FMBC.P History

In 1867, a missionary and minister from Nashville, Tennessee by the name of David Anderson founded the church that would be known as the First Missionary Baptist Church; Pulaski, Tennessee.  First Baptist was

first organized on Church Street, (in the Belleview Community).  The church later moved its location to Cemetery Street.  Being the founder, Minister Anderson also served as the first pastor of the church. 

 

Under his leadership were deacons, Jerome Gentry and David Howard, on March 25, 1919, at 2:00 p.m.

the trustees:  Brother A.J. James, Brother Sandy Thomas, Brother Tom Gilbert, Brother Jonas Mitchell,

Brother Tom Ballentine, Brother Frank Mason, Brother Alex Carter, Brother Jim Harney and Brother

Solomon Legg paid the sum of $102.50 in cash to Mrs. H.C. Crow for the land located on West Shoal

Street for the purpose of building a church.  Mr. Giles Batts (the grandfather of Mother Jennie Brown) did

the rock work on the church.  Once the basement portion of the building was finished, the saints began to conduct church services. 

 

First Baptist was often referred to as Flattop because there was no steeple, and the top portion of the building was not complete.  In 1923, the top portion was erected under the leadership of Pastor, Rev. A.J. James a native of Athens, Alabama. Some pastors who served after Pastor James were Dr. A.J. Gooden from Fayetteville, Tennessee, Minister David Howard of Pulaski, Tennessee.

 

In 1954, Rev. Robert Arney Oliver of Pulaski, Tennessee became pastor.  Pastor Oliver was a very remarkable, yet humble servant, whom was not only the pastor of our church, but also served as the moderator of The Greater Richland Creek Association of Southern Tennessee and Northern Alabama. Under his leadership several auxiliaries were implemented, such as the Senior Missionary Society, a Mother’s Union, and the Baptist Young People’s Union which was known as B.Y.P.U. Some of the deacons that served during Pastor Oliver’s tenure were, Van Brooks, Henry Marsh, James Anthony, and Thomas Reynolds.  The women who served as mothers of the church at that time were Mariah Gilbert Holbert, Ida Brooks, Leona Jackson, Lovina Lancaster, and Willie Alice Coleman.  His son in the ministry was Minister Frank Brooks (who later served as moderator of the association when Pastor Oliver’s health declined).  Pastor Oliver’s wife, Sister Louise Oliver also served as our Usher President for many years.  Our church clerks were Sister Elsie Gilbert Hardison, Brother Kenneth Fields, and Sister Caulyne Gilbert Cross.  Brother Jones Lewis Franklin served as our minister of music for more than 40 years.  After Pastor Oliver’s health began to fail, he asked Minister Stanley Garrett to be our interim pastor, and he served in that capacity until Pastor Oliver’s demise. We were blessed to have Pastor Oliver as our pastor for 33 years.  His service and devotion will always be treasured in our hearts and minds.

 

Rev. Stanley Garrett became our pastor on June 13, 1987, and our church once again flourished tremendously under his leadership; much was accomplished during his tenure.  In 1996, Rev. Dr. John T. Wiley

of Nashville, Tennessee became our pastor, and he served for two years.  In 1999, Rev. Donnie Malone

from Athens, Alabama became our pastor.  Deacons who served during his administration were: William Brown, Michael Houston, David Stone, Frank Holt, Sr., Brown Martin, Jr., Johnny Ray Coleman and James Henry, with only Deacon David Stone and Deacon Frank Holt who still remain.  Ministers under his leadership were Peggy Jones, Vicky Coleman, Deborah Malone and Berenetta Houston, with only Minister Jones and Minister Houston who remains with us.

 

In January of 2006, First Baptist experienced an oil spill from an adjacent business. We were forced to vacate our Shoal Street edifice due to the potential harm to our bodies from diesel fumes.  Our congregation was

forced to move to three other locations, with one of them being the Greater Richland Creek Central Building, Inc.  These were very perilous times for our church because with each move, we lost members. In a business meeting on October 21, 2005, Rev. Donnie Malone resigned as pastor, leaving us without an earthly

shepherd.  With only a few faithful members, who continued to walk by faith and who were holding on to God’s unchanging hand, God saw fit to hear our prayers and we secured a lease on our present building

from The Church of The Nazarene in Nashville, Tennessee.  Our first service in this sanctuary was held on

the first Sunday in August 2007.

 

The Lord continued to shower his blessings upon us and on March 9, 2008, installation services were

held for our past pastor, Rev. Thessely and First Lady Sheila Baxter of Columbia, Tennessee.  Under their leadership, two ministers were licensed and ordained on October 11, 2009. They were Teresa Nelson and

Rufus Crawford.  In addition, Minister Berenetta Houston was ordained on February 23, 2014. 

