Our

History

MISSION & VISION

Our mission is to create compelling environments in which people are developed into totally committed disciples of Christ. We envision a community of socially active, liturgically aware, culturally engaged, and gospel-driven disciples loving God and serving humanity.

The Beginning

The Burnett Avenue Missionary Baptist Church began from prayer meetings held at the home of Sister Clark, 1434 Bland Street, Louisville, Kentucky. The prayer meetings grew until a mission was organized by the Lampton Baptist Church in 1889. A lot was later purchased and an edifice built at 1425 Bland Street under the leadership of Rev. Wakefield Hart, a member of Lampton, who became the first pastor. The mission eventually became the Bland Street Baptist Church. Some of the early pastors of this growing congregation were Rev. Samuel Coleman, Rev. Jackson Riley, Rev. William Brent, Rev. Loving, Rev. Strow and Rev. H. W. Jones. Under the pastoral guidance of Rev. T. J. Talley, the church purchased a lot at 511 East Burnett Avenue and broke ground in the spring of 1921. Rev. Talley passed away before a building could be erected.

After much prayer and patience, God provided the church a leader in Rev. James A. Baker. It was through his direction that the building was constructed at the new site. The congregation entered the new edifice November 11, 1923 by marching from the old church on Bland Street to the new church on Burnett Avenue—and the church became known as the Burnett Avenue Missionary Baptist Church. The building suffered severe damage from the 1937 flood but rebounded and by the grace of God continued to serve as a means of spiritual support for the surrounding neighborhood known as Fort Hill. Rev. Baker served faithfully for 38 years (1921- 1959) and assisted several young preachers in their early development.

Rev. William M. Coleman, a member of the congregation, was called as interim pastor. The church building was marred by fire in November 1960. Rev. Coleman led the congregation in rebuilding and we re-entered the refurbished facility on the second Sunday in February 1961. Rev. Coleman served through July 1961.

through the fires and the flood

In June 1961, the church extended a call to Rev. John O. Crittenden, Sr. who assumed the pastorate on August 6, and was installed on October 22, 1961. He revived our evening worship services and reinstated our B. T. U. (Baptist Training Union). The church membership continued to increase spiritually and numerically under his leadership, but on Saturday, January 29, 1966 the building was demolished by another fire. The extremely cold temperature hampered the firefighter’s attempts to save the building, as the water froze almost immediately from the hoses. During reconstruction after both fires, our services were held at Star Lodge Hall and Miles Memorial C. M. E. Church. Rev. Crittenden led the congregation to build a new edifice at the same location and we joyously entered our new church building on November 6, 1966. Rev. Crittenden faithfully served our congregation for 18 years and accepted a call to another church in September 1979.

The Lord led the church in calling Rev. Christopher L. Hagan as pastor. Rev. Hagan had served as an association minister under Pastor Crittenden. He began his pastorate on November 25, 1979. During his seven years of leadership, the church increased financially through tithes and offerings. Pastor Hagan began a bus ministry, basketball and volley ball teams and college scholarships were provided. He also led the church to purchase additional properties along East Burnett Avenue. Rev. Hagan served dutifully until 1986.

On August 20, 1988 the church called Rev. Gerald L. Thomas to fill its near two-year pastoral vacancy. He began on September 4, 1988. Pastor Thomas’ powerful preaching and teaching brought growth to both Sunday School and mid-week Bible Study. He led the Church into her Centennial Anniversary, celebrating with a banquet at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. During his tenure many souls were won to Christ and various programs and ministries were implemented, including New Member Orientation. After 5 years of dedicated service, Rev. Thomas accepted the call to another church in August 1993.

The New Century

On September 3, 1993 Rev. Johnnie D. Clark was called to serve as interim pastor. On June 1, 1994 Rev. Clark accepted the call to become pastor. Under his leadership the church grew spiritually and numerically through his teachings of God’s word, Christian Leadership Training, college level bible classes, organized evangelism, and increased ministry and mission. Two portable classrooms and two additional properties were purchased, developing a Church Campus with increased discipleship space for us to carry out The Great Commission to make disciples of all nations. Rev. Clark announced his retirement effective June 28, 2009, but at the church body’s request, postponed his retirement until January 31, 2010 while the church conducted its pastoral search. Rev. Jordan L. Thompson, an associate minister of Greater Galilee Baptist Church, served as interim pastor from February 1 to April 26, 2010.

