On March 4,1928, twenty-one people met at the McFadden Elementary School in Murfreesboro for the purpose of organizing the Westvue Baptist Church. The church began as a mission work of the First Baptist Church of Murfreesboro. Several pastors served the church until 1940. On Wednesday night October 1, 1940 the Westvue congregation called Woodrow Medlock as pastor. He preached his first sermon as pastor, titled “Go Forward” on Sunday night, November 3, 1940. At this time, there were fewer than fifty enrolled in Sunday School. On April 6, 1941, Bro. Medlock was appointed as Chairman of the Building Committee for a new parsonage which was built within a few weeks and paid for by the church in the next twelve months. The greater portion of this eight-room house and basement was used for Sunday School space. The year 1947 saw the church double the size of the auditorium to accommodate the growing congregation. In 1948, the church purchased a building and three extra lots for the purpose of building a large tabernacle. November 30, 1949, brought the construction of the basement for the large
Westvue auditorium. The first service in the new one-thousand seat auditorium was conducted on April 12, 1950.

A few years later, the Lord placed a burden upon the church to start an Orphan home. Construction of the Good Shepherd Children’s home was started on October 11, 1961. The church gave the first money and then a corporation was formed. The home became a reality and has cared for numbers of precious boys and girls over the years. On February 7, 1962, the church voted to buy fourteen acres of land on Sanbyrn and Houston Drives in the Bellwood Community for the purpose of building a new facility. A vote was taken to sell the Westvue property to the Sword of the Lord Foundation of Wheaton, Illinois, which took possession June 3, 1963. The first service on the Bellwood property was held in an open-air tabernacle on June 5, 1963. The following May over twelve hundred came to the open house for the new building.

Bellwood Christian Academy was founded in 1972 offering grades K-12 using the A.C.E curriculum. The school is housed in a single large building that contains both classrooms and a gymnasium.

In the early 1980s Donald Williams served as pastor.

In 1984 James Avaritt fulfilled a longtime dream and returned to his home church as pastor where he continues to serve the Lord faithfully.

The years have seen countless souls saved and many of our people called into the ministry to preach the gospel. The Bellwood Baptist Church is a testimony to the faithfulness of the Lord and His grace.

“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
Jude 3