First Baptist Church of Tellico Village
FBCTV.org
Office hours: 9:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM Monday through Thursday
Rev. Charlie Campbell – Interim Pastor
Rev. Kem Lindsay – Associate Pastor
Rev. David Whipple – Minister of Worship & Music
First Baptist Church of Tellico Village (FBCTV) is located within Tellico Village, a retirement community of nearly 9,600 people in Loudon County, Tennessee. There are similar lake/golf communities, home to an additional 3,400 people, in the surrounding area. The community is in the Knoxville Metropolitan Area with excellent medical, educational, and cultural facilities.
Church Information: The church celebrated its 25-year anniversary in November 2022. During the church’s short life, the growth of FBCTV has required three building expansion phases and the addition of a second Sunday morning worship service.
The church hosts a fellowship dinner followed by prayer and Bible study every Wednesday evening. FBCTV has a complete, modern multi-media center which streams services live, records online Bible studies weekly, and produces choral and special holiday musical programs for the local community and online worshipers/seekers. Links to the complete library of recently streamed worship services are located on the church website: FBCTV.org.
Church Staff: The church has three full time pastors on staff: Lead Pastor (open), Associate Pastor, and Minister of Worship & Music. Other members of the staff are an administrative assistant, a bookkeeper, a facilities director, and a media production manager.
Church Characteristics: FBCTV affirms the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, and firmly believes the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. FBCTV’s mission statement is “Love God, love others, and reach our world for Christ.” All teaching and discipleship revolve around God’s Word. FBCTV is a traditional, conservative church, which is very active in the community, and hosts many events, which are open to all who wish to attend. Members of FBCTV volunteer innumerable hours annually within our community.
Congregation: Currently, FBCTV has 494 members. The church is known for its friendly people who welcome newcomers with open arms. Tellico Village draws retirees and transferees from all fifty states, and the FBCTV congregation is composed of congregants having backgrounds from over thirty different denominations, with roughly 30% having Southern Baptist backgrounds. The median age of the congregation is approximately 70 years. There are very few young families and no youth programs as less than 200 children reside in all of Tellico Village. Census numbers (2021) indicate the population of the area to be 13,000, with a projected rate of growth of > 5% per year through 2026. A sizable portion of the congregation ‘turns over’ every 5 to 10 years, driven by the cyclical nature of retirement communities.
Lay Leadership: In 2003, the church adopted a Leadership Council concept to oversee the various ministries of the Church. The Council consists of a chairman and vice-chairman along with leaders of 13 ministries: Board of Trustees, Communications, Congregational Care, Discipleship, Fellowship, Finance, Missions, Outreach & Evangelism, Personnel, Prayer Ministry, Quick Response, Volunteer Placement, Worship & Music.
Building and Financial Information: The building was constructed in three phases and now encompasses 35,000 square feet. The last phase was completed in May 2015 at a cost of $2.5 million making the total cost of construction of the current building complex more than $5 million. The church is debt free; there is no mortgage on the building/land. Our newest addition included a fellowship hall that seats >300 people for dinner, a commercial kitchen, classrooms, storage, administrative offices, a music rehearsal suite with music library, conference rooms, and a church library. Annual giving is approaching $1.5 million, which provides $287,000 to 150 mission projects each year. The church has committed to missions by apportioning > 20 percent of total giving to local and worldwide missions.
Church History: On August 9, 1995, eight people met for the first time with the idea of planting a Southern Baptist Church in Tellico Village. At the time, only two other churches existed in the village. By 1997, the small group had grown and Rev. Jim Bishop, a retired military chaplain, became the founding pastor of FBCTV. The first service of the new church was held on November 2, 1997, in a rented storefront with 44 people in attendance. By 1998, the church had grown to the point that renting the storefront was no longer practical. The church needed to build a permanent church home and in 1999, Cooper Communities, Inc. deeded the new church 9.86 acres of land (current site) to begin to build. By 2001, contracts were let to begin phase one of the church. This was a $920,000 project for construction of a sanctuary, classrooms, and offices. The doors of the new church building opened in May 2002. Rev. Jim Bishop announced his retirement effective March 31, 2004 at which time the church began its search for a new pastor. Rev. Glenn Gregg served as our Interim Pastor during this transitional period. The mortgage on the first church building was paid-in-full (in record time) during that same year. A new Minister of Worship & Music, Eugene Hattaway, was called in September 2005.
