East Ridge Presbyterian Church

Early Beginnings: 1949-1956

The story of East Ridge Presbyterian Church starts the way most church stories do, with a missionary. It all began in 1949 when Katherine Danforth, a home mission worker of the Knoxville Presbytery, started knocking on doors in the small town of East Ridge asking if they would be interested in starting a Presbyterian church. A small group responded and began meeting in people’s homes for prayer meetings. As meeting attendance grew, they moved to the East Ridge Town Hall and then a rented house at 5507 Ringgold Rd. It was here that the church officially organized on February 18th, 1951 with 56 charter members. The new church was officially a mission church in the Knoxville Presbytery of the PCUS. The Rev. Robert L. Bullard served as the church’s pastor during the organization and remained with the new congregation until the summer when the Rev. Leonard Bullock was called by the Session to be the first pastor.¹ The Knoxville Presbytery purchased a lot on Court Drive and by June of 1951 the newly organized church built the South Sunday school wing. The members used this as a sanctuary and Sunday school classrooms. A few years later in 1954, the church built the North education wing complete with eight Sunday school classrooms, an auditorium with seating for 200, and a pastor’s study.

A motto for the church was adopted early on: “born of prayer, nursed by faith, growing through service.”² This statement was true during these early years. Besides the weekly prayer meetings, the Women Of The Church organized in service towards the daily workings of the church and the Sunday children’s ministry. It was this group that purchased all the furniture for the church, cleaned the sanctuary, and provided food for all the gatherings and outreach events. They bought the first hymnals, silverware for the kitchen, and many other items. They also started an annual Vacation Bible School which became a major outreach every summer.³ The Women Of the Church organized in “circles,” which were small groups that met together regularly for Bible study, prayer, and creative planning for service. The Men Of The Church organized as well and served at the Union Gospel Mission in Chattanooga. They also sponsored the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and an Explorer Post; and oversaw the maintenance of church property. They sponsored the youth—sending them to church rallies and church camp.

By 1954 ERPC ceased to be a mission church and was fully self-supporting and even was partially supporting two couples on the mission field. In 1956, ERPC planted Lakeview Presbyterian Church.⁴ This was the first of two daughter churches in our history. After Lakeview PC left the PCUS in 1981, they joined the PCA, moved to a new location, and changed their name to First Presbyterian Church Fort Oglethorpe. Also in 1956, ERPC expanded its footprint by purchasing a house and lot adjacent to the south wing. The house added four Sunday school classrooms plus a garage classroom which doubled as a scout hut. By the time Leonard Bullock was called to another church in 1960 the church membership had swelled to 321 with a Sunday school enrollment of 378.⁵

Growth and a New Sanctuary: 1960-1966

Under the leadership of our second pastor, Rev. Jeff T. Kesterson, the church built a new sanctuary and dedicated it on August 25th, 1962. The sanctuary had seating capacity for 450 and a 72 foot steeple. The building program pamphlet proclaimed, “no longer will travelers along route 41 have to wonder what the two separate brick buildings are doing on our hilltop; they will be bound together in a church to the living God, able to fulfill the church’s ministry of worship, education and fellowship. Who can tell how many strangers will be reached by the message of the spire?” The pamphlet goes on to proclaim “our new sanctuary—a building of length and height, in pure, clean, Colonial Style with deep chancel for organ, choir and minister—will in itself encourage a mood of reverence. Music in this dignified setting, will be able to add immensely to the beauty and impressiveness of our worship.” With the new sanctuary, the congregation needed more parking. In 1964 the house which was used for classrooms was torn down and a parking area was graveled. A few more events of importance to note about Kesterson’s time: in 1964, when the Civil Rights Movement was starting in America, Kesterson stood up for racial equality. He preached a sermon in February calling racial discrimination “the biggest issue of our time” and urged his congregation to strive towards racial reconciliation. He preached, “our faith declares that all Christians regardless of race or social position are bound into one body, the Church. All believers are ONE in Christ.” Kesterson went on to say that “the early church welcomed all people without distinction into its fellowship” and that “if the church in our country had been practicing this down through the years, the problem we face today would be far less severe.”⁶ In April of 1966, ERPC hosted a week-long Bible Conference inviting local congregations. The conference included Bible studies in the morning and revival services in the evening. At the start of the conference, Rev. Kesterson announced that he had been called to be the pastor at West Asheville Presbyterian and was leaving next month.

