'...the Only Salvation of the Church
is to Set the Women to Work.'

— Bishop Charles T. Quintard

by Lana Hamilton|ECW Communications Chairperson

In 1887, the Right Reverend Charles Todd Quintard, Bishop of Tennessee, said to Hester Shortridge and Mrs. Luke Finlay: "I have sent for you girls to tell you that the Church in Tennessee is dying of a disease called Dry Rot and the only salvation of the Church is to set the women to work. I want to organize a Board of the Women's Auxiliary and the Board of Missions in this diocese. Now to to work; draw me the by-laws and constitution and let me have them at once."

The manner is decidedly different from that of Bishop vonRosenberg but the message then as now to Episcopal Church Women is that the mission of our diocese is mission and that we are to serve this cause by providing impetus, example, enthusiasm and leadership to others in the Church.

The purpose of the ECW organization is to assist the women of the Episcopal Church to carry on Christ's work of reconciliation in the world and to take their place as leaders in the life, governance and worship of the church.

On the last day of our recent Spring meeting at Dubose, the church women of the Diocese of East Tennessee present elected for all of us officers to lead us into this first year of the new millennium.

Those women who have selflessly agreed to offer their time and talents to carry us on in the service of our Lord during 2000 are as follows: President, Nancy Tanner; Secretary, Katie Piper; Treasurer, Melinda Davis; Altar Chairman, Gloria Randolph; Christian Missions, Debbie Puryear; UTO Coordinator, Cathy Varner; and Nominations Chair, Sharon Monroe.

Diocesan Committees and their chairs are as follows: Parliamentarian & By-laws, Susie Cassell; Finance, Alice Payne; Scholarship, Nancy Bosson; Archivist, Wanda Haralson; Historian, Phyllis Quinn; and Communications, Lana Hamilton.

We are serving in our various congregations as vestry members, on finance committees, as Christian education teachers, organizers of evangelism, building, outreach and worship committees. In our weekday lives, we show forth Jesus to the world by attending Bible study programs on our lunch hours, by the understanding and compassionate ways we handle verbal attacks or slurs on co-workers or criticism of ourselves, whether the criticism be justified or not. We do this by reaching out to friends and co-workers in need, emotionally, spiritually or otherwise. We do this by reaching out to other individuals and groups with whom we come in contact and to those we seek out because we are called by the Lord to do so.