Below is the abridged written document of the history of Second Presbyterian Church and a brief timeline of our history.
Brief timeline: New2 (Second Presbyterian Church) of Knoxville, Tennessee |
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| Am. Revolution | Forefather of Second Presbyterian Church, Dr. Samuel Hopkins | ||
| Congregational minister in Rhode Island, anti-slavery theory known as Hopkinsianism | |||
| 1818 | Organized as Second Presbyterian Church by anti-slavery sympathizers | ||
| Presbytery of Union and Synod of Tennessee | |||
| General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of the USA | |||
| 1819-1829 | Dr. Isaac Anderson, founder of Maryville College, called as first part-time pastor | ||
| worship services held in court house until church built at Clinch/Prince (now Market St.) | |||
| later | The Reverend Jefferson Montgomery | ||
| later | The Reverend Joseph Martin | ||
| 1858 | Approval was given for building a new church edifice | ||
| 1860 | New church dedicated, five days after Lincoln elected President: November 11 | ||
| old building razed, salvaged materials used for chapel | |||
| 1865 | Congregants differed about whether to support Union or Confederacy | ||
| Church building not in good shape at end of war. | |||
| post-1865 | The Reverend Rufus Wells called as interim to lead church restoration. | ||
| African-American members, under Wells’ leadership, founded the Shiloh Prebyterian Church. | |||
| 1866-1876 | The Reverend Nathan Bachman | ||
| Restored building, increased membership, instituted programs and benevolences. | |||
| continuing | Established churches and missions and supported Knoxville missions and benevolences | ||
| Contributed strongly to Cocke & Sevier Counties mountain schools and a hospital in China | |||
| 1905 | Sold church site to commerical interests and constructed new building on site of present Knox County Library | ||
| 1907 | New church dedicated | ||
| 15-year period | Dr. Robert Bachman, pastor | ||
| 1912-1921 | Dr. Herbert Smith and Dr. Roy Vale, both of whom were later Moderators of the General Assembly | ||
| 1928-1951 | Dr. Clifford Barbour, longest-tenured pastor, and Moderator of the General Assembly in 1949 | ||
| Membership doubled and church was bursting at the seams | |||
| 1952 | Dr. Joe Copeland called as pastor | ||
| 1954 | Congregational vote to build new church on (current) Kingston Pike site was 306-292 | ||
| 1957 | Move to current church site | ||
| 1960’s | Dr. John Page, pastor | ||
| Church declared itself an open membership church and supported open admission policy for local hospitals | |||
| 1976-1996 | Dr. W. Edmund Carver, pastor | ||
| During early nineties, church added Hudson Hall, new atrium entrance, offices, kitchen, classrooms and other cosmetic updates | |||
| 1997-2007 | Dr. Arnold Lovell, pastor | ||
| During his tenure: day-care facility was open to the public, youth work trips offered both locally and internationally, a tour of the Holy Land was led, | |||
| and close relationships were maintained with UT campus and Shannondale Retirement Center | |||
| 2007-2009 | Dr. Bill Waterstradt, interim | ||
| 2009 | The Reverend Bryan Wilson was called from Grace Presbyterian in Houston, Texas | ||
| The church adopted the focus “Off the Hill and Into the City”, virtually re-launching the church’s ministries in September as the New 2. | |||
| Children and missions are our focus, aimed locally at Westview Elementary, the UT campus, and our own church’s youth programs. | |||
Please click on one of the links below (pdf or word) to read about how this church began right up to our current Pastor.