News Briefs from Around the Diocese

Bookshop Open for Business Once Again
The Cathedral Bookshop is open again for business. After a thorough inventory, the Bookshop is ready to assist with whatever resources are needed.

The Bookshop has an excellent selection of gifts and is happy to handle special orders. Items can be shipped if needed.

Regular business hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please don’t hesitate to call at 865-521-2910 for assistance.

Kingsport Churches Aid Homeless
St. Paul’s and St. Timothy’s in Kingsport are host churches for the Interfaith Hospitality Network. And St. Christopher’s provides volunteers to assist with the program which involves ten host churches. Through this network homeless families are helped to find work and a place to live during the day at a day center. The families spend the night at that week’s host church. The IHN is the only agency set up for families and works through various social services to them them homes and jobs.

Volunteers cook dinner or breakfast, transport families to and from the day center, help kids with homework or anything else that might be needed.

St. Alban’s Opens Adult Day Center
An Adult Day Center at St. Alban’s, Hixson, opened May 1. The project is a Memorial Hospital Healthy Community Initiative Project and the Hospital provided a grant of $10,000 to help with meals, staffing and set-up.

The Rev. Kuulei Green has been appointed to be the full time Director of the Center. She will also be Assistant Rector at St. Alban’s.
The Adult Day Center will provide care for adults who are no longer able to remain safely at home alone.

The program is staffed by volunteers from the church as well as the three paid staff members. Meals are prepared at Memorial North Park for participants at the Center.

St. Alban’s has been working toward this ministry for three years. It’s expanded and refurbished physical plant was dedicated in September of 2000 with this outreach to the community as an excellent utilization of the new space.

Cathedral’s Labyrinth Draws Groups
During April two groups from the University of Tennessee came to St. John’s, Knoxville, to walk the labyrinth. The first group was graduate students from a Social Work class. The second group was composed of professors interested in spirituality, psychology, social work or religion. During May, a group from the Wellness Center is coming for a guided walk.

If you have a group that may be interested in walking the labyrinth together, please contact Deacon Mary Lee Bergeron at mlbergeron@stjohnscathedral.org to make arrangements.

The outdoor labyrinth at St. John’s is open daily for anyone who would like to use it.

St. Paul’s Parishioners Volunteer at Oncology Unit
Parishioners from St. Paul’s, Kingsport, took their one-month turn along with other Kingsport churches, volunteering at the oncology unit of Wellmont Medical Center and they play to continue the service.

“Who hasn’t been touched by cancer?” asked project chairperson Karen Mills. “We dedicated our work at Wellmont to all those we know who have had the disease.”

The mission was to provide comfort for patients and their families.
Some volunteers sat at patients’ bedsides and read poetry and scripture. Others conducted evening prayer. They served refreshments and made comfort baskets filled with soap, lotions and other personal items.

“But it turned out that we did more for the families,” said Mills.
With the additional funds supplied by the Outreach Committee and the Episcopal Church Women, volunteers stocked the pantry for families who spend the night on the unit.

Volunteers also fed 65 patients and their families a complete Thanksgiving dinner.

One Sunday morning the fifth grade Church School class sang for patients and families accompanied by guitarist and St. Paul’s rector, the Rev. Dan Matthews.

Mills said, “They loved the children and wanted them back.”

She added, “Mainly we provided a listening ear, and it was good for all of us.”

Episcopal Laymen Donate to Sevier County Clinic
Sevierville -- Mountain Hope Good Shepherd Clinic is $1,200 better off, thanks to a donation from the Episcopal Laymen of East Tennessee.

Several members of St. Joseph the Carpenter Episcopal Church in Sevierville attended the Episcopal Laymen’s Conference at DuBose Conference Center in Monteagle last August. It’s a gathering of laymen from all three Episcopal dioceses of Tennessee.

At that time, a collection was taken up from the 475 men in attendance. The money was divided into three, and each diocese chose a worthy cause to which to donate.

The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee had already sponsored the clinic when it was starting up. The clinic provides affordable health care to Sevier County residents with no health insurance.

Mountain Hope was a natural choice to receive the donation, said Charlie Fuller, a member of St. Joseph’s, vice president and president-elect of the Episcopal Laymen of Tennessee.

Surrounded by other St. Joseph’s members who attended the conference, Fuller presented a check for $1,200 to clinic founder Dr. Alyene Reese.

“There are no strings attached,” Fuller said.

Reese said it would probably be used for a new clinic on the former Sevierville Primary School property.

[Reprinted by permission from The Mountain Press, Sevierville, Tenn.]

ESK Offers 3 Sessions of Camp
The Episcopal School of Knoxville is offering three sessions of summer camp -- June 18-22, June 25-29 and July 9-13. All camps cost $100 unless otherwise noted.

Camp ESK, Session I 9a.m.-noon, offers French for Kindergarteners through Second Graders; Super Science/Problem Solving for rising Fourth through Sixth Graders; Kindergarten Readiness; and Co-ed Basketball for rising Third through Fifth Graders.

Camp ESK, Session II 9a.m.-noon, offers French for Third through Sixth Graders; Super Science/Problem Solving for rising Fourth through Sixth Grade Girls; Kindergarten Readiness; and Co-ed Basketball for rising Sixth through Eighth Graders. From 1-4 p.m. Co-ed Volleyball for rising Fourth through Seventh Graders will be offered.

Camp ESK, Session III 9a.m.-noon, offers French for new ESK students; Math Games for rising Third through Sixth Graders; and Multimedia Art Camp for First through Third Graders. From 1-4 p.m. Multimedia Art for Fourth and Fifth Graders will be offered.
For more information or to register, contact Margaret Thornton or Tim Parker at 777-9032.

The summer camp will be offered on the campus of the Episcopal School of Knoxville located at 950 Episcopal School Way, Knoxville, Tennessee.