Tennessee church reflects on 75-year history
Trevecca Community Church celebrated its 75th anniversary September 9 and10 with an evening gala banquet and Sunday morning anniversary celebration service. The event marked over seven decades of ministry to Nashville, Tennessee, the Trevecca Nazarene University campus, and the Church of the Nazarene.
“It is good to remember who we are and how our journey as a people has formed us," said Dwight M. Gunter II, senior pastor. "And out of that remembrance, we recommit ourselves to living faithfully as the people of God in both the present and the future.”
More than 290 church members helped put together the weekend events, led by 75th Anniversary Chairman Steven Hoskins, one of the theologians in residence at the church. During the Sunday morning service, a resolution recognizing the congregation’s achievements from the Tennessee State Senate was read and greetings were extended from the Governor’s Office, the MidSouth District Church of the Nazarene, Trevecca Nazarene University, and the Board of General Superintendents.
The Saturday evening banquet was catered by CrossBridge, Inc., a recovery ministry operated by the church, and the meal was underwritten by Ron Jones and Trevecca Towers, celebrating 50 years of service to retirement residents and the city of Nashville. Both CrossBridge and Trevecca Towers are longtime ministry partners of the church. A program of music, entertainment, and historical celebration featuring Steve Pennington, founder of ProKids Ministry and a member of the church leadership team, rounded out the evening.
Attendees enjoyed a history exhibit narrating the years of ministry of the church, received a souvenir magazine recounting the church’s history, and celebrated the milestone with a cupcake party to cap off the weekend.
“The dream of a campus church in 1942 has created a church whose history includes the great stories of missionaries, theologians, pastors, one of the more splendid and functional church facilities in the Church of the Nazarene, denominational leaders at every level, and significant ministries to Nashville, the state of Tennessee, and the world,” said Hoskins, who co-wrote a new history of the church and created the exhibit. “The story of Trevecca Community Church reminds us that in doing the remarkable work of redemption through a local church, God gives us the gift of memories that can sustain his ministry through us into the future.”
Stories to share? Send an email to news@nazarene.org.