Welcome to Fairview Baptist Church!

 A Brief History

Fairview Baptist Church has a storied history. Fairview was established by members of Concord Baptist Church, which branched off the oldest Baptist church in Greene Co., Warrensburg Baptist Church. Warrensburg was founded by members from the oldest Baptist church in neighboring Hamblen Co., Whitesburg Baptist–which is one of the oldest Baptist churches in all of Tennessee–in fact, Whitesburg was organized before Tennessee was even a state.

Fairview Baptist Church had 66 charter members when it was organized in 1912, each member coming from Concord Baptist Church with a letter of good standing. The original building was dedicated on the first Sunday in November 1912. Within one year, the membership doubled.

Over 100-plus years, Fairview has seen lots of changes, of course. With growing membership, additions were constructed, including Sunday School classrooms, restrooms, church offices, a kitchen, and a fellowship hall. A larger sanctuary was completed in 2007 and includes three video screens; a media room to control the lights, sound, video, etc.; a large entry foyer; additional restrooms; a baptistry; storage areas; and changing rooms for baptisms. In 2015, with the pews crowded, two rooms on either side of the sanctuary were opened up to accommodate additional seating, giving the sanctuary a cross shape. The former sanctuary was converted into a multi-purpose room in 2015 with plenty of room for children to play.

Ministries at Fairview have changed over the years, too. Along with three neighboring churches, Fairview established a community mission center, and the four churches coordinate the center’s activities and outreaches. Fairview has been and continues to be very active in the community and offers many, many outreaches throughout the year in an effort to help the community, to show love to the community, and, most importantly, lead people to Christ.

In the area of worship, Fairview has also seen changes. Gone are the days when men and women sat on different sides of the church and even entered and exited through different doors. Members of Fairview established a praise and worship band in 2016. During the Sunday morning service, the band leads the congregation in two or three songs, mostly contemporary but sometimes a traditional song. This praise and worship music is in addition to the traditional hymns that are joyously sung during the service, too. It is not unusual for the music to elicit shouts of joy and raised hands from members of the congregation!

In 2016, Fairview did away with the traditional Sunday evening services on the first and third Sunday evenings to allow church members to meet in small groups at various locations, mostly in members’ homes. This has proven wildly successful in that there are approximately three times as many people involved in small groups than were attending Sunday evening services.

Fairview Baptist Church has served the McDonald community and the greater Mohawk area for more than 100 years, and we honor our past. Many revivals, Bible schools and other events have been held and were successful in winning many souls for Christ. As we strive to fulfill the Great Commission while facing today’s challenges, we look forward to Fairview’s next 100+ years!