Biography

J. Stephen Misenheimer has been Senior Pastor at St. John's Lutheran Church in Knoxville for 20 years. During his career, Rev. Misenheimer has worked in both secular and pastoral capacities.

After earning his Bachelor of Arts degree from Lenior-Rhyne College in 1976, Rev. Misenheimer went on to complete the Chartered Life Underwriters series and worked as a brokerage consultant in Charlotte, N.C. In 1978, he entered the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, SC, where he received his Master of Divinity degree in 1982. In June of 1982, he was ordained and became pastor at Philadelphia Lutheran Church in Granite Falls, NC. He was called to Saint John's Knoxville in 1988.

In addition to his pastoral duties at St. John's Lutheran Church, Rev. Misenheimer is very active in the Knoxville community. He has served as a member of the Children's Hospital Pastoral Care Board, The Salvation Army Board of Directors, and was selected as a member of the Leadership Knoxville Class of 2001. With his leadership, Saint John's has established the Tennessee Via de Cristo retreat ministry for adults, the Teens Encounter Christ (TEC) retreat ministry, an Urban Mission Ministry in downtown Knoxville, the Lutheran-Episcopal Campus Ministry at the University of Tennessee, and an annual scholarship for seminary students through the ELCA Fund for Leaders in Mission. Saint John's Lutheran Church has had six members to enter seminary and become ordained ELCA pastors over the past 12 years. Currently, 5 Saint John's Lutheran Church members are enrolled in seminary.

Rev. Misenheimer is the son of the Reverend Dr. Ernest L. Misenheimer and Margaret Misenheimer, who are both deceased. He is married to Jeanne Misenheimer who teaches fifth grade at Webb School of Knoxville. They have two children, Tiffany, who is married to Grant Brittain and lives in Hickory, North Carolina, and Josh, a graduate of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and two grandchildren, Brooks and Whitson.