Our history finds its roots in the Charismatic Movement when the Holy Spirit swept through Knoxville in the early 1970s. Many people previously involved in traditional churches came to a fuller understanding of the Holy Spirit and His gifts, including experiencing the gifts of the Spirit mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12. As a result, a group of believers came together in 1974 to study Scripture and pray in one another’s homes. By January of 1975, they had outgrown these small spaces and began meeting at the Volunteers of America Chapel on Church Street.

Soon God gave these believers a vision for a new church, one which was founded on the Scripture: “Who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:13 ESV) In April of 1975, they officially chartered the then-named Trinity Chapel as a non-profit organization. By autumn of that same year, the church ordained Jack Wright, Charlie Riggs, Hugh Brashear, and Harold Rutherford as the first elders.

God continued to bless their efforts, and soon Trinity outgrew their first location. In August of 1976, they purchased a former Baptist church and moved into Trinity Chapel’s first official building, located on Deadrick Avenue.

In the early years, non-staff elders did the preaching. However, Trinity needed an official leader for this flock of believers. During this time, Pastors David Kithcart and Don Estes served as interim pastors successively and the Lord began to bless the church tremendously. People came from long distances, and on Sunday nights the sanctuary would be entirely full, with many people attending their usual church on Sunday morning and then worshiping at Trinity on Sunday night. Praise and worship was one of the church’s distinctive characteristics and remains so to this day.

In April of 1984, Steve Fatow accepted the Lead Pastor’s position and served in that role for 27 years. In addition to leading the church, Steve’s work with evangelistic crusades in dozens of nations led to untold thousands of people coming to salvation through Jesus. Many people were saved, introduced to the power of the Holy Spirit, delivered, and healed during those years in the Deadrick Avenue building. Although Trinity planted several churches in the area, still the church continued to grow, eventually needing to relocate to a larger building.

After looking into many possible locations, the church discovered forty-seven acres of land on Haynes Sterchi Road—but it was not for sale. Jack Wright visited the owner and, after a bit of negotiating (and God’s great urging!), the owner decided to sell it to Trinity for a drastically reduced rate. The building construction began in October of 2000, and Trinity held its first service in the new building on Sunday, December 9th of 2001. Besides serving as a home for weekly services, the facility was also home to Trinity College of Ministry (an accredited Bible College) and Trinity Christian Academy (a homeschool cooperative) as well as many community outreaches.

In 2011, Steve Fatow stepped down as lead pastor, and remains a dear friend to our community while he continues his local and global ministry, enriching churches worldwide with his God-given gifts. That same year, Trinity welcomed Neil Silverberg into the position of lead pastor, and he served the church in that role until 2016. Neil and his wife Shelly brought many years of ministry and leadership experience, authentic love for people, and excellent teaching ministry to Trinity Chapel.

During Neil’s tenure, the church came to understand the need to adjust their approach to equipping the saints and reaching the lost. In January 2014, they introduced a new name—Trinity Community Church—as a reflection of their updated vision for reaching people with the gospel and building authentic Christian community. The church concluded that one way to better minister to the community and the nations was to sell their large building and eliminate their debt. In 2015 they moved into their current location, a beautifully renovated, rented warehouse space. This location allowed the church to use their finances to better reach the community instead of focusing on the expenses of maintaining a building.

As Neil moved into broader church ministry across the country and the nations, the church welcomed Tyler Lynde as the new Lead Pastor in 2016. Tyler, his wife Amy, and their family brought a wonderful balance of vision and care for the church and a refreshing emphasis on family ministry. To this day, Tyler leads the Elder team toward their goal of being a grace-based, Spirit-empowered, outward-focused church.

We invite you to come along with us as God writes the next chapter of Trinity Community Church. The last 50 years have been amazing, but we believe God’s finest hours for us still lie ahead.