 November
/ December 2003
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vonRosenberg's “from the bishop” letter to East Tennessee Episcopalians Diocesan convention set in context of Eucharist The Holiday Inn of Johnson City will be the site of the 20th Annual Convention of the Diocese of East Tennessee to be held February 6 and 7, 2004. Because there will be no Sunday morning worship service, the whole of this year’s convention will be set within the context of the Eucharist. Each session will have a worship component that will move participants through a different part of the Eucharist, beginning with the Opening Sentences at Friday evening’s session and culminating with the distribution of Communion at the final session on Saturday. In this way, the convention will be rooted in prayer, and the event itself will become an offering and act of thanksgiving for our common life in the diocese. Related story: CONTROVERSY
IN THE CHURCH: LEARNING TO LISTEN, LISTENING TO LEARN Diocese comes to
the table General
Convention decisions By Emily McDonald, Nellie McNeil and Sharon Rasmussen East Tennessee Episcopalians gathered in each area of the diocese on three successive Sundays in September to hear the report of the diocesan deputation to the 74th General Convention, held July 30 - Aug. 8 in Minneapolis. A report to the diocese follows the triennial General Convention every time it is held, but the difference this time is the media spotlight on controversial issues, said the Rt. Rev. Charles vonRosenberg. The church’s consent to the election of the Rev. Canon V. Gene Robinson as bishop coadjutor in the Diocese of New Hampshire drew attention because Robinson is in a long-term same-sex relationship. Also of interest to the national media was resolution C051, which in part recognizes “that local faith communities are operating within the bounds of our common life as they explore and experience liturgies celebrating and blessing same-sex unions.” Related stories:
Priest marks 50 years in ministry By Emily McDonald When the Rev. Canon Dr. J. Howard Rhys first went to St. John the Baptist Church, Battle Creek, in 1953 to celebrate the Eucharist, he discovered the small congregation hadn’t had a priest in 11 months.
Upper East priest
works By Nellie McNeil Like a 21st century circuit rider, the Rev. Harry Bahlow serves four Upper East Tennessee parishes. He is rector at St. Columba, Bristol, and St. Thomas, Elizabethton, and he is priest-in-charge at St. Bartholomew, Mountain City, and St. Mary the Virgin, Erwin.
Holiday
season brings new titles, In October, customers of Chapter & Verse Bookshop began seeing a lot more of Beth Anderson, a longtime bookshop volunteer who has been hired to share store responsibilities with manager Amy Morehous. Full Text [includes "New on the shelves" synopses]
A year
later: Morgan County responded to Mossy Grove, Joyner neighbors’ need By Sharon Rasmussen Nov. 10 of last year brought strange weather to East Tennessee. The night would be devastating for Morgan County.
“It was what, 78 degrees that day, and you could feel the humidity in the air,” said Sharon Pinner, wife of St. Andrew, Harriman, rector the Rev. Joseph Pinner. “There was a huge cloud, and the lightning was behind it. You couldn’t hear anything – you just saw this weird cloud in the dark that was lit up like somebody plugged in a light behind it, and these little sparks were just flying around. I’ve never seen anything like that before or since. And that was the night of the storm.” Related story: Grace Point vicar posts ‘wish list’ “A number of folks have asked what we need for our operation,” at Grace Point Camp and Retreat Center, said the Rev. Bo Lewis, camp vicar. A wish list would include a farm tractor. “Our very old machine we inherited with the property is on its last leg and apparently not repairable,” he said. Maintenance of more than a mile of gravel road demands a 45-50 horsepower serviceable machine. Bill Waldrop, a board member, is spearheading the effort to resolve this immediate need. He may be reached by e-mail at WRWaldrop@aol.com.
Quiet Days offer time for prayer, reflection “I find taking time out for quiet and solitude one of the most difficult things for many of us to fit into our schedules,” said the Rev. Paige Buchholz, assistant at St. Elizabeth, Knoxville. She and 11 others spent a Saturday at Grace Point camp and retreat center in early October together and apart in silence, prayer and conversation.
Bishop’s
deputy to retire; By Carolyn Dicer On a glorious fall day in October, Christian Formation leaders from churches in the Diocese gathered with me for a time of learning and sharing. When I told them I will retire at the end of this year from my position on Diocesan Staff I was struck by the depth of my gratitude for such a rich and wonderful ministry. ECW’s leadership to change hands By Nancy Bosson Where did the time go? It seemed to pass in a matter of seconds! Don’t they say, “time passes when you’re having fun”? It was fun – and it also was informative, important, meaningful, spiritual and rewarding.
News from around the diocese:
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