The Zitzmann Years: 1966-1977

The congregation next extended a call to the Rev. Fred P. Zitzmann of Richmond, VA, who arrived in October of 1966. Zitzmann became the second longest serving pastor in our church’s history. During his time, the church expanded its outreach ministry, created a daycare center for the community, broadened missionary support, and started the campaign to build the fellowship hall and gym. Zitzmann’s first move was to improve the quality of teaching in Sunday school and to the youth. In January of 1967, he brought the youth on a retreat to Camp John Knox. In March the church held workshops on teaching Sunday school for all members of the congregation headed by experienced school teachers. By the summer, he led the congregation to create a day care center. In Pastor Zitzmann’s words “a child is someone made after his parent’s image; someone who can also be made in God’s image.” The center opened on September 5th and Mrs. H. Jack Morgan was named the director. Three other full time teachers completed the staff and began educating children ages 2½ to 5. A preschool and kindergarten program soon followed and before long our church was serving an enrollment of 97 children. This daycare program was very successful and operated at our church from 1967 to 1996. Zitzmann also supported the youth at our church by hosting a week long youth conference and bringing in a youth intern in 1970 to focus on growing our program for high school and college students. In a push to promote evangelism, ERPC hosted a Laymans Institute for Evangelism which outlined strategies for fulfilling the great commission in everyday life. In August of 1970 Rev. Zitzmann organized an inter-racial sacred music festival which was performed at the Tivoli. This festival combined choirs from ERPC and St. Elmo Missionary Baptist Church. To join them, they invited choir members to participate from every church in the Chattanooga area. In August of 1971 ERPC formally ended Vacation Bible School and started a new program called the School of Christian Growth. During the week the entire family would gather in the evenings, eating a meal together, then divide up into children’s, young people’s and adult classes. To wrap up the week the church participated in a family camp at Camp John Knox over the weekend. VBS was replaced because of a dwindling pool of available volunteers during the day who were able to serve. Also in 1971, ERPC formally incorporated, organizing itself as a legal entity “owned” by a board of directors.⁷

In the summer of 1973 ERPC hosted a day camp with four two-week sessions. The camp included swimming instructions, horseback riding, field trips, arts and crafts, archery, and other sports. In that same year the church hired its first assistant pastor, Braden A. Hamilton. He also served as the director of music. Under his supervision, the choir performed many cantatas including J.W. Peterson’s musical, “Jesus is Coming.” The choir went on to perform this musical at several churches in Chattanooga and Atlanta. Rev. Hamilton left our church in 1975 to serve as the senior pastor at Lookout Valley Presbyterian Church. In 1976 the church celebrated its 25th anniversary, inviting a homecoming for all past members. The Rev. Bullock, Kesterson, and Zitzmann came together to celebrate with a special worship service. The next year the church launched a campaign to begin construction on a new fellowship hall and gym. According to the campaign brochure this facility would add “adequate and beautiful facilities for every department of our church” and “make possible a full program of fellowship and recreational activities for all age groups.” Rev. Zitzmann also saw the new building as necessary for the growth of our youth group. He remarked, “If we would see more of our young people enter the Christian service ranks of our church than we must have a far stronger youth program.” The campaign began in May, groundbreaking commenced on August 28th, and the facility was complete by September of 1978.

Transition, PCA Affiliation, and Church Planting: 1977-1988

In May of 1977 Fred Zitzmann was called away to become the associate pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Nashville. His 11 years of service at ERPC was the end of an era. For the next 25 years, EPRC went through four pastors, long periods of interim pastors, a major church plant resulting in membership decline, and one horrific fire. However, despite these challenges, the ministry and life of the church in the late 70’s and 80’s in many ways continued much the same as it did in the 50’s and 60’s. Sunday school and morning worship services were held every week. There were Sunday evening services, Wednesday night Bible studies, children’s classes, and fellowship dinners. The youth met during the week and would participate in service projects, fellowship events, and retreats. The Women Of the Church met monthly and served the needs of the church, organized church events, and raised money for church projects. The men of the church began meeting for breakfast once a month to pray for the church (a tradition that continues to this day). The music ministry grew in these years to include a full time music position at our church. The choir performed cantatas, musical dramas, and Christmas and Easter concerts. Even a children’s choir was created. Activity was constant: progressive dinners, youth lock-ins, church work days, covered-dish dinners, family camps, choir practice, communicants classes, church picnics, elder and deacons meetings, committees, and so forth. The day care center and kindergarten continued throughout this time and brought many people in the East Ridge community into the church. Pastors and Elders shepherded their flock, administering communion and baptizing families. Deacons cared for the poor and visited the sick. Missionaries were adopted and supported. The gospel was preached, God was glorified and the people of God were blessed!

