History
On April 25, 1982, a new Lutheran congregation came into existence in Knoxville, TN. It was founded as the result of a merger between Ascension Lutheran Church (ALC) and Alleluia! Lutheran Church (AELC). It was named Peace Lutheran Church (ALC). The name was chosen by the congregation reflecting the desire to be instrumental in bringing “Peace” to our community and also as a goal in uniting two Christian churches, each with its own cultures and traditions. Some of those early decisions of sensitivity to differing traditions are reflected even today, as in our offering both the chalice and the individual glasses of wine during communion.
At the time of the merger, Ascension had a building, but was without a pastor, while Alleluia! had a pastor, but no church building. So in the merging of the two congregations, Ascension’s building became the home of the Peace congregation and Alleluia!’s pastor, Rev. William Boys, Ph.D., became the first pastor for the new Peace congregation. He went on to faithfully serve the church for the next 17 years. He and his wife, Ruth, were a significant factor in the successful merging of these two congregations. Meanwhile the building also continued to serve the congregation well and with two major additions over the years is still the home of the Peace congregation and gathering place of numerous community groups.
A few months after the Peace came into existence, in the fall of 1982, the Peace Adult Choir was formed and began the music ministry for which Peace has become well known across the years. Marlene Klukken was the choir director, later adding Director of Music to her responsibilities. In 1983, the first Christmas cantata was performed with performances each year since that time. As the years passed and the church developed, the music program continued to provide an important element in worship, in outreach and in the development of musicians in the church. Many individuals have developed their vocal and instrumental musical gifts in the choir, in small groups and in solo ministry opportunities.
Every congregation has its legends and Peace has them too. On Good Friday, April 5, 1985, in the evening before the Good Friday service, the choir was rehearsing for the Easter Sunday service. It was the classic dark and stormy night when the church (and the neighborhood) was hit with a “down burst,” a powerful straight line wind. It blew out electrical transformers, took the roof off a nearby congregational member’s home, slammed open the church doors, lifted the roof slightly (a small branch was found sticking through the seam between the wall and the roof) and sandblasted every car in the parking lot. The most impressive sight however was outside the building. Now at the time, the original building was small and unimpressive, but had a very tall steel beam white cross in the parking lot in front of it. This was a local landmark. The wind bent that beam over so that about six feet from the ground it was horizontal (barely clearing the car underneath it!). The church temporarily was known in the local press as the “church of the bent cross.”
In April of 1987 Peace celebrated its fifth anniversary as a congregation. That fall on Thanksgiving weekend, a number of members of the congregation spent their extended weekend renovating the chancel of the church. This included building the platform, building the front area around the cross, making the current cross out of wood from the original cross in the church and redecorating the chancel area.
On January 31, 1988, there was a groundbreaking for a new narthex and Sunday School addition. Both of these components were sorely needed. Prior to this, since there was no narthex, the front doors opened directly into the sanctuary with the attendant weather and noise, and any social interactions had to take place right in the worship space. The Sunday School classes were conducted in separate areas of the sanctuary and in small side rooms behind folding doors. The resulting cacophony was not conducive to teaching, learning or preparing for a worship service. This new addition was greeted with real joy by the congregation for now there was a new entrance beneath a tower with a part of the original steel cross, a front elevation that actually looked like a church, a narthex for separating the entering and socializing from the sanctuary, three new Sunday school classrooms (plus renovations which added two more), a small assembly room, enlarged bathrooms and a large nursery. The church was growing and the physical plant reflected the growth.
As the church grew and the number of children increased, more Sunday school space was needed for both children and adults. Additionally, the very small pastor’s office in the church was not adequate, nor was there space for a much needed church secretary. The church property, while in an excellent location on Cedar Bluff Road, was too small to consider expansion and there were ongoing discussions about solutions, including moving somewhere else. Then in November of 1991, the house behind the church was put on the market. As soon as this was known, the Council met and called a special congregational meeting where it was decided to buy the property immediately. Thus, the house behind the church, designated the “church house,” became the home for the adult education classes, the youth group, the pastor’s office and the new secretary’s office. It also served as a small fellowship space for church gatherings. Over the ensuing years, numerous renovations were made to make the space more usable, but it was always clearly a house, not really a church building.
