Some aspects of the geography of religion in Knoxville, Tennessee

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the geographical relationships present on the religious landscape of Knoxville, Tennessee. Three levels of study are used: the total pattern of churches in the city, the patterns of leading denominations and the membership patterns of selected churches. The Knoxville City Directory was used to plot church locations and individual church membership rolls to plot membership patterns.

Between 1950 and 1975 the number of churches in inner city Knoxville declined significantly. Fifteen churches were in existence in the central business district in 1950; today there a are five. Many of the churches which remain in the inner city, but outside the CBD, are small, closely spaced churches. The decrease in the number of inner city churches has been compensated for by a large increase in the number of churches with suburban locations. The Kingston Pike church row is perhaps the most striking example of this suburbanization of churches.

Based on denominational location patterns five church types have been identified. Churches of the three major denominations, Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian, are located in all different income neighborhoods. Denominations with a small following in Knoxville but a large national one, such as the Lutheran church, tend to locate their churches along the major thoroughfares. Denominations which have only one church in the entire city, such as the Christian Science church, tend to have their churches situated on major thoroughfares, close to downtown.

Black churches, such as the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, are concentrated in areas of the city with a dense black population. Finally, fundamentalist churches, such as the Church of God, are usually found in the low income neighborhoods. . Because of their large numbers, both in terms of total adherents and number of different groups, and because of the self autonomous nature of all local churches, Baptist churches are usually located in close proximity to each other. In contrast, Methodist and Presbyterian churches are spaced further apart because they have a smaller number of followers and also, have a central authority which has jurisdiction over local churches. In terms of locating new churches, there is no interdenominational cooperation in Knoxville.

Based on the location of the church and residential pattern of the congregation, a classification of Knoxville churches has been developed. A sample of the ten churches was used. The downtown church is located in the central business district and has the most dispersed membership pattern with a congregation spread throughout the city. The suburbanhighway church is located on a major highway outside the downtown area and is characterized by a membership pattern in which the majority of members live in one geueral section of the city. . The modified neighborhood church differs from the traditional type in that the membership pattern is less compact; some type of disruptive force has caused members to relocate and hence the more dispersed membership pattern. The suburban church is located in a suburban type area and is characterized by a compact membership pattern. The traditional neighborhood church is located in a relatively stable inner city neighborhood and exhibits the most compact membership pattern.

In analyzing the religious landscape of Knoxville, Tennessee, this thesis has examined a wide variety of factors. Because many of these factors differ from city to city, one can expect significant variation among urban areas in terms of their religious landscapes. There is therefore a need for more studies dealing with the religious geography of individual cities so that regional patterns may become apparent.