The Reverend James Columbus Greenwell, 86, known widely as “J.C.,” of Knoxville, Tennessee, died November 13, 2021. He was a minister without charge in the Presbytery of East Tennessee. J.C. was born to Dewey Edward Greenwell and Elizabeth May “Lizzy” Rye Greenwell on April 4, 1935, in McEwen, Tennessee, but he claimed Erin, Tennessee, as his hometown. J.C.’s great uncle was the Reverend E.H. Greenwell. J.C. served in the U.S. Army and earned an associates degree from Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky.

In around 1961, J.C. was ordained in the Pentecostal Holiness Church where he ministered until 1972. In 1975, while working in the lumber industry, J.C. explored the possibility of a part-time pastorate in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. On March 25, 1975, Nashville Presbytery, meeting at Tusculum Cumberland Presbyterian Church received J.C. as a candidate for the ministry from the Campground Cumberland Presbyterian Church near Erin.

While a candidate, J.C. continued a tent making ministry working for the Southern Gage Co., in Erin while supplying the Mariah Cumberland Presbyterian Church near Waverly, Tennessee, and Cumberland Valley Cumberland Presbyterian Church near McEwen, Tennessee. J.C. studied in the Home Study Course as well as occasionally taking classes at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. Satisfied with his progress, Nashville Presbytery licensed J.C. on October 27, 1981, in Erin. The Reverend Steven Parrish asked the questions pursuant to licensing.

Now a self-employed truck driver, J.C. continued to supply Cumberland Valley Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He finished the Home Study Course and, on May 17, 1986, was ordained by a commission from Nashville Presbytery consisting of the Reverends Denny Shepard, Mike Krech, and Ron Burgess, and elder Ben Greenwell. Shortly after ordination, Liberty Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Clarksville called J.C. as their full-time pastor.

During his ministry, J.C. also served Liberty Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Campbellsville, Kentucky (Cumberland Presbytery), Mount Sharon Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Greenbrier, Tennessee (Nashville Presbytery), and Clark’s Grove Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Maryville, Tennessee (Presbytery of East Tennessee). He remained a member of the Presbytery of East Tennessee until his death.