On the northwest edge of Knoxville, just off Beaver Ridge Road, Karns Church of Christ has spent more than seven decades turning a patch of Tennessee farmland into a training ground for preachers, missionaries, and ordinary Christians learning to follow Jesus together. The congregation that grew from a 1953 tent meeting has since launched its own Bible college, opened its building to families affected by disability, and built a missions footprint that reaches from Knoxville to Ukraine.
From a Tent to a Training Ground for Ministers
The Karns congregation began in June 1953 with a tent meeting on the north side of Oak Ridge Highway, near where an Exxon station now stands. Bill Nicks, then minister of the Highland View congregation in Oak Ridge, did the preaching, and nine people obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ. Only one of those nine, Joyce Cawood, was still living when the church began tracing its own history.
For the first year the small group met at Karns High School, having asked the Knox County Board of Education for space while a building could be raised. They gathered on Sundays at 3:00 PM for worship and on Thursdays at 7:30 PM for Bible study, a schedule set by Bill Nicks' ongoing work in Oak Ridge. With one hundred dollars set aside as a building fund, the young church bought a portion of the property it still occupies and constructed its first building. The first service was held on January 2, 1955, with Bill Nicks preaching.
The building kept growing with the people. On January 28, 1962, the Karns congregation moved into a new facility that included an auditorium, fifteen classrooms, two offices, and a fellowship room. Two months after the move, on October 7, 1962, Harold Duncan and Frank Huber were appointed as the congregation's first elders. Additional classrooms and a library were added in 1974; construction of the Bill Nicks Library was completed in 1993; a new auditorium began in 1991 and the current facility was finished in 1998. A 2021 auditorium expansion reshaped the worship space once more.
Through every building campaign the focus has stayed on people. Karns has, by its own count, trained more than four hundred ministers over the years. Many of those ministers learned their craft without leaving the church's campus, because the next chapter of the Karns story is the school the elders chose to operate.
Southeast Institute of Biblical Studies: Preachers Made on Site
Southeast Institute of Biblical Studies, formerly the East Tennessee School of Preaching and Missions, was chartered by the state of Tennessee in 1971. It is operated under the oversight of the Karns elders and is, in the congregation's own words, "a work of the Karns church." Its scriptural basis, the school writes, comes from 2 Timothy 2:2: "the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also."
While the institute is a work of the church, its programs and curriculum are described as parallel to what would be found in colleges, with education that is equal to or superior to that of similar schools. The school admits students without regard to race, color, and national or ethnic origin. Enrollment and participation by women are subject to biblical guidelines as understood by the school and the Karns church.
Southeast is authorized by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission and renews that authorization each year. A small faculty and staff run the work: Will Hanstein serves as Executive Director; Mike Green as Dean of Students; Mark Hanstein as Dean of Academics; Rick Harrison as Director of Development; David Lipe in Fundraising; Karen Harty as Administrative Assistant; and Kim Higginbotham as Librarian. Steve Higginbotham, Spencer Clark, and other Karns ministers serve on the faculty as adjunct instructors.
Prospective students can write to the school at the same Beaver Ridge Road address, reach it by phone at 865-691-7444, or visit makingpreachers.com. The institute holds up the Karns vision of training men to "go into all the world and preach the gospel" as its daily brief.
A Sunday at Karns
The weekly rhythm at Karns begins on Sunday morning with Bible classes for every age at 9:00 AM. Worship follows at 10:00 AM and returns at 6:00 PM, when the auditorium fills again for an evening service. Wednesday nights bring a Bible class and a devotional at 7:00 PM, taught by the preaching minister and others on staff.
Every gathering is shaped by the congregation's stated aim "to glorify God in all we say and do" and by three New Testament priorities: to be disciples being conformed to the image of God's Son (Romans 8:29); to reach the lost with urgency (Mark 16:15-16); and to strengthen the saved (Acts 20:32), with the Bible upheld as God's final revelation by which all will be judged (John 12:48).
For those who cannot be in the auditorium, every service is livestreamed. Live broadcasts go out at 9:00 AM and 6:00 PM on Sundays and at 7:00 PM on Wednesdays, viewable on the church's BoxCast channel and on the Karns Church YouTube page. Apps for Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV carry the feed through BoxCast, and viewers can cast from a phone by AirPlay or screen mirroring. Steve Higginbotham's preaching archive on YouTube runs for more than a thousand entries and forms a free library of doctrinal, devotional, and book-by-book teaching.
Forever His: A Door Built Wide Open
Among Karns' ministries the one that surprises first-time visitors most is Forever His, a program for children and adults with disabilities and their families. The ministry builds on a simple conviction: "Do you have a child with a disability? If so, you are welcome here."
