St. Andrew, Harriman, Welcomes the Rev. Joseph Pinner

by David Smart

“Welcome to our family!” These words rang out loud and clear from the chancel steps. They were delivered by the children of St. Andrew’s, Harriman, and directed to the Rev. Joseph W. Pinner on the occasion of his installation as rector of St. Andrew’s.

Those present at the Sunday, Oct. 17 Celebration of a New Ministry, listened intently as the children sang and offered their personal welcome to their new rector.They then presented him with a banner to mark the occasion.

Pinner comes to St. Andrew’s from St. Luke’s, Jennings, Louisiana, a small parish where he served 9 years as rector. During a portion of his time there he also served as interim rector at Church of the Ascension in near by Lafayette, Louisiana.

Before being called to St. Andrew’s, Pinner served as rector at St. Luke’s, Brandon Mississippi, and the Church of the Epiphany, Opelosus, Louisiana.

Earlier in his ministry, Pinner went to St. Paul’s Mission in Picayune, Mississippi as Priest-in-charge. During the 4 years that he served there, a church building was constructed and St. Paul’s moved from mission to parish status. “That was a very fulfilling time” in his ministry, Pinner said.

In 1997, Pinner and his family decided they would like to move north after more than 2 decades of living in southern Mississippi and Louisiana. “We had always known that at some point we wanted to live in or near the mountains,” Pinner said.

“We were ready to leave south Mississippi and Louisiana and move back home,” Pinner said in response to a question about why he was looking for a new parish. “We wanted to come back to this part of the country.” He came to Knoxville to seek advice from a mentor and friend, Bishop Tharp, Second Bishop of the Diocese of East Tennessee (this was before Bishop Tharp’s retirement).

Pinner’s friendship with Bishop Tharp began in 1975. Following graduation from Virginia Theological Seminary, Pinner served as Deacon-in-Training at St. Peter’s, Columbia, Tennessee, where Bishop Tharp was serving as rector.

The purpose of the 1997 visit with Bishop Tharp was “to sit with him and talk in generalities about where I could go and what I might do [in Tennessee],” he said.

Bishop Tharp asked him to take a look at St. Andrew’s. “The bishop talked about a couple of other locations but he seemed most interested in talking with me about St. Andrew’s,” said Pinner.

Bishop Tharp submitted Pinner’s name to the St. Andrew’s search committee. Soon afterward, he was invited to meet with the search committee.

At the time of his meeting with the St. Andrew’s search committee, he was also in the interview process with 3 or 4 other parishes. However, after his initial interview he felt that “This [St. Andrew’s] was the place, a good place to be and the right place to be,” he said.

Apparently the search committee had the same feeling. About 3 weeks later, Pinner received a call to be the rector of St. Andrew’s.

“We [he and his wife] came back to meet with vestry,” he said. “I wanted to make sure that things were right for me as well for St. Andrew’s.” On meeting with the vestry he said, “Everything seemed to fall into place, things were right.”

Following his meeting with vestry he and his wife decided to stay over and go to church on Sunday. “During that service, I sensed that I was home, that this was the place to be,” Pinner recalled.

When asked what attracted him to St. Andrew’s, Pinner said, “A combination of things, the church setting is absolutely beautiful, the people are warm, friendly, and committed to the church.”

Speaking of his former parish, Pinner said, “My time at St Luke’s was wonderful. After 9 years it was hard to leave. But we wanted to come back to this part of the country, we wanted to come home.” He is from Memphis and his wife, Sharon, is from Burkesville, Kentucky.

The Pinners have one child at home, Megan, a high school senior, and two adult sons, Thomas and Daniel, who live in Louisiana.

In summing up his thoughts about his roll as the new rector of St. Andrew’s, Pinner said, “I feel very, very blessed to be here, these folks are truly Christians.”