After Zitzmann left, the church searched for a new pastor for over a year. The Rev. Dean Sippel served in the interim. In June of 1978 the Rev. John Wood became the fourth pastor of ERPC. Under his tenure the congregation grew to its largest size capping out in 1980 with a membership of 442. Vacation Bible School resumed in the summers (goodbye School of Christian Growth) and the youth program expanded at the church. The most important event of Pastor Wood’s time at East Ridge was the decision by ERPC to leave the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) and join the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). In 1981 it became clear that the southern PCUS was going to merge with its northern counterpart, the United Presbyterian Church in the USA (UPCUSA). The problem was that the theological inclination of the northern presbyterian church and the PCUS was shifting towards a more liberal position. Many churches including East Ridge Presbyterian considered leaving the PCUS in order to remain true to its theological beliefs. The other consideration for leaving before the two denominations merged (an event that happened in June of 1982 forming the modern day PCUSA) was property. There was a question as to whether the church or the Presbytery had final voice over property ownership with the merger.⁸ Many churches began leaving the PCUS early before a denominational rule change made it impossible to withdraw later with their property. On September 13th, ERPC held a congregational meeting to vote on whether or not to leave the PCUS. The Knoxville Presbytery sent its committee chairman to this meeting to try and persuade the church not to seek dismissal. Despite this effort, the congregation voted to leave with 94% in favor. This act took the Knoxville Presbytery off guard and they declared the meeting “out of order” stating that they needed time to further answer the concerns of the church. ERPC scheduled a second vote for November 22nd and asked the Knoxville Presbytery to hold as many informational meetings as they desired prior to the vote. However, the commission refused to send any representatives but rather arranged to meet privately with church members at Brainerd Presbyterian Church two days prior to the vote. The Rev. Wood in a letter to the commission examining our case wrote, “We would suggest that any philosophy adopted along the lines of making an example of our congregation to other churches in the Presbytery, conveying an impression that it would be difficult if not impossible to obtain voluntary dismissal from the Presbytery, even though 90 to 100% of your membership so desire, might work to the disadvantage of the Presbytery and promote rather than deter interest in seeking dismissal by churches with the Presbytery.” He conveyed that the history of our church with the Presbytery up until this point had been one of love and that the congregation did not have to worry about an “overbearing attitude.” Wood continued, “If, on the other hand, your commission telegraphs to other churches through their actions with our church, that this previous concept of Presbytery’s attitude has now changed to one of militancy, a stampede may well result from such handwriting upon the wall, that the disease is spreading and they had better get out before it is caught.” The 2nd congregational vote was held on the 22nd and again ruled in favor of dismissal. The church held a third and final vote on January 24th, 1982 to leave the PCUS and officially join the PCA. A lot of churches who left the PCUS and the UPCUSA during this time lost their property. Our daughter church, Lakeview Presbyterian, was one of them. Like us they voted to withdraw in September of ’81. However, since they were not incorporated, the Presbytery had a claim on their property and gave them three choices: 1. Return to the denomination; 2. Pay $175,000 for the property, or 3. Vacate the premises. As noted earlier, the Lakeview church left and found a new building. Fortunately ERPC was spared from this demand because they had incorporated in 1971, which legally put ownership of the property in the hands of the congregation.

John Wood left East Ridge Presbyterian in March of 1982. Another year-long period of pastor searching began with Dr. Henry Krabbendam filling in as interim pastor. One special event that started during this period was the joint PCA worship service, known as “Fifth Sunday.” The first one we hosted met on May 29th, 1983. In this service all the PCA congregations in the Tennessee Valley Presbytery were invited to evening worship. They also had a combined choir, special music selections, and an all-Presbytery fellowship time after the service. This joint Presbytery worship service continued for many years hosted by different churches and was held on every month of the year when there was a 5th Sunday. This has changed over the years and now we hold joint worship services on Reformation Sunday, but the principle started with these “Fifth Sunday” services.

In June of 1983, the church called the Rev. J. Render Caines and installed him in August as our fifth pastor. The new pastor arrived at ERPC to find “a church full of loving and kind people,” according to his newspaper interview. He continued, “The congregation is very committed to understanding the scriptures, . . . the people are very concerned to have the scriptures taught and want very much to listen to God’s text and not man’s pretext.” The pastor expressed a promise to not water down the gospel, but rather hold the people of God accountable challenging them to “radical obedience.” In the same year the Session hired a new assistant pastor, Rob Leuking. Fresh out of Reformed Theological Seminary, he was ordained and installed on February 5th, 1984. In October of ’84, Rob’s wife, Susan Lueking, directed the ERPC children’s choir in the musical “Amazing Grace.” The musical was a big success, including a cast of 35 children, and was attended on the main night by 368 people.

