Our History

1983-1989

Cornerstone Church of Knoxville was established and grew from a campus ministry at the University of Tennessee. Known as Maranatha Campus Ministry, this small group of students and former students worked throughout the 1980s to share the gospel and encourage growth in the Christian faith. Cornerstone Church of Knoxville’s Senior Pastor Bill Kittrell became the campus director in 1983. The ministry was dissolved in November, 1989, and several people involved began to prayerfully consider continued ministry in the Knoxville area. This discussion sparked Cornerstone Church of Knoxville’s inception a few months later.

 

1990

Bill Kittrell attended a pastor’s conference sponsored by what would later become Sovereign Grace Ministries. When he returned, he met with approximately twenty-five former campus ministry members, and Cornerstone Church of Knoxville with its new campus outreach ministry, Volunteers for Christ, was born. Cornerstone Church of Knoxville began meeting for a brief time near the University of Tennessee. From fifty people–primarily college students–Cornerstone Church of Knoxville grew steadily, and moved its Sunday Celebrations to West High School on Sutherland Avenue in the mid-90’s.

 

January, 1991

With 60 adult members, Cornerstone Church of Knoxville joined Sovereign Grace Ministries. Overseeing 55 churches affiliated in the U.S. and abroad, Sovereign Grace Ministries primarily seeks to plant and equip local churches. MORE

 

June, 2000

Cornerstone Church of Knoxville purchased twenty-eight acres of property off of Westland Drive in West Knox County.

 

September, 2004

Cornerstone Church of Knoxville celebrated its ground breaking for the construction of a 43,000 square foot facility.

 

November, 2005-Present

We moved into our new building in November of 2005, and we're so thankful that God has provided us with our own facility!  Today, Cornerstone Church of Knoxville’s average attendance is approximately 900 on Sunday mornings with thirty-five small groups meeting twice monthly in members’ homes for pastoral care and ministry.