Sequoyah Hills Presbyterian Church sits on Keowee Avenue in Knoxville's Sequoyah Hills neighborhood, where more than 1,200 members gather under a motto stitched across every bulletin and banner: Inwardly Strong, Outwardly Focused. Organized on May 22, 1947, as a daughter congregation of First Presbyterian Church of Knoxville, SHPC has grown into a family ministry with two Sunday worship services, an extensive graded education program for every age, an on-site preschool, and a deep bench of partner ministries across the city and around the world. The community describes itself as a gathering of broken people seeking to know, glorify, and serve God together - welcoming longtime Knoxvillians, newcomers, seekers, and skeptics with the same open door.
Sundays at SHPC
Two Sunday worship services anchor the week, with Sunday school between them. At 8:45 a.m., an acoustic service gathers in Barron Hall or, weather permitting, on the front lawn; at 11:00 a.m., the Chancel Choir, organ, and full liturgy fill the Sanctuary. Both draw from the same pattern of reading Scripture, prayer, preaching, corporate singing, the celebration of the Sacraments on appointed Sundays, and a benediction.
The Sanctuary is equipped with small assisted listening receivers that broadcast the sound system to personal earphones; ask an usher if you would like one. Children are part of every Sunday. Children and Worship, a Montessori-based program for ages four through first grade, follows the Children's Time at the 11:00 service and welcomes children to the lower level of the Spitzer Building to sing, hear a Bible story, and respond with a craft.
At 9:45 a.m., Sunday school opens for everyone. Five adult classes run in parallel, and the Loft middle and high school classes meet at the same hour. A healing prayer with a deacon is available after each service - in the Fowler Conference Room after 8:45 and in the Chapel after 11:00. The 11:00 service is broadcast live on YouTube (livestream), with archived services going back several years.
What the Church Believes
SHPC confesses that Jesus Christ is the only Lord and Savior, and that all people everywhere are called to place their faith, hope, and love in him. The session teaches that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are, by the Holy Spirit, the authoritative witness to Jesus Christ and God's Word to the church.
Within the Reformed tradition, the church holds to a handful of essential tenets: the majesty, holiness, and providence of God who creates, sustains, rules, and redeems the world; the election of God's people for service and salvation; covenant life disciplined by the Word; faithful stewardship that shuns ostentation and seeks the proper use of God's creation; and the recognition of the human tendency to idolatry and tyranny, which calls the church to seek justice and live in obedience to the Word.
SHPC is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and an active church in the Presbytery of East Tennessee. The mission statement runs in seven verbs: to GLORIFY God through ministry, prayer, and worship; WELCOME all people to a journey of faith in Christ; CELEBRATE the presence of the Holy Spirit through worship; SHARE gifts, talents, time, and financial resources; EQUIP people for discipleship through Christian education; NURTURE and love one another as a family of faith; and SERVE those within Knoxville and throughout the world in Jesus' name.
Children's Ministry, Birth through Fifth Grade
The Children's Ministry is led by Mary Emily Morris, a lifelong SHPC member who has served in this role for over ten years. The focus every week is the same: building relationships, teaching Scripture, and letting children experience the love of God.
The nursery, on the main level of the Spitzer Education Building, opens at 8:30 a.m. and runs until noon. Infants and toddlers gather in Room 204 with a "Play and Worship" leader who walks them through music-based Bible stories and tactile sensory play. At 9:45 a.m., preschool Sunday school meets on the main level: a 2- and 3-year-old class in Room 220, a 4-year-old class in Room 224, and a 5-year-old and kindergarten class in Room 226. Three basic truths anchor every lesson - God made me, God loves me, Jesus wants to be my friend - reinforced through games, crafts, snacks, and a weekly "Hands-on Music" session with a traveling music teacher who brings handbells and a variety of instruments. Extended care for 2- and 3-year-olds runs from 10:30 a.m. to noon so parents can attend the 11:00 service.
Children in first through third grades step into the lower level of the Spitzer Building for the Kingdom Sunday school, a Workshop Rotation Model. Each Sunday, children rotate among six centers - games, drama, art, storytelling, cafe, and media - to engage the same Bible story from six different angles. Fourth and fifth graders have their own class where they learn to journal and reflect on Bible stories; the morning begins with a devotion and a time of reflection on the highs and lows of the past week, and ends with doughnuts and prayer.
The Loft: Middle School and High School Ministry
The Loft is the dedicated space and gathering name for Sequoyah Hills' youth ministry. Middle schoolers meet in Room 311 and high schoolers in Room 302 at 9:45 a.m. every Sunday morning, with a team of adult leaders, volunteers, and interns walking alongside them. The stated goal is for students to know Christ, own their faith, and make their faith be known.
