At 1408 Jackson Street in Nashville, Tennessee, the historic Jackson Street Church of Christ is known for a legacy of gospel preaching, Christian education and discipleship. Founded in 1896, it carries the motto "Making Disciples to Make a Difference" and the congregational motto, "Everybody is somebody, and Jesus is Lord of us all." Its story is closely tied to Marshall Keeble, whose estimated 40,000 baptisms made him one of the church's most enduring figures, and to a wide ministry that reaches from children's classrooms and family groups to prisoners, nursing homes and churches in other nations.
A New Congregation Takes Shape on Jackson Street
In 1896, Alexander Campbell, Marshall Keeble and S. W. Womack left the Lea Avenue and Gay Street Christian Church to begin the Church of Christ at Jackson Street. Their aim was the New Testament pattern associated with the Restoration Movement: reject human institutions and creeds, exalt the church of the Bible, and organize as the Church of Christ. The movement's emphasis on the Bible continues in the congregation's teaching and practice.
Marshall Keeble's life was rooted in the same city and generation. Born near Murfreesboro on December 7, 1878, to Robert and Mittie Keeble, who had been enslaved, he moved to Nashville at age four. He was baptized in the Gay Street Christian Church in 1895 at 17 and never advanced beyond seventh grade in school. He married Minnie Womack, a Fisk University High School graduate, in 1896, and worked in a bucket factory, soap factory, grocery store and from a huckster's wagon before devoting his life to preaching.
Keeble began preaching at Jackson Street in 1897 and remained a member until his death. In 1914 he gave up his business interests to preach the gospel full time, taking his message into brush arbors, tents, barns and church buildings. He established more than 200 congregations over the next 60 years and sometimes baptized more than 100 people in one meeting. Between 1915 and 1918 alone, he traveled more than 23,000 miles, preached 1,161 sermons and baptized 457 people. A.M. Burton, founder of the Life and Casualty Insurance Company, became a friend and patron who supported extensive travel, and Keeble's preaching reached from the Golden Gate Bridge to New York Harbor and around the world.
Estimates range from 20,000 to 40,000 people baptized by Keeble during his career. He preached his final sermon on April 17, 1968, and died three days later.
Education Has Long Been Part of the Mission
George Phillip Bowser, baptized in 1897, helped Keeble establish an a cappella Church of Christ in Nashville. Bowser was a teacher, evangelist and writer who devoted much of his work to Christian education among Black Churches of Christ. He mastered Greek, Hebrew, French, German and Latin in addition to English and edited The Christian Echo. He opened his Jackson Street school for Black children on January 6, 1907, and later helped start schools in Silver Point, Detroit, Fort Worth and a university in Terrell, Texas. His efforts earned him recognition as the father of Christian education among Black Churches of Christ.
Keeble also became the first president of Nashville Christian Institute in 1942. The school had opened in 1940 as a night school for adults and that same year added accredited elementary and high school programs; it closed in 1967. These details are part of a church history in which learning, teaching and evangelism have long belonged together.
The pulpit ministry continued through H. B. Watkins, the congregation's first employed minister in 1936; O. H. Boatright, who began in 1944; Albert D. Gray Sr., who served from 1959 to 1979; and Dennis Michael Crowder, who served more than 40 years before retiring at the end of 2017 while continuing to worship and serve. Christopher Jackson became the full-time pulpit minister in 2018. In 1990, the congregation moved into a larger, more modern facility.
The New Testament Pattern for Discipleship
Jackson Street describes itself as striving to emulate the first-century church by following New Testament examples. Its teaching holds that eternal life comes only through Jesus Christ and that people are saved through baptism and a life of daily faithfulness. The Bible is described as the inspired and engrafted word of God, and Christ as the head of the church, the one who died for it and will return for it.
The stated sequence is hear the gospel, believe, repent, confess, be baptized and live faithfully. Each step is supported with Bible references, from John's account of hearing and believing through Paul's instruction to walk in newness of life. The sequence emphasizes both baptism and continued faithfulness, gathered in worship "in spirit and in truth." This emphasis is summarized by the church's motto, "Making Disciples to Make a Difference."