In the summer of 1985, ERPC underwent a major renovation. The church sought to solve several problems such as crowding in the sanctuary and Sunday school classrooms and the discovery of asbestos in the north wing and fellowship hall. The renovation, completed on August 25th, removed the asbestos and added balconies to the sanctuary as well as additional pews, expanding the seating capacity to 550. They also renovated the south wing, adding 5 new classrooms and doubling the size of the fellowship hall in that wing. They moved the day care and kindergarten (serving 125 children at this point) to the south wing, moved the nursery to the north wing and added 7 new adult classrooms over there. Also at this time, the Session decided to change the time of the worship service from 10:50am to 9:30am with the new Sunday School time at 11am. The primary reason for this change was so that Rev. Caines could teach a Sunday School class for visitors, a model he employed at his former church in South Carolina. This change had the added effect of increasing Sunday School attendance, but decreased the attendance of the worship service. In March of 1986 the services were switched back. Also in 1986, the Session of the church wrote a constitution for ERPC which aimed to “formally and properly govern the activities of our congregation.” It was revised, approved and finally adopted on December 6th, 1987. This constitution is still in effect today. In October of 1986, Rob Lueking received a call to pastor the Memorial Presbyterian Church in Elizabethton, TN. The Session decided to not replace him. Instead they created two new full-time positions: they hired Steve Lawton as the Director of Worship (who also served as an administrative assistant to Pastor Caines) and Ken Henry as the Director of Youth and Christian Education. Also in October, ERPC had its first Annual Missionary Conference. The conference lasted three days and featured a guest speaker and presentations from many of our missionaries. These annual conferences continued for many years and sometimes included international dinners featuring food from the countries our missionaries served in.

In 1987 a man named Hank Schum approached Rev. Caines. He was interested in planting churches in the Tennessee Valley Presbytery and noted the rapid development in the East Brainerd Area. At the time East Brainerd was a two lane community with wide open spaces and several farms. He asked Render if ERPC would like to plant a new church in that community. Render’s first response was, “I’ll think about it.” However, as time went on it became clear that this was a great opportunity to expand God’s kingdom and serve many families in the church who already lived in that area. This move made sense at the time because ERPC was always wanting to grow but struggled with space. The church was located on a land-locked property with no more room for expansion and a constant problem with parking. After much deliberation and prayer, the Session planted Covenant Presbyterian Church in April of 1988 with the plan for Render Caines to pastor the new church.⁹ Render brought over members of ERPC who were living in or near East Brainerd (31 families in all) to participate in the new church. This ended up being almost half of the congregation (close to 150 people). The new church started services at Westview Elementary School and moved into their first building in July of 1990. This move had a large impact on life at ERPC. The congregation’s reduced size at the time of the church plant (150) remained roughly the church’s average for the next 33 years. Whereas before, the church boasted an average size of 300 for decades. This dramatic loss in membership affected all areas of church life including the decline of attendance at church functions and a smaller volunteer pool for its ministries.

The Schneider Years: 1989-1995

Once Paster Caines left, ERPC had no pastor for 16 months. During this time Roger Lambert and Chuck Anderson filled in as interim pastors. Our 6th pastor, the Rev. Thomas G. Schneider, started in August of 1989. Under his leadership, the church continued much as it did before, with WIC circles¹⁰, youth events, church picnics, Pioneer clubs, missions conferences, and a robust music ministry under the direction of Bob Huitt. Rev. Schneider’s main focus in ministry was outreach. He opened our gym to the East Ridge community and started a prayer time for groups who played basketball there. Tom Schneider’s most lasting legacy to our church was the creation of small groups. He emphasized the importance of small groups in his sermons and actively encouraged our Session to start them. Small groups existed at our church long before in the WIC organization, but Tom Schneider started the small group as a source of spiritual instruction, accountability and encouragement for both women and men. Another program that blossomed at our church during the early 90’s was a Spiritual Life Conference. This annual weekend-long conference featured guest speakers both locally and from out of town. Speakers included Dr. Brian Chapel, the Rev. Ben Wilkinsen, and Dr. Henry Krabbendam. Another event to emerge in this period was a fellowship event put on by the WIC called the “Tasters Dinner.” This dinner was a potluck where WIC members shared recipes that they brought to sample. A few cookbooks came out of these dinners and can be found in our historical scrapbooks and in the library. In May of 1995 Pastor Schneider was called to Covenant Life PCA Church in Sarasota, FL.

