Copyright © 2004 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee

By Nellie McNeil
Upper East Area Correspondent

The New Year's Eve celebration at St. Timothy, Kingsport, with African dancing and drums, roasted goat and chapati continued a year-long effort to celebrate multi-culturism in the parish.

"It was bringing together an international group to have fellowship and to socialize," said Peter Kanyi, a Kenyan graduate student at Emmanuel School of Religion, Milligan College, who is volunteering at St. Timothy.

"About 100 — half St. Timothy parishioners and half guests from nine countries — came," said the Rev. Lee Schaefer, St. Timothy's rector.

As he works on his doctor of ministry degree, Schaefer is exploring for his dissertation what spiritual growth occurs when people of different cultures are brought together.

"It brings a different perspective of Christ that enriches spirituality," he said. "Peter and I work closely, share an office. He preaches three times a month. He brings a sense of Christ and a dependence on God from another cultural perspective."

A former Muslim, Kanyi attended a Christian mission school in his native Kenya. "God called me to the Christian faith when I was in high school. I was taught the catechism by an Anglican pastor," he said. "I was baptized in March 1968."

Since then, Kanyi has taught and has served as a pastor in Kenya and has been a missionary to the Sudan. In America for the past seven years, he has earned a bachelor's degree and will complete a master's degree in May. "God willing," he said, "then I'll return to Africa."

When Kanyi's wife, Ann, prepared a traditional feast for the baptism of a Kenyan couple's child at St. Timothy, she called the Anglican service "coming home."

"A light bulb went off," Schaefer said. "There might be a whole community of Anglicans looking for a home. It was a real opportunity to reach out to folks in the Tri-Cities."

The presentation of "Amahl and the Night Visitors'at St. Alban, Hixson, was an ecumenical event.

The opera by Gian Carlo Menotti was the major portion of an Epiphany service held Jan. 6.

"Amahl is set in the context of a worship service,"said the Rev. Hugh Jones, St. Alban's rector.

The majority of the cast was from St. Alban, but organist-choirmaster Jim Francis brought in singers from churches of several denominations to augment the cast and also to make up most of the choir described as "faithful shepherds and shepherdesses."

The role of Amahl, for example, was sung by Ellen Zahorec of St. Jude Roman Catholic Church.

Members of the choir came from Catholic, Presbyterian, United Methodist and other Episcopal churches.

St. Alban parishioner Janet Hale, a flutist with the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, put together the five-piece orchestra that included three St. Alban members, Francis and an oboist from St. Thaddaeus Episcopal Church.

The idea to present "Amahl and the Night Visitors" came from Francis.

"I had heard this as a child,"he said. "I had these good voices, I had the people."

Those singing the roles of the three kings, the page and Amahl's mother were all parishioners.

Francis plays the organ at other churches in the Chattanooga area and so was familiar with singers outside St. Alban.

"I drew on people that I knew,"he said.

The Epiphany service was followed by the St. Alban traditional outdoor burning of Christmas trees and a reception in Wynn Hall.

From a rousing combination of silent and live auctions of donated goods and services to a tasty spaghetti dinner and warm fellowship, the parish of St. Elizabeth, Farragut, made welcome friends and visitors to an Italian Night and Auction for the benefit of its Pilgrimage Fund.

Bright yellow pages detailed the value and last bid on 82 donated items that were arranged throughout the hallways. In the parish hall, items to be live-auctioned were recorded on a dry-erase board.

An a cappella performance by choir member Dorothy deVogel and a song from the parish Cherub Choir launched the evening.

Applause, laughter and gentle ribbing accompanied much of the festivities, as occurred when young Emily Kirk auctioned the services of her grandmother, Dianne Britton, to chaperone the eight Journey to Adulthood teens who will pilgrimage this year to Ghost Ranch, a retreat center in New Mexico.

"$300: That is really, really good!"Emily said, then, "$325: that is really, really, really, really — dot, dot, dot — great!!"

Vestry member Earle Wright auctioned an opportunity to choose hymns one Sunday to David and Janet Greene, and Donna Crawford won the bid for a flute performance — for the benefit of all present that night — by rector the Rev. Matthew Dutton-Gillett. Sandra Rowcliffe accompanied a singalong on guitar while silent auction results were tallied.

The parish had hoped for a $2,000 result, but the bids added more than $3,600 to the Pilgrimage Fund.

Holy gazing: Sharing a personal journey

By Pamela Park
Director of Religious Education, St. Luke, Cleveland

As part of our spiritual journey this past Advent, I invited the parishioners of St. Luke Episcopal Church in Cleveland to accompany me as I painted an icon of Mary, the Mother of God, and Christ.

