ST. PAUL - CHATTANOOGA

St. Paul’s year-long Sesquicentennial Celebration began Jan. 17 with a Service of Prayer and Thanksgiving. The Rev. Hunter Huckabay asked the congregation to be thankful for St. Paul’s long history, to renew their baptismal vows and commitment and to celebrate. More than 500 children, youths and adults attended a lavish reception following the service.

On Jan. 19, the 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. worship services were held according to the 1789 edition of the Book of Common Prayer, which was in use at the time the church was established in 1853. Dr. Marion Hatchett, retired professor of liturgics at the School of Theology in Sewanee, provided commentary for the services and also spoke at two Christian education sessions.

The celebration continued with the presentation of a hymn at the diocesan convention’s Evensong service Friday, Feb. 7, at St. Paul’s, which commissioned the hymn for the 19th Annual Convention.

A special speaker or event will take place each month during the year. Bishop vonRosenberg is scheduled to participate in a closing celebration on Jan. 18, 2004.

— Emily McDonald, SE correspondent

CHATTANOOGA AREA, Seen in various parish newsletters:

Chattanooga-area Episcopal parishes are working together to build a Habitat for Humanity house. Crews of 3-4 people will work 3-hour shifts mornings or afternoons, and the house will be dedicated the day before Easter, April 19.

ST. ANDREW - MARYVILLE, Seen in the February parish newsletter:

A prayer for trying times

Almighty God, by whose Grace we look for the day when nation shall not anymore lift up the sword against nation, and when men shall live without fear in security and peace, grant to us in this time of strife the will to labor for peace while our sword is drawn to resist the oppressor.

Let not the evil we oppose turn us from our purpose to achieve unity and concord among the nations of the earth, to thy honor and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

— Phil Rugg

GRACE POINT

What has Grace Point meant to YOU?

Send your stories to: The Rev. Hugh Jones, Box 1326, Hixson, TN 37343

CATHEDRAL BOOKSHOP - KNOXVILLE

“Ah! Happy those whose hearts can break / And peace of pardon win … How else but through a broken heart / May Lord Christ enter in!”

This short stanza is from Oscar Wilde’s The Ballad of Reading Gaol, and it’s the introductory reading for “Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter.”

This inviting volume holds an impressive variety of Lenten and Easter meditations by literary luminaries, including Henri Nouwen, Madeline L’Engle, Paul Tillich and Christina Rossetti. They invite us to walk alongside Christ in his life, death and resurrection.

This small volume was the swan song for Plough, a tiny religious publishing house in Pennsylvania. In their farewell to customers, they spoke of going “back to the furrow.”

This Lenten season, may we all return to the furrow, planting the seeds of hope and growth in Christ in our hearts.

— Amy Morehous, bookshop manager

GOOD SHEPHERD - KNOXVILLE, Seen in the mid-Feburary newsletter:

The Bible in 50 Words

God made, Adam bit, Noah arked, Abraham split, Joseph ruled, Jacob fooled, bush talked, Moses balked, Pharaoh plagued, people walked, sea divided, tablets guided, promises landed, Saul freaked, David peeked, prophets warned, Jesus born, God walked, love talked, anger crucified, hope died, Love rose, Spirit flames, Word spread, God remained.

ST. STEPHEN - OAK RIDGE, Excerpt from the rector’s note in the Feb. 2 parish newsletter:

As Christians we ought not to say, “Good luck.” Rather, affirming providence, we ought to say, “God be with you.”

What we call luck is really the absence of any known human reason for why an event should turn out one way or another.

As Christians we believe there is a reason, a rationale behind the movements of our world. That reason is called the love of God. We look for evidence of that love, that reason in all things. We believe that this world is meant to mean something, to add up to more than the mere machinations of chance. We are moving toward God.

— The Rev. Dr. Craig Kallio

ST. PAUL - ATHENS, Seen in the February parish newsletter: