St. Luke’s is a small, integrated, diverse, and joyful congregation which is very active in its inner-city community. St. Luke’s began as a historically Black congregation at a time when churches of the diocese were segregated. Our diversity includes a membership close to fifty percent non African American. Black and white we strongly identify as a historically Black congregation and are proud of our Black Church heritage to be an active force for community justice. St. Luke’s houses the East Knoxville Hospitality Food Pantry, hosts meetings of neighborhood and community organizations, and offers financial support to community organizations and institutions. In addition to regular Sunday services, the church offers seasonal worship services and special services on some Wednesday evenings. Vacation Bible School is offered each summer for area children. An adult Bible study group meets through much of the year. The sick and shut-in are visited regularly by licensed Lay Eucharistic Visitors. Spiritual counseling is provided by the priest as well as pastoral care, especially in times of crisis. St. Luke’s stresses personal spiritual growth, group fellowship, and specific services to those with a diversity of needs and human problems. We are committed to recruiting more members from the immediate surrounding community and to find ways to serve the needs of our members and the community more effectively.
Knoxville is in a rapidly growing metropolitan area since the city itself is strategically located on an international waterway and has three Interstate routes leading to it. Knoxville was founded in 1791 on the north bank of the Tennessee River about seven miles downstream from where the Holston and French Broad Rivers converge to form the Tennessee. Knoxville is located in a broad valley between the Cumberland Mountains to the northwest and the Great Smoky Mountains to the southeast. These two mountain ranges help provide a moderate climate. With a population of 173,000, Knoxville is the third largest city in the state and the largest city in East Tennessee. Other population estimates are 392,995 for Knox County and 712,366 for the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The city is home to the University of Tennessee and to Knoxville College, a historically Black liberal arts college begun after the Civil War by the northern Presbyterian Church. Other area schools include Pellissippi State Community College, Roane State Community College, Crown College, South College, and Johnson Bible College. Pellissippi State recently established a branch about a half-mile from St. Luke’s. Knoxville has been the social, commercial and cultural center of a unique region of the American South since 1791. First it was a fortified outpost and capital of the Southwest Territory, and later of the state of Tennessee. The city furnished political and intellectual leadership for Unionist East Tennessee when the region struggled to remain loyal to the United States at the time of the Civil War. The contending armies made this strategic railroad center a battlefield during the sectional conflict. In the twentieth century, the development of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Oak Ridge atomic complex, together with the phenomenal growth of the University of Tennessee, has given the city a new dimension. St. Luke’s draws members from all over Knox County and an adjoining county, but we see as our primary service area the part of the city referred to as East Knoxville. In addition, our building is located in the heart of an area designated as a Federal Economic Empowerment Zone (EZ). A redevelopment effort associated with Knoxville EZ is just a few blocks from St. Luke’s, in the Five Points Area. St. Luke’s serves as the meeting place for the East EZ Advisory Board, which includes representatives from the broader East Knoxville community. St. Luke’s is not only home to our congregation, but also houses the East Knoxville Hospitality Pantry, an ecumenical community food pantry providing emergency food to approximately 1500 families each month. Another aspect of neighborhood ministry is a program of Family Fun Days in which children, youth and adults from all over our inner city neighborhood come for games, crafts, lunch and seasonal activities (e.g., an annual neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt.) At present St. Luke’s is in conversation with two local hospitals to use our parish hall for non-invasive medical screening on days the food pantry is open. Such screening would facilitate early detection of common medical problems such as diabetes. A demographic that also helps define St. Luke’s ministry is household income. According to Census 2000, Census Tract 20, where the church is located and where several members reside, has a median income $18,714, with thirty per cent below $10,000 a year. These demographics suggest multiple opportunities for ministry. We see a clear mission imperative for St. Luke’s to function as the Episcopal Church’s outpost for mission to some of Knoxville’s most impoverished households and to be a voice for justice in both the community and the diocese.