Tennessee Temple University

Last updated
Tennessee Temple University
Tennessee Temple University seal.jpg
MottoTraining to Transform
Type Private university
Established1946 – 2015 (merged with Piedmont International University)
Students468 university and 88 seminary students
Location
Chattanooga
,
Tennessee
,
United States

35°01′59″N85°16′40″W / 35.0330°N 85.2777°W / 35.0330; -85.2777
CampusHighland Park
Nickname Crusaders
Website www.tntemple.edu

Tennessee Temple University was a private Christian university in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Temple Baptist Seminary was the university's graduate school of Christian theology, also operating in Chattanooga. The university merged with Piedmont International University in 2015.

Contents

History

Tennessee Temple was founded in 1946 under the leadership and vision of Dr. Lee Roberson. As the pastor of a prominent Southern Baptist church, Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Roberson saw a need to train people for ministry through higher education. Believing that God was leading him to act upon this need, he began an evening Bible institute which would eventually blossom into a Bible college and a liberal arts college. Later, a seminary would be added. Under Roberson's leadership from 1946 to 1983, the university was "at the center of the Independent Baptist movement." [1]

The close relationship that the school maintained with Highland Park Baptist Church, one of the early megachurches of the modern era, created many ministry training opportunities for the students of Tennessee Temple. This model would be the inspiration for the Rev. Jerry Falwell to begin what would become Liberty University. [2] [3] Tennessee Temple's peak enrollment was more than 4,000 students in the early 1980s, but enrollment had dropped by 3,000 by 1991. [4]

As of September 2013, there were "just over" 400 students enrolled. [5] In September 2013, university leaders reported that the institution was considering a campus relocation, from Highland Park to a larger site on Woodland Park Baptist Church property located on Standifer Gap Road. [5] [6] In February 2014, the university announced that it would sell most of its Highland Park campus buildings to Redemption to the Nations, the parent organization of Redemption Point Church, and move to a new site by June 2015. [7]

In March 2015, it was announced that, as of April 30, 2015, Tennessee Temple University would dissolve and merge with Piedmont International University, a private Christian college in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. [4]

Presidents [8]

Dr. Lee Roberson, 1946-1974

Dr. J.R. Faulkner, 1974-1985

Dr. J. Don Jennings, 1985-1990

Dr. L.W. Nichols, 1991-1993

Dr. Roger H. Stiles, 1993-2002

Dr. David E. Bouler, 2002-2005

Dr. J. Daniel Lovett, 2005-2011

Dr. Steven F. Echols, 2011-2015

Notable alumni, students, and faculty

Athletics

The Tennessee Temple athletic teams were called the Crusaders. The university was a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA), primarily competing as an independent in the Mid-East Region of the Division I level. The Crusaders were also a member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) from 2013–14 to 2014–15 (when the school closed).

Tennessee Temple competed in 11 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, soccer, softball (fast-pitch), track & field and volleyball. Club sports included cheerleading and wrestling.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Falwell</span> American Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservative activist (1933–2007)

Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. was an American Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia. He founded Lynchburg Christian Academy in 1967, founded Liberty University in 1971, and co-founded the Moral Majority in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chattanooga, Tennessee</span> City in Tennessee, United States

Chattanooga is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. It is located along the Tennessee River, and borders Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee's fourth-largest city and one of the two principal cities of East Tennessee, along with Knoxville. It anchors the Chattanooga metropolitan area, Tennessee's fourth-largest metropolitan statistical area, as well as a larger three-state area that includes Southeast Tennessee, Northwest Georgia, and Northeast Alabama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary</span> Theological seminary in Massachusetts

Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary (GCTS) is an evangelical seminary with its main campus in Hamilton, Massachusetts, and three other campuses in Boston, Massachusetts; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Jacksonville, Florida. According to the Association of Theological Schools, Gordon-Conwell ranks as one of the largest evangelical seminaries in North America in terms of total number of full-time students enrolled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heritage USA</span> Biblical theme park

Heritage USA was an American Christian-themed water park, theme park and residential complex in Fort Mill, South Carolina, built by televangelist Jim Bakker and his wife Tammy Faye Bakker, founders of The PTL Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union University</span> Christian university in Jackson, Tennessee, US

Union University is a private Baptist Christian university in Jackson, Tennessee, with additional campuses in Germantown and Hendersonville. The university is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention. It is a union of several different schools: West Tennessee College, formerly known as Jackson Male Academy; Union University of Murfreesboro; Southwestern Baptist University; and Hall-Moody Junior College of Martin, Tennessee.

A multi-site church is a specific church congregation which holds services at multiple geographical locations, either within a specific metropolitan area or, increasingly, several such areas.

Lavern "Lee" Edward Roberson was an American pastor and evangelist. He was the founder of Tennessee Temple University and Temple Baptist Seminary in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Camp Joy, in Harrison, Tennessee.

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Missions and evangelism are core focuses of the seminary.