Discipleship is described as belonging to a spiritual community: a family of many members in one body. The church presents Jesus Christ as the only path to real and eternal life and encourages believers to put on Christ, embrace salvation and continue walking faithfully every day.
Sunday and Wednesday at Jackson Street
The weekly rhythm is straightforward:
- Sunday school: 9:00 AM
- Morning worship: 10:00 AM
- Wednesday night devotion: 6:15 to 6:30 PM
- Wednesday Bible class: 6:30 to 7:30 PM
All four gatherings take place at 1408 Jackson Street in Nashville. Worship services are recorded, and the Singing ministry centers on edifying one another through song. The congregation also has a long-standing association with a cappella Church of Christ worship. People may watch services live or view past sermons on YouTube.
The Welcome Center and Ushers work together to greet visitors, help with seating and maintain an orderly, reverent worship setting. The Transportation Ministry commits the church to providing rides for people who want to attend scheduled services and maintains its buses; a visitor can request a ride through info@jacksonst.org.
Families with young children can use nursery care for children from birth through age six. The nursery uses creative activities to introduce younger children to Jesus, while the sanctuary also has a private nursing area and cry rooms so parents can worship. Primary Education supplements that care with lessons designed to give children a Christian mind and make spiritual stories understandable at their age.
Learning for Children, Students and Families
The Education Ministry helps the church grow in biblical knowledge, and the Tutorial program assists students in the community and congregation with academic skills while reinforcing Christian morals and values. For children, the aim is more than memorization: Primary Education seeks to make an early spiritual impression and help young people form a Christian way of thinking.
The JAMM Ministry, short for Just a Moment Ministry, serves as a first responder to bereaved people, new mothers and families caring for someone who is sick. It can draw participation from any church member. This support complements the Benevolence Ministry, which helps the congregation reach people with special needs by providing for others and sharing goods with those who lack them.
The First Aid Ministry offers initial care for illness or injury when professional help has not yet arrived, drawing on doctors and nurses within the congregation. For those needing longer support, the Nursing Home Ministry visits Nashville-area nursing homes and holds regular worship services so older members and others can remain close to God.
Young Adults, Youth and the Next Generation
The Next Generation Youth Ministry aims to raise young people toward spiritual maturity, help them identify God-given talents and give them opportunities to serve. Young people are challenged to honor God through their lives and service to those around them. A men's barbershop-style fellowship Bible class offers another setting for study and fellowship.
The College and Young Adult Ministry addresses a formative season of life, especially for those away from home. It encourages young people to understand their relationship with God as the source of joy and to pursue a disciplined life that is right, just and fair. The ZONES organization adds a relational layer by grouping members according to geographic area, with local coordinators arranging events and outings that encourage fellowship.
New members receive a monthly orientation hosted by people with human resources experience. The orientation helps newcomers learn about the congregation, identify their spiritual gifts and find a place in the church's ministries and programs, while also helping established members become involved.
Marriage, Singles and Older Members
The Marriage Ministry offers fellowship, fun and guidance for married, engaged or seriously dating couples and organizes groups of 10 to 12 people. Each group is supported by a married couple with at least 20 years of experience, serving as coaches. From March through November, these groups meet once each month.
The Singles Ministry gives unmarried people a community for support, encouragement, spiritual growth, service and deeper relationships with God and others. Its focus is a purposeful, Christ-centered life in every season and meaningful connections rooted in faith rather than status.
Women engage through Sister Prayer Pals, which encourages mental, physical and spiritual wholeness through practical application of God's word and a daily walk with Christ. LACE, the Ladies Association for Christian Education, supports female students and others at the Nigerian Christian Institute and sponsors orphans and widows housed at the Brightland Orphanage in Cameroon West Africa. Members receive regular updates on the children, including a financial account and requests for current needs.
