A Lutheran Home on Sandy Springs Road
St. Paul Lutheran Church sits on Sandy Springs Road in Maryville, Tennessee, where members and visitors gather each Sunday for a 9:30 a.m. service rooted in Word, prayer, and sacrament. The congregation belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and describes itself as a place where everyone is welcome "with their whole selves," questions and doubts included. Its motto, drawn from 1 John 4:19, is "We love because he first loved us."
The life of the church is shaped by a long history in the Maryville-Alcoa area, a steady rhythm of weekly worship and study, and a flow of hands-on ministry that reaches into the wider Blount County community.
From a 1953 Dream to the Sandy Springs Building
Don Richardson had long dreamed of a Lutheran congregation in the Maryville-Alcoa area. On May 10, 1953, he and his wife Margaret were among 33 people who attended the first worship service. A year and a half later, on December 5, 1954, Saint Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church was formally organized when the Richardsons and 52 others signed the charter. The congregation called its first full-time pastor soon after.
The early years brought hard setbacks. When the military air base at McGhee Tyson vacated and when Alcoa Aluminum cut back to 1937 personnel levels, membership shrank to just eight communicants by the spring of 1960. Saint Andrews Episcopal Church offered its facilities, and the little congregation kept going.
Groundbreaking for the church's first building came on April 29, 1962, with the first service there held on October 21. A second unit followed in 1969, and a new sanctuary designed for 220 people was dedicated on November 16, 1986. By the year 2000, needing more space and updated facilities, the congregation voted to sell, buy new property, and build anew. After a temporary stay in the former East Maryville Baptist Church, the members moved into the current building on Sandy Springs Road in April 2002. The 70th anniversary of the congregation was marked in 2024.
Sunday Mornings at 9:30
Worship is the center of life at St. Paul. The single Sunday service begins at 9:30 a.m. and is livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube so that members who are traveling, homebound, or seasonal residents can take part. The service draws on ELCA liturgical tradition. Word, prayer, and the sacraments are central, and congregational singing plays a significant role.
The music is led by volunteer choir director Marsha Wynn, who has directed the choir since 1991 and added a hand bell choir in 2014, and by pianist and organist Chase Hatmaker, a Maryville College music graduate who has served the church since 2012. A bell choir plays on occasion, and special music replaces the choir during the summer months.
During the school year, children in pre-K through grade 6 meet at 10:45 a.m. for Sunday school, and students in grades 6 through 8 are invited to the confirmation class.
Pastor Rick Ohsiek and the Staff
The Rev. Rick Ohsiek has been St. Paul's pastor since January 1, 2013. He came from Reformation Lutheran Church in Greeneville, Tennessee, where he served for nearly eleven years, and before that spent three years as associate pastor at Christus Victor Lutheran in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in history from Belhaven University and a Master of Divinity from Trinity Lutheran Seminary. Within the ELCA and the Southeastern Synod, he has served on Synod Council, the Church Planting Commission, and as a voting member to the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in 2003, 2007, and 2009. He currently serves as dean of the Knoxville area Lutheran clergy.
Pastor Rick and his wife Jody, a nurse manager at East Tennessee Children's Hospital, are the parents of twin boys Drew and Noah. He describes the atmosphere at St. Paul in simple terms: "We are all family here. Most people in our church are not originally from this area, but they find a home and a second family when they come here." His office hours run 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday.
Marsha Wynn directs the choir and bell choir. Chase Hatmaker serves as pianist and organist and maintains an active private lesson studio across East Tennessee.
Walking Beside the Hurting: Stephen Ministry
St. Paul carries a Stephen Ministry program, a lay caring ministry in which trained members walk alongside people going through difficult times. Stephen Ministers are members of the congregation who have completed 50 hours of training in distinctively Christian care. They provide confidential, one-to-one support to people who are grieving the death of a loved one, hospitalized or recovering, lonely or discouraged, coping with terminal illness, unemployed or in a job crisis, disabled or caring for an ill family member, moving or relocating, new to the congregation or community, anticipating the birth or adoption of a child, homebound or institutionalized, transitioning into retirement, dealing with the crisis of aging, facing a life transition, going through a spiritual crisis, or recovering from a disaster or accident.
A Stephen Minister is not a counselor, a therapist, a problem-solver, or someone who runs errands. The role is simply to listen, week after week, for as long as the need persists.
Outreach Across Blount County
The congregation commits its prayers, time, skills, and funds to several local organizations. Members support the Community Food Connection of Blount County, Family Promise, and Good Neighbors. The church hosts a Girl Scout troop. Each Thanksgiving the members assemble baskets for families in need, and at Christmas they take part in Sanitation Santa, which delivers gifts. Comfort quilts and handwork go out to individuals and organizations year-round, and the congregation joins Lutheran World Relief projects whenever opportunities arise.
WELCA, Men's Group, and the Fellowship of Hands
WELCA, the Women of the ELCA, meets monthly for fellowship and projects. In 2025 the women collected food, school supplies, toys, and toiletries for local organizations, sponsored a large rummage sale to benefit local groups and the church, and held a Spring Fling and a Christmas Brunch. They joined in the regional cluster meeting and the Southeastern Synod conference and helped with congregational events such as the Easter brunch, summer picnic, and trunk-or-treat.
The Men's Group provides a Christ-centered environment for the men and boys of the congregation. Fifteen to twenty men and boys took part in seven events in 2025, including dinners, a picnic that drew 25 people, and a church work day. The annual calendar includes four hosted dinners, a spring work day, a spring bowling night, a fall picnic, and an annual restaurant Christmas dinner.
Twisted Quilting meets at the church on Mondays at 9:00 a.m., and Creative Hands gathers on Thursdays at 10:00 a.m. Both groups reflect a long Lutheran tradition of turning handcraft into care for others.
Midweek Study and Prayer
On Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m., a prayer group gathers at the church, followed by a Bible study at 10:30 a.m. The Wednesday rhythm gives members a regular place to pray together and dig into the scriptures between Sunday services.
Children and Youth
Children in pre-K through grade 6 gather at 10:45 a.m. for Sunday school during the school year. Students in grades 6 through 8 are invited into the confirmation class. The youth ministry also connects to synod events such as AFFIRM and Lutheran Happening of the South, programs Pastor Rick has supported for many years.
A Church Built on Grace
The congregation's own statement of welcome names the ground it stands on. God's grace, given as a gift through Jesus Christ, is available to all people. Belonging at St. Paul does not hinge on what someone wears, on financial or social status, on education, background, ethnicity, race, age, family structure, or gender. The church invites newcomers and longtime members alike to worship, dine, fellowship, and grow in Christian love together.