Students from the School of Worship Music Academy accompany Nate Sallie as a slideshow of historic pictures from children's home plays on the big screen at Brentwood Baptist Church.

By SUSAN LEATHERS
Brentwood Home Page
The message of hope was clear: “Almost without fail, these children are coming to us through no fault of their own; they are on a downward trajectory. What we try to do is to first stabilize that life, and then redirect that trajectory."

Above, Dr. Bryant Millsaps addresses those attending the Centennial Celebration. At left, former resident Mike Wilson with his wife Jana and son, Byron. Wilson lived at the home until he was 24.

These words were spoken by Dr. Bryant Millsaps, president of the Tennessee Baptist Children’s Home, as he addressed a crowd of several hundred gathered Tuesday nightat Tuesday's Centennial Celebration of the TBCH's Brentwood campus.

The dinner took place in Brentwood Baptist Church’s Wilson Hall, a stone’s throw from the Franklin Road campus that thousands of children have called home.

Millsaps reminded those attending that TBCH “has never accepted a penny of government money.” The “faithfulness of the people in this room and hundreds of thousands of others is the only reason we can stand here today.”

A new Centennial Campaign was announced that will help grow the home’s endowment. Millsaps said more information on the campaign would be forthcoming.

The highlight of the evening came when current residents and sisters, Elizabeth, 12, and Freda, 10, followed by former resident Mike Wilson shared how the home had changed each of their lives.

Dr. Gerald Stow, who served as TBCH president for 15 years, closed the evening. He said despite rumors to the contrary, he was not around when a 75-acre farm in Brentwood, far from the sooty city to its north, was purchased from the Cheek family for $12,000. “Just think what that would be worth today in Brentwood,” he quipped.

Later the home would grow to more than 400 acres, where the children and teens played, farmed, did chores and had stability.

Meryll Rose, host of NewsChannel 5's Talk of the Town served as the evening's master of ceremonies. Music was provided by the Nexus Chamber Orchestra.

For more information and history on the Brentwood campus, click here to read Carol Stuart’s story posted Tuesday in Brentwood Home Page.