Confirmation is offered to eighth graders and above, who are paired with adult sponsors from the congregation as mentors for the year. The program begins with activities in the fall, continues with classes in the winter, and concludes on Palm Sunday each spring as Confirmands are received as members.
Outside of Sunday mornings, monthly youth events bring middle and high school students together for food, fellowship, and fun, and a handful of small groups meet during the week. On Youth Sunday once a year, students lead both morning worship services. The ministry is led by Madi Howell, Director of Youth, College, and Young Adult Ministries, supported by Assistant Director Carson Baker.
A Program of Choirs for Every Age
Music is woven through the life of SHPC. The Chancel Choir, directed by Andrew Skoog, leads the 11:00 worship service every Sunday morning and includes SHPC members along with scholarship students from area schools. Rehearsals are held on Wednesday evenings from 7:00 to 8:00 in the Choir Room, and only a love of music is required to sing. Mr. Skoog is also a Sandra G. Powell Excellence Professor of Voice at the University of Tennessee, where he conducts the UT Men's Chorale and coordinates the voice program.
Eunsuk Jung serves as the church's organist, a position she has held since 2009, and is also Senior Lecturer of Piano and Coordinator of Class Piano studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
For children, three choirs run in parallel under music ministry leadership. Kate Smith directs KidsPraise, the worship choir for children ages four through fifth grade, with a focus on the joy of music as worship. The Joyful Noise Choir welcomes students in kindergarten through second grade under the direction of Karen Lampley, and the Joyful Praise Choir brings together third through sixth graders under Jussara Horton. The children's choirs rehearse on Wednesday afternoons from 4:30 to 5:30 and perform during worship services, at concerts, and at a special annual performance in May.
Connection and Growth: Adult Sunday School and L.I.F.E. Groups
Connecting with one another is treated as a spiritual discipline at SHPC. The staff and lay leadership describe L.I.F.E. Groups as the primary way members grow as disciples who make disciples.
A L.I.F.E. Group is typically made up of 8 to 15 people who meet weekly to share, study, and support one another. Each session lasts 8 to 12 weeks, with new sessions offered in the fall, winter, and spring. Most groups pause during July and August. Groups meet on various days and evenings throughout the week, mostly on the church campus but some off site; the church offers childcare for some. Each group is led by a trained leader, and the level and type of Bible study varies so that newcomers can choose a group that suits their season of life.
For a more structured weekly study, five adult Sunday school classes run at 9:45 a.m.: Adult Fellowship (Room 319, mostly young adults), Bible Discovery (Room 318, all ages), Faith Gatherings (Room 320, mostly middle-age adults), Faith Practices (Room 322, middle-age and older adults), and Sojourners (Treetop Coffee or Barron Hall). L.I.F.E. Groups are coordinated by Klair Kimmey; those who want to be matched with a group can reach out to her.
JOY Fellowship: Adults 55 and Up
Adults 55 and older have their own fellowship under the JOY banner. A planning committee meets on the second Monday of every other month at 12:30 p.m. in Room 232 to coordinate gatherings. The community luncheon brings the larger group together on the second Thursday of each month, September through June, at noon in the Fellowship Hall, with a guest speaker every other month. Monthly outings add to the calendar, and the Monday Movie Matinee gathers on the fourth Monday of every month (excluding holidays) at 2:00 p.m. in the Media Room, with light refreshments for all adults who attend.
Caring for One Another: Stephen Ministry, Grief Support, and the Deacons' Fund
Congregational care sits at the heart of Sequoyah Hills' calling and traces back to the establishment of Stephen Ministry at SHPC in 1994. Stephen Ministers are lay members of the congregation who have completed 50 hours of training and provide confidential, one-to-one Christian care for people facing difficulties - illness, job loss, grief, divorce, or any of life's harder seasons. Everything shared with a Stephen Minister remains private.
An 8-week grief support ministry meets in the spring and fall on Mondays at 6:00 p.m. The program combines expert-led video teaching with testimony from those who have walked through loss; materials are Christ-centered and workbooks are provided.
Deacons lead a variety of practical care teams. The Visitation team regularly visits members who are homebound or living in extended care facilities and remembers them on special occasions. The Transportation team gives rides to worship and to special events for members who no longer drive. The Meals team provides food for those discharged from the hospital, for bereaved families, and for families with brand-new babies. The Hospitality team sets up refreshments following memorial services held at the church.
The Deacons' Fund Ministry serves members in temporary financial crisis by offering assistance for items such as an unexpected medical bill, a family crisis, or a job loss, and the fund can also be requested on behalf of others in the community.
