Rev. Derek Roberts

Pastor Roberts was installed as the pastor at Praise Lutheran Church on February 12, 2012. Before joining Praise, he served as the associate pastor at First Lutheran Church and School in Knoxville, where he also ministered to LCMS students at the University of Tennessee from 2006 to 2012.

In 2005, Pastor Roberts graduated with a Master of Divinity from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was ordained in Knoxville in January 2006. In 2009, he was invited by the Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church to teach summer seminars in Siberia, a role he took on in partnership with Concordia Theological Seminary. Pastor Roberts has also served on various boards and committees within the District and Synod, as well as on the Campus Ministers Council at the University of Tennessee.

He and his wife, Gretchen, have four children: Katherine, Sophia, Jonathan, and Xavier. The family enjoys hiking and spending time together in the beautiful outdoors of East Tennessee.