Through much prayer and guidance of the Holy Spirit, on May 24, 2010 the church called the 24-year-old Rev. Daniel Corrie Shull to be the next pastor. He graciously accepted the call and preached his first sermon as pastor of the Burnett Avenue Baptist Church on June 27, 2010 and was installed on August 22, 2010. Under his leadership and vision the church adopted the mantra “Taking the Next S.T.E.P.”, and through Stewardship, Tools, Evangelism, and Proclamation, launched into 21^st century technology, developed new ministries, and grew to three Sunday morning worship services. Burnett Avenue soon took on the nickname “The Net”, and in May 2012 the church began the process to purchase and renovate a vacant property at 6800 South Hurstbourne Parkway. When the renovations of the entrance, offices and sanctuary were completed, the congregation, “Taking the Next S.T.E.P… in Victory,” held final services at the Burnett Avenue location on June 9, 2013. A Ribbon Cutting & Dedication Service was held on Saturday, June 15^th and three worship services at the new Hurstbourne location began on Sunday, June 16, 2013. The sale of the property at 511 E. Burnett Avenue was completed on October 31, 2013.

The year of 2014 marked the 125^th Church Anniversary – “Taking the Next S.T.E.P…Imagining the Possibilities”. Special weekends were celebrated throughout the year, focusing on various age groups and relationships. The congregation continued growing; therefore, to alleviate overcrowding, a fourth worship service was added on Saturday nights beginning October 4^th. Later that same month, work was begun to pave additional parking space on the property and to build additional discipleship space in the Christian Education and Fellowship Wing. In November the Church celebrated her Quasquicentennial in grand fashion with an Anniversary Gala at The Brown Hotel in downtown Louisville and one combined worship celebration held at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Alumni Chapel.

We were charged to walk boldly into 2015 “The Year of Equipping” with faith and focus to equip believers for victory and wholeness in every aspect of our lives. The Education Wing with ten (10) new classrooms was completed in January and the Multipurpose Room was completed in July, in time to host our expanded Vacation Bible School, for which our ministerial staff wrote the curriculum: “Empire: Cultivating a Kingdom State of Mind”. We held our first pre-marriage seminar, hosted two (2) stage plays, a community baby shower and “Couples Christmas” an Advent study for married couples written by Pastor Shull.

As growth and space continued to be “a good problem to have”, we launched into 2016 The Year of Adventure, as One Church: Two Locations. We purchased a Portable Church and rented space in the Cinemark Tinseltown Theater located at 4400 Towne Center Drive, 40241 to bring The Net’s vibrant worship experience to that area. Each Sunday a group of dedicated volunteers set up a foyer, coffee station, children’s church, nursery and sanctuary with lighting, media and band equipment in preparation of our new 9:15 a.m. worship at Tinseltown, with Pastor Shull traveling back and forth each Sunday. This initiative was successful, but ended after five months. We continued four worship services each weekend and began streaming our services live on the internet. In August, we launched our Back to Sunday School Initiative utilizing most of our available space for classes designed for every age group, nursery through senior adult. In September, the renovation of the kitchen was completed, and in October, a state of the art lighting system was installed in the sanctuary to enhance worship and dramatic presentations.

As we began planning for our new facilities, the year 2017 called us to “Recalibrate”, to stop, assess and strategize a more efficient way forward. Through preaching, Christian Education and ministry events we recalibrated by renewing our faith, retooling our approach to finances, reclaiming our families, restoring our fitness and refining our focus. In 2018 our focus was to “Elevate the Essential”. We accomplished this by putting our best efforts into planning and executing engaging, relevant and helpful events and special days for our church family and our community. “Embrace the Now” was the mantra of 2019 as we embraced God’s providence in the “now”. We weren’t looking to buy more property this year, however, God made it available and assessable to us therefore, another 7.7 acres of land was purchased, giving us a total of 17 acres of land. We celebrated our 130^th anniversary at the Downtown Marriott Hotel with all the grandeur it deserved. Titled “A Timeless Affair: Prayerful Past, Fruitful Future”, it was truly a memorable occasion. We honored Ms. Diane Porter for her dedicated work in our community, as well as Sister Diane Alexander and Rev. William White for their faithful service to our church.