A walking prayer labyrinth on campus is available as an ancient tool for prayer and meditation - one winding path that begins at the periphery, leads to a central space, and returns. The church's prayer ministry extends beyond its walls through a Prayer Chain and a private prayer request option that routes concerns directly to a pastor.
Walking with Neighbors: Local Outreach
SHPC has long described itself as outwardly focused, and a long list of benevolences shows what that looks like in practice. The congregation supports a wide range of Knoxville-area ministries through prayer, volunteer hours, and financial giving: CAC Mobile Meals (the local Meals on Wheels program), Campus House of Prayer at UTK, CONNECT Ministries, Emerald Youth Foundation, FISH/Hospitality Pantry, Knoxville Habitat for Humanity, Interfaith Health Clinic, Jesus Is My Savior, Knox Area Rescue Ministries, Knoxville Fellows, Knoxville Inner City Kids Outreach (KICKO), the Office on Aging / Connecting Hearts program, the Knoxville Leadership Foundation (including Amachi and Compassion Coalition), Locked Down on the Outside, The Restoration House, Montgomery Village Ministry, Reformed University Fellowship at UTK, Second Harvest Food Bank / Pond Gap Backpacks, Thrive, UKirk UTK (the Presbyterian campus ministry at UTK), and the Volunteer Ministry Center. The church also maintains its own SHPC Food Pantry as an in-house ministry.
Closer to home, the Neighborhood Connections Team works within Sequoyah Hills to love the surrounding community - helping prepare for the Knoxville Marathon route as it winds through the streets, passing out water bottles at the community's Labor Day picnic, handing out more than 700 bags of popcorn to nearly 1,000 trick-or-treaters each October, and serving a hot chocolate bar at the neighborhood Christmas tree lighting.
SHPC also offers grants to small Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) churches with fewer than 100 members, an operating budget under $50,000, or no installed pastor - a way to extend denominational connection across East Tennessee. The SHPC Benevolence Foundation adds another layer, distributing charitable gifts to local and community outreach programs, ministries, missions, and other worthy non-profit organizations in Knoxville.
Across the World: Mission Trips and International Missionaries
SHPC supports a roster of full-time international missionaries working across the globe, in places like London, Mozambique, Mexico, Israel, Germany, Ghana, the Philippines, Madagascar, and Angola. Each missionary is paired with a church liaison who keeps the relationship personal and present in the life of the congregation, and missionaries regularly send newsletters and videos that the church shares through print and online channels. Mission teams also travel each year to Panajachel, Guatemala, in partnership with Porch de Salomon - a February medical mission team and a June construction team - working alongside local leaders and residents on health needs and home building. Disaster relief teams have been sent to assist communities impacted by Hurricane Helene in London, Kentucky, in partnership with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. Annual giving to support this work is available online through the church's giving portal.
SHEEP Preschool: A Christian Start for the Youngest Learners
The Sequoyah Hills Early Enrichment Program - SHEEP - opened its doors in 2003 and is recognized as one of the top early childhood enrichment programs in the state of Tennessee. The program operates on the SHPC campus from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, mid-August to mid-May, following Knox County Schools' schedule for weather-related updates.
Children must be 18 months old by August 15 to enroll. The program offers 2, 3, 4, or 5-day-a-week options with monthly tuition ranging from $320 (two days) to $640 (five days). An annual $50 activity fee covers enrichment costs, and partial scholarships are available.
SHEEP's curriculum blends Growing Up Safe and Strong (the Tennessee state day-care personal safety program for ages 3 to 5), Creative Curriculum (a play-based general curriculum), a Biblical curriculum (Bible memory verses, weekly Chapel time for ages 3 to 6, and embedded Bible stories), and Learning Without Tears (a handwriting, math, phonics, and literacy program). The staff combines teachers with degrees in early childhood education and experienced caregivers, with a low teacher-to-child ratio that fosters trust, security, and love. Dottie Arnett, an eight-year SHEEP teacher and longtime SHPC member, has directed the program since July 2021.
Marking the Milestones: Weddings, Baptisms, and Memorials
The Sanctuary and Chapel host some of the most important moments of family life. In the Reformed tradition, marriage is understood as a covenant in which God has an active part and which the community of faith publicly witnesses. Weddings at SHPC are conducted in a manner appropriate to this covenant; couples begin by submitting a Wedding Request and reviewing the published Wedding Policy.
Baptism is celebrated as the sign and seal of incorporation into Jesus Christ. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) recognizes all baptisms with water in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit administered by other Christian churches; baptism is not repeated. Baptisms take place during either Sunday morning service and are performed by any of the three pastors. Anyone interested can begin the conversation by calling the church office or reaching out by email to the pastor they would like to officiate.
