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History of KICCUP |
In 1971, the leadership of the downtown churches, realizing they could work more efficiently cooperatively, created KICCUP, Knoxville Inner City Churches United for People.
The founding churches of KICCUP were:
| Church Street United Methodist Church | First Baptist Church |
| First Christian Church | First Cumberland Presbyterian Church |
| First Presbyterian Church | Immaculate Conception Catholic Church |
| Mount Olive Baptist Church | St. John’s Cathedral |
| St. John’s Lutheran Church |
Two years later Second United Methodist Church joined the group. In 1981 First Cumberland Presbyterian Church dropped out because it had moved to west Knoxville, and two other churches joined: Central United Methodist Church and Second Presbyterian Church. The clergy and lay people who played a significant role in organizing KICCUP were:
| Dr. Robert Wilcox | Church Street United Methodist Church |
| Dr. David Hester | First Cumberland Presbyterian Church |
| Rev. Robert Walker | Second United Methodist Church |
| Rev. Bob Landry | First Christian Church |
| Dr. W.T. Crutcher | Mount Olive Baptist Church |
| Dr. Charles Trentham | First Baptist Church |
| Dr. John McKinnon | First Presbyterian Church |
| Father James Murray | Immaculate Conception Catholic Church |
| Rev. Dan Matthews | St. John’s Episcopal Church |
| Rev. Jerry Hollar | St. John’s Lutheran Church |
| Thomas Crossman | St. John’s Episcopal Church |
| Mr. Hugh Neil | St. John’s Episcopal Church |
| Mrs. E.R. Synder | First Baptist Church |
| Mr. Bernard Prack | First Baptist Church |
| Mr. Ralph Frost | First Baptist Church |
The first Executive Director of KICCUP was the Rev. Julian Spitzer. He served in this position from 1980 to 1995. The current director is Thea B. Peterson.
Current churches are:
| Central United Methodist | Church Street United Methodist |
| First Baptist | First Christian |
| First Presbyterian | Immaculate Conception Catholic Church |
| Mount Olive Baptist | St. James Episcopal |
| St. John's Episcopal | St. John's Lutheran |
| Second Presbyterian | Second United Methodist |
Total membership in these twelve churches represents about 20,000 people with resources in the millions of dollars.