Fire, Rebuilding, and Renewal: 1996-2003

The Rev. William D. Slawter started his ministry at ERPC in January of 1996 and was installed as our 7th pastor on February 18th. Dr. Slawter, known as “Kip,” pastored our church through a lot of changes. Months after he arrived, the director of the day care program (at this time called “The Learning Center”) quit and left without training a new director. The assistant director, Anne Ledridge, struggled to hold everything together while they searched for a replacement and no suitable candidate applied. The business license for The Learning Center was up for renewal at this time and the Diaconate and the Session made the tough decision to close it on August 30th, 1996. Other factors listed for why they closed the program includes a lack of available teachers, rising pay scales and employee benefits, poor security for the children, needed improvements to our physical plant, and low church membership involvement as volunteers. This program operated for 29 years and served hundreds of families throughout the decades. The second major change to our church can only be described as an act of God. On June 10th, 1999 The church steeple was struck by lightning. Around 4pm a fire started in the attic and spread to the sanctuary and the two education wings. The church had no smoke detectors or sprinkler systems so the fire was not reported until 7:46 pm. Firefighters rushed to the scene and were able to contain the blaze within an hour, but the damage was already done: the sanctuary was a total loss. Firefighters were able to save half of the south wing, but the north wing was badly damaged. Many members rushed to the church to witness the blaze and joined Pastor Slawter in prayer. The next day members of the congregation started picking up the pieces. According to Lea Frost, “We had the steeple taken down, insurance adjusters came through, we moved the pastors office to his house, and had a bunch of kids picking up roofing shingles.” Within a month ERPC organized a massive effort to begin rebuilding. They formed 5 committees to oversee the project: a Finance committee to budget construction costs, a Creative Idea/Alternative Use Committee to dream up new ideas, a Facilities Use Committee to propose plans for suggested best use of facilities, space allocation, and proposed room assignments, a Construction Committee to evaluate bids and oversee the construction process, and a Coordinating Oversight Committee to rule them all. The Coordinating Oversight Committee made regular recommendations to the Session and the Session had the final approval. On the ground, this process worked a little differently. While the vision and oversight of the various committees were carried out in a general way, all the legal actions (hiring architects, filing insurance claims, approving construction proposals) had to be handled by the board of directors of the church corporation. Furthermore, there were many problems that arose in the day to day project that needed faster decision times than the various committees could offer. So a plan was made to appoint one representative of the architecture firm, one of the construction company, and one person to represent the wishes of the church. Larry Rogers was chosen to represent the church and presided over many of the daily details of reconstruction.

One of the early problems with the project was finding a contractor to take on the job. There was $1 million worth of damage on the property and many construction companies that were interested in the job were not insured and bonded for $1 million. Those large companies that did cover that kind of insurance were not interested because a $1 million job was too small for them. We had the unique position where our project was too expensive but not expensive enough. Because of this, it took a long time to secure a contractor and construction did not begin until late 2000. In the meantime the church met at the community center in East Ridge City Hall at first and then moved to the fellowship hall after it had been updated to meet the safety standards of the fire code. The gym was used to store all salvaged furniture from the sanctuary and education wings. During this time the church held together with resilience and prayer. Some people left, but the majority remained. Lucille Witt, one of our charter members, remarked at the time that the tragedy and subsequent rebuilding brought everyone in the church closer together. What seemed like a curse at first turned into a blessing as our church received a brand new sanctuary and fully upgraded education wings. The reconstruction committees made a lot of big changes to the church facilities. According to Larry Rogers, they decided to “make functionality more crucial than finery.” They enlarged the narthex to tie together the three buildings in a way that drew the whole campus together before and after the worship. Several of the corridors were widened to allow better flow throughout. Handicapped ramps into the building and on the path to the fellowship hall were added as well as an elevator which greatly improved access for our older members. They also turned around the sanctuary so that that there would be indoor access to bathrooms and classrooms. Previously people had to go outside in order to access those facilities. In the sanctuary they eliminated the balconies and made a sloped floor and staggered pews which provided for more space, better acoustics, and as Rev. Slawter put it—“a feeling of togetherness.” Stained chunk glass windows three inches thick were added to the chancel with a cross at the center that radiates light when the sun is out. The sanctuary also received a brand new piano and organ. The entire project cost $1.6 million to complete and was accomplished without going into debt thanks to our insurance claim and generous donations from individuals and local churches. Construction was finished in time to celebrate Easter on April 15th, 2001. The building was dedicated on April 29th and on May 5th the church celebrated its golden anniversary (50 years) with a communion service and special guests including Rev. Render Caines, Dr. Henry Krabbendam and, our first pastor, the Rev. Leonard Bullock. Several members wrote down their reflections about life in the church and Martha Gamble put together a short history. One more thing of importance from this period was the hiring of our third assistant pastor: the Rev. Fred Manning. Fred approached the church some time in 2000 asking to be hired on as an assistant pastor for $1 a year. His reason: ministry! He wanted to get involved in a ministry that would allow him to visit prisoners, but was not qualified because he had to be active as a pastor of a church. ERPC agreed to this arrangement and Fred served our church for over a decade.

