Gallatin Nazarene History

                                   

History of Gallatin Church of the Nazarene

The Gallatin Church of the Nazarene has been ministering to the Gallatin area for over 70 years.  Several residents of Gallatin began hosting prayer meeting in their homes early in the 1930s.  Eventually Rev. Woods from Springfield, Tennessee and Rev. Murphy from Nashville, Tennessee began coming to Gallatin to hold services on Sunday afternoon.  In the summer of 1936 a tent revival was held on Smith Street.  Rev. W.A. Peck served as the evangelist fro this revival.  The congregation that began to develop worked in conjunction with Rev. L.B. Matthews, District Superintendent of the Tennessee District Church of the Nazarene, to organize this church.  Only July 12, 1936 the Gallatin Church of the Nazarene was organized with 36 charter members.

It was immediately apparent that a location was needed where the new congregation could meet.  Initially, the church secured permission to hold services in the jury room of the “Old Courthouse” on the square.  Next, the congregation met in the Friendship House on Smith Street while they were securing property on which to build a permanent church building.  The church purchased a lot on Prince Street that was 47 feet x 100 feet on which they built their first building.  The congregation continued to grow and on November 9, 1948 the building on Prince Street was sold.  That building no longer stands and today the property is part of the Crestview Towers.

Following the sale of the Prince Street church, the corner lot at 407 North Water Street was purchased from the widow of Dr. L.M. Woodson.  The members met in the existing house on the property until a new facility could be built.  In 1952 the congregation constructed a new sanctuary on this site.  This original sanctuary now serves as both the Children’s Church sanctuary on Sunday mornings and as a Youth sanctuary at other times.  On this same site a two-story educational building was constructed in 1956. 

 Realizing the need for additional land to accommodate future growth, the congregation purchased property located at 419 North Water Street.  This .56 acre tract was purchased from the Reddick family and was eventually paved for parking space.  In 1975 the congregation purchased two lots from Gene and Dorothy Carman. These two lots added 163 feet of additional road frontage on North Water Street.  With these purchases the church property increased to 2.47 acres.  Sensing the need to expand the ministries of the church, a Family Life Center was built in 1981.  This facility houses a gymnasium, a kitchen, and the church offices.

The current full-time staff is composed of  Senior Intirim Pastor, Dr. Bryce Fox, Children’s Pastor, Rev. Greg Nash, Youth Pastor, Pastor Steven Oldham.  In addition, Pastor Glenna Sandel serves as part-time Minister of Music, and Brenda Jackson is the church secretary.  The church also employs a part-time janitorial staff.

Over the past 70 years the congregation has been served by a number of excellent pastors and spiritual leaders. 

Those who have faithfully served as pastor of Gallatin Church of the Nazarene include:

Kyle Poole                                     2007-2010

Greg Story                                     2004 - 2007

Michael B. Blankenship                 1986-2003

Jack Swartz                                       1984-86

Gary Ballard                                      1980-84 

Doyle Smith                                      1977-80

Ronald Jordan                                  1975-77

Jesse Middendorf                             1972-75

Monroe Donegan                             1968-72 

Pleais Hampton                               1966-68

Jack Mumaw                                   1956-66

Harold Graves                                 1953-56

H.G. Stunick                                         1952

E.J. Crane                                            1951

W.A. Jordan                                    1948-51

 Mrs. Robbie Brown                         1945-47

L.L. Scales                                          1944

E.H. Hendrix                                  1938-43

James Hamilton                                 1937

Earnest Sullivan                                 1936

W.A. Peck                                 Organizing Pastor

The membership of the church today stands at slightly over 450. The church is actively involved in numerous community outreach programs and has a strong commitment to supporting mission evangelism around the world.

In the early 1990s a larger sanctuary was needed to accommodate the growth in church attendance.  This new sanctuary was completed in 1995, and included an expanded parking lot.  It soon became apparent that this new sanctuary was not large enough to comfortably accommodate the continued growth in worship attendance.  After careful deliberation and study, the church decided that the congregation could best be served by adding an additional worship service on Sunday mornings.  In June 1999, the church began conducting two Sunday morning worship services.  This has proven to be a popular schedule with duplicate worship services at 8:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m., with Sunday School meeting at 9:45 a.m.