Copyright © 2004 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee

By Emily McDonald
South East Area Correspondent

Remembering was the order of the day when Thankful Memorial, Chattanooga, celebrated the centennial of the laying of its cornerstone on April 24, 1904.

The celebration included an ice cream social, open house and service of Evensong on April 24 and Holy Eucharist, Confirmation and a reception on April 25.

As she toured the renovated parish hall, Mary Hedges of Chattanooga recalled that when she was confirmed in 1946, “one of the boys hid an alarm clock in the register.” Hedges and her friend Gene Beatey also remembered the young people had a gathering place they called “the roughhouse lounge.”

Attempting to find a golden egg at the annual Easter egg hunt was one of the highlights of her growing up years at Thankful, said Pat Beatey Pinto of Tuscaloosa, Ala., Gene Beatey’s daughter. “I remember where I found it, under some bushes, and I had to fight the bees to get it.”

Around 300 people attended the two-day celebration, including visitors from New Jersey, Florida, North Carolina and Georgia. Attendees ranged in age from children to Wilbur “Pop” Keyser who at 96 is the oldest member of the church.

Keyser remembered playing basketball in the parish hall-gymnasium shortly after it was erected, said Dr. Ed Cahill, who has written a monograph on the history of the church.

The parish hall today has a vaulted ceiling, built-in cabinets and closet space. A room behind it was renovated to serve as a conference room, and the offices were redone.

A Trinity Garden was built on one side of the church; it includes a labyrinth, altar and baptistry. The stone work was done as a gift to the church by Tony Bytner of Portage, Ind., who is the brother of Thankful’s rector, the Rev. Pat Cahill.

Evensong was sung by the choir of St. Timothy, Chattanooga, and it featured a Centennial Hymn commissioned for the occasion. The lyrics for the hymn were written by Jennie Storey, St. Timothy parish secretary and choir member, and Bert Landman, organist-choirmaster.

Bishop Charles vonRosenberg confirmed five people and received one during the service on April 25.

“The Lord has been present in celebration, in crisis, in happiness and in turmoil during the history of Thankful Parish,” the bishop said in his sermon. “The Lord also has been here in the familiar, everyday lives of everyday people, for 100 years.”

Thankful Memorial had its beginnings in the St. Elmo Protestant Episcopal Sunday School started in 1893. In 1898 the school was declared a mission of St. Paul, Chattanooga, which Episcopalians in St. Elmo were attending.

Col. A.M. Johnson, a businessman and member of St. Paul’s, died in 1903 and left property to be used for the establishment of an Episcopal Church in memory of his wife, Thankful Anderson Whiteside Johnson. The cornerstone laid in 1904 came from the second building occupied by St. Paul’s, and its bell was loaned in perpetuity by the church.

Steve Daugherty, a great-great grandson of the Johnsons, attended the weekend’s events. “My sister, mother and niece are named Thankful,” he said.

Thankful Memorial, Chattanooga, 423-886-2281.

By Stella Sudderth

On May 8, St. Andrew, Maryville, held its 5th Annual Garden Tour.

The day began with a lecture by John Brewster, president of Gardensmith Designs, Atlanta, Ga., on the steps required for good landscaping design.

A boxed gourmet lunch was served afterward in the church gardens.

Eight diverse gardens at five sites were on the tour and were enjoyed by attendees throughout the afternoon.

Carol and Leonard Blankner shared their beautiful cottage garden at their home in the Oak Park historic area of Maryville. Debbie and Kent Everett highlighted their outdoor entertaining areas, and Darrell Cook, Sam Jones, Mary Jane Cobble, Jean Glaze and Virginia Potter showcased their adjoining yards at Cochran Place, a condominium community.

St. Andrew, Maryville, 865-983-3512.

The Rev. Dr. William S. Stafford, vice president and associate dean for academic affairs at Virginia Theological Seminary, will become dean of the School of Theology at Sewanee: The University of the South on January 1, and the Rev. Johnna Camp has been appointed interim program director of the school’s Education for Ministry program. Stafford succeeds Dr. Allan M. Parrent as dean.

A native of San Francisco, Calif., Stafford earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Stanford University; he received degrees in the history of Christianity from Yale University, attended the Uni-versity of Strasbourg and earned his doctorate at Yale.

Stafford was ordained to the priesthood in 1982, has served churches in Virginia and England and is priest associate for St. Mary, Arlington, Va.

He joined the faculty of Virginia Theological Seminary as assistant professor of church history in 1976 and became vice president and associate dean for academic affairs in 1997.

Camp joined EFM, the theological education-at-a-distance program, as assistant program director in February 2003 and accepted the promotion after the retirement of the Rev. Dr. Edward de Bary.

Camp had previously served as an EFM mentor and trainer. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Kentucky and earned a Master of Divinity degree at Lexington Theolog-ical Seminary. She is an or-dained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Sewanee, 931-598-1577.

