Pleasant Grove Baptist Church • Coalfield, TN

Church History

Facts about PGBC

  • Pleasant Grove Baptist Church is a small church nestled in the mountains of East Tennessee very close to the Cumberland Plateau.
  • PGBC is located in the Coalfield community of Morgan County, Tennessee.
  • Average worship attendance is 160-195.
  • PGBC is a Southern Baptist Church.
  • We are associated with the Big Emory/New River Baptist Association.
  • Our Pastor is a full time employee of the church.
  • We currently have three ordained Deacons, and four Yokefellows to serve the church and community.
  • Our worship services are considered a "blended style" consisting of both contemporary and traditional music.

The church was constituted on October 13, 1866, with 24 members who chose to leave Liberty Church in Wartburg, Tennessee, for the purpose of organizing a new church at Pleasant Grove. The Reverend William R. Jackson became the first pastor of the “United Baptist Church of Christ at Pleasant Grove” in November 1866, and he served as pastor for nine years. First meetings were held in the “Pleasant Grove Meeting House,” a log building with a puncheon floor (split logs with a smoothed face and nailed down with wooden pegs). This building was also known as “Pleasant Grove Academy” because it was used as a schoolhouse in the 1800s. The church continued to meet in this building until 1902 when a new church was built..

In 1940, Coalfield Elementary school classes were held in the church building. In September of that year, the church voted to add two or three rooms to the building; but, by October, 1941, the church decided to build a new building instead. Due to difficulties brought about by World War II, the third building was not completed until 1946. Then, the first week of January, 1949, on a Sunday night just before services began, members stood and watched the church building burn to the ground. However, a new committee was immediately appointed to begin rebuilding efforts. By May, 1949, a revival was held in the fourth building, even though it was not yet completed. This building still stands and serves as our Education Building. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the fifth building at Pleasant Grove (our current sanctuary) on March 2, 1969, and the dedication service was on March 29, 1970.

A few “firsts” at Pleasant Grove are as follows:
First Pastor: Reverend William R. Jackson
First Church Clerk: John C. Jackson
First Deacon: John W. Webster (also the first treasurer and was later ordained as a minister)
First Sunday School: March 1896
First mention of Home Missions: 1899
First mention of State Missions: 1900
First BIG Revival: October 1924 (82 baptized!)
First Vacation Bible School: 1935
First WMU: 1935
First Baccalaureate: 1942
First Training Union: 1947
First Church Parsonage: 1902, Second building 1953
First Children’s Church: 1975

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church petitioned for admittance to the Clinton Association in 1867. The church remained in this association until 1875, when we asked to be dismissed to join Big Emory Baptist Association. We remain a member of Big Emory Baptist Association.

Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past.
Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you.
– Deuteronomy 32:7 (NIV)