Powell Presbyterian Church will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a weekend of festivities Sept. 28-29 and other upcoming special events and projects.
The first organizational meeting of people interested in starting a Presbyterian church in Powell was held in 1967. The following year the Knoxville Presbytery purchased six acres, which included a house and barn, on Emory Road to serve as the future site of the church.
In 1969, the Knoxville Presbytery voted to organize Powell Presbyterian Church, and the church was established with 29 charter members. The Rev. Frederick Smith was the organizing pastor. Originally, members met at the home on the property. The church building was completed in 1974. Two large areas – for classrooms, a fellowship hall and youth group space – have been added since then. The property is across the street from the entrance to Broadacres subdivision.
To commemorate its anniversary, the church is hosting a community picnic on the property from 3-6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, and inviting members of the Powell community to come for live music, inflatables, games and food. The church will be open for tours.
The following day, former pastors and interim pastors will join the current pastor, the Rev. Katina Sharp, to conduct a special worship service at 10:30 a.m. The sermon will be offered by the Rev. David Garnett, while the Reverends Kirk Werner, Jonathan Warren, Eugene Thomas and Craig Hendrix will participate in the celebration. Following the service, a catered luncheon will be held. Former members and friends of the church have been invited to attend the festivities.
A church history in photographs will be displayed on multiple large screens that weekend, along with scrapbooks of past activities, which include mission trips to Alaska and Haiti, youth mission trips to destinations that included Chicago and North Carolina, and many local projects.
On Saturday, Nov. 2, as part of the year of celebration, the church is inviting other churches and members of the community to come for “Walk Thru the Bible,” a three-hour seminar that will focus on the Old Testament. A lunch will follow the program, which begins at 9 a.m.
As a service to the Powell community, the church also has pledged to pick up litter along a two-mile stretch of Emory Road as a participant in the county’s Adopt-A-Road program.
For more about Powell Presbyterian or the activities it is hosting, call the church at 865-938-8311 or email RevKatinaSharp@gmail.com. The church website is https://www.powellpcusa.org/.