Though there are nearly three dozen places in the United States named Greenville, there is only one spelled “Greeneville.” With a population of just over 15,000, the East Tennessee town is far smaller and less well-known than its counterparts in North Carolina and South Carolina. But locals will quickly tell you about its notable history as a nexus for education, political leadership and human rights. Today, a small group of faithful Presbyterians — and a few others — are continuing this spirited legacy in their own unique way, with something they call “The Zacchaeus Group.”
Greeneville served as the starting place for President Andrew Johnson’s political career and was also part of East Tennessee’s strong abolitionist movement in the early 19th century. Perhaps most curiously, it was also briefly the capital of Franklin, a proposed-but-never-approved U.S. state in the later 1700s made up of territory ceded to Congress by North Carolina to pay off Revolutionary War debt. Nearby Tusculum University — originally founded as a Presbyterian institution — was also Tennessee’s first university.
The Rev. Todd Jenkins and the Rev. Robert Moore of First Presbyterian Church
in Greeneville, Tennessee appear together on a Zoom call with Presbyterian News Service.
First Presbyterian Church of Greeneville was the first church established in Greene County hundreds of years ago, and it continues to be a central part of town life today. It has born witness to Greeneville’s history and provided a spiritual home for many of its residents. The church’s pastor, the Rev. Todd Jenkins, said that these days, the church has a membership that spans the political spectrum. Congregants come together for worship but separate into Sunday school classes that tend to favor their own ideological bents.
As political tensions have continued to escalate in the United States and polarization has become more and more entrenched, a small group of church members began to question how their Christian faith was calling them to respond to such a world. The conversation felt crucial, and they became increasingly uncomfortable with how the siloes and divisions in the world around them were reflected in their own church, as well as how removed the church at large felt from the hard realities happening in the U.S. and globally.
“It was clear to most of us in the group that unless somebody started doing something a little bit different, we were we were not going to have any voice in the outcome of what was happening —what was ahead,” said the Rev. Robert Moore, a retired Presbyterian minister and one of the group’s organizing members.
Six months ago, the group left behind the Sunday school classes they’d been attending and began to meet together instead. They read a chapter per week from “On Tyranny” by historian Timothy Snyder. Each chapter lifts up a lesson to be learned from the U.S. in the 20th century. Resisting the urge to devolve into party-line arguments, the group has examined each lesson from the book through the lens of the Gospel, seeking to understand and learn from the spiritual teachings and political wisdom of Jesus.
They call their initiative the Zacchaeus Project because Zacchaeus “spoke up when nobody else did and was a committed voice,” according to Moore. They see their own efforts in a similar light. The group has the passionate endorsement of Jenkins which, Moore says, gives them “tremendous encouragement.”
Most of the group’s 15 members came from the more progressive-leaning Sunday school class, and their goals place a clear emphasis on social justice, equity and human rights. However, they have intentionally sought to engage more conservative voices. They also count several Methodists among their number, including two retired Methodist ministers. They maintain parity between men and women, and rotate leadership each week to eschew a hierarchical structure. Everyone who was a part of the group at its beginning is still involved.
Some of them engage in protests and demonstrations according to their own values, but the group itself is focused on discussion and learning. Again and again, they call themselves back to the central question of what Christ truly calls the church to be in the world as it is. They are hoping the fruit of their conversations will be outreach to and care for others in need.
“The voice coming out of the group is very centrist,” Moore said. “It’s also very strongly a voice that is not looking for breaking things but is looking for building things and bringing new life.”
Layton Williams Berkes, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Click here to read original PNS Story)
Let us join in prayer for:
Amber Baker, Donor Advised Fund Specialist, Operations, Presbyterian Foundation
Charles Baker, Production Clerk, Presbyterian Distribution Service, Administrative Services Group, (A Corporation)
Let us pray:
Gracious God, you call your people not to comfort alone but to climb above fear, to see one another clearly and to respond with love. We give thanks for communities willing to wrestle with hard questions, to listen across differences and to seek your justice with humble hearts. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
