The yellow line which runs down the middle of State Street in Bristol is the boundary between Virginia and Tennessee. The street itself has had a renaissance with attractive plantings and interesting shops and restaurants now occupying formerly empty buildings. The old Paramount Theatre, which dates to 1931, has been restored and opened as a performing arts center. At one end of the street the visitor gets a clear idea of what the locals think of their town. A huge neon sign says, “Bristol — A Good Place to Live.” Framed in the middle of the sign is the classic Greek temple of the First Baptist Church.
Fred Anderson
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The church house is a magnificent architectural gem. J.L. Rosser, a beloved pastor from 1913-32, once described it as “the admiration of all observers, dignified without being severe, and beautiful without useless and meaningless ornamentation.” The front portico is supported by massive Ionic columns and on the outside walls are carved in huge letters the construction date of 1912. The church delayed its dedication until the building was debt free; and in 1926, George W. Truett, the leading Baptist preacher of the South, delivered the dedicatory sermon.
The interior of the sanctuary bespeaks formality of worship. Behind the choir are the imposing pipes for the church’s grand organ. And in the middle of the choir loft is the console where for decades the late Joann Feazell, organist and minister of music, held forth like a queen on a throne.
This columnist visited the church for its 150th anniversary and portrayed a particular old-time Baptist minister who died the same year that the present building was constructed. My dressing room for costuming was directly behind the sanctuary; and while putting on make-up, beard and wig, I was treated to a private organ rehearsal by today’s gifted minister of music, Eric Hicks. His capable assistant is his wife, Angie.
The 11 a.m. Sunday service was as classical as the room in which we worshipped. There were choir anthems and congregational hymns in the high church style and there were comforting prayers offered by the pastor, David Stancil. The church also offers an alternative worship service called Common Ground, which employs contemporary music and informality.
From the front steps of the church, a sweeping view is offered of the downtown streetscape of State Street, including the newly-restored train station, which is as old as the church and which waits patiently for the restoration of passenger rail service. If the eye follows the horizon, the distinctive buildings of Virginia Intermont College can be seen on a facing hill.
It is fitting that the college and the church forever look across to one another. There always has been a friendship between the two institutions. The college is also in an anniversary mood this year as it traces its beginnings back 125 years to 1884 and a school established for women at Glade Spring. The early female institute was begun by an enterprising Baptist minister, J.R. Harrison, and a visionary layman, M.M. Morris. As a young man, Morris had visited a woman’s school — Hollins Institute (now University) near Roanoke — which in its early years also had Baptist connections and he was inspired to help start a similar school for the far southwest. The two men, Pastor Harrison and Morris, labored to get the school underway. Harrison once offered to walk 3,000 miles if only people would give the school the needed $3,000.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the school moved to the growing town of Bristol. A huge rambling brick Victorian building soon dominated the hill; and in time, others were added. A survey of old yearbooks reveals the eras when the college’s “young ladies” dressed in hats and gloves.
The college had no sooner moved to Bristol than hard times threatened its closure. William E. Hatcher, the noted Virginia Baptist leader, devoted time in his old age to “the Bristol campaign,” hoping to raise the staggering sum of $12,000 and, thereby, save the school. He did but it was largely through the generosity of the members of First Baptist Church, Bristol.
H.G. Noffsinger wrote a history of the church in 1949 and he had equal love and loyalty for the college and the church. He wrote: “But for the moral and financial support of the members, the school would have been sold for debt. Baptists of Bristol literally poured their money by the thousands into the school to save it. And this support has been kept up all down the years. The members of the Old First have carried the major portion of the load for VIC. Is it any wonder that often the school has been thought of as belonging to the First Baptist Church? The members of that church saved it. This fact Baptists of Virginia should know and never forget.”
Noffsinger also emphasized that “the pastors of the First Church have been the college pastors.” Today, the pastor, David Stancil, serves as a trustee of Virginia Intermont.
The same spirit of love and loyalty still exists between town and gown. Hard times have come once again into the picture for the college. About three years ago, there was concern that the college might not survive; but friends — including Bristol folks — gave generously to a matching campaign. The financial needs are still real and once more friends of Intermont are asked to step up to the plate. Among the more recent boosters of the college are the Hon. Gerald Baliles, former governor of Virginia, and Bruce E. Heilman, chancellor of the University of Richmond. And, of course, many of the local citizens, including members of Old First, remain committed to the college.
Bristol has many residents who still believe the message on the neon sign: A Good Place to Live. And they dream of ways to improve their city. David Stancil dreams of converting an old warehouse near the church into the Bristol Ministry Mall. Ronda Cole, the energetic campus minister at Intermont, dreams of motivating students and others to help fix-up many of the derelict dwellings near the campus.
Dreams made possible a Baptist church to be constituted 150 years ago and a Baptist-affiliated college to be founded, and both church and college help make Bristol “A Good Place to Live.”
Fred Anderson is executive director of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society and the Center for Baptist Heritage and Studies. He may be contacted at [email protected] or at P.O. Box 34, University of Richmond, VA 23173.