by David Smart

Three south east parishes joined together on Sunday, May 16, for their second annual outdoor service, music concert and picnic. Parishioners from St. Alban, Hixson; St. Peter, Chattanooga; and St. Thaddaeus, Chattanooga, gathered at Camp Columbus, where they worshiped in the cool morning air in a pavilion near Chickamauga Lake.

The Rev. Hugh Jones, rector of St. Alban, opened the service by welcoming everyone and introducing the other clergy who were present. The Rev. Kuulei Green, St. Alban, and the Rev. Carter Paden, rector of St. Peter, were the celebrants, and the Rev. David Bateman, rector of St. Thaddaeus, delivered the sermon.

After the service and a picnic lunch, the group was treated to a concert by the Chattanooga Concert Band under the direction of Frank Hale, a St. Alban’s parishioner. Hale compared the musical selections to those one would have heard at a community concert on the town a few years ago. Almost everyone present seemed to connect with the music as they sat with toes tapping and heads swaying with the tunes. The occasional sounds of younger children, who had drifted over to a nearby playground, could be heard between songs. This added to the feeling of a small town afternoon that the band’s music had created.

	Staff photos by David Smart
The expression on the Rev. Hugh Jones’ face (above) is in anticipation of the drenching that he knows is coming. Jones’ son, Abram, reacts with delight.

When the concert came to an end, the youth group from St. Alban’s had games set up for the children. The most popular of their offerings was a fund-raiser. A line quickly formed where, for small amount of money, one could toss a water balloon or a water-soaked sponge at Jones. When the novelty of tossing water balloons at the rector started to fade, it was decided to auction a bucket of water to be dumped over the head of the reluctantly willing Jones. The high bidder was Jones’ son Abram who took great delight in dousing his father with the bucket of cold water.

David Smart is the editor of the East Tennessee Episcopalian.