December 2004 / January 2005
The Diocese of East
Tennessee
Companion Diocese Committee
East Tennesseans travel to annual convention of
Diocese of South Dakota
Ginny Updegraff, St. Raphael, Crossville, displays an interactive faux quilt the East Tennessee delegation made to introduce parishes in our diocese to participants at the Diocese of South Dakota's convention Sept. 24-26 in Pierre. Each photo lifts to reveal the name of the parish.
By the Rev. Claire Keene
Chairwoman, Companion Diocese Committee
The Diocese of South Dakota welcomed the East Tennessee companion diocese delegation at their annual diocesan convention in Pierre, S.D., Sept. 24-26. Ginny and Dick Updegraff, communicants at St. Raphael, Crossville, and the Rev. Claire Keene, assistant at St. Stephen, Oak Ridge, met many South Dakota Episcopalians during the convention. The East Tennesseans and South Dakotans swapped stories, compared cultures and parishes and enjoyed the opportunity to learn names and faces.
The delegation took along a slide show of our landscapes and people, an instructional dulcimer made of cardboard and a "faux quilt" painted by committee members that features photos of East Tennessee parishes. The quilt will be on display at the East Tennessee diocesan convention in February, so plan to look for photos of your parish!
Bishop Creighton Robertson sent thanks to our diocese for making available "The Gifts Among Us," a concept paper created by members of our diocesan Shared Ministry Formation Committee. (The document is available at etdiocese.net.)
As you might expect at an Episcopal gathering, much friendship began around the tables.
Eating with a young Lakota couple, Keene heard the joys and difficulties of living a Native-American life in an Anglo culture - including tales of quilts given as an intent to shelter another, giveaways in memory of a deceased loved one, mourning and burial practices, a father's setting family priorities each day, the role of mature women in leadership, deference to the eldest person present, the primacy of tending to extended family, the high death rates from alcohol-related accidents and the pervasive suffering from diabetes with its pervasive effects on health.
At the convention dinner, the Updegraffs, who are both retired physicians, became reacquainted with members of several families they had treated many years ago at public health clinics on the South Dakota Native American reservations. They also demonstrated the dulcimer at the exhibit table and shared photos and information about our Appalachian mission work.
The delegation took along gifts contributed by Nancy Mott, Vivian Talmadge, the Rev. Chris Chase and the Rev. Alex Barron. For example, the delegation handed out an authentic East Tennessee treat: mini-Moon Pies, in both the traditional chocolate and Volunteer orange flavors. Barbara Oates, who teaches at Crow Creek Tribal School in Pierre, carried home a couple of boxes to her students, along with the instructional cardboard dulcimer.
A gift highly prized by the South Dakota Episcopal Church Women was a scrapbook our ECW sent to them. Oates, who serves as president of the group, accepted the scrapbook at their annual luncheon as an offering of introduction from our women to theirs. The beautifully designed and produced scrapbook contained photographs of all East Tennessee officers with notes and prayers handwritten by each of them.
The newly formed South Dakota companion diocese committee met with Keene, who chairs the East Tennessee committee, to brainstorm ways that parishes and people in both dioceses can develop friendships. One suggestion: "sister parish" relationships between churches that share the same Sunday in our diocesan cycle of prayer. (See page two of this issue, and please note that both South Dakota and East Tennessee parishes are listed; we hope you're praying for both bishops and parishes in both dioceses.)
Some possibilities for developing sister parish relationships include:
- writing short pieces for each other's newsletters each month;
- swapping parish birthday lists so parishioners may send birthday cards and remember in prayer those celebrating birthdays;
- sending e-mail correspondence, especially to connect people with common interests, including senior wardens, altar guilds, church musicians, parish secretaries, and more;
- sending parish photos by mail or e-mail;
- posting information about sister parishes on each other's Web sites;
- swapping stories of our "elders";
- telling each other about needs and abundances - such as vestments, Christian education curricula, linens - so that each diocese can share what it has in abundance.