FAQs

The congregation was begun in 1959 and worshiped for two years at the Pet Dairy Company on Konnarock Road in Kingsport.

Ground was broken for our present facility in 1961 and it was dedicated in September of 1962. The educational wing and offices were added in 1977 and the fellowship hall, present bathrooms and the enclosure of the hallway were completed in 2001.

Concordia is a member of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Its national headquarters are in St. Louis, Missouri. We are a member of the Mid-South District, which is comprised of Tennessee, Arkansas and a small part of Kentucky. The district office is in Memphis, Tennessee.

Concordia presently has 121 members.

Members can use the facility if the activity is approved and doesn’t conflict with a scheduled church event. Applications can be obtained from the church office.

The Altar Guild arranges for the Sunday altar flowers to be delivered by a local florist each week except during Lent. To supply the flowers, a member signs up on the flower chart located in the copy room near the office. To pay for the flowers, one may put a check for $25 (marked “flowers” in the memo line) in the offering plate. After the service, the member who provided the flowers may take them home or they may request they be given to a shut-in or member who is recovering from illness.

The Outreach Team keeps a sign-up sheet and periodically asks members to volunteer to bring the snacks. The volunteer brings the snacks and cleans up the kitchen afterwards. See the chairman of the Outreach Team to volunteer.

We have Wednesday evening services during Lent (the six weeks before Easter) and Advent (the four weeks before Christmas). It has also been our tradition to have a fellowship meal before the services. Prayer services are frequently held on Wednesdays throughout year from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m. Please check Calendar for specific schedule.

Elders are men who have been elected by the congregation to be “overseers” of our members. The congregation is divided into elder groups, with one elder over each group. The elders make up the Board of Elders, with its Director being selected by the group. Members may talk to their elders about church concerns. To find out which elder has been assigned to you, ask the Pastor or review the listing on the bulletin board in the Fellowship Hall.

Thrivent Financial is a faith based, not for profit, financial services company dedicated to helping its members, their families and their communities.  Thrivent is a Fortune 500 company with a unique blend of financial expertise, offering a full complement of financial products, services and professional advice to help individuals and families meet their financial goals.  As a faith-based organization and the nation’s largest Fraternal Benefit Society, we are called to care for others through our community outreach programs.  The investment in financial products from Thrivent generates charitable dollars that fund many community outreach programs.

LCEF is a financial institution owned and operated by The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Members may deposit money in LCEF and while it is deposited, it is loaned to LCMS congregations that require funding to build or expand their facilities. Concordia has obtained loans from LCEF to build our church and to construct both of our additions. To open an account with LCEF, see the LCEF Congregational Representative.

“Members in Touch (MIT)” is the name of the prayer group that meets together to pray about the needs of our congregation, our members, family and friends. They meet on the 1st and 3rd Monday mornings at 9:30 at the church. All are invited to attend. Speak to the MIT coordinator if you are interested.

Kingsport Community Ministry Center (KCMC) is a network of Kingsport Churches that have united to assist in helping citizens of Kingsport with utility payments, rent payments and some prescription bills. Concordia helps this group financially, and every two or three months provides volunteer receptionists for one week in the mornings. If you want to help out with this ministry, contact the Social Ministry chairman or Outreach Team leader.

The Altar Guild is a team of members who handle the set up for the sacraments. Generally assigned a month at a time, the Altar Guild members follow church traditions, making sure the liturgical colors and banners are appropriate for the Sunday. They also arrange for seasonal decorations.

The most appreciated action is to find your own substitute from other members who regularly do these duties. If that is not possible, please call the church office to make this information known, or if it is at the last minute, telephone the church on Sunday morning to relay a message to the elder.

To avoid being assigned a duty on a Sunday when you know that you will be out of town, etc., you may make that known by writing the dates you will be gone on the calendar in the copy room near the secretary’s office.

Concordia's choir is open to any members age high school or above who like to sing. Rehearsals are Wednesday evenings from 7 to 8 p.m. September through May except for during Advent and Lent, when rehearsals are after the midweek service (roughly 8 to 8:30 p.m.). Small ensembles rehearse as needed and include contemporary Christian praise music ensembles, as well as classical and contemporary woodwind, strings, and brass instrumentation. Contact any member of the worship and music team or complete the contact form on this site for more information. New voices and instrumentalists are always welcome.