Sunday Mornings on Rowan Road
Inskip Baptist Church sits at 4810 Rowan Road in north Knoxville, where the week builds around Sunday. The church's motto - "Faith. Family. Community." - shows up on the home page and frames everything that follows on the calendar. Sunday begins at 9:30 a.m. with Sunday School for every age and continues into a 10:45 a.m. worship service. For those who cannot make it to the building, the service is livestreamed on Facebook from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., so the Sunday morning hour can be heard from home, the hospital, or the road. The home page describes the church as "a church that cares for one another, loves one another, supports one another and looks out for one another" - a quality of fellowship the congregation names explicitly.
Sunday School at 9:30 a.m.
The Sunday School hour is the front door of the week at Inskip. The church describes these classes as "a time where people gather together to study God's Word, encourage one another, and grow in their walk with Christ," resting on Proverbs 27:17 - "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Because the church offers classes "from babies to senior adults," a family with young children and a retired empty-nester can both be in a small group at the same hour. Teachers describe the Sunday School as a place where "there is a place for you and your family," and the College & Career ministry also meets in this slot. Sunday School wraps up in time for the 10:45 a.m. worship service, so families move through the morning together rather than scattering between programs.
College & Career Sundays
The College & Career ministry meets every Sunday morning from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Its mission, in the church's words, is "to make disciples of Jesus Christ by challenging students to know they have a real relationship with Jesus Christ, and that it is a growing relationship." The hour weaves together Bible study, fellowship, and service with the goal of equipping members to "maintain, defend, and share that faith in a culture that needs Christ." For young adults just out of high school or working their first jobs, it is the main weekly touchpoint on the church calendar and a chance to be in class alongside the rest of the church body.
The 10:45 a.m. Worship Service
The 10:45 a.m. service is led by Pastor Rev. Mike Segers, with Rev. Denton Hickman serving the church in an Administrator role. The Sanctuary Choir, directed by Becky Gentry, leads the congregation in song, with Ben Dockery at the organ and Andrea Duncan at the piano. The choir's role, as the church describes it, is "to glorify God, share the gospel of Jesus Christ, and edify the congregation through song," and the music is chosen to be theologically careful and stylistically varied. The same Sunday hour is broadcast through the church's Facebook livestream from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., so a member who is sick, traveling, or simply across town can follow along with the morning's singing and preaching.
Wednesday Nights at 6 p.m.
On Wednesday evenings, the church's next-generation ministries open their doors at 6 p.m. The children's program runs from 6:00 to 7:15 p.m. and the student ministry from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., giving parents a single evening to drop off both younger children and teenagers. Wednesday is treated as a defined weekly beat rather than an occasional event, and the same hour shapes the rhythm of the church's week beyond Sunday. The home page simply lists "Wednesdays 6pm" as a service time on par with Sunday morning, underlining how central the next-generation ministries are to Inskip's calendar.
Children's Ministry
Charlene Ray directs the children's ministry, whose verse is "Let the little children come to me..." from Matthew 19:14. The ministry exists "to glorify God through evangelizing children, encouraging parents, and edifying servants so that the gospel may be sown among our children, families may be supported, and the church may be strengthened." Wednesday nights include a Bible lesson, games, and crafts, and the church sums its aim up in three short phrases: "We teach children to Know Jesus! Love Jesus! Share Jesus!" Linda Heatherly directs the nursery as a separate role, giving careful attention to the youngest members of the church family during Sunday worship and other scheduled activities. Every children's ministry volunteer has undergone a background check and follows the church's safety policies - a point the church highlights on its own page to reassure parents handing off a child for the evening.
Student Ministry
Steve Workman leads the Student Ministry, which meets in the church's youth room on Wednesday nights from 6 to 7 p.m. The ministry's stated purpose is "to lead students to a genuine faith in Jesus Christ, by encouraging them to cultivate and grow that faith making it their own, and by equipping them to minister to others." The Wednesday night hour mixes "Fun, Games and biblically based bible study that students can apply to their lives in our current culture," aimed at middle and high schoolers who want a real, working faith rather than something handed down by rote.
The Music Ministry
The Sanctuary Choir is the engine of Inskip's music program. Members are not hired musicians but volunteer singers who commit "their talents and time to God," and the choir sings music that is theologically careful and stylistically varied. Its aim is to lead the congregation in song and to "present the Good News of Christ." Becky Gentry directs the choir, while Ben Dockery at the organ and Andrea Duncan at the piano anchor the weekly music. The choir's three commitments sit at the top of its ministry description: glorify God, share the gospel of Jesus Christ, and edify the congregation through song. The "Sanctuary" label in the choir's name underscores that this is the congregation's own worshiping community, gathered week by week around the same instruments and the same hymnal traditions.
Missions Close to Home and Far Away
Inskip takes "missions" in three directions at once: local, stateside, and international. The church's missions page states plainly that "every believer is called to serve in whatever capacity we can both locally and abroad." Past stateside trips have reached Kentucky, Denver, Atlanta, and Michigan, and the church has sent disaster relief teams to South Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. International work has spanned Guatemala, Brazil, South Africa, and Portugal. Whether a member serves across the street or on another continent, the church treats both as the same calling, and the missions slate rotates over the years so that the same members can serve in multiple lanes as life allows.
What Inskip Believes
The About page anchors the church's teaching in a single sentence: "Our core beliefs are based on the inerrant Word of God." Inskip cooperates with three Baptist bodies as part of the Southern Baptist network in Tennessee: the Southern Baptist Convention, the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, and the Knox County Association of Baptists. The church's stated mission is "to glorify God by sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and advancing His kingdom through worship, Bible study, ministry and missions." That four-part mission shows up across the children's ministry, the music ministry, the student ministry, and the missions ministry - each one carrying a piece of the same calling. The motto "Faith. Family. Community." sums up the same commitment in three words.
The Staff
Pastor Rev. Mike Segers leads the church, with Rev. Denton Hickman serving in an Administrator capacity. Becky Gentry directs the Sanctuary Choir; Ben Dockery plays the organ and Andrea Duncan the piano. Steve Workman leads the Student Ministry, Charlene Ray directs Children's Ministry, and Linda Heatherly directs the nursery. Together, this team covers the building's weekly life from Sunday morning through Wednesday nights, with the choir and ministry programs wrapping the Sunday hour and carrying the next-generation ministries into midweek.
Giving and Staying Connected
Members and visitors can give in several ways: in person during office hours or a worship service, by mail to the church address at 4810 Rowan Road, Knoxville, TN 37912, through Venmo, or through PayPal. The church's giving page frames the practice in stewardship language: "Faithful stewardship means faithful giving to God," and notes that the church serves "a generous, giving God who has blessed us in so many ways." The Sunday Service livestream runs from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Facebook. The full church calendar - Sunday School at 9:30, Sunday Service at 10:45, Wednesday ministries at 6 p.m. - can be added to Google Calendar or subscribed to in Outlook. Visitors with questions can reach the church office at (865) 689-5416 or inskip@knology.net.