WHITES CREEK — Some churches endure. Third Baptist Church of Nashville is one of them.
Organized on May 23, 1876, with 52 charter members, the congregation began as an outgrowth of a mission Sunday School of First Baptist Church of Nashville.
One hundred fifty years later, through relocations, renovations, world wars, and urban change, Third Baptist is still very much alive.
A church built on mission
By 1877, the congregation had already sponsored a mission near Fisk University on Clifton Avenue that operated for four years.
The original sanctuary, a two-story brick structure, was dedicated in 1882 at 500 Jefferson St. in Nashville. From that location, the church wasted little time extending its reach.
A second mission at 10th and Monroe streets was dedicated in 1906. The building would later serve as Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church and earn a place on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Under the leadership of the Rev. Bunyan Smith in 1931, the church launched mission services in vacant storefronts on Second and Third avenues. That work grew steadily, and in March 1939, it was organized into Freeland Baptist Church.
A legacy named for one of their own
Tennessee Baptists who give to the Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions (GOTM) may not realize how close its roots run to Third Baptist Church of Nashville.
The offering is named for W.C. Golden, who served as pastor of Third Baptist from 1891 to 1903. Golden later became State Missions Secretary for the Tennessee Baptist Convention.
It was his wife, Mildred, who envisioned and championed what would become one of the most important mission offerings in Tennessee Baptist life.
Mildred Golden recognized the urgency of state mission needs and believed all Tennessee Baptists should be mobilized to meet them.
Drawing on the model of offerings already given to foreign and home missions, she proposed a dedicated season of prayer and a special offering for state missions. The Goldens prepared and distributed the initial materials from their own home. The first offering received totaled $800.
Together, the Goldens turned a kitchen-table vision into a statewide movement that has funded Tennessee Baptist mission work for generations.
Today, the 2025-26 GOTM goal stands at $2.7 million, with a challenge goal of $3 million. Allocations support collegiate ministries, disaster relief, compassion ministries, church planting, adoption ministries, missions discipleship, associational ministries and the BlueOval City Initiative.
Third Baptist’s pastoral connection to the Goldens is a thread that ties the congregation directly to Tennessee Baptist missions supported by the offering today.
Moving and growing
The church eventually relocated to its current home on Buena Vista Pike. The new building was dedicated Nov. 12, 1960, under the pastoral leadership of Clyde W. Cutrer, who departed in 1964.
The facility was originally designed as an educational building, with plans for an adjoining sanctuary to be added later. The plans were ultimately shelved as membership growth leveled off.
Rather than wait, the congregation chose to renovate and expand what they had. In January 1982, work began on the front of the building. By spring of that year, construction had begun on a Family Life Center designed for fellowship, dining, and recreation. The attached building was completed under the guidance of pastor Oran Collins and dedicated at the May 1983 Homecoming.
‘The best people I’ve ever known’
When J.B. Miller arrived at Third Baptist in December 2003, he came as a temporary pastor following his ministry at a church in Joelton. He never left.
Twenty-three years later, Miller — now 93 years old — continues to serve the congregation he came to love.
“They’re probably some of the best people I’ve ever known. I’ve been here 23 years with no division, no differences. Nothing but living for one another. That’s why I stay here,” Miller said.
Miller was born in Morton, Miss., and drafted into the Army at 18 for service in the Korean War. After his discharge, he enrolled at Mississippi College and began part-time pastoral work by age 22.
“I just felt like God was calling me,” Miller said. “I’d gotten in, been in the army, got out, and the Lord just laid on my heart that that’s what I need to do.”
He has been married to his wife, June, for 68 years.
Looking ahead
On May 23, 2026 — exactly 150 years to the day from its founding — Third Baptist Church of Nashville will gather to celebrate a century and a half of worship and community.
From a two-story brick building on Jefferson Street to a congregation that gave the Tennessee Baptist Convention one of its most enduring mission offerings, Third Baptist has, indeed, endured.
And by all accounts, it’s not finished yet. B&R