
He remains to date as the one who provides moral and spiritual guidance to the congregation.
“He continues to guide and develop many programs and opportunities for his congregation to learn the teaching of Christ,” as it is written in the history of Mt. Lebanon.
Some of Green’s accomplishments since his tenure are the purchase of a church van and church bus, computer upgrades, a summer enrichment program, new air conditions, a vegetable garden, t0 plus choir and angel choir members, partnership with Pencil, Urban League and Asset academy program.
Rev. Green said, “It is our desire to keep on working until we have housing for the elderly and a consistent educational structure for students.”
“We have to keep on striving to do things that will increase our lives by using what we have around us and using the land and resources that we have to develop jobs for our members and places for our elderly to live as well as provide a great education for our youth.”
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