A team of volunteers serves guests and members with disabilities in Bible classes, worship services, day camps, and church-wide events. Forever His Day Camp runs each spring and fall for children and adults of all ages and all types of disabilities. Campers rotate through a sensory-based Bible story room, a large game room, crafts, a scavenger hunt, outdoor activities, live animals, and a bounce house. Each camper is paired with one or two personal buddies for the whole day, with medical personnel and therapists on the volunteer roster.
For families who attend weekly, Forever His Friends is a dedicated Bible class for those with moderate and severe disabilities who cannot successfully attend typical Bible classes. The class meets Sunday mornings from 9:00 to 9:45 AM and again on Wednesday nights from 7:00 to 7:40 PM, using sensory and visually based lessons with a one-to-one or one-to-two teacher-to-student ratio. After the Sunday class, all campers are invited into the 10:00 AM worship service where volunteers are available to assist.
The Karns building itself was designed with those families in mind. It sits on one level with the main entrance on the left side of the building, a drive-through area for unloading wheelchairs, handicap parking, and wheelchair-accessible restrooms just inside the door. Wheelchairs sit near the Welcome Center for anyone who needs one. Buddy bags, available there, contain noise-cancelling headphones, fidgets, sticker books, and other items to help a child through a worship service. A quieter "training room" lets families watch the service on a screen away from the main crowd. Hearing-assistance devices are available in some pews.
The Forever His team asks families to send a heads-up before they visit, fill out a brief form about their child, and read a short Social Story with the child in advance so the morning feels familiar. Questions can be directed to Kim Higginbotham.
Reaching Out: From Beaver Ridge to Six Continents
Foreign missions have been a work of the Karns congregation since its beginning, and the mission-mindedness still runs through every program. The Karns missions program supports gospel workers in six regions: Australia, Honduras, India, the Philippines, St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and a special outreach to Ukrainian Christian refugees.
That same drive toward the lost shows up in the Evangelism/Outreach work led by Spencer Clark. Karns also maintains a Military Outreach, partnering with the Military Outreach and Encouragement (MORE) ministry overseen by the Farley church of Christ in Huntsville, Alabama. Together they publish "Call to Duty," a devotional magazine distributed to U.S. service members around the world, with Tony Turner, a former Karns elder and retired Army Lieutenant Colonel, serving as associate editor.
Inside the building, the evangelism focus feeds everything from greeters at the Welcome Center to door-knocking teams to the deacon of "New Converts" who walks alongside those who have just put on Christ.
Discipleship for Every Stage of Life
A first-time visitor at Karns will quickly notice that the church treats age-group ministry as core work, not an add-on.
Children (5th grade and under) are taught about God and His word through a Sunday and Wednesday Bible program, plus Lads to Leaders, devotionals, service projects, summer Vacation Bible School, and singing before the Sunday evening service. Activities include a Fall Festival, movie days, picnics, bike rides, and hikes.
Youth (grades 6-12) meet for Bible classes on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights under Youth Minister Christian Frans, with devotionals, retreats, conferences, camps, and seasonal events layered on top. The youth ministry's stated aim is to challenge every student to put faith in Christ, commit their lives to Him in baptism, live faithfully in His kingdom, and bear fruit in the world. Karns also hosts Southeast Leadership Camp each summer on its own grounds for teenagers in sixth through twelfth grades, a tradition that has run for more than twenty years.
Young Adults (singles and married couples without children) gather around a Sunday morning Bible class, devotionals, cookouts, game nights, and service projects to help them transition from college into adult church life.
College-Age and Young Professionals find a dedicated Sunday morning Bible class in the Southeast building, monthly devotionals in members' homes, cookouts and seasonal fellowship, and connection to students at the University of Tennessee, Pellissippi State, Roane State, TCAT, South College, LMU, Southeast Institute, and those entering the workforce directly.
Men have year-round opportunities to grow, anchored by an annual winter retreat to the Smoky Mountains. The men teach Bible classes, lead worship, assist with VBS, do visitation, and serve on building and grounds teams.
Ladies' Ministry runs a Tuesday morning ladies' class each week, a monthly Tuesday evening class, an annual Ladies Retreat, and an annual Ladies Day. Behind the scenes the TLC Program prepares and delivers meals to shut-ins, and food groups take meals to members recovering from surgery or coping with a death in the family. A Facebook-based "Sister's Circle" keeps women connected between events, and a Ladies' Bible class runs through the adult curriculum. Younger women are encouraged to attend, to assist with preparation and planning, and to take part in leading songs and reading scripture at events.
Young at Heart (Seniors) gather around Hebrews 3:13 to keep exhorting one another. They teach across the education department, help with VBS, watch the nursery, perform building maintenance, decorate bulletin boards, knock doors, provide food, and lead in many other places. The Widows & Widowers Ministry is housed within the Young at Heart ministry, gathering those who have lost a spouse for fellowship, visits, cards, communion taken to shut-ins, and service opportunities.