John Ankerberg is an American Christian television host, author, and speaker. He is an ordained Baptist minister and has authored or coauthored more than 150 books and study guides. He is the producer and host of the internationally televised weekly program The John Ankerberg Show.

Temple Baptist Seminary is the graduate school of Christian theology of Piedmont International University. Originally established as "Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary" in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1948, the name was changed to Temple Baptist Theological Seminary five years later, after the Southern Baptist Convention founded its own Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. The seminary became a part of Piedmont when its parent school, Tennessee Temple University, merged with it in 2015.

Crown College is a independent Baptist Bible college, featuring a trade school, seminary, language school, and music conservatory in Powell, Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Baptist Theological Seminary</span> Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, USA

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The seminary was founded in 1859 in Greenville, South Carolina, where it was at first housed on the campus of Furman University. The seminary has been an innovator in theological education, establishing one of the first Ph.D. programs in religion in the year 1892. After being closed during the Civil War, it moved in 1877 to a newly built campus in downtown Louisville and moved to its current location in 1926 in the Crescent Hill neighborhood. In 1953, Southern became one of the few seminaries to offer a full, accredited degree course in church music. For more than fifty years Southern has been one of the world's largest theological seminaries, with an FTE enrollment of over 3,300 students in 2015.

Carolina University (CU), formerly Piedmont International University (PIU), is a private Christian university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Carolina University offers both residential and online programs including dual enrollment, undergraduate, and graduate degrees. It is accredited by the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) and is a member of the American Association of Christian Schools (AACS).

Elmer Leon Towns is an American Christian academic, pastor and writer who co-founded Liberty University alongside Jerry Falwell in 1971. He is a speaker on the principles of church growth, church leadership, Christian education, Sunday school, prayer and fasting.

Wake Forest Baptist Church is two churches in North Carolina, United States. One church is in the town of Wake Forest, North Carolina. It has been operating for almost 200 years. The other church was on the campus of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It was active from 1956 to 2022, but has now closed.

Southeastern Bible College was a private Christian Bible college in Birmingham, Alabama. The school's 22-acre campus was located in the suburbs south of the downtown Birmingham area. It was accredited by the Association for Biblical Higher Education.

Highland Park is a neighborhood in the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It originally was a small city developed between the late 19th century and the mid-20th century. It is located two miles east of downtown Chattanooga, and bounded by Willow and Holtzclaw streets on the east and west, and McCallie and Main streets on the north and south. It was incorporated in 1905. Later, when it was incorporated into the City of Chattanooga in 1929, it grew to become a popular middle-class suburb with access to multiple train lines. As employment and much downtown property value in Chattanooga declined throughout the 1970s, Highland Park did as well, but it has had significant recent success due to its proximity to the downtown, its vibrant neighborhood association, and many newly renovated historic houses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asbury United Methodist Church (Chattanooga, Tennessee)</span> Historic church in Tennessee, United States

Asbury United Methodist Church, originally Highland Park Methodist Episcopal Church, is a historic church on Bailey Avenue in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church (Chattanooga, Tennessee)</span> Historic church in Tennessee, United States

Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church was a historic church on McCallie Avenue in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Highland Park Baptist Church was a prominent Southern Baptist church in the Highland Park neighborhood of Chattanooga, Tennessee. During the four-decade pastorship of Dr. Lee Roberson, it was a center of the Independent Baptist movement and became an early megachurch.

References

  1. ↑ "The end of Tennessee Temple in Chattanooga". timesfreepress.com. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  2. ↑ "Tennessee Temple University Legacy | Carolina University". carolinau.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  3. ↑ Little, Iain (2014). ""A Case Analysis of the Foundational Ministry Principles of Rev. Jerry Falwell from 1956-1966,"".
  4. 1 2 Hardy, Kevin; Green, Alex (March 3, 2015). "The end of Tennessee Temple in Chaittanooga". Chattanooga Times-Free Press. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Tennessee Temple University May Leave Highland Park For Woodland Park Baptist Church Campus". The Chattanoogan. September 15, 2013.
  6. ↑ Brantley, Megan (September 16, 2013). "TTU, Woodland Park Baptist church in talks about new campus". Chattanooga: WRCB-TV.
  7. ↑ Carroll, David (February 17, 2014) [February 16, 2014]. "Tennessee Temple University will move by 2015". Chattanooga: WRCB-TV.
  8. ↑ "We Are Tennessee Temple Pages 1 - 8 - Text Version | AnyFlip". anyflip.com. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  9. ↑ "Tennessee Temple University Legacy | Carolina University". carolinau.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  10. ↑ Archived January 7, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ "AUTHOR: DAN LOTHIAN". www.clnsmedia.com. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  12. ↑ "Chattanooga: Lookouts embrace Dodger blue". Times Free Press. Archived from the original on 2014-02-23. Retrieved 2014-02-19.
  13. ↑ "In memoriam: Dallas Willard, 77". USC News. 2013-05-13. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.