On the 29th day of March 1916, eight honorable soldiers of the United States Army, all residents of Mountain Home Center for Disabled Veterans (Soldiers Home) were overco me with a great desire for a place of Christian worship.  This desire led them to step out on faith and purchase a building from the trustees of West Market Street Methodist Episcopal Church. They obligated themselves to purchase this property the full sum of $400.  The down payment was $100 paid in cash with the balance to be paid in payments of $70 every three months until paid in full including 6% interest. The said property was located at 129 Elmo Street.  The street name was later changed to Garden Drive.  They named the church "The Old Soldiers Baptist Church".  Reverend Lafayette F. Anderson was chosen as the pastor.  The name was later changed to Friendship 2nd Baptist Church.  There is no record stating when the name was changed to Friendship Baptist.

Among the earliest pastors, in addition to Reverend Anderson, were Reverend Harbison and Reverend D Eaton. *In January 1931, Reverend J.E. Chambers was called to pastor the church.  Under his leadership the structure was remodeled, bricked and the cornerstone was laid.  The church membership continued to grow. After Reverend Chambers departure, there were several ministers who cared for the flock.  They were Reverend Knight, Reverend C.C. Fuller, Reverend J L Folston, Reverend Wagner, Reverend J C Harris and Reverend C C Fuller who was pastor for a number of years.  Reverend S L Hall was called to pastor Friendship in 1942 and left in 1947. During Reverend Hall’s pastorate, more work was done to improve the church structure and the membership grew immensely due to Reverend Hall’s emphasis on Evangelism and Christian Fellowship.  Reverend and Mrs. Hall had a great interest in the Children’s and Young People’s Department. Through them we were introduced to the Bethel District and were sent to the Sunday School and BTU Congress as delegates each year to learn more about how to share the message of Jesus Christ.

After Reverend Hall’s departure Reverend I T Mack was called to be our pastor in 1947.  Reverend Mack, his wife and three talented daughters were the first family to occupy the parsonage which was located at 127 Elmo Street. Reverend Mack would depart after 6 years due to failing health. In 1953, Rev E.W. Norris began his ministry which continued until his death in 1967.  Rev. Norris gave untiringly of himself during his pastorate with Mrs. Norris right by his side. Among his accomplishments were the initiating of the project to construct a baptismal pool and renovations to the church structure.  

In 1968, Reverend W.H. Rhyans of Chattanooga, TN was called as pastor. We welcomed his family which included his wife and son. Under his leadership the church membership increased and the bus ministry was begun.  He also led us in the renovation of our sanctuary which included the installation of central heat and air.  In 1969 he returned to Chattanooga as pastor of Union Hill Baptist Church.   From 1971 to 1973 Rev. Jessie E. Walker pastored our church. We welcomed Reverend Lewis and his family which included his wife and three children. He was a very learned man and is remembered for his teaching.  Between the pastorates of Rev. Walker and Rev. Lewis, a second parsonage was purchased at 315 W Holston Avenue.  Rev. W.H. Lewis from Alcoa, TN was the first to occupy it. He assumed the pastorate on August 4, 1974 and remained until 1976.  During his pastorate, the first church organ was purchased and the Mass Choir was organized. Three young men of our church were called to the ministry.  Rev. William M. Holloway of Chattanooga TN, Jr, Rev. Perry Irby of Fayetteville NC, and the late Rev. H.R. Fain who later pastored Mt Olive Johnson City, TN.  After Rev. Lewis left, the church was without a pastor until March 1977, when a call was extended to Dr. C. H. Charlton of Radford, VA, along with his dedicated wife Janet and son Melvin and he became, and is currently our pastor.  Under his pastorate many accomplishments have been made.   In July 1978, we celebrated our last homecoming at 129 Garden Drive.  In October 1978, were blessed to move to our current location, formerly Freewill Baptist Church. Dr. Charlton has guided us both spiritually and physically for 40 years.   He has placed special emphasis on Baptist doctrine and education as a means of advancement.  Realizing our need for leadership abilities the annual Excellence in Education program was initiated.  During his pastorate we have also burned the mortgage on our church and the cornerstone was laid.  Five young men have been called to the ministry under Dr. Charlton's pastorate- Rev. Steve Jones former pastor of Ebenezer Baptist in Kingsport; Rev. John Goah of Central Baptist, Johnson City; Rev. Lester Lattany former pastor at New Jerusalem in Johnson City; Rev. Lynn Bachman who has a prison ministry in Mountain City and Rev. Jonathan Radford in Jacksonville, FL.  Four former members, Bobby Black of Gray, TN, Kevin Thompson of Austell GA, Demetrius Lattany of Johnson City and Thomas Wade of Eden NC have also been called into ministry.

reverend Charlton retired as Pastor in November of 2018 and was named Pastor Emeritus.  The Church then called Reverend Lester D. Lattany as Pastor in February of 2019.  In January of 2020 Reverend Demetrius Lattany, our pastor's son was selected as assistant pastor. Under the pastorate of Rev Lattany and son, the church has seen increased growth spiritually, numerically and financially. 

The Lord has blessed us to make several enhancements to our church. In the past several years we have added a lounge with an archive for the preservation of the church history, added a Computer Lab, a lounge for our youth, remodeled our Sunshine Band room and started a Singles and Heavenly Lights Senior Ministry.  Our Health Ministry is in its 13th year of existence and have received several $5000.00 grants from the Tennessee Department of Health to take our congregation on the “Road to Wellness” and Understand how to be Prepared in an Emergency.For the first step in our vision for a Spiritual Enrichment Center, we purchased two properties in the 600 block of West Main Street to complete our new parking lot. Our website "friendshipjc.org" along with our newly acquired domain “friendshipjc.com” is currently being updated with new content to a new mobile device friendly platform and will be completed soon.  We have updated and moved our sound room and also renovated all our restrooms.  In this past several years we've replaced the sanctuary doors, renovated our front church sign, bought new media equipment for our youth and purchased another church van; we have purchased new robes for the choir and we have installed a dual screen multimedia system in our sanctuary and we have also enhanced our video system to allow high definition recording and web streaming.

 And as we strive to reach souls for Christ, “We give our Lord all the honor, glory, and praise. Above all, “We Thank God for what he has already done and as we move into this new century we will continue as our Anniversary theme says to “Celebrate the Past, while Anticipating the Future.”