In the Summer of 2001, a few months after the completion of the new sanctuary, ERPC went through another major event. On June 28th, 2001, several members of the congregation approached the Session requesting that they dismiss Rev. Slawter. The Session agreed to dismiss him and gave him until September 30th to search for another pulpit. The decision was based not on doctrinal issues or flagrant sin, but rather on a conviction that Dr. Slawter’s ministry at ERPC had reached its conclusion and was no longer meeting the congregation’s needs. Dr. Slawter appealed to the Presbytery stating that this resignation was out of order. Eventually the Session wrote a letter to the congregation, resigning. They wrote the letter “with heavy hearts” and explained that since they were found to be “out of order” in their dismissal process: “we see no other way to honor our vows as elders than to be obedient and submissive to our church doctrine found in the Book of Church Order. We know many of you are in pain over our decision that we feel God has called us to make. We love you and we share your pain.” On September 9th the congregation voted by secret ballot to dismiss Rev. Slawter.

Following the Session’s resignation the TVP assigned our church a “borrowed Session” made up of selected elders from six different local PCA churches. In the PCA a church without a Session is not a particular church, but rather a mission church. In October the Presbytery assigned Dr. Dana Stoddard to serve as our interim pastor. Dr. Stoddard was a Christian counselor with offices at Hixson and Covenant Presbyterian Churches. He remained with us until August of 2002 when he was removed by the Presbytery. For another year the church weathered a pastor-less period. By the summer of 2003, ERPC returned to particular church status by electing its own Session. Their first act was to call John Render Caines Jr., known as “J.R.,” to serve as our 8th pastor, a position he accepted in August. J.R. graduated from Covenant Theological Seminary in 1998 and had been teaching Ethics and Apologetics at Chattanooga Christian School. While he pastored our church he completed his Presbytery exams and was ordained and installed in January of 2004. J.R. proved to be an excellent pastor for our church for several reasons. First of all, he had history here, he partially grew up in our church under the pastorship of his father, Render Caines. Secondly, he was young and full of energy. By the time he started, our church was dwindling in size and mostly composed of older members averaging around age 60. J.R. came from a background of teaching highs school and brought in a number of young people who studied under him, many of which attended Covenant College. He also drew in younger families and with them, lots of children. Thirdly, he turned out to be an excellent preacher, which strengthened our faith and held us accountable to God’s Word and the rule of Jesus Christ. Finally, J.R. brought us the gift of continuity and stability by being content in his posting. J.R. Caines has served longer than any pastor in our history. As of 2021, he still remains, serving over 17 years.

J.R. Caines and Renewed Ministry: 2003-2012

When Pastor Caines arrived some church traditions that had lasted decades had already eroded away in the interim of the fire and pastorless period. Sunday evening services, as was common in a lot of churches at the time, were discontinued a year after J.R. arrived. Missions conferences had changed into a single missions Sunday and the Spiritual Life Conference was no more. However, Wednesday night suppers and classes continued, as did the men’s prayer breakfast, church workdays, youth events and VBS. One major shift in church life at this period was the decline of the choir in the worship service. Up until now, the choir had been the heart of worship, with choir directors leading the congregation on Sunday mornings. These directors led countless cantatas, musical performances, and special presentations throughout the decades and included such great talents as Bob Huitt, Steve Lawton, Dr. Richard Schuster and Dr. Brandon Kreuze. As the decade progressed, the choir was gradually replaced with a praise band. There was a period when the choir led worship one week, then the praise band the next, but this transition was complete by 2010. The position of Music Director became the norm. These directors oversaw the worship by recruiting a praise team and performing themselves often with guitar or piano. Only a handful of directors have held this position during J.R.’s pastorate, including Kirk Ward, John Totten, Isaac Wardell, Tom Okie, John Perry, and Katie Huffine.

In the Spring of 2006 Pastor Caines and the Session decided to do an evangelism push in our surrounding neighborhood. They hired Scott Laslo for a season as a missionary to the area south of Ringgold Road within a couple mile radius surrounding our church. He organized a team of church members, taught a class on door-to-door evangelism, and then sent us out to knock on doors and share the gospel. Afterwards, Scott and Fred Manning, along with several others, continued to canvas the area in an effort to minister to the neighborhood. This was met with mixed results, but the message delivered was clear: There is a church in the neighborhood and we care about our neighbors and want them to know Jesus. Another ministry development came the following year: J.R. made a push for the men in the church to build deeper relationships with each other and the women to do the same. From the Fall of 2007 to the end of 2008 the sexes were separated in Sunday school and Wednesday night classes. He also created a men’s fellowship group that met on Sunday nights. Each member of the church had to either meet with the pastor one-on-one or meet in one of the regular groups. As it was only intended for a season, this system ended. However, many friendships and new small groups developed from this time.