Prayer in the company of icons is one of the ancient spiritual disciplines of Christianity, formed and articulated within the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition. However, their proclamation belongs to the one holy catholic and apostolic church, so icons are appropriate as aids to prayer for all Christians.

Always, and above all else, the holy icons point not to themselves but to Christ. The theology of the icon is based upon the incarnation. St. John of Damascus, one of the greatest defenders of the icons, wrote in the eighth century, "In former times God, being without form or body, could never be depicted. But now when God is seen in flesh conversing with men, I make an image of the God whom I see. I do not worship matter; I worship the creator of matter who became matter for my sake."

As an artist, I believe that God's gift of artistic expression bestows integrity upon human creativity as an authentic path to union with God. As an iconographer, my task is to prayerfully paint the image and to share with others the joy of the Gospel message accessible through visual imagery. As a spiritual director, it is my privilege to accompany people as they enter into prayer in the company of the icons and to assist them as they seek to live into the reality that they are, indeed, created in the "icon," or image, of Christ.

Because in their essence, icons are prayer, I asked the people of St. Luke's to pray for me as I painted and to pray that the Holy Spirit would inspire the painting of the icon to the glory of God.

Each day as I prepared myself spiritually to paint, I prayed aloud the names on one page of the parish directory. By the time the icon was completed on Christmas Eve, every member of St. Luke's parish was held in prayer.

Every Sunday, I placed the icon in the nave of the church, along with a handout discussing the theology, symbolism and painting process of the step completed earlier in the week.

In the same way that the icon was revealed slowly, step by step, week by week, the handouts built upon each other, providing more information every week.

As Mary and Christ were revealed more fully throughout Advent, I watched as the parishioners gazed upon the icon that their prayers had assisted me to paint. It was a humbling experience as I realized that the icon would be revealed regardless of the quality of my work, and, in fact, in spite of it.

I watched as the people of St. Luke's approached the icon curiously and reverently, sensing it represented a door or window on the heavenly kingdom through which they were invited to gaze.

In the same way that the beads of a rosary are strung together as an aid to prayer, so are the icons united in Christ and knit one to another in an endless procession of the faithful to God.

By Becky Green

St. Paul in Athens was the site of a special event Dec. 28, when Yoko and Yoko Ueda baptized daughter Marie.

From 1996 to 2000, Yoko (the man) had taught math at Tennessee Meiji Gakuin, the Japanese school in Sweetwater. Yoko (the woman) taught art.

Both participated in the music program at St. Paul. He was in EFM, and she was involved in outreach projects. Even though they had moved away, they still claimed St. Paul as their church home.

When the parish learned the Uedas were expecting a child, a long-distance baby shower was planned, and the couple received boxes of gifts in preparation for Marie's birth. She came into the world on March 17 of last year.

The Uedas called in early December to request that Father Walter Thomas baptize Marie. Father Thomas was the supply priest when the Uedas first attended St. Paul in 1996, and he and his wife, Beth, had grown close to them.

The year of 2003 was a difficult one in the parish: The 221 active members mourned the deaths of eight parishioners through the year, and the last, at the end of November, struck particularly hard, so the homecoming and baptism were special, treasured events.

The Uedas wanted their child's name easily said in English and Japanese, and the meaning of the Japanese characters for the name had importance. Characters for "Marie" symbolize love and truth.

A homecoming, a baptism, love and truth: A good end to a troubled year at St. Paul.

By Emily McDonald
South East Area Correspondent

At Grace Church in Chattanooga, the creation story is told on a wall, where brightly colored fish, animals, trees, mountains and more cover a wall of the refurbished toddler nursery.

The mural was constructed by 24 children and young people during a summer church school program and finished by adult volunteers in the fall. It evolved from the wish of Jennifer Thompson, director of Christian education, to incorporate a mural into the decoration of the new nursery.

Parishioner Bobbie Crowe suggested a technique of painting with dyed paper. Her 15-year-old grandson, Cody Hendrix, made the paper from which the artists then cut or tore shapes.

"Each week we focused on a different day of creation,"Thompson said. "Children as young as three ... were able to tear the paper to make items for the mural."

Artists' ages ranged from 3 to 17, and often the older ones helped the younger ones.

One child made a cat because he had been up the night before with a new kitten.

"The children were treated with such respect, no matter what it (the object) was," Crowe said.

The shapes were painted with tempera and affixed to the mural, which was attached to the wall with water-based polyurethane and covered with a final coat.

