Bellevue Baptist Church is a Baptist megachurch in the Cordova area of Memphis, Tennessee, United States. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Bellevue was once the largest church in the Memphis area. Bellevue's goals are to "Love God, Love People, Share Jesus, and Make Disciples." The church's head pastor is Ben Mandrell as of August 2025.
History Bellevue Baptist was founded in 1903 by Central Baptist Church as a mission church on the outskirts of Memphis. With a small $1,000 gift from member Fannie Jobe, Pastor Thomas Potts led the congregation to build a one-room stone chapel at the corner of Bellevue and Erskine Avenues. The first service was held on July 12, 1903, with Bellevue's first pastor, Henry Hurt. Thirty-two founding members signed the official charter on August 9, 1903. The church completed a 3,000 seat building located at 70 N. Bellevue in 1952, which was one of the first air-conditioned churches in Memphis. Bellevue became one of the largest Southern Baptist churches in the United States in the 1950s with more than 9,000 members. The church relocated to its current building (2000 Appling Road), which seats 7,000 in the main sanctuary, on a campus in Cordova, a Memphis suburb, in 1989. Bellevue is ranked 80th in the largest and fasting growing churches in America by LifeWay Research for Outreach Magazine.Allen, Bob."Bellevue ranked 80th in Fastest Growing Protestant Churches"(October 7, 2009),Baptist & Reflector. The attendance has been up to 6,567.
The church's location near Interstate 40 is marked by a display of three crosses. A ceremony held to dedicate and light the crosses took place on New Year's Eve, 1999. As the clock ticked down the final moments of the millennium, the Bellevue family worshipped at the foot of the cross. At the stroke of midnight, the crosses were illuminated. They are visible from several miles away. The center cross is tall, flanked by two crosses.Bellevue Baptist Church's History and Vision from bellevue.org
Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary was located on across the street from Bellevue ( were donated by Bellevue). However, Mid-America operates independently from Bellevue. Nevertheless, the Seminary has maintained a close relationship with the congregation ever since it moved to Memphis in 1976; former Bellevue pastor Adrian Rogers was an influential figure at MABTS.
Leadership Bellevue has been led by only five pastors since 1927. The first service was held on July 12, 1903, with Bellevue's first pastor, Henry Hurt, saying that he hoped the new church would become “one of the greatest powers for good” that the city of Memphis had ever seen. Hurt served as pastor for the first 11 years, resigning because of poor health in 1914. When his health improved, he later served as pastor of Union Avenue Baptist Church in Memphis. He also served on the building committee for Baptist Memorial Hospital and as commissioner for the Memphis Housing Authority. A two-story wooden frame building was added to the original stone structure in 1910, with evening services sometimes held on the rooftop. Richard M. Inlow served as pastor from 1915 to 1920, followed by William M. Bostick, pastor from 1920 to 1927. Because of the growth in membership, a 1,000-seat auditorium was constructed on Bellevue Avenue, replacing the stone chapel. Dedication for the new building was March 16, 1924.
Robert G. Lee (1927–1960) On December 11, 1927, Robert Greene Lee preached his first sermon to the congregation at Bellevue. The membership was 1,430 when he became the church's fourth pastor. Lee was born in a log cabin on November 11, 1886. The son of a South Carolina sharecropper, he worked his way through school, ultimately graduating with a doctorate in international law from University of Chicago Law School in 1919.Schuyler English, E.(1949)A Chosen Vessel.Zondervan Publishing House (1949) Lee preached the sermon Pay-Day Someday more than 1,200 times at Bible conferences, in state capitol buildings, churches, universities, youth camps, and ballparks across the nation and around the world.
At the time of his death on July 20, 1978, an estimated 3 million people had heard him preach Pay-Day Someday.Richardson, Cyndi(2003); Adams, Paul(Historian),By His Grace and For His Glory. To accommodate the crowds that came to hear Lee preach the hour-long sermon each year on the first Sunday in May, Bellevue moved services to Ellis Auditorium in Memphis. In 1954, Westminster Films captured him in Technicolor delivering his signature sermon. Lee authored 56 books, written primarily from his sermons.
While he was pastor of Bellevue, Lee served three consecutive terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention: 1949, 1950, and 1951. Presiding at the 1951 meeting in San Francisco, he introduced a young Billy Graham to the SBC.<ref name="three times president">Bellevue's Lee 'One of the Towering Giants', Bellevue's Lee 'One of the Towering Giants''', The Commercial Appeal, July 21, 1978.</ref> Years later, Graham paid tribute to Lee at his death calling him "one of the towering giants of the 20th century". Church membership grew steadily, and Lee led the way for construction of a new sanctuary to seat 3,000, with the capacity to seat 600 more. The new building was located on the same block where the original stone chapel had stood. When Lee retired in 1960 after serving as pastor for 32 years, Bellevue's membership had grown to 9,200, making it the largest Baptist church east of the Mississippi River and the second largest church in the Southern Baptist Convention.
Under Lee's leadership, a church tradition began during the Great Depression. In December 1934, Lee called for a special "love offering" to help pay off the church building debt. The goal was set at $30,000, but church members contributed $36,000. The tradition continues today, with an annual offering taken before Thanksgiving. Facility construction and campus improvements are financed through the offering, along with local and foreign mission endeavors.
