The
East Tennessee Episcopalian June/July
2000 |
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Bishop Tharp Legacy Society Celebrates Founding Members With River Cruise by Alan Ballew | Bishop Tharp Legacy Society Committee Our purpose was to thank the founding members of the Bishop Tharp Legacy Society, to thank them for their thoughtfulness, for their time, and for their planned gifts. Over half of those founding members were present. They had come from Kingsport and Chattanooga, from the far ends of the Diocese. There was a buffet and a cruise. It was a day of celebration. Here is a glimpse of the seed that they have planted. The two-hundred-plus founding members gave:
The celebration was not one of completion, like the relief that comes at the end of an annual giving campaign. The focus was more on beginnings, on having built a foundation. The significance of this gathering reaches far beyond the clear and direct present-day understanding. How can we see the oak in the acorn that was planted by these founders? What will come of this? How will these gifts be used? Imagine now a scene from 2000 years ago. Do you remember the stories about how the early church came to be? A large group of people gathered at the river to share a meal and to tell their own stories, to listen to a prophet named John, or perhaps to hear stories told by Jesus. In that sharing, they would be nurtured in their bodies and in their spirits. The regularities of their lives would be suspended for a while. Together they would be renewed. On the next day, they would go back out into the world where God had given them responsibilities. They would tell about what they had seen and heard and felt when they were at the river. They were not aware that they would become famous. They were just ordinary people, weren't they? Perhaps so, but what they did was extraordinary. In their gathering, their sharing, and their witnessing, they founded the church -- our church. Some 2000 years later, Bishop vonRosenberg and Bishop Tharp had come to another river. Like before, there was a large crowd gathered. Some were from the nearby towns, and others had come from far away. It was a gloriously warm spring day. People wore comfortable clothing and had to shade their eyes from the sun. The mood was festive. The people spoke quietly with the clergy. There was food and drink. They made new acquaintances, shared stories and laughed. It felt good being there. All in all, they did not act or speak as if they had done momentous things. But what they had accomplished was extraordinary. The Bishop Tharp Legacy Society is a first-of-it's-kind initiative -- a stunning launch of a ministry that we are calling Planned Giving. Gifts to the Church made at the end of one's life -- gifts given to further God's mission in the world. The founding members did not come to speak of what they had done. Their gathering down by the river was not for the purpose of self-celebration or praise. Such recognition would have embarrassed them. Many were even shy about having their names inscribed on a modest plaque. Others requested that their giving be completely anonymous. Those who came would probably not go door to door to speak to strangers about Christ in their lives. But they were willing to spread the word by their actions. Now it is ours to tell the story of how they gathered and what they stood for. What will come of this act of witnessing is incalculable. Perhaps in the future, the thousands of days which follow one upon the other, the story of that gathering in April of 2000 will be remembered and retold. It is a story of how ordinary people in a small Episcopal Diocese in East Tennessee came to be a witness to the mission of the Church and to the greater glory of God. Episcopal Institutions benefitting from Legacy Society gifts include:
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