By the Rev. Kuulei Green
Chaplain, St. Barnabas Apartments and Nursing Home

Have you ever “created” a birthday party? Maybe “create” is a unusual word to use, but for the past 10 years I have watched birthday parties being “created” in a masterful way each month at the St. Barnabas Birthday Tea.

The idea started with the Rev. John H. Bonner Sr., then-rector at St. Paul, Chattanooga. The party was given by the church especially for the residents who had birthdays in a particular month, but it was attended by all of the residents.

Later, each ECSET church was asked to take a month and prepare this special birthday celebration.

I joined St. Barnabas as chaplain in 1994 and since then, I have attended some lovely and original parties, which offer tastefully prepared and beautifully decorated finger foods.

The church in charge usually brings a gift for each person who has a birthday in that month, and they supply music through a choir, organist, guitarist or flutist. Often they conduct a “sing-a-long” during this party time. The parties start at 3 p.m. and last for one hour.

In April of this year, the Church of the Nativity in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., came with all their beautiful food and all their wonderful spirit.

Along with members of the church family and their rector, the Rev. Betty Latham, we were entertained musically by Dan Rineer, the church organist.

In May, the parish of St. Martin of Tours staged a tea, and St. Peter’s Church will be with us in June.

The St. Barnabas apartment residents are always grateful to all of the churches, and they say they look forward each and every month to their wonderful Birthday Tea.

The Rev. Kuulei Green, 423-267-7122.

Rugby staged its 30th Festival of British and Appalachian Culture May 22-23.

The Rev. Peter Keese, supply priest, welcomed worshipers to Holy Eucharist at Christ Church that Sunday, and visitors were greeted warmly afterward and invited to have coffee or lemonade and fruit breads. They also were urged to return to hear the history of the church at one of the afternoon tours.

A number of the historic town’s structures were open for tours, and 70 craft displays and demonstrations, musical groups and dancers filled the day with many entertainment options.

During a church tour, Senior Warden Jim McBrayer described the town’s beginnings. “Thomas Hughes, who founded Rugby, was an upper-class Englishman: wealthy, educated, member of Parliament, best-selling author and a social reformer,” he said.

The parish and town were established on the same day: Oct. 5, 1880, McBrayer said. Bishop Quintard gave the invocation for Rugby’s opening-day ceremony.

Thomas Hughes never lived in Rugby because his wife refused to move to the frontier. But his mother, in her eighties, did relocate to the town and died there in 1887, a few weeks before the church building was dedicated.

Rugby is a district listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and Historic Rugby is the nonprofit organization that works to preserve the original structures and plan for the town.

On the Web at www.historicrugby.org/ or call Christ Church, 931-540-1318.

On April 25, friends and members of Integrity participated in a Holy Eucharist at St. Luke’s Church in Knoxville. Several unchurched persons from the larger gay community who attended were quite moved.

Bishop Charles vonRosenberg celebrated, and his shepherding presence — expressed not only by the rich symbolism of the office but also by the calm of his pastoral manner — was deeply appreciated by all who came together.

Assisting in the service were the Rev. Gayle Hansen Browne, whose sermon provided welcome pastoral encouragement, and the Rev. Wade Frye, who served as the bishop’s deacon.

Smiling faces from host church St. Luke’s showed impressive support, and after the service we enjoyed wonderful refreshments during a time to meet, greet and make new friends.

On May 2, an Integrity Eucharist was celebrated at Grace Episcopal Church in Chattanooga.

The Rev. Stephen Askew was celebrant and preacher, using the Propers for Christian Unity. The Rev. Felicity Peck served as deacon. After the service, refreshments accompanied discussion on continued support in the Chattanooga area.

Many thanks to everyone who took part in these two services, which, as always, were open to all.

Nancy Mott, Integrity convener, 865-637-8801.

By Emily McDonald
South East Area Correspondent

The second in a series of paintings designed to tell the story of St. Peter has been unveiled at St. Peter, Chattanooga.

“St. Peter’s Release from Prison” was painted by Daud Akhriev, a Chattanooga-based artist who studied at the Repin Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The vertical oil painting is nine feet wide and nearly 13 feet tall to the peak of its arched top. The bottom portion depicts St. Peter being released by an angel while two guards sleep; in the top portion, eight angels celebrate his release. All the figures are life-sized, and they are attired in red robes.

“In Russia red means beautiful and conveys the atmosphere of celebration,” Akhriev told the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

“After the Fishing Miracle” was the first painting Akhriev was commissioned to paint for the church, and it was installed and dedicated three years ago. It is 9 x 16 feet in size and shows Peter and the other disciples fishing as they wait for Christ to appear after his resurrection.

Akhriev, who was born in 1959, is Ingushi, a people from the north Caucasus Mountains between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. He met his future wife, Melissa Hefferlin, at the Repin Institute and came with her to the United States in 1991. Hefferlin is a native of Chattanooga.

Hefferlin and Akhriev live and work in a renovated building in Chattanooga’s Southside neighborhood, the Akhriev Hefferlin Art Studio and Residence.

St. Peter, Chattanooga, 423-877-2428.