By Rozella Hardin

Editorial Director
rozella.hardin@elizabethton.com
Phillippi Baptist Church will celebrate its 150th anniversary with special services this weekend.
Saturday at 6 p.m., a memorial service will be held for founding fathers and members who helped mold Phillippi into the church it is today.
The Phillippi Youth Department will present a musical entitled “Set Me Free.” Also, special music will be presented by DCYC and Mrs. Angela Turner. Following the service, refreshments will be served in the fellowship hall.
Sunday at the 11 a.m. service, the Rev. Timothy Watterson, former pastor, will preach. Music will be presented by the combined Phillippi choirs, Tracy and Linda Haynes, Gregory Wash and Nakisha Campbell, Monica, Samiyah and Myin Hairston.
Following the service, dinner will be served in the fellowship hall.
Phillippi Baptist Church, organized in 1867, was one of the first African-American Baptist churches in Tennessee. Initially known as the Elizabethton Colored Baptist Church it left the Watauga Baptist Association and joined the Bethel District Baptist Mission and Education Association between 1869-71, becoming the Phillippi Baptist Church.
The congregation originally met in a building located on East Street and Fifth Street in Old Town. Following the historic Flood of 1901, the congregation began meeting in the south side of Elizabethton. An account in Frank Merritt’s Later History of Carter County noted that in 1908 the Phillippi Baptist Church was dedicated.
According to documents, the church was founded by Horace Leftwich, a former slave. Traveling over the hills and through the valleys of Northeast Tennessee, he determined that the black people of Carter and Johnson counties needed a place of worship. William Jobe, a preacher who had established a church in Jonesborough, brought George Henderson Phillips to serve as pastor of the The Elizabethton Colored Baptist Church, which had about 40 members.
Between 1869 and 1871, Horace Leftwich served the church as a deacon and clerk. He was later licensed to preach and serve as pastor. In 1884, a Rev. Phillips became pastor of the church and served until the following year. He was followed by the Rev. W.H. Ford, who served until 1901.
After the 1901 flood, and the church’s relocation to its present site, the Rev. W.A.C. Breedlove was called as pastor and served the church for 43 years, at which time he was forced to retire due to illness. The Rev. J.C. Harris served as interim pastor until the Rev. M.D. Machen was called as pastor. He served from 1943 to 1952.
Other pastors include the Rev. Fred Mitchell, 1952-55; the Rev. William Owens, followed by interim pastor, the Rev. J. Gambrell, who served until 1961, when the congregation called the Rev. A.W. Hubbard from Knoxville. Rev. Hubbard served the church for 14 years (1961-75).
In January 1976, Phillippi called the Rev. William M. Holloway, Jr. to serve as pastor. He served until 1981 and was followed by the Rev. Larry Williams, who began his pastorate in January 1982. He served until 1994, when he became ill and died. During the tenure of the Rev. Williams, serving as associate pastors were the Rev. Tim Watterson, the Rev. C. Danny Johnson, the Rev. Jesse MacMurray, and the Rev. Jeremy Van Blommestein.
Rev. Watterson became interim pastor in March 1994 and was called as pastor in July of that year. He served as pastor until 2003, when he was succeeded by the Rev. Joseph Hollifield, who observed his 13th anniversary as pastor of the church in September.
Phillippi has grown immensely under the leadership of these pastors, having accumulated property, new structures, furnishings and vehicles. The congregation supports both local and foreign missions and serves the community with a number of outreach ministries.
“Truly, God has blessed us. He has done so much for us during our 150 years as a church. We give Him the praise for He is worthy. We continue to commune with Him in prayer. We allow Him to lead and guide us. Our growth is due to three powerful forces: Praise! Prayer! and Power!,” said the pastor, the Rev. Hollifield.
The public is invited to join the congregation in its anniversary celebration.