John Coats Discusses the History of Lee University

Join John Coats as he discusses his book, Lee University: The Path from Church of God Bible Training School to Modern University" printed by The University of Tennessee Knoxville Press, 2025. He will highlight the relationship between the community and the school over the years.
In 1918, the Church of God established a Bible training school in Cleveland, Tennessee. Meant to be the Christian training arm of the denomination, the school grew to include a high school, music school, and junior college at its campus in Sevierville, Tennessee. Following World War II, it returned to Cleveland and took the name Lee College in honor of the second leader of the denomination and school, Reverend F. J. Lee. In Lee University, John Coats not only chronicles the history of the college but also explores the university’s connection to and representation of the Church of God in the American South, offering a microcosm of an evolving evangelical denomination into the second half of the twentieth century. As a faculty member at Lee, Coats is uniquely positioned to offer an inside perspective of the institution’s history, examining the people and politics that have shaped it over time. Telling the story of the school through the contributions of influential leaders, key turning points, and ongoing tensions between traditionalists and progressives within the Church of God, Lee University is an ideal resource for those interested in Appalachian religious and Pentecostal history.