On June 15, 1913, a group of interested persons met at Fair Garden School and appointed two committees.  One committee consisted of three men to determine the number of Baptist[s] in the area.  The other committee was to select a Sunday School Superintendent and to determine whether the body should be an independent church or a mission church.

     On the twenty-third of June, the first committee reported that there were approximately one hundred and fifty Baptist[s] in the community.  The second committee presented the name of Roscoe Smith to serve as Sunday School Superintendent.  Brother Smith was a member of Bell Avenue Baptist Church and had given his life to the Lord.  The second committee also suggested the church be a mission of Bell Avenue.

     After hearing the reports, a committee of three was appointed to form a Sunday School.  Another committee was set up to call a pastor.  A third committee was to purchase a lot on which the church was to be built.

     It was decided that the church would be a mission of Bell Avenue.  They called Roscoe Smith as their first pastor and elected five trustees.  Those elected were:  Dr. A. L. Rule, John A. Anderson, R. H. Huff (all of Bell Avenue), U. S. Vineyard, and L. R. Fielden.  That same day, four joined the mission by letter and two by Baptism.

     The first Sunday School was held on June 29, 1913, with eleven classes -- eighty-one in attendance.

     A business meeting was held after the service on July 14, 1913.  At this meeting it was agreed that a lot would be purchased for six hundred dollars.  The lot was owned by Mr. Gid Strong, who donated fifty dollars and required one hundred-fifty in cash.  The rest was to be paid be promisary [sic] notes payable in one, two, three, and four years respectively.  A drawing of the church was submitted with an estimate of fourteen hundred nin[e]ty-five dollars coming from Knoxville Lumber Company.  The church arranged for a loan of fifteen hundred dollars from Mr. Gid Strong.  This was the first Sunday that an evening service was held.

     Thirteen members obligated themselves to tithe on August 31, 1913.  This was the last meeting held in the school, because on September 1 school was scheduled to begin.  The original agreement the people had was that they would be out of the building by this time.

     On October 12, 1913, a special offering was taken and one hundred forty-nine dollars was raised to buy a furnace for the new building.

     The Burlington Baptist Church was born on the ninth of November.  There were thirty-eight charter members, five deacons and five trustees.  The first trustees were:  L. R. Fieldin [sic - Fielden], J. E. Jollay, A.G. Burnett, U. S. Vineyard, and J. M. Mynatt.  The first deacons were:  Odell Wallace, L. R. Fielden, L. C. Burnett, U. S. Vineyard, and Frank H. Dutton.

Charter Members

     A committee was promptly formed to recommend a pastor and another committee to arrange for an ordination service.  The decision was also reached that evening to call Rev. J. E. Wickham as the pastor and the State Board was petitioned for help.

     By December 10, 1913, the church had grown considerably and had a membership of fifty-three.  However, donations did not seem to be increasing.  The Ladies Aid Society was given a vote of thanks for paying the coal bill that the church owed.

     On January 7, 1914 (membership had grown to fifty-nine), the church dismissed the finance committee and asked the deacons to assume the responsibility of taking care of the money.  The records show an average offering of less than two dollars a week at this time.  The church voted to buy a blackboard for the Sunday School out of the treasury.

     The church agreed on February 4, 1914, that all business had to go before the deacons before it could be brought before the church.  A committee was appointed to draft a resolution of thanks to Bell Avenue for their help in erecting the church.  The Choir Director was given the responsibility of securing special music for the services.  The church voted to buy six dozen song books on March 4, and to secure a janitor for the sum of five dollars a month.

     April was a big month for the church.  They rented a piano from Clark & Jones to use during the spring revival.  Thirty-two people were added to the church during the revival.  After the revival a committee was appointed to buy a piano, and the Ladies Aid assumed the responsibility of cleaning the church.

     A belfry was added to the church in May.  A tithing system was adopted for three months, and a children's choir was formed.

     The church added two more deacons in June, bringing the number of deacons to seven.  A bookcase was purchased to keep the Sunday School Literature in.

     The church was still less than one year old when it elected its first church historian.  Brother Fielden was elected and was to serve for an indefinate [sic] time.

     The church made its first strong stand on September 2, 1914, when it forbid [sic] any function to charge admission, ice cream suppers, socials, and high pressure collections on church property.

     The church was very mission-minded.  On the first Sunday of every month, the loose offering was given to missions.  It was during this same month that they appointed a committee to make an application to the Tennessee Association of Baptist[s].  This was not carried through at this time due to the pastor's resigning.

     A pulpit committee was appointed in October.  It consisted of the deacons (now numbering eight), and seven other members.  On the eleventh of November the church elected Reverend A. P. Van Duran [Van Duren?] to serve as their pastor for one year.

     On July 7, 1915, the church declared all offices of the church vacant for the purpose of re-organizing.  They proceeded to elect new officers.  At this time the treasury showed a balance of sixty-four dollars and eighty-eight cents.

     In the business meeting held on August 4, 1915, the church decided it had enough money to purchase curtains for the Primary Department.  The rule was also passed that all money taken up by the Ladies Auxiliary must be turned over to the church.

     The first member to "be called home" was Mrs. Cecil Rutherford, who died in September of 1915.

     Another step forward!  On September 1, 1915, the church granted a two-week paid vacation to Reverend Edens.  Reverend Edens served from 1915 to 1917.  It was under his leadership that the church sent out its first foreign missionary.  Olive Edens, a sister to Reverend Edens, served in Africa from 1916 to 1930.

     All offices were declared vacant for the second time in January of 1917.  The pastor was re-elected and new officers were elected for the other positions.  The average Sunday School attendance for the preceeding [sic] year was nin[e]ty-five.

     Reverend Edens died in February of 1917.  Reverend J. H. Ponder became the fourth pastor of the church -- 1917-1918.  The church did not progress too much under his leadership, and in 1918 Reverend J. E. Wickham became pastor again.  He served until 1922.

     When the budget was made on Sept 10, 1919, enough money was included to give a copy of the Baptist and Reflector to every family that wanted it.

     An unusual happening took place on April 7, 1920, when the church excluded Mrs. Bell Ault from their fellowship for desertion of church and home.  Another unusual thing -- the congregation requested that the pastor preach on tithing on Sunday morning, April 17, 1920.