A third major ministry push was made primarily by J.R.’s wife, Shonda Caines. In 2007 Shonda answered a call by the nonprofit organization, Bridge Refugee Services. This organization helps refugees, people who are forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution or natural disaster, in their entrance to the USA, putting them on a path to start a new life here. Bridge was helping around a hundred Burundian refugees move to Chattanooga over a few years and was seeking to partner with our church. Shonda jumped on this opportunity and petitioned the Session to open the first floor of the fellowship hall as temporary housing for several families. The Session and the deacons mobilized to prepare the facilities, installing a shower, a stove, and laundry facilities in the space. Shonda Caines organized a team to welcome the families, help them with paperwork, and facilitate their acclimation to American life. These families had been living as refugees in camps in several African countries after fleeing Burundi during a time of violence. Several of the families carried with them horror stories of relatives and family members being murdered in front of them. Some of the children even had scars from being shot. It was a heartbreaking experience ministering to the Burundians. But they also brought a lot of hope. When they arrived, they spoke no English and had very little understanding of American culture. They required training on how to use the equipment in the fellowship hall and they also needed a lot of help with transportation to and from job interviews, enrolling their kids in school, and paying bills, taxes, etc. After a few months, the Burundians had all been placed in housing, but the task of the church remained in helping them navigate daily living in America. Several families in the church “adopted” a Burundian family to oversee their needs. While Shonda Caines started this ministry, Catherine Bass later took up the mantle and continues to oversee the needs of the remaining Burundian families. The Burundians joined our church in droves. Several children grew up in the church and became Christians here. In order to include them, we started adding Kiswahili and Kirundi songs in the worship. The Session even appointed one of the refugees, an ordained Methodist minister named Aaroni Ndayisaba, to be the pastor to the Burundians. It was possibly the most ethnically diverse period of our history. In 2009 Rev. Caines traveled to Burundi in an attempt to bring home two children and two grandchildren of Pierre Ndabateze, one of our members. He brought an interpreter, Monira, with him and successfully acquired visas for them to leave Burundi. However, the USA did not allow them to immigrate. Another movement to minister to the Burundian families came from Ben Powell, a long-time member of our church. Ben approached the Session and obtained permission to start an all-Burundian Boy Scout troop. Troop 127 (after Psalm 127) was formed in 2010. The troop met weekly in a classroom below the fellowship hall and participated in several activities including outings to Racoon Mtn Caverns, Ruby Falls Zipline, Georgia Pocket Wilderness, Point Park, and had at least four weekend service shut-ins at the church. During these service shut-ins the troop assisted the church in decluttering the building, painting, and cleaning the fellowship hall. In 2011, a lot of Burundian families in our church moved away from Chattanooga. These families had connections with relatives who had immigrated to other states and found more favorable employment opportunities. Because of these moves, the troop disbanded at the end of the year.

In 2009 ERPC hired its 4th Assistant Pastor, Jeremy Coenen. Jeremy was primarily in charge of the youth, the children’s ministry, and family life at ERPC. He led youth retreats, service events, and created a few new traditions such as an annual Chili Cookoff and Hoedown. This cookoff later morphed into an outreach event called the Fall Festival, which brings in people from the neighborhood once a year to enjoy games, food and fellowship. In 2010, attendance at ERPC had grown to 191 (85% capacity). The church began holding two Sunday morning services, one at 8:30am and one at 10:30am. This continued for two years until the attendance dropped. Also in 2010, a church wide focus on mercy ministry started. Terry Turner and Heather Prettyman co-taught a mercy class on Dr. Brian Fikkert’s book, “When Helping Hurts.” This class led to a lot of changes in the way the church and later the deacons pursued the ministry of mercy to the poor. Another 2010 push was a call for more small groups. Pastor Caines encouraged members to become more involved in each other’s lives and the Session encouraged more small groups to be created. Many groups were started and led by elders themselves, meeting monthly or weekly in people’s homes. Also in 2010, a new outreach started at our church by Cara Childers called Wyldlife. Wyldlife, is the middle school version of Young Life that reaches out to kids at East Ridge Middle School and brings them into the church to share the gospel with them. Though not an official ministry of the church, Wyldlife has met in our facilities for over a decade, ministering to mostly teens in our community. It continues to be an active outreach today under the leadership of Jane Barnett and many members serve in its events.

In 2012 the attendance of Wednesday night activities was dwindling. There were not enough volunteers to fill all the children’s classes following the Wednesday night meal. A decision was made to hold a combined Wednesday night school for all elementary children with a time of worship and lessons from J.R. This continued until the Fall of 2013 at which time Anna Plumly started an AWANA (Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed) Program for elementary students. The AWANA program was very successful in bringing in families from outside the church. It was a nationally recognized brand with program listings that could be searched online. Families from all over Chattanooga enrolled and several people joined the church as a result. There was a great deal of energy and participation from the church at the start of this program. We had 25 adult volunteers from the congregation and 50 kids. It was an all-hands-on deck situation with elders and deacons alike participating. AWANA played a part in a few major changes at our church. Because these volunteers had so much responsibility managing the complex program, a decision was made to cancel the evening meal on Wednesdays. Another major change was an end to Vacation Bible School. AWANA served as a replacement for VBS as it was an outreach to neighborhood children year-round (with breaks in the summers). Another change was an expansion of programs for adults on Wednesday nights. This included a women’s prayer meeting, a financial peace class, a doctrine class, and a marriage class taught by J.R. Also, for a few months in 2014, J.R. used the Wednesday night time slot to hold a second worship service for adults. AWANA remained strong for many years until we decided to separate from the program in 2017 to create our own ERPCKids.

