Advent House
Chaplain, Chris May shares that a good number of students gather weekly on Wednesday evenings for a meal. On Friday evenings several meet for sundown vespers. A rock climbing trip and annual spring banquet are in the works. He shared a few photos of recent events some of which are included with this posting.
Christopher May Chaplain
Advent House is a collegiate ministry next to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UTK). Started by local church members Beverly & Harold Duckett.
Knoxville is home to the UTK where more than 27,000 students find a temporary home. Among those students are a number of Seventh-day Adventist young people. At Knoxville First SDA Church, we are pleased to include these students in our fellowship. As part of an ongoing commitment to these students, the Knoxville First SDA Church members provide ongoing support for Advent House, a home away from home located on the campus of the university. Students can fellowship, relax, and a few, can live there while attending the university. Click for a direct link to Advent House or to Adventist Christian Fellowship.
The ministry began with a group of members from the Knoxville First SDA Church meeting in Harold and Beverly Duckett’s office on Friday nights. Their purpose was to provide fellowship for Adventist students attending the University, as well as to attract others from the University. Attendance grew and the need for a facility on campus became evident.
In the late summer of 1980, the Duckett’s received word from a friend and professor at U.T. that the house of the late professor Ina N. Giles was going on the market. An emergency board meeting on a Sunday evening was followed by a Monday morning trip, by Harold Duckett and Elder Dale Tunnell (Knoxville First's Pastor), to the Georgia-Cumberland Conference office where approval was received, as well as, $24,000 for deposit on the house at 1918 Terrace Avenue. The total cost was $72,000, the final payment of which was made in September, 1983.
Thus Advent House, a light on the hill, is the presence of the Seventh-day Adventist church on the UTK campus, and as such, represents the church in doctrine and practice. For more information visit: www.adventhouse.org