Lads to Leaders (L2L) is open to children, teenagers, and adults from age three to one hundred three. The program covers Song Leading, Speech, Bible Bowl, Art Says It, Bulletin Board, Oral Bible Reading, Know the Books, Defender, Junior Leader, Pearls, Second Language, and Teach to Teach. The Karns contingent sends participants to the annual Lads to Leaders convention in Nashville and, in a recent year, recorded 55 participants and 95 events completed.
Shepherds, Servants, and Ministers
Karns is led by three full-time ministers and an eldership of seven men who shepherd the flock in the spirit of 1 Peter 5:2-3: "Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers - not because you must, but because you are willing."
Steve Higginbotham is the preaching minister, a Chester, West Virginia native who has been preaching full-time since 1984. A Freed-Hardeman University graduate (B.S. Bible, 1984), he joined Karns in 2010 after serving pulpits in West Virginia and Kentucky. He is the author of several books and a frequent contributor to brotherhood publications, and has preached in more than 250 gospel meetings and lectureships across twenty-two states, along with teaching on ten foreign mission trips. Steve also teaches as adjunct faculty at Southeast Institute.
Spencer Clark serves as evangelism and outreach minister. Spencer grew up at Karns, met his wife Hannah there, and went on to Freed-Hardeman for a Bachelor of Arts in Bible (with a minor in youth and family ministry) and a Master of Divinity. He has served as a youth minister in Kentucky, a Bible teacher at Knoxville Christian School, and as Karns' youth minister before stepping into his current role.
Christian Frans leads the youth ministry. Christian met his wife Abbie at Freed-Hardeman, studied Bible with an emphasis in ministry and a minor in missions, and has served in full-time youth ministry since graduating in 2020.
The seven elders - David Baldwin, Terry Clark, John Seibel, Jeff Snyder, Tony Williams, Gary Woodall, and Gregg Woodall - came to eldership from varied backgrounds: a UPS worker and former deacon, a civil engineer, a Harding-educated electrical engineer and longtime Bible class teacher, a Freed-Hardeman graduate and graphics business owner, a Custom Foods manager, a Knoxville dentist, and a Knoxville CPA who also serves on the Freed-Hardeman board of trustees. Many of them have served mission trips in Honduras, St. Croix, Russia, or Curaçao.
Sixteen deacons share specific assignments around the building and the ministries: Transportation, Worship, Project Management, Men's Activities, Computer Systems and Baptistery Maintenance, Missions, Safety, Children's Education, Outside Maintenance, K-5 Youth, Lads2Leaders, Young Adults, College-Age and Young Professionals, the Soundroom and New Converts, Outreach, and Inside Maintenance.
What the Bible Says about Becoming a Christian
The Karns church approaches the gospel in the same terms it uses everywhere else, and gives it its own page: "Deciding to follow Jesus is the most important decision in our lives." The teaching moves through the same pattern the apostles preached on the day of Pentecost.
A person must first hear the gospel (Romans 10:14): that Jesus came, died, was buried, rose on the third day, and appeared to many witnesses (1 Corinthians 15:3-8); that He died so that we might live with Him eternally (1 Thessalonians 5:10); that God offers salvation freely and we must choose to receive it (1 Corinthians 15:1).
Hearing leads to belief (Mark 1:15; John 3:16-18), and belief leads to action - even the demons believe and tremble (James 2:19), but the demons are not saved. The next step is repentance (Romans 3:23; Luke 13:3), the hard work of turning away from sin.
Then comes confession: "with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Romans 10:9-10).
Finally, baptism. On the day of Pentecost Peter taught, "Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins" (Acts 2:38). Karns reads baptism as the moment a believer is buried with Christ and raised to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:3-4), "puts on Christ" (Galatians 3:27), is added to the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13), and so becomes a Christian.
The church invites anyone investigating these steps to come for worship, to talk with a minister using a confidential online form, or to study further through resources linked from the Becoming a Christian page.
What to Know Before a First Visit
Visitors who step onto the Beaver Ridge campus will find a single-level building with handicap-accessible parking near the left-side main entrance and wheelchair-accessible restrooms just inside. Wheelchairs sit near the Welcome Center. Buddy bags with noise-cancelling headphones, fidgets, and similar items are available there. A quiet "training room" lets anyone who needs a calmer space watch the service on a screen. Some pews carry devices for those with hearing impairments using hearing aids.
Online visitors can join through the church's BoxCast channel or its YouTube page. The Lightpost app gives members easy mobile access to the church directory, a daily spiritual toolkit, and giving tools.