The men and women serving as mothers and deacons under Pastor Baxter were David Stone, Frank Holt, Sr., George Nicholson, Brown Martin, Sr., Deloris Stone, Ethel Nicholson, Alonza Bell Reed, Jennie Brown, Francis White, and Sadie Martin.  Ministries under Pastor Baxter were a youth praise and dance ministry, the Brotherhood and Women’s Ministry.

 

Reaching another milestone in our history, on September 1, 2009, four of the trustees, Deacons David Stone,

and Frank Holt, along with Ministers Peggy Jones and Teresa Nelson accompanied by Pastor Baxter signed documents for the purpose of purchasing our existing building, and now it is owned by The First Missionary Baptist Church, Inc.

 

In July 2015, Pastor Baxter resigned as our earthly shepherd. However, God continued to work on our behalf. In August 2016, Rev. A.L. Hayes was called to First Baptist to serve as Interim Pastor for the purpose of preparing FMBC-P for the calling of a competent pastor. Under his leadership he has guided our congregation to a greater emphasis on “studying the word of God” and the need for proper training in the numerous vital ministries of the church. In doing so, he has presented several seminars inclusive of the following: Evangelism, Stewardship, Deacon’s Training, Leadership Methods, and Christian Maturity. A review of the Church By-Laws & Constitution has been scheduled along with “A Guide to the Pastor Search Process.”

 

Our Sunday School and Bible Study has reached a new level of competence and training. With the Pastor being the lead instructor, he has assigned lessons for each Sunday School teacher to teach each month, while he teaches and catechizes after each lesson. During his tenure he made many improvements for the church.

 

The Lord showered his blessings upon us and on March 24, 2019, we installed our pastor, Rev. Brian and First Lady Valencia Puckett of Spring Hill, Tennessee. Together they bring a vision of GOD’s people being more than conquerors through Christ as the Scripture says. Pastor Puckett hit the ground running! He reformed the youth ministry and gave it a name: C.I.A. (Christ In Action). The C.I.A. has participated and have been involved with several activities within the church and the community. Pastor Puckett also created a church Facebook page in which became very handy in the coming months because in February of 2020, the People of GOD, FMBC.P, and the United States of America was stricken with something unimaginable and was thought to only be seen in the movies; COVID-19. This pandemic had killed millions of people globally and had caused the world to shut down. If FMBC.P had went through trying times before, now was the time that our faith had to rise to greater heights. Our church had closed its doors, but the online service helped the People of GOD stay connected to the church in Word of Life Wednesday Bible Study and to Sunday morning worship (Power Hour).

 

GOD is still faithful! Through the pandemic of COVID-19; through the unrest of the political climate, and through the challenges of loss jobs and rising inflation, GOD has blessed the People of GOD at FMBC.P and our church as a whole! Pastor Puckett motivated the FMBC.P family to keep to faith and get to know GOD personally for themselves! Our church family slowly started to come back to church for in person worship in which Pastor Puckett’s daughter (Valecia) became the Minister of Music. She was (and still is) faithful through the hard years of the pandemic.

 

Pastor Puckett has continued following Jesus as he was given visions by GOD for the work of the church ministry and the Pulaski community. He created a ministry class where people would understand the basics of ministry. Pastor Brian gave the men’s ministry a name; MoMENtum, and has also backed the revitalization of the women’s ministry; Saving Our Sisters (S.O.S.). Pastor Brian made it clear that the choir ministry will be known as the FMBC.P Conquerors Choir. Our Sunday School has been re-started now under the leadership Superintendent Ricky Sykes (appointed by Pastor Brian). Also, the youth Sunday School was started back under the teaching of Minister Valecia Puckett and has been renamed Christ in Action (C.I.A). We give homage to Superintendent Emeritus Deacon Frank Holt. And since we are talking Deacons, Pastor Brian reinstated Deacon George Nicholson and announced a new Deacon in training, Michael Holt. With much prayer and supplication, Pastor P asked Mrs. Reta Perry, Mrs. Ethel Nicholson, and Mrs. Carolyn Abernathy to become Mothers in training.

 

As the vision continues, Pastor Brian organized the Ministers Alliance of Pulaski (MAP), which brings together ministers and pastors in the area for worship services.  Pastor Brian is currently continuing in the vision as he gives our church a new motto of “More than Church, more than Community, more than Conquerors Through Christ!”

 

 

Just as our forefathers never lost hope in the coming of a brighter day, we are like a tree planted by the rivers

of water and we will not be removed.  Our souls are anchored in the Lord.

 

To our deceased members, we thank GOD for your service!