Ramsey Pollard (1960–1972) William Ramsey Pollard was pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, when Robert G. Lee retired. On Easter Sunday, April 17, 1960, the church voted to call him as pastor after he preached at Bellevue. He continued to preach as an evangelist until his death on April 26, 1984. He was named Pastor Emeritus in 1979. Pollard received the top achievement award for evangelism from the Tennessee Baptist Convention in 1962, and he was president of the board of World Evangelism Foundation of Dallas, Texas. He was elected president of Southern Baptist Convention in 1959 and unanimously re-elected in 1960. During Pollard's twelve years at Bellevue, the church hosted an annual Medical Professional Day. Bellevue financed and constructed a branch church, first known as Lauderdale Heights Baptist Church and later as City View Baptist Church. An activities building was added in 1966 for evangelistic outreach as well as for the congregation. In honor of the Pollards, it was named the Pollard Activities Building in 1970. Mrs. Pollard founded the Tennessee Ministers' Wives Association. In 1965 the Pollards organized a church group for senior citizens.
Adrian Rogers (1972–2005)
The church's most well-known leader, Adrian Rogers, was the senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist from 1972 until March 2005. During this period, the church's membership grew from 9,000 to over 29,000. The 40-year-old native Floridian was pastor of First Baptist Church in Merritt Island, Florida. On August 13, 1972, at the request of the search committee, Rogers preached his first sermon at Bellevue. That morning after he preached, the congregation unanimously voted for Rogers as the next pastor. In June 1972, members of the pulpit search committee traveled to Philadelphia to hear Adrian Rogers preach at the Southern Baptist Convention Pastors Conference.Bellevue Baptist to Hear Prospective Pastor Sunday, Tamke, Beth. The Commercial Appeal, August 11, 1972. In 1979, Rogers was elected on the first ballot as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the world's largest Protestant denomination.Rogers Elected Baptist Leader, Clark, Michael, The Commercial Appeal, June 13, 1979. During a period of theological controversy within the SBC, Rogers helped to lead the SBC back to its historical roots of biblical inerrancy, an effort known as the "Conservative Resurgence". He was elected president of the SBC again in 1986 and 1987. In 2000, he headed a SBC committee charged with revising the denomination's statement of faith, The Baptist Faith and Message.SBC The Baptist Faith and Message Committee , additional text. In 1996, the Religious Heritage of America named Rogers Clergyman of the Year, and in 2003, he was inducted into the National Religious Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Rogers consulted and prayed personally with four U.S. Presidents (including Ronald Reagan), and was invited by George W. Bush to speak at the National Day of Prayer in 2001.Rogers, Joyce; Paige Patterson (2005). Love Worth Finding: The Life of Adrian Rogers and His Philosophy of Preaching.B&H Books (April 1, 2005). In 1994, he was asked by Focus on the Family founder and president, James Dobson, to serve on the organization's board of directors. Rogers published 21 books and 52 booklets, including Adrianisms, two volumes of his quotes. His biography, Love Worth Finding: The Life of Adrian Rogers and His Philosophy of Preaching, was published in 2005. Upon his retirement in 2005, Rogers was named Pastor Emeritus. At his retirement celebration on March 4, the Memphis City Council honored Rogers by naming a segment of Appling Road that runs in front of the west entrance, the Adrian P. Rogers Parkway.Baptist Press, Ellsworth, Tim (March 7, 2005)."Retiring Adrian Rogers honored by friends from near and far", Baptist Press. Before Steve Gaines preached his first sermon as Bellevue's seventh pastor on September 11, 2005, Rogers demonstrated his support for his successor in the morning worship services by washing Gaines' feet and placing a cloth mantel across his shoulders to symbolize the transfer of leadership.A Big Soul To Fill, Dowd, James (September 12, 2005)."A Big Soul to Fill:, The Commercial Appeal. On November 15, 2005, Rogers died of complications following colon cancer treatment at age 74. More than 10,000 attended his memorial service at Bellevue on November 17, 2005."Farewell", Dowd, James (November 18, 2005). "Farewell", The Commercial Appeal. Local television station WPTY and Daystar Christian Television network broadcast the service live. Speakers included James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Rogers' successor, Steve Gaines.
Steve Gaines (2005–2025) On July 10, 2005, members voted to make Steve Gaines the new pastor. Gaines previously served as pastor at First Baptist Church in Gardendale, Alabama; a suburb of Birmingham, for fourteen years. His first sermon as new pastor at Bellevue was on September 11, 2005. Since 1996, Gaines had preached once a year at Bellevue by Rogers' invitation. After eight months of reviewing potential candidates for senior pastor, the search committee reached a unanimous decision.Bellevue Finds Rogers' Successor, Dowd, James (July 6, 2005). "Bellevue Finds Rogers' Successor", The Commercial Appeal. In the 14 years that Gaines was the senior pastor in Gardendale, 3,251 people were baptized, leading the Alabama Baptist State Convention in baptisms seven out of ten years.Union graduate called as pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church(July 15, 2005),"Union Graduate Called as Pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church", Union University News. For Easter 2005, First Baptist Gardendale held community-wide services at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex with more 10,000 attending.Hewlett-Taylor, Kelli (March 28, 2005). "More Than 10,000 Gather for BJCC Easter Service", The Birmingham Local News.