Our History

      The Holsey Temple Christian Methodist Episcopal Church was in the making since 1839. It evolved from the grouping of a few earnest souls for the purpose of worshipping the Lord. Through prayer and faith of the early founders, this great monument is now established.

      Holsey’s origin was with Mulberry Street Methodist Church. There were two separate church buildings, one for the slaves with its own pastor (white), and the other for the white congregation with its own pastor. Around 1866 these slaves move their congregation in a little house on the lower end of New Street. Meetings were held there and a school was provided for the children. Record shows that approximately one hundred children were enrolled for Sunday School and among the children who attended the school was Mr. Charles Hutchings, the grandfather and great-grandfather of the present generation.

      In 1869 Bishop H. M. Turner of the African Methodist Episcopal Church visited this congregation to get them to join the A. M. E. Denomination, but the group chose to remain a free worshiping body.

      In 1870 the Christian Methodist Episcopal Denomination was organized in Jackson Tennessee. The congregation that started as slaves from Mulberry Street Methodist Church became known as the C.M.E. members. In 1870 a four-room house was secured on Washington Avenue for a place to worship. The house was used until 1877, when it was destroyed. Following the destruction, a wooden frame church was built for worship at the same location.

      In 1894-95, Bishop L.H. Holsey, along with N. T. Patterson, lead this church into building the structure that is now standing. We are proud of our church, and we are constantly praying to keep humble enough to be of service.

      The church today is on the historical register as one of the oldest Black Churches in the city. It has stood and is still standing as a city that sits on a hill with its light shining to point the way for civic and governmental agencies and for families and individuals to find their way to God.

      Since 1839 Holsey Temple Christian Methodist Episcopal Church members have been living and witnessing for Christ.