Recent Ministry & 70th Anniversary: 2013-Present

At the end of 2013, Jeremy Coenen accepted a call to become an Air Force chaplain and moved to Shreveport, LA. His job was divided into two positions: Evan Gildernew became our youth director and Debbie Grisham became our Administrative Coordinator and Children’s Ministry Director. In the Spring of 2014, J.R. Caines was recognized by the church for serving 10 years. Debbie Grisham organized a special dinner for J.R. and his family. Several people attended sharing their memories of J.R., including his father, Render Caines. Also in 2014 two major changes occurred, one for the operation of the church and one for the function of its ministry to the poor. The first was a decision by the Session to extend the term of service for all church officers from three years to service for life. For decades service time in church leadership, both for elders and deacons, lasted for three years. At the end of that term, the officer could then be reelected or remain off duty until they decided to run again for election in subsequent years. The change essentially ended rolling off. Once an officer was elected, he would no longer need to be reelected and could serve indefinitely. Officers can still take a year sabbatical at any time provided they give notice to their fellow officers. The second change had to do with principles learned from the mercy ministry push a few years prior. Though the mercy ministry had functioned for decades, led by deacons charged with caring for the poor, the responsibilities of that ministry often fell on one deacon. It is such a demanding ministry that deacons in charge of mercy often burned out which caused its service to the poor to suffer. The deacons decided to revamp the mercy ministry with a rotating Mercy Committee so that all deacons would be responsible for the mercy ministry and each deacon would only serve on that committee for three months at a time, being head of the committee for only two months a year. They created a new set of guidelines based on principles learned in Dr. Fikkerts book and created a separate alms fund with a box in the narthex to fully fund their program. With this new system, the deacons have been able to distribute thousands of dollars each year to the poor.

In the summer of 2016, Debbie Grisham stepped down from serving as the Administrative Coordinator and Children’s Ministry Director. Her job was divided in two: David Plumly took her place as Administrative Coordinator and Anna Plumly as Children’s Ministry Director. Also in 2016, the women’s ministry launched a Titus 2 Ministry that created several discipleship groups where mature women in the faith could shepherd some of the younger women. The Men’s Ministry formally organized in this year as well (for the first time since the 70’s). The goal of this ministry was to examine Biblical manhood and develop closer relationships with other men in the church. The following year they created a new fellowship event that continues to this day: the Fourth Thursday Men’s Gathering. This event was later copied by the women who created the Third Thursday Women’s Gathering in 2020.

On March 12th, 2020 a global pandemic began with an outbreak of the Covid-19 virus. This event essentially shut down all church activity. Worship services were moved online. J.R., his daughter, Emma Pannkuk, and Katie Huffine worked tirelessly each week to put together all the elements of our worship service onto YouTube. People in and outside the church remained locked down in their homes for months. On June 7th ERPC resumed in-person services with many restrictions. Mask wearing while singing or reciting liturgy was mandatory. Every other pew was roped off to ensure the required 6 feet of distancing. Doors were propped open to achieve good airflow. The offering plate disappeared with all tithes going into the alms box. Communion was taken in turns by family. Hand sanitizer and tissues were stationed all over the church. When worship resumed, we had two services to ensure proper social distancing. However, so many people stayed home that we moved back to one service within a few months. The services were recorded and then uploaded onto YouTube for families that remained at home. In August, ERPC finally began live streaming its service to allow members still at home to actively participate in worship.

This month, February 2021, East Ridge Presbyterian Church celebrates its 70th anniversary.¹¹ We have been around for a long time and God has accomplished much through our work. Along with 70 years of prayer and preaching God’s word, we have also planted two other thriving congregations, and served thousands of children in the East Ridge community through our day care center and our Vacation Bible School. We ministered to the poor, provided sound teaching to our youth, and reached out into the community with the gospel. We also have always supported missionaries bringing the truth about God to far places all over the world. The history of our church is just a small blip in a larger history of the Universal Church working to glorify God and further His kingdom by proclaiming the victory on the Cross accomplished by Jesus Christ. We have played our part in this endeavor and continue to humbly serve our King during these last days along with all believers, our eyes on His return. Thanks be to God for his faithfulness to our church.