1952
Rev. Turner Clinard read a resolution from the Addison Avenue Church asking that the name of that congregation be changed from Addison Avenue to Brookhaven. Same was concurred in by the Presbytery. Appendix A.

1. Whereas by majority vote of the congregation Addison Avenue Church on Sunday, January 13, 1952 chose the name Brookhaven to replace the name Addison Avenue, and

2. Whereas, by unanimous vote of the congregation on the aforementioned date the name Brookhaven was proposed to Lebanon Presbytery as the new name for the congregation, (see minutes of Congregation Meeting in Session Record Book)

3. Therefore, be it resolved that Lebanon Presbytery in session at Edgefield Church this 8th day of April, 1952, concur in the action of the Addison Avenue congregation on January 13, 1952, and that the name of that congregation be officially changed in the records of the Presbytery as of this date to Brookhaven Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

Respectfully submitted,
R. E. Cleghern, Elder and representative of Congregation,
Turner N. Clinard, Minister.

[Source: Minutes of the Lebanon Presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, April 8, 1952, pages 5 & 8]

On Wednesday evening, September 1, the congregation of the Brookhaven church, Nashville, gathered on the church yard for a ground-breaking ceremony, witnessing the beginning of a new sanctuary. The building of the sanctuary will be the fulfillment of a goal of this congregation for 59 years.

More than one-half century ago the church was organized as the Addison Avenue church and erected a Sunday school building at the corner of Seventeenth and McGavock Streets, with the expectation of later erecting a sanctuary. What intended to be a temporary arrangement was used by the congregation until 1951 when this property was sold and a new location purchased in a new suburban section of the city. Since coming to the new location the congregation has been using the large residential building for Sunday school purposes and also as a worship place.

The plans call for the erection of the first unit of the new church building. This will be the sanctuary to seat 300 persons and will cost $55,000.

The oldest living charter member Mrs Henry Maddox, spaded the first shovel of dirt in the ceremony, assisted by her husband. The speaker at the service was Dr. Joe Blinko, pastor of the Central Hall Methodist church, London, who was visiting in Nashville at the time with the Billy Graham Crusade.

Rev. Scott W. Johnson is the pastor.

BROOKHAVEN GROUNDBREAKING--Those in the picture are left to right, Dr. Joe Blinko, Mr. Maddox, Miss Vicky Curlin, who represented the children of the church, Rev. Scott W. Johnson, pastor, Mrs. Maddox, Ewing McGee, Richard Huffman who has recently answered the call to the ministry, Mrs. W. O. Uffelman who represented the women of the congregation, William St. John, who with Mr. McGee represented the church session, and Wallace Webb who represented the newer members of the congregation.

[Source: The Cumberland Presbyterian, October 12, 1954, page 4]

1962

In 1895, some one hundred members of the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, then located on Fifth Avenue, formed a new Church. This group was composed of Cumberland Presbyterians who resided west of Twelfth Avenue. They met for some time in a home located on Division Street near Seventeenth Avenue. In 1899, they purchased a lot on Seventeenth Avenue and McGavock, and a short time later constructed a brick building thereon.

In 1903, there was a total membership of 160. The organizations, at that time, included the Sunday School, Pastor's Aid Society, Junior Endeavor Society, Missionary Society, and the Young Ladies' Missionary Society.

In the financial statement of their Eighth Annual Report (1903), we find they had a budget of $9,197.80. The Pastor's salary was $1,500.00 a year. By the end of the year the membership had grown to 179 members.

Then came 1906 and the attempted union with the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. which resulted in the church being divided. This seriously retarded the growth of Addison Avenue Church, as well as many other Cumberland Presbyterian Churches throughout the denomination. The results of this movement, to a great extent, slowed its numerical growth.

On June 1, 1940, a loan was negotiated amounting to $5,370.00 for the purpose of retiring an indebtedness on the Addison Avenue Church. Payments on this loan were $39.74 per month and it was to extend over a period of fifteen years. By May 29, 1944, this loan had been paid in full which gives evidence of the loyalty and support of the members of this church.

Several years later it became apparent that the area around 17th and McGavock was no longer the center of the congregation. This section had become undesirable because of its commercial growth. After much study and investigation, the congregation purchased, in 1952, a lovely colonial type home on a spacious lot located on Caldwell Lane. The cost was $30,000.00. The total congregation, at this time, numbered approximately 140 members with about 75 active members.

This site is superbly located, and has many advantages. Brookhaven Church, which gets its name from the surrounding community, at that time, was bordered on the north and south by approximately 4,000 homes, none of which were more than five years old. At the present, the area south of the church, for five miles, is covered with newly constructed homes and the opportunity for growth has increased.

The year 1955 saw the fulfillment of long anticipation and planning when the church sanctuary was constructed with a seating capacity of over 300.

On June 5, 1959, we moved into our $60,000.00 Children's and Youth Building which also provides office space and a large kitchen. The dedication for this building was held August 2, 1959. We have one of the best equipped nurseries to be found in any church of comparable size.

Growth of our Church School since the completion of this new building is causing us to look elsewhere for junior high and senior high classrooms. The Parish House, which is presently occupied by two classes, is being redecorated and the kitchen restored for a Youth Building. Personal contributions and help from the Men's Fellowship is making this possible.

[Source: Brookhaven Cumberland Presbyterian Church Year Book and Directory 1962, pages 4-7]

Brookhaven Cumberland Presbyterian Church dates to 1897 when approximately 100 members of the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in downtown Nashville formed a new congregation. In 1901 the first building was built at McGavock and 17th Avenue South, then called Addison Avenue. The new church was named Addison Avenue.

In 1952 the church purchased what is now the Parish House and three acres of land on Caldwell Lane and changed its name to Brookhaven. The sanctuary was built in 1955 and the educational additional was built in 1958. The communion flagon and chalice, baptismal bowl, and the pulpit in the narthex came from the Addison Avenue Church. The narthex expansion, new staff offices, additional classrooms, and handicapped accessibility modifications were completed in 1991.