Community Church at Tellico Village welcomes new Associate Pastor

The Community Church at Tellico Village recently welcomed the Rev. Katie Morgan-Harper as the congregation’s newest associate pastor.

Morgan-Harper started out part time back in March 2024, but recently became a full-time pastor in June.

The church’s newest staff member was born and raised in Etowah, Tenn., located just 45 minutes from the CCTV.

HEARING ‘THE CALL’

While Morgan-Harper grew up in the church, her call to ministry happened later on while in college.

“I grew up in (church) and church always felt comfortable and felt like it was family — and I really felt something special with that spiritual connection that I always made in church,” Morgan-Harper said. “I went to Tennessee Wesleyan University (or TWU) on a basketball scholarship and I didn’t start out in church vocations, I started out pre-med.

“I pursued that for a couple of years and then finally thought, ‘I really, really like missions and mission work, social justice, etc.’ So I wanted to go into church work to be able to do (the things that I enjoy).

“I finished out my last two years at Tennessee Wesleyan University (earning) a church vocations major,” she said. “And then when I graduated there, I decided I needed more experience and that’s when I went off to seminary.”

At TWU, she mostly did either week-long missions or a summer mission. In seminary school at Duke University Divinity School, however, she did her internship for an entire summer in Mexico, where she started as a pastoral resident, and Guatemala, where she did some language training.

As a young adult, Morgan-Harper would go on to spend time in North Carolina and Virginia. While she was in Virginia, she married her husband, Matt, who was also from the East Tennessee area. So, when her husband was offered a job back in Tennessee, they made the decision to return so that he could pursue his career while also being around family — something that was very important to them both.

BACK IN TENNESSEE

Upon finding herself back in the area, Morgan-Harper initially took a job teaching. In fact, she found herself teaching full time and then pastoring several churches part time.

During this time, she was a solo pastor at two Methodist churches and an interim solo pastor at a Presbyterian church.

When the associate pastor position became available at the Community Church at Tellico Village, Morgan-Harper just felt that it was time to get back into full-time church work. She explained that she felt like the congregation and the role that she would be assuming would fit her well.

Today, Morgan-Harper takes on a wide range of responsibilities as the newest associate Pastor in the Community Church at Tellico Village.

“My primary role is working with the women’s ministry and with missions,” Morgan-Harper said. “My undergrad degree is in international missions and children’s ministry.

“But I do a variety of other things as well (such as) pastoral care, helping to prepare service or planning for worship — other special worship services like the sunrise services, for example. So my primary roles are those two areas, but then I have a hand in helping in a lot of other ways, as well.”

‘THE YOU THAT YOU ARE TODAY’

The church’s newest associate pastor believes that her personal experience as a former educator and basketball player will help her in her new position and in the variety of roles she plays within the church.

“I’ve always lived with the idea that you use the things that you’ve learned in your past to become the you that you are today,” Morgan-Harper said. “It all informs who you are, the decisions that you make and who you’ve become.

“And so, yes, there are lots of things from teaching that I certainly use and will use … there are also lots of things that I may use from my time in sports or various times in my life when I’ve had different roles and occupations.”

She explained that her teaching background helps her keep organized as well as being able to mobilize and identify those with talents and gifts. She said she excels at arranging people “in ways that we can make great ministry happen based on talents and gifts.”

While relatively new to the position, Morgan-Harper is already planning for the future.

“Right now, all that I’m really focusing on is listening … listening to people, listening to their needs, listening to their stories, their excitements, the challenges of what’s going on — and using all of that to help to decide next steps.

“We’ve just sent out a women’s survey to see what the needs are (and) what people are expecting, so that we can take steps to move forward.”

A GROWING POPULATION

Morgan-Harper said the recent influx of population around Tellico Village has been a unique experience.

“I think that you always have fresh ideas, and new people (bring) fresh perspectives,” she said. “And it gives the new (Villagers) a sense of welcome.

“It’s almost like a family — so that you can have that connection here as a new person. You’re not the only new person. There are many new people so you don’t feel that much out of the loop. …

“One thing that makes CCTV a special place to be planted is the many spiritual leaders within the church. I’m appreciative of being on a staff that has multiple ministers, so that we can bounce ideas off of each other. They may see something from a different perspective (or) a different angle. That’s always helpful, too.”

Morgan-Harper is eager to start making additional connections within the church and the community it serves — whether that is Tellico Village or Loudon County or its surrounding areas.

“One of the best parts about this church that I love is the fact that it’s interdenominational,” Morgan-Harper said. “People come from a variety of denominational backgrounds, and they don’t have to strip that identity away.

“We appreciate everybody’s background … if you’re Catholic, we’re not asking you to come over to a different denomination. We love that you’re Catholic, and we love that voice. … If you’re Methodist, we love that you’re Methodist and we love THAT voice.

“If you’re Presbyterian or if you’re Baptist or if you’re Whatever, we don’t ask you to take any of that away. We actually ask you to bring that with you, so that we can have this unified experience of loving God and loving people.

“What I’m excited about most is just learning from the vast variety,” she said. “We’re just going to love God and love people — and do that together.”