Memorial services at SHPC are called Services of Witness to the Resurrection and take place in the Sanctuary or the Chapel. Music is sacred music that points to God; flowers are optional and may be ordered from a florist familiar with the church; and any guest speakers need approval from the officiating pastor. Military funeral honors may take place at the gravesite. Families begin by contacting Rev. Mark Lampley. A columbarium on the church campus provides a final resting place for members and their loved ones.
Roots in Knoxville Since 1947
Sequoyah Hills Presbyterian Church was organized with seventy-eight charter members on May 22, 1947, established by the Knoxville Presbytery under the sponsorship of First Presbyterian Church of Knoxville. The organizing pastor, Dr. Julian W. Spitzer, was called as the first Pastor on November 2, 1947.
The early years were marked by rapid growth and a building program pursued in phases. Worship began in the Chapel in December 1949. The Sanctuary was completed in March 1954, and the first education building followed in November 1956. From this congregation came two new churches: Lake Hills Presbyterian Church in 1957 and West Hills Presbyterian Church in 1963. SHPC was also instrumental in negotiating a relationship between Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center and the Knoxville Presbytery and in the formation of Camp John Knox.
Dr. Spitzer retired in March 1979, and Dr. William R. (Bill) Barron was called as the second pastor in March 1981. In September 1985, groundbreaking took place for an administration building that included a fellowship hall and the expansion and remodeling of the Sanctuary. During these years SHPC saw a wave of young families join the church, opened its doors to community groups like Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, hosted neighborhood meetings, exercise and art classes, a monthly community luncheon, many senior activities, and several 12-step programs. Stephen Ministry was established at SHPC in 1994.
By the late 1990s, the facilities were straining at the seams. The "Building for Tomorrow" campaign raised almost $5 million against a $3.4 million goal. In October 2000, the Spitzer Education Building opened as a three-level, state-of-the-art facility. The lower level, called the Kingdom, was devoted to a Workshop Rotation Model of Christian education for elementary-aged children; the main level includes a library and classrooms for nursery-aged through preschool children; and the upper level is dedicated to adult and youth ministry.
Rev. Mark D. Lampley was installed as an Associate Pastor in August 2005. In June 2008, Dr. Barron retired, and at his retirement celebration the Fellowship Hall was renamed Barron Hall in his honor. Dr. Barron was later named Pastor Emeritus in August 2012. Dr. Holton Siegling Jr. was installed as the third pastor in March 2011 and was called to South Carolina in June 2016. Dr. Steven P. (Steve) Eason served as Interim Pastor beginning in January 2018 and retired in June 2019. In September 2019, Dr. John F. (Jay) Howell III was installed as the fourth pastor/head of staff of SHPC. Rev. Ben Garris was installed as an Associate Pastor in June 2023, and Rev. Lampley became Senior Associate Pastor at the same time.
Pastors, Directors, and Staff
SHPC is led by three pastors on the church staff. Dr. Jay Howell, the pastor and head of staff, is a Tennessee native who was raised in Nashville, attended Princeton Theological Seminary, served as Associate Pastor for Discipleship and Mission at Germantown Presbyterian Church in Germantown, Tennessee beginning in 2012, and completed his doctorate at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary before being called to SHPC in 2019. He and his wife Frances have two sons, Jack and Harry.
Rev. Mark Lampley, the Senior Associate Pastor for Christian Formation and Congregational Care, was raised in North Carolina, attended Presbyterian College in South Carolina, and Union Presbyterian Seminary in Virginia. He and his wife Karen moved to Knoxville in 2005. Rev. Ben Garris, the Associate Pastor for Missions, Outreach, and Fellowship, was raised in North Carolina, attended Union Presbyterian Seminary, served at Patuxent Presbyterian Church in California, Maryland, and was commissioned as a Navy Reserve Officer; he was called to SHPC in 2023. Rev. Janna Preston serves as Minister for Congregational Care; a graduate of the University of Florida and Lexington Theological Seminary, she has served as a chaplain at UT Medical Center and in long-term care before being called to SHPC.
Andrew Skoog directs the music program; he is a Metropolitan Opera regional finalist whose career includes Carnegie Hall appearances with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway. Eunsuk Jung serves as organist, a position she has held since 2009. Mary Emily Morris directs the Children's Ministry, Madi Howell directs Youth, College, and Young Adult Ministries with Carson Baker as Assistant Director, Kate Smith directs KidsPraise, and Dottie Arnett directs SHEEP.