UKirk and the wider Church

As the Presbyterian Church closest to the UTK campus, we at 2nd Presbyterian Church often have the chance to welcome college students into the worship and fellowship life of our community of faith. (At least, we did before Covid!) There are usually two kinds of...

“In the Garden”

One of my all time favorite hymns is “In the Garden,” and I often find myself humming the tune as I work in the UGrow garden at UKirk. The song opens with the line “I come to the garden alone,” and as I hummed that verse while gardening last week I couldn’t help...

Welcome to the Wilderness

Welcome to the wilderness. It’s fitting that we are in the season of Lent, walking with Jesus through unknown territory. No one knows what to do here, we are all anxious, uncertain, and fearful. And yet, when I think about this time, I am reminded of an article I read...

The Community I Needed In College

When I was in college I took a writing class in which we had to read a book on the topic of writing. One of the options was Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird. I chose this book without really knowing anything about it or the author. I never could have foreseen that this...

Why I Give As A Current UKirk Student

My parents taught me from a very young age to give back, even when nothing is expected in return. This was taught at my home church, Fountain City Presbyterian, from the time I started attending at the age of two. The ability to give something to someone or to...

UKirk is doing GREAT!

In the late spring our campus minister resigned to take a new call. With the timing of everything we knew we would not be able to have a new campus minister in place by the time the new school year started, but we were ready for the challenge. The Board of Directors...