"Even our youngest members were able to give a gift to the next generation," Thompson said.

By Emily McDonald
South East Area Correspondent

St. Paul, Chattanooga, on Jan. 18 ended its Sesquicentennial Celebration on a jazz note.

A "Solemn Procession with Litany and Choral Eucharist" was held in the nave, and a jazz brunch followed in Key-Andrews Hall.

Bishop Charles vonRosenberg officiated at the service, which began with a procession that included past senior wardens and the present senior warden, Doug Dooley. The procession moved through the nave and stopped several times as the bishop blessed St. George's Chapel, the baptismal font, pulpit, lectern and altar.

After the service the congregation spilled into the foyer, and members of the band Love, Peace and Happiness broke into a spirited rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching In." Carrying an umbrella typical of those carried in New Orleans parades, the Rev. Hunter Huckabay, St. Paul's rector, and his wife, Prestine, led the way into the parish hall.

More than 400 people attended the service and the brunch, which was served buffet-style.

St. Paul began its sesquicentennial celebration on Jan. 17 with an "Opening Service of Prayer and Thanksgiving." At least one special event was held each month during the year-long celebration, and the speakers included Lord George L. Carey, retired Archbishop of Canterbury; the Rev. John Jenkins, founder of the DOCC program; the Rt. Rev. Don Wimberly, bishop of the Diocese of Texas; and the Rev. Dan Matthews, rector of Trinity Church, Wall Street, in New York City. In addition, annual events on the church calendar including the recognition of 50-year members and the Feast of Lights were designated sesquicentennial events and given special emphasis.

St. Paul's Church was organized on Jan. 17, 1853, by 10 families meeting in the home of Col. James A. Whiteside.

The cornerstone for the present Gothic church was laid in 1886, and the building was completed in 1888.

Two major additions, Key-Andrews Hall and the King Building, have been built since that time.

The diocesan banner of the Episcopal Church Women journeyed from its home at Ascension, Knoxville, to take up residence at All Saints, Morristown, on Jan. 11.

Ten past presidents of All Saints' ECW chapter escorted the banner along with outgoing diocesan ECW President Nancy Bosson and newly installed diocesan ECW President Cathy Varner.

The Rev. Norman Mersevey, interim rector, acknowledged the work of the women of the church and introduced the past presidents, the retiring diocesan president and the newly installed diocesan president.

In keeping with tradition, Bosson also presented Varner with the ECW president's cross.

The banner will remain at All Saints during Varner's term of office, 2004-2006, at which time it will be transferred to the next president's home parish.

Called to prayerfully reflect on how changes in the world and church impact its ministry, the board of directors of Faith Alive on Jan. 10 affirmed its 1970 mission "to bring individuals into an encounter with Jesus Christ that results in their recognition of Jesus as their Savior and their commitment to Him as Lord of their lives."

"We continue to be, as we were, 'Episcopalians who proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ through lay witness weekends in local congregations,'" said Jim Shearouse, St. Alban, Hixson, a Faith Alive board member and the group's representative in the diocese.

Forty-eight members of the Faith Alive leadership gathered in Auburndale, Fla., to review its program as it relates to ongoing change.

More than 30 years ago, the founders of Faith Alive formulated the ministry's goals, which culminate in parishwide weekend programs of sharing and encouraging faith stories. Some 2,500 weekends have been held, mostly in Episcopal churches.

By Nellie McNeil
Upper East Area Correspondent

On Christmas afternoon, Berndt Hall, the parish hall at St. Paul, Kingsport, had its largest first-time public use: a Christmas dinner for 42 St. Paul Food Pantry patrons.

"Our people came together," said Sharon Brown, Outreach Committee member in charge of servers. "Some parents told me it's what they want their children to think Christmas is about."

A decorating committee under the direction of Alice Payne hung wreaths in all the windows, put up a huge tree and placed fir limbs, candles and shiny balls on all the tables.

Wellmont Health Systems supplied and prepared the food. Parishioners and Impact Plastics in Erwin, Tenn., contributed financially.

Jean Peace, a new member, brought the idea for a Christmas dinner from Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Bristol, Va., where parishioners have hosted a community dinner for more than 20 years.

More than 80 parishioners, including whole families, served food, waited tables and cleaned up. Andi Hubble played the piano for the three-hour event, and Keith Kramer played the guitar. Children of the church sang carols.

Volunteers took leftover food to the Second Harvest Food Bank serving the Tri-Cities. Desserts made by church members were sold after services the next Sunday with proceeds slated for next year's event.