As we embarked upon the year 2020, we claimed it as “The Year of Refined Focus”, with our emphasis being on the things which allow us to be our best selves in order that we might make a significant impact for the Kingdom of God. In December 2019, The Church Choir recorded and released its first album “Christmas Now” with Minister V. Michael McKay. Little did we know that we, along with the entire world, would soon be brought to a screeching halt by the COVID-19 pandemic. We managed to minister through two New Year’s Eve worship services, Marriage Mondays, a Senior’s Valentine’s Party, and Black History Conversation with Ms. Bettye Baye, and kicking off our Lent Conversation Groups in February, before being completely shut down for in-person gatherings on March 15. Burnett Avenue truly proved to be focused and ready to make a significant impact for the Kingdom, as we were one of only a handful of African American churches in the community who were already streaming our services, therefore were able to keep providing worship experiences for our congregation and many others. Pastor Shull and Burnett Avenue led and assisted many other pastors and churches to acquire the equipment and the know-how, to begin streaming their services as well to reconnect with their congregations. During the pandemic, Burnett hosted months of virtual Christian education classes, Bible Studies, marriage and family seminars, vacation bible school, and a women’s conference, along with drive-thru communions, Harvest Festival and Easter EggStravaganza. As the pandemic took its toll on many lives, overwhelming funeral homes, Burnett Avenue opened its doors to allow families of the community to have funeral services at no charge. When a vaccine was finally available, Burnett led the charge to get folks vaccinated, by hosting a Vaccine Clinic in the multipurpose room in February 2021. In March, we began with one in-person worship at 10 a.m., using an online seat reservation system to comply with the mandate to remain socially distant. We also took advantage of this time of “lite” building use, to totally renovate and upgrade our sanctuary and foyer. The process began April 5^th and was completed in mid-July, except for our theater-styled seating, that was delayed until September, due to COVID-related shortages in the manufacturing and supply chain. For the remainder of 2021, we ministered hybrid-style, with most of our services and activities in full-swing, some in-person, and some virtual. New strains of the COVID-19 virus shut down in-person worship from Watch Night 2021 through January 2022, but we moved forward with our theme “Planting Ladders: Climbing Out of Dark Places.”

Burnett Avenue resumed our ministry and fellowship, though masked for protection, we were amazed by God’s movement among us to bring numerical growth, creative ministry, and outreach to our community. In addition to our annual celebrations, conferences, and children’s activities, we launched a new Women’s Ministry, a new Prayer Ministry, and a Congregational Care Ministry to support Pastor Shull in caring for our ever-growing congregation. On May 28, 2022, we ordained three Associate Ministers and eleven new Deacons of our congregation, four of whom were female, making yet another historical mark in our 132-year existence. In November, we celebrated our 133^rd Church Anniversary and ended our church year with a Thanksgiving Eve worship with our Pastor’s Pastor, Dr. F. Bruce Williams, and the Bates Memorial Praise Team and congregation as our guests.

Our theme for 2023 was “Wise Up!” It challenged us to explore the ways that the ancient wisdom of scripture empowers us to live wisely in our modern world. Our plans for the year included The Fort Hill Foundation: A Community Development Corporation, First-time Homebuyer Program, Expanding Toward 100% Hybrid Ministry, Year-long Small Groups, and Developing dedicated spaces for youth. While working towards these goals, we sponsored our first Spring Break College Tour, since the pandemic, taking 8^th through 12^th grade students to visit HBCU’s in Tennessee and Georgia. We continue to expand our ministry efforts to reach more families and a wider range of individuals.

In 2024, we updated our website and offered an additional week of Vacation Bible School, specifically for children with learning differences. We celebrated our 135th Church Anniversary with a Pre-Anniversary Concert, presented by our Mass Choir, featuring award-winning gospel artist, Jonathan Nelson, and a black tie Gala at the Downtown Marriott Hotel, featuring five-time Grammy-winning R & B artist, Lalah Hathaway. After several delays with building permits, we broke ground for our new Children’s Wing on Monday, December 2nd.

We are truly grateful to God for the things He has done and look forward to “Taking the Next S.T.E.P.” to become a Church that provides relevant ministry to serve this present age and beyond.

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Mon – Thu: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

contactus@burnettavebapt.com

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6800 S Hurstbourne Pkwy
Louisville, Kentucky 40291-2883

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