KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church is celebrating 225 years with a full week of events. The church was formed in 1796, just four years after Knoxville’s first congregation, First Presbyterian Church, started meeting and months after Tennessee become a state.

For much of its history, the Cedar Springs congregation had 100 or fewer members. In the early years, worshipers would gather under an oak tree, now the church is among Knoxville’s largest congregations with more than 3,000 members.

The celebration began with two worship services called “Looking Back at God’s Faithfulness” on Sunday morning. In between the services, church leaders shared a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Cedar Spring’s 225 Year Congregational Memoir.

“Our church loves this city, we’ve obviously been in this community for a long time and we really hope that our presence here has been good the city and not just in the past but moving into the future as well, ” said James Forsyth, Cedar Springs Senior Pastor.

Monday through Friday, Cedar Springs will be hosting numerous historic tours, history presentations and a campus open house. The celebration will be capped on Sunday, Oct. 31, with a service called “Moving Forward with His Mission” at 8:15 and 11 a.m. The days and times of events can be found on their website.