Series 7.1.1.2: Church of God Bible Training School, 1946 Vindagua photographs, 1945 – 1946

The Church of God Bible Training School (B.T.S.) started in Cleveland, Tennessee in January 1918. The idea of a school for the fledgling Church of God began in 1911 with the appointment of a board of education at the Sixth Annual General Assembly. By late 1917 the board appointed Ambrose Jessup Tomlinson as the school superintendent and Nora Chambers as the teacher.

On 1 January 1918, the Bible Training School began its first term with twelve students enrolled. The influenza epidemic of that year and World War I adversely affected the school’s attendance and by the end of the year only four students remained to complete the second term. In 1919 a correspondence program began, allowing students to enroll in the school without taking residency in Cleveland. In 1920 the Bible Training School moved from a space at the Church of God Publishing House to the old North Cleveland Church building. The school added new faculty members and moved into the Assembly Auditorium in 1925.

In 1938 the school purchased the property of the Murphy Collegiate Institute in Sevierville, Tennessee. This campus included an administration building, dormitories, and a barn. The expanded facilities led to substantial growth in enrollment, from 139 in 1938 to 630 by the end of the 1944-45 school year.

While on the Sevierville campus students began publishing the yearbook The Vindagua in 1942. Four years later, during the 1945-46 school year, the yearbook staff continued the tradition with the fifth volume of their annual. The 1946 Vindagua featured portraits of the Bible Training School faculty and students, pictures of clubs and activities, and advertisements for local churches and businesses. Virginia Green served as the editor that year, Robert Humbertson was the Business Manager, and D. L. Baker was the photographer.

The 1945-46 school year was the second-to-last term held on the Sevierville campus. In spring of that year, the Bob Jones College in Cleveland came up for sale and the Church of God decided to purchase the property for B.T.S. Upon moving back to Cleveland in September 1947 the school changed its name to Lee College in honor of the late F. J. Lee, president of the school from 1922-23 and former General Overseer of the Church of God. Lee College remains in this location and the student body continues to publish The Vindagua.

SOURCES: Johnson, Bobby G. “The Establishment and Development of Lee College, 1918-1954.” Master’s thesis, Memphis State College, 1955 Horton, Gene. “A History of the Lee Junior College, Cleveland, Tennessee.” Master’s thesis, University of South Dakota, 1953. Materials in the collection.