OUR HISTORY
Woodmont Hills Church is a group of Christians who seek to
LOVE GOD, LOVE EACH OTHER, AND LOVE THE WORLD.
We are a grace-based church. Whether you have a deep relationship with Jesus Christ, are skeptical about religion, or are somewhere in between, there is a place for you at Woodmont Hills. People come from various backgrounds and churches, bringing with them their own unique experiences and insights. We desire to welcome everyone in a way that is God-honoring and affirming of their desire to know Jesus more fully.
We know that life is not always easy; none of us have it all together. We worship and serve a God who is perfect and is renewing all things.
We come from the Church of Christ heritage. The Church of Christ began as a part of the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, a movement dedicated to unity and determined to be simply Christian. While we share a commitment to the values of our tradition, we seek to express our faith in ways that embrace the challenges presented by our ever-changing culture.
Below you will find a brief timeline of the mergers that lead to Woodmont Hills Church.
Waverly-Belmont Church of Christ
In 1921, A.M. Burton was instrumental in purchasing the property at the corner of 12th Avenue South and Beechwood Avenue for $2,500. Constructed in 1906, the building had served as the home of Belmont Baptist Church.
University Church
of Christ
Thirty-three years after the opening of the Waverly-Belmont church, a group of Christians desiring to serve the Vanderbilt-Peabody area began meeting. The year was 1954 when L.E. Cranford, a youth minister from the Hillsboro Church of Christ, saw the need for a ministry among the students at Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, and the nursing students at Vanderbilt Hospital. From that calling, the University Church began with 36 members.
Ashwood Church
of Christ
In the fall of 1974, Waverly-Belmont had outgrown its building and began to explore possibilities for its future. University, with about 300 members, was open to discussions about merging to form a new congregation. After much prayer, on November 10, 1974, the University and Waverly-Belmont congregations merged to form the Ashwood Church of Christ. Joe Gray served as minister during the merger and remained for two years. Rubel Shelly came to preach for Ashwood in 1978 and remained until 2005.
Green Hills Church
of Christ
A group of 48 adults from Waverly-Belmont formed the Green Hills congregation in 1948. The church met for the first time on April 4, 1948, in the home of W.E. Brightwell. Land at the corner of Hillsboro Road and Castleman Drive was bought for the site of a new church building. Built in stages from February 1950 to April 1951, worship services began there in April 1951. The Green Hills Church merged with the Ashwood Church in April 1988 to form the Woodmont Hills Church of Christ.
Woodmont Hills Church of Christ
Following the merger that created the Woodmont Hills Church, God’s blessings on the life of the church caused numbers to continue increasing. In 1987–1988, the leaders began to see the need for a larger and more adequate facility. On August 7, 1994, the Woodmont Hills Church moved all of its classroom furniture, supplies, and teaching materials into the upper classroom floor of the facilities at First Christian Church at 4800 Franklin Road. On the afternoon of Sunday, August 14, the church began two worship services and a Bible study at that temporary location.
The church purchased a house and parcel of land at 3710 Franklin Road in December of 1994. This 14.4-acre property is the current site of Woodmont Hills Church.
Construction of our current facility was completed in the spring of 1997. On Sunday, March 16, 1997, the church met for the first time in the new facility at 3710 Franklin Road. A second educational wing was constructed and occupied in October 1999.