First Presbyterian Church
The Oldest Church in Knoxville, serving as Worshiping community since 1792.
Photography, Web Design & Development, SEO, Graphic Design, Marketing Consult, Social Media, Video, Public Relations
We partnered with First Presbyterian to update their image and branding to reflect a new generation of change and vitality happening in the church. We built a new, dynamic website, contributed many images of fellowship, service, worship, and missions, developed an e-newsletter and email campaigns, as well as expanded social media reach. We lead PR efforts with multiple media outlets and worked with the Presbyterian Mission Agency to create a national video discussing the church’s collaboration with justice efforts in Knoxville, and helped create a culture of storytelling that would reflect the stories of the gospel and the 230-year-old community of faith within the church.
ABOUT FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Knoxville’s First Presbyterian Church, the city’s first church, was organized in 1792 and is still located on its original site. James White, Knoxville’s founder and a devout Presbyterian, asked his son-in-law, Charles McClung to lay out a town, and part of White’s instructions were “to reserve my turnip patch for a church and a burying ground.”
First Presbyterian has served the city of Knoxville and particularly its downtown area as a place of worship, community, missions and outreach and has been a bedrock of strength, faith, and generosity. First Presbyterian just celebrated its 230th anniversary with a history presentation from Jack Neely and a Kirkin’ of the Tartans service.
RESULTS
We built a dynamic website that told the story and history of First Presbyterian while reflecting its vitality and future that tripled in web traffic and engagement. We developed energetic newsletters that went out each week and displays of photographs throughout the church. We launched successful ad campaigns on social media and worked with media outlets to be featured multiple times on WBIR news, the Knoxville News-Sentinel and Knox TN Today.
We worked with the Presbyterian Mission Agency to develop a video about the church and their collaboration with justice efforts in Knoxville that was featured nationally. Participation within the church increased significantly and attendance is higher than it has been in years.
Tradition has it that after the Civil War the women of First Presbyterian carried water from First Creek to scrub the building inside and out. It was during that time that a stout-hearted parishioner painted on the arch over the pulpit the Hebrew words Jehovah Jireh, “The Lord will provide.” These words remain today over the chancel of their current sanctuary as part of the heritage of First Presbyterian Church.
First Presbyterian featured in National Justice Campaign
We worked with the Presbyterian Mission Agency out of Louisville, KY to develop a video discussing the justice issues in Knoxville and First Presbyterian’s collaboration with local organization Justice Knox. The video was shown nationally by organizations all over the country.
