The Temple Heights Baptist Church and Christian School on 46th Street were recently torn down to build a new Hillsborough County public elementary school. The church and its highly regarded school and athletic program were institutions in Temple Crest for 50 years. We want to hear your thoughts and recollections.

Temple Heights Christian School and Baptist Church hold many fond memories for our family. Bro. Cotton Nelms was a tall man with a huge heart. Murray Harrison assisted Nelms to make his dream a reality. Both men were well loved and respected.
The school never had the facilities and equipment to fully support the sports programs as did neighboring King, Chamberlain and Hillsborough High. The material things were replaced with school spirit and pride.
The strict dress and moral code were for the benefit of each young person. Some may argue the point but, it was enforced to build character in each of us. Character - a word not often heard in conversation regarding our youth of today.
Though the buildings have been demolished, the memories will remain of the “good old days”.

Thoughts an recollections........well...you asked for it.
I attended Temple Heights Christian School for three years in the mid 1970’s.
It was a three year experience that instilled in the mind of pubesent young boy an abject contempt for formal education, church, religion, and christianity in general. The subtle antisocial characteristics I developed there haunt me to this day.
I remember the fear, the intimidation, the intolerance, the despair I felt every mornig when my mom woke me to get ready for school.
I remember how inadequate and incommensurate I felt because I was struggling acedemecly and neede support and all I got was incessant remindings of how I was so smart and capable but just not praying hard enough.
I remember being told over, and over, and over, and over that I was going to hell and be cast into “the lake of fire” and be forsaken forever if I continued to be interested in the matters of “the world”.(in other words any and everything that THC didn’t like)
I remember P.E. and the conveniently ignored homoerotic overtures of Coach Baker.
I remember two boys getting into a scrap on the practice football feild one morning and Mr. Baker insisting that they take their quarrel up to the basketball gym, roll out the big red wrestling mats with the eagles on them, and settle it with honor like “christian men” should. What followed was fifteen or twenty minutes of two teenage boys beating the living crap out of each other while the entire class sat around them in a circle. When one of them could no longer fight, he had to get down on his knees in front of the other boy and profess his inferiority. I can still hear the terrifying tone of Baker’s voice as he screamed at them to keep fighting for as long as possible. Then we all knelt and he lead us in a prayer to jesus.
After leaving there I was never able to adapt to formalized schooling again.
Even without all of the “hell fire and damnation” I never was much interested in school and classrooms again. To this day, just to sit in a room with rows of desks gives me the creeps. 
I just recently found out about the demolition of the old buildings. I wish I could have been there as it was a fantasy of mine for the last thirty years.
That’s all I wish to recall for now, so I’ll leave your with this.
Don’t get me wrong though, it’s not christ that I dislike; it’s christians. They are so unlike christ.
Oh yeah, and thanks for hearing me.

P.T. Bryan - 04 November 2008 11:23 PM

haunt me to this day.

You’re not alone. I ** involuntary shudder ** attended THCS from kindergarten through to the seventh grade, also in the Seventies. We may have known each other then.

I think the only positive memories I have of the place was meeting a few good people, two of whom are still in contact with me to this day, over thirty years later. I did enjoy band with Mr. Warsick, and lunch was always something to look forward to. I enjoyed Bible class because it was a perfect time for me to practice my doodling skills or surreptitiously place a Nancy Drew book behind my Bible and catch up on some reading.

However, I too am haunted by the majority of the memories, including one major one that I would rather not post on a public forum because it was so despicable.

As a result of their fanatical rants, I have left organized religion and plan to never return. I had instilled in me a deep FEAR of God, and it made me resentful. Now, however, I am a much happier and more well-rounded person who knows God for what He is: Good, loving, and caring. That’s it. 

When I learned the place was being torn down and a new facility was being erected, I made a point of driving past it to see if it was indeed true. When I arrived, I took a good look around, smiled faintly, and took a picture with my camera phone.

CShields
Bless you.
It is quite refreshing to hear from someone like yourself who has shared a similar experience.
I am glad to hear that you were able to form some meaningful relationships out of all of the madness that was THCS doctrine. The only things that I got out of three years of psychological scourging there (1975-1978) was a ruined educational experience, a distrust of all adults (until long after I became one), and an uncanny ability to smell an intolerant religious zealot wacko from a mile away. Hardly an equitable trade by any stretch of the imagination. I would relish the opportunity to talk to you, or someone like you (outside of this forum) some time. There are a few ghosts that I would like to conger up.
Good Luck
P.T.Bryan

CShields
Bless you.
It is quite refreshing to hear from someone like yourself who has shared a similar experience.
I am glad to hear that you were able to form some meaningful relationships out of all of the madness that was THCS doctrine. The only things that I got out of three years of psychological scourging there (1975-1978) was a ruined educational experience, a distrust of all adults (until long after I became one), complete destruction and liquidation of my personal self confidence, and an uncanny ability to smell an intolerant religious zealot wacko from a mile away. Hardly an equitable trade by any stretch of the imagination. I would relish the opportunity to talk to you, or someone like you (outside of this forum) some time. There are a few ghosts that I would like to conger up.
Good Luck
P.T.Bryan

P.T.,

I sent you a PM; I tried to initially email you via your profile but, alas, it was glitched and didn’t seem to work properly.

Looking forward to talking with you soon!

** off to dig up my old THCS yearbooks and a Valium **

What good memories I have of this school. My brother and I both attended for 6th and 7th grade back inf the early 80’s, my son also attended for two years. This was the first church where I learned about the Lord and how good He is. I believe it was where I first asked Him for forgiveness. What a joy it was to return to see my son learning the same as I had many years ago. I learned many lessons here and have always loved the school. I could not believe when I heard the news about the closing. My father still lives in the area, and what a difference the property holds now. After the demolition began I happen to drive by before the church it self was torn down. I found myself stopping to capture a picture of it on my cell phone. With a tear in my eye I got back into my car and drove home.

Thank you Temple Heights Christian School.

loubee - 19 February 2008 05:35 PM

Temple Heights Christian School and Baptist Church hold many fond memories for our family. Bro. Cotton Nelms was a tall man with a huge heart. Murray Harrison assisted Nelms to make his dream a reality. Both men were well loved and respected.
The school never had the facilities and equipment to fully support the sports programs as did neighboring King, Chamberlain and Hillsborough High. The material things were replaced with school spirit and pride.
The strict dress and moral code were for the benefit of each young person. Some may argue the point but, it was enforced to build character in each of us. Character - a word not often heard in conversation regarding our youth of today.
Though the buildings have been demolished, the memories will remain of the “good old days”.