LACE members gather monthly for fellowship and prayer, planning an ice cream social, Soup and Salad Day and other events that bring congregational participation together after morning worship. Each sponsor commits to an annual donation of at least $100, a contribution that feeds and clothes one child for one month.
For members 55 and older, OWLS - Older Wiser Leaders in Service - meets monthly for Christian fellowship and ways to support spiritual and physical well-being. The Nursing Home Ministry also keeps connection with older members who cannot attend worship as often by holding services in Nashville-area care homes.
Mercy at Home and Mission Beyond Nashville
Mission support has long reached beyond the congregation. Jackson Street seeks to encourage and support evangelism locally, nationally and internationally, and its named outreach includes work with refugees and a Celebrate Recovery ministry. The Evangelism Ministry shares the gospel and the message of Christ's sacrifice to strengthen the church and encourage fellowship; the Pulpit Ministry centers on glorifying Christ by preaching the gospel in simplicity.
Prison Ministry has a specific purpose: sharing the love of Christ and his reconciling message with incarcerated people so they can live more powerful and fulfilling lives in Christ. Paul Nix Jr. serves as prison minister. The Transportation Ministry helps remove a practical barrier to worship, while Benevolence, First Aid and JAMM offer practical forms of care close to home.
The wider missions emphasis connects the church's local care with its support for churches in other places, including the Nigerian educational and orphanage work described through LACE.
Another expression of fellowship is the Outreach Ministry, an ongoing effort led by the elders to stay in contact with members and help keep the saved saved. The Sick Visitation teams visit sick and shut-in members every week, with singing, Scripture and prayer offered for encouragement. A Tuesday team and a Saturday team carry out this continuing care.
Technology and Singing support the worship experience with audio and video tools, while the Social Media Ministry shares church news, updates and events through digital channels. The church also offers a dedicated app for news, notifications, sermon notes, event information, live and recorded worship, midweek encouragement and giving.
The People Who Lead and Serve
The church is shepherded by five elders: Dr. Clinton Cummings Sr., Terry Primm Sr., Richard Southall, Jesse Tucker and Stephen Whitaker Sr. Christopher Jackson serves as evangelist, Julian Webster as associate minister, James White as minister of education and Paul Nix Jr. as prison minister. Their names sit within a larger body of servant leadership.
Eight deacons serve the congregation: Kevin Chandler Sr., Michael Jones Sr., Ernest F. Sanders, Carl Tomlinson, James A. White, Daryl Elliott Sr., Levi Lee and Derek Quarles. Ministry leaders carry particular responsibilities, including Era Hogan in Benevolence, Vanessa White in Primary Education, Darla Whitaker in First Aid and JAMM, Courtney Parks in LACE, Barbara Tubbs in Nursery and Sister Prayer Pals, Gwen Cummings in OWLS, Renee Tomlinson in Tutorial, and Sharon Sanders and Pamela Weeden in the Welcome Center. Michelle Hood is the Next Generation Youth program contact.
The structure reflects the church's understanding that service is shared across the body. Building and Grounds maintains the church property; Zones organizes neighborhood-based fellowship; New Members Orientation helps newcomers find a place; Social Media keeps people informed; Technology supports recording and presentation; and the Ushers team greets and assists throughout worship.
Giving, Study and Staying Connected
Online giving supports the various ministries of the church through PushPay. The church app is available for phones and tablets and gathers announcements, push notifications, sermon notes, events, live and past services, midweek encouragement and giving in one place.
For Bible reading and study, Jackson Street provides a broad set of reading plans, searchable Bible resources and publications, including Our Daily Bread, ESV.org, World Bible School, Blue Letter Bible, Herald of Truth and The Gospel Advocate. These materials reflect the same priority found in its history: people are encouraged to know and live the word of God.
At its heart, Jackson Street Church of Christ remains a Nashville congregation with a historic identity and an active present. Marshall Keeble's legacy of proclaiming the gospel, the Bible-centered call to make disciples, the modern worship facility, the education work and the many forms of care and mission all point to the same sustained purpose: to gather people in worship, form them as disciples and put faith into service.