History

The Pastorate of Dr. Earl C. Davis
1976-1994

Dr. Earl C. Davis was called as pastor in 1976, beginning the third longest pastorate in the church's history, and immediately began to lead in associational, state and denominational roles. Under his pastorate, First Baptist Church expanded its media outreach, first with television spots to introduce the new pastor to the city, and finally with the inauguration of its television ministry in December 1978. The church continued its missions influence around the world through its work in the region of Upper Volta (now the West African nation of Burkina Faso), and Dr. Davis traveled widely on domestic and foreign missions activities. He was one of the earliest Memphis Baptist pastors to recognize the looming denominational conflict that would occupy and change the theology, direction and leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention with a fundamentalist takeover beginning in 1979, until all moderate churches were pushed aside. His annual State of the Convention reports, delivered following his return from the annual meeting, spelled out in detail what was happening to the Convention in the forefront and behind the scenes to erase any influence moderate Southern Baptists may have held. He was also an early participant in the formation of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, composed of like-minded churches across the Convention which were outraged and grieved by the direction in which the Convention was headed, serving as president of the Tennessee chapter in 1991.

Dr. Earl Davis and Family

He presided over new building construction and reconstruction in 1986 for the renovated preschool area and the new Fellowship Hall and helped the church celebrate its sesquicentennial in 1989 as it began to look back at its glorious history and forward to what lay ahead. This included the beginnings of a ministry to the eastern part of the city in Cordova. This ministry eventually led to a split in the membership between those who wished to remain in Midtown and minister to the city from that location, and those who wished to move further east to property the church owned and establish its ministerial foundation there, as many other churches had done and were doing. In July 1994, several hundred members organized Trinity Baptist Church with Dr. Davis as pastor and began to build their ministry and heritage. While the split was not entirely amicable in nature, both churches have prospered under the Lord's blessing.

Together!

First Baptist's History
1839-1897
1898-1930
1931-1943
1944-1975
1976-1994
1995-Present
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