The Mid-South District - LCMS

Construction Completed on Praise Lutheran Church

Maryville, TN

“How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven,” reads a sign above the entrance to the new sanctuary at Praise Lutheran Church.

Praise Lutheran Church, 315 Southdowne Drive, Maryville, is pleased to announce the completion of a new sanctuary, narthex, lounge, offices, bathrooms, breezeway and parking lots. The congregation welcomed the public to an open house Sunday, May 19.

Creative Structures and Studio Four Design of Knoxville were the general contractor and architects for the build. Lynchburg Stained Glass of Virginia designed and produced the soon to be revealed stained glass windows in conjunction with a team from Praise Lutheran who picked the themes for each window. A new corpus (body of the crucified Christ) was installed on Praise’s nine foot tall wooden cross which is centered above the altar area. It was carved by Demetz Art Studio of Italy. Members of Praise helped mount the corpus on the cross in February and participated in various projects throughout construction.

“We are incredibly blessed and thankful for all the help, expertise, and contributions of many who made the build possible,” says Praise’s pastor, Rev. Derek Roberts. “The new sanctuary seats 270 and the new building and parking lot facilitates more ministry and life together for the community. The older sanctuary and social hall have been repurposed into a larger social hall and larger kitchen area and will undergo more renovations to include two more Sunday School classrooms.”

In June of 2023, the congregation celebrated the ground-breaking just before construction began. In total, it took less than a year to complete the build, though planning with architects for the project began in 2019. The covid pandemic slowed progress in early 2021. By September 2022, the congregation had raised over 1 million dollars in commitments and worked with the Lutheran Church Extension Fund in St. Louis, Missouri to secure a construction loan. New members kept arriving at Praise after the pandemic and the congregation continued to grow steadily along with the community.

The congregation officially dedicated the building in a service after the open house. President of the Mid-South District of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, the Rev. Dr. Roger Paavola of Memphis was present throughout the day and preached at two morning Divine Services for the Feast of Pentecost (50 days after Easter, recalling the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the church). Preaching at the dedication service in the afternoon was by the LCMS Knoxville Circuit Visitor, Rev. David Graves of Wartburg. Fifteen clergy members of the Knoxville Circuit will participate in the dedication service in the afternoon. The congregation began in 2000 and is a member of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, which was founded in the United States in 1846.

A picture of Rembrandt’s painting entitled The Return of Prodigal Son will be displayed inside of Praise Lutheran Church as an ongoing reminder of the merciful care of Our Heavenly Father in welcoming us home to His family after we have gone astray. It was a gift from several Knoxville Circuit pastors in honor of the completion of our building project.
First Baptism.
Attending the dedication service included, from left to right, backrow: Rev. Seth Korte, Rev. Chase Lefort, Rev. Rich Elseroad, Rev. Jake Childers, Rev. Derek Roberts, Rev. Michael Miller, Rev. Paul Meunch, Seminarian Sam Bohnet, Vicar Larry Keim, Seminarian Aaron Wade. Front row: Rev. Ed Maanum, Rev. Ray Krieg, Rev. Danny Anderson, Rev. David Graves, Rev. Dr. Roger Paavola, Rev. Kent Dockery, Rev. Paul Kritsch, Rev. George Smith, Rev. John Schulz.