About Knoxville, Tennessee
Real Estate Guide

Wide variety of religious beliefs dwell in houses of worship

The greater Knoxville and East Tennessee region caters to people from a variety of religious backgrounds including Baptist, Roman Catholic, Seventh-day Adventist, Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim and more.

The Knox County Association of Baptists, a 204-year-old organization with 159 churches, cooperates with the Tennessee Baptist Convention. The Midland Association, also connected to the Tennessee Baptist Convention, has 31 churches with approximately 7,500 members.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Knoxville, which includes the 36 easternmost counties in the state, became a separate entity from the Diocese of Nashville in 1988. Today, 44 parishes, as well as two missions, exist throughout East Tennessee. There are also eight elementary schools and two high schools associated with the diocese.

In the immediate Knoxville area, the Georgia Cumberland Conference connects eight Seventh-day Adventist churches. In addition to this, Trinity Seventh-day Adventist and College Hill Seventh-day Adventist also have local congregations. A Hispanic congregation meets at Knoxville First Seventh-day Adventist, and a Korean congregation meets at Grace Seventh-day Adventist.

Approximately 16,000 confirmed communicants make up the congregations of the Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee. The diocese has 50 parishes, having welcomed a new parish in Seymour this year.

Of the 913 churches associated with the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church, 55 churches are in Knoxville.According to figures from the end of 2004, the Knoxville churches had 23,373 members.

In the Knoxville/Maryville district of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, there are 17 congregations. The membership of these churches totals 1,650.

Part of the Tennessee Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention Inc., the Knoxville District Baptist Association includes 43 churches. The average congregation size in these churches is approximately 200-300.

The East Tennessee region is home to 78 churches of the Presbytery of East Tennessee of the Presbyterian Church (USA), which have 15,907 members. The Presbytery of East Tennessee-Cumberland Presbyterian Church has 5,186 members who worship in 35 churches in the area.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has two stakes in the Knoxville area. Each stake has 10 congregations and an average of 3,000 members.

Three Salvation Army corps are present in Knox, Anderson and Sevier counties, and other corps can be found in surrounding regions.

More than 2,000 households comprise the Jewish community in East Tennessee. According to the Knoxville Jewish Alliance Web site, Heska Amuna Synagogue, Temple Beth El, Chabad House of Knoxville, Oak Ridge Jewish Congregation and B'nai Shalom Congregtation are the five congregations in the area.

Three Unitarian Universalist churches have made the immediate Knoxville area their home in addition to 11 more across the state, according to the Unitarian Universalist Association Web site.

Approximately 500 families in a 50-mile radius attend worship services and social events at the Hindu Community Center of Knoxville in Lenoir City. There is also a community center in Chattanooga and one in the Tri-Cities. In East Tennessee, approximately 100 individuals are affiliated with the three local Baha'i Spiritual Assemblies of Knoxville, Knox County and Farragut.

Representing several countries around the world, approximately 4,000 people make up the Muslim community of Knoxville. There is a mosque and a small prayer area in the Knoxville area and a mosque in Oak Ridge.