The church staff expanded in March of 1992 with an advertisement for a part-time church administrative assistant. Shortly after that, Mary Beth Neuhaus was hired to fill the position. Across the years, a number of persons have served in this vital capacity: Phyllis Etzler, Ryndee Trotter, Wanda Brown and currently, Mary Newman.
The tenth anniversary of the congregation was celebrated in April 1992, with the unveiling of a new banner “Within these walls, the vision; Beyond, the mission.” While this was not the first banner created by Peace members for the church, nor has it been the last, it is one which captured a shared sense of Peace’s goal. Many other banners have come in a steady stream from the creative minds and skillful hands of Peace members, some for special occasions or seasons and others for the general enhancement of the worship space, such as the five PEACE banners which have become a traditional part of the interior decoration.
Nineteen ninety-two was a busy year with a congregational decision to begin a two-service format on October 4. While not a universally acclaimed decision, it did provide a solution to the problem of increasingly crowded sanctuary space. It also provided an early service for those who liked to clear more of the day for activities crowded out of increasingly hectic lives and it provided an opportunity to try alternate worship styles.
In 1994, the used Hammond organ that had provided so much good service to the congregation, finally played its last struggling chords. Music had been very important to the congregation over the years, and while a used grand piano had been purchased and was thoroughly enjoyed by all, the loss of the organ was felt to be serious. A number of possibilities were considered, including the fantasy of a pipe organ, before the current Allen organ was chosen. Dedication Sunday, June 5, 1994, was highlighted with a wonderful organ concert presented by our church organist, Sharon Kangas.
After seventeen years of dedicated service to Peace, Pastor William Boys resigned, effective January 31, 1998. Under his shepherding, the church had gone from a small, newly merged congregation to a vibrant part of the community. During this time an increasing number of community groups were using the church as a meeting place while church members were spending more time in the community responding to urgent needs there. As years passed, much personal time was committed to Mobile Meals, the Food Pantry, Fish food deliveries, serving meals at Union Rescue Mission, Bread for the World, Habitat for Humanity, Knoxville Interfaith Network and many other worthy causes.
The remainder of 1998 and beginning of 1999 were spent in the process of searching for a new pastor. This included a self study of the congregation, vision and mission statements, many meetings and considerable prayer. Rev. Robert Loshuertos and Rev. Carl Olin served as interim pastors during this period. The call committee performed an excellent and very successful search resulting in the decision to hire Rev. James Kroninger as the new pastor for Peace.
In April of 1999, “Pastor Jim” Kroninger was installed as Peace’s new minister and his wife, Amy, and children, Allison and Andrew were welcomed to the congregation. Thus, began the second chapter in the life of Peace. Within a year or so, discussions began around the topic of adding to the church building. Sunday school space was inadequate and the church house was not a particularly useful space for program needs.
Peace celebrated its twentieth anniversary in April 2002 with a unique challenge to its members. Using the parable of the Talents, any member who desired could get twenty dollars from the church to keep and/or multiply, with the total being returned in a special offering later that summer. As one can imagine, there were many lessons learned, relationships built and least important, money was earned and offered.
Years after beginning discussions about building a new addition to the church it finally happened. The church house and property were sold to the nearby public school with the provision that we would have the use of the parking lot that would be built there. On August 3, 2006, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new classroom and office addition. A creative architect and an excellent, experienced general contractor working closely with the building committee succeeded in constructing a very attractive and useful addition which met all the expectations of the congregation. On April 15, 2007, the new addition was dedicated after having met all construction deadlines and costing less than budgeted. Now there was ample classroom space, a pastor’s office, a secretary’s office and workroom, bathrooms and a youth room with a kitchen.
After getting moved into the new addition, the old 1988 addition became the focus of extensive renovation, both inside and out. Beginning in 2007 and continuing throughout 2008, church members committed considerable time, skills and money to having the roof replaced, replacing all the siding, putting in new windows, removing classroom walls and ceilings, renovating the nursery and creating a large fellowship hall with a new kitchen at one end.
After nine years of being a faithful shepherd to the flock at Peace, Rev. James Kroninger resigned as pastor, effective June 30, 2008. He had been with us through many changes, helped us grow, helped us continue to learn to reach out to our community and helped us survive the challenges of a major building program. With his leaving, Peace began the process of searching for a new pastor. In August of 2008, Rev. Sterling Nelson was installed as the Transition Pastor and began his ministry at Peace.
To be continued!
December 2008
