“He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs, there He brought the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle." 
Psalm 107

Our Story

In January 1997, the Lord brought two groups of people together in order to birth Heritage Fellowship Church. Therefore, we say the church had its beginnings on two fronts.

First Front: Jim and Peggy Price and their children returned from two years of mission work in Makhachkala, Dagestan in June of 1996. As they returned to the States without a definite direction of ministry, they re-connected with a spiritual son and daughter, Danny and Lora Matthews, and re-located to the Knoxville area. During this season, three other couples also reconnected with the Prices: Luvern and Debil Miller, Larry and Gloria Lambdin, and Stephen and Shannon Jones.

It was during this time that the Prices also became acquainted with Jack and Kathy Tarr, as the Tarrs graciously opened their home as a temporary home for the Price family. During a ministry time at the home of the Tarrs, Kathy read Psalm 107:35-38.

“He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs, there He brought the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle. They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest; He blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and He did not let their herds diminish.”

After reading the scripture, Kathy made the comment that she had marked in the margin of her Bible, fifteen years earlier, that she prayed this scripture for Jefferson City. It was at that moment that the Lord spoke to the Prices about a church plant in Jefferson City. A spiritually desolate place would become known as a place of spiritual renewal, refreshing, and restoration.

Second Front: In August of 1996, in Morristown, TN, a group had formed and was meeting as a home church. Those involved in that group were Jeff and Kathy Oakes, Steve and Cindy LeMarr, David and Kathy Oakes, Mark and Susan Abell, Greg and Pam VonCannon, and Bill and Denise Walker. In November 1996, Jeff and Kathy Oakes re-located to Johnson City, TN to begin a church plant in that area; now called Hosanna Fellowship

For several months, this group had been sensing that they were to be part of a church plant in the Jefferson City area. In January 1997, Jim and Peggy Price met with the group from Morristown in a mountain retreat setting – seeking God’s direction. At the end of the retreat, it was agreed that it was God’s timing to bring the two groups (fronts) together in order to establish a church plant in Jefferson City.

After meeting at the home of the Prices in West Knoxville during the months of February and March, their first service was held in Jefferson City on Easter Sunday, the last Sunday of March.

Since March 1997, Heritage Fellowship Church has become for many, that place of renewal, refreshing and restoration.

Other foundational scriptures: Psalm 60:1-5 and Psalm 61:1-5

We look forward to sharing life with you!