In 1918, the Church of God established a Bible training school in Cleveland, Tennessee. Originally construed as the Christian training arm of the Church of God, Bible Training School (its early official name) began to outgrow its mandate: a division for high school was added during the Great Depression, a defunct Methodist college was purchased post-WWII, and the namesake college was born in honor of BTS's second president, Rev. F. J. Lee. In contemporary times, Lee University has broadened its outreach beyond the Church of God to a larger evangelical Christian base, and its enrollment has grown to more than five thousand students, one of the largest enrollments among the Appalachian Colleges Association, of which Lee University is a member. Coats argues that the beginnings, stalled rise, and modern iteration of Lee University is directly linked to larger trends within the Church of God denomination. Coats also argues the church's Holiness-Pentecostal tradition is linked with the university's operation in Appalachia, and the region and its religion played an extensive role in both the university's growth and its reputation.