Copyright © 2004 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee

Harriman, Rugby clergy honored

On March 11, the Rev. Joseph Pinner, rector of St. Andrew Episcopal Church in Harriman, was in Nashville to offer the opening prayer for the state Senate session.

State Sen. Tommy Kilby, Democrat from the 12th District, invited Pinner to serve as Chaplain of the Day.

In his introduction and opening remarks, Kilby expressed deep appreciation to Pinner and to St. Andrew’s parish for their immediate and long-term aid to the victims of the 2002 tornado destruction in Morgan County.

Kilby noted that Pinner and his wife, Sharon Pinner, were among the first to reach Mossy Grove after the tornado struck and that members of St. Andrew’s church were a constant presence in Morgan County for about six months during the assistance and recovery period.

— Pat Blackmore

At the annual meeting March 25-27 of the Southest Region of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education in Orlando, the Rev. Peter Keese was given the J.O. Kempson Distinguished Service Award, an honor bestowed annually on a member in recognition of outstanding service to the regional organization.

“I was totally surprised to hear my name called at the banquet,” said Keese, supply priest to Christ Church, Rugby. “I was honored to be the recipient of the highest honor our region can bestow.”

The award is named for one of the pioneers of the CPE movement in this region, which covers Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Keese also was elected as the region’s representative to the ACPE board in the class of 2006.

According to the Web site for the Southeast Region, the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education is a national professional association “committed to advancing experience-based theological education for seminarians, clergy and lay persons of diverse cultures, ethnic groups and faith traditions.” The organization establishes standards, certifies supervisors and accredits programs and centers. “ACPE programs promote the integration of personal history, faith tradition and the behavioral sciences in the practice of spiritual care.”

— Sharon Rasmussen

Transitions

The Rev. Scherry Fouke, St. Dunstan, Blue Bell, Pa., has accepted the call to be rector of All Saints, Morristown. Her first service in the parish will be July 4.

The Rev. Carol Ann Bullard, St. Matthew, Dayton, has accepted the call to be rector at St. Timothy in Gearing, Nebraska. She will begin her new ministry there in the latter part of June.

Ordinations

The Rev. Mary Lee Bergeron has completed her studies at the School of Theology, University of the South in Sewanee. Her ordination as priest is planned for June 12 at St. John’s Cathedral. She will serve on the cathedral staff.

Virginia Theological Seminary students Pat Grace and Barbara Kirk-Norris and Sewanee seminarians Leslie St. Louis and Nina Pooley graduated this spring. Grace, Kirk-Norris and St. Louis were to be ordained transitional deacons May 29 at St. John’s Cathedral, Knoxville. Grace will serve at St. James, Knoxville; St. Louis will serve at St. Paul’s Church in Rochester, N.Y., and Kirk-Norris’ plans are pending.

Retired Upper East priest dies at 87;
wife passes on within a month

KINGSPORT — The Rev. Elbert L. Scrantom, better known as “Curley,” 87, died Friday, April 16. His wife of 61 years, Margaretta “Peggy” Steele Scrantom, died May 10.

The Rt. Rev. Charles E. vonRosenberg celebrated and the Rev. Carl Cunning-ham officiated at a memorial service April 19 at St. Paul, Kingsport, for Fr. Scantom. A memorial service was held at St. Paul on May 15 for Mrs. Scrantom.

Born and raised in Rochester, N.Y., Fr. Scrantom earned degrees from the University of Rochester and from the American Extension School of Law. He served five years in the U. S. Army, receiving the Bronze Star. He and Margaretta Steele married in 1942. He retired from Eastman Kodak in 1976.

He was ordained priest in the Episcopal Church in 1973 and served at Kingsport churches St. Paul, St. Timothy and St. Christopher. He also served at St. Columba, Bristol, and St. Thomas, Elizabethton. He was executive director of the Kingsport Volunteer Chaplaincy Service and was chaplain to a number of organizations in Upper East Tennessee.

Memorials may be made to St. Paul Episcopal Church, 161 Ravine Road, Kingsport, Tenn. 37660. E-mail condolences may be sent to hamlettdobson@charter.net.

ET Episcopalians attend gala weekend
marking retirement of former Knoxville rector

A number of East Tennessee Episcopalians were in attendance in New York City the first weekend in May to mark the retirement of their friend the Rev. Dr. Daniel P. Matthews Sr. after 17 years as rector of Trinity parish on Wall Street in New York City.

Matthews was rector at St. John’s church in Knoxville, now the cathedral, from 1972-80.

Nancy Tanner, communicant at St. John’s Cathedral, who attended along with her daughter, Betsy, said other Episcopalians who traveled from East Tennessee included Jim and Natalie Haslam; Jim and Mimi Smith; Philip and Vicki Fulmer and their daughter, Allison; Dave and Evelyn Miller; Peggy Crump; the Rev. Hunter Huckabay and Prestine Huckabay; and the Rt. Rev. William Sanders, first bishop of East Tennessee, and his daughter, Kathy.

“I never heard so much praise from so many notables, and all about Dan! Overwhelm-ing!” Tanner said in offering the following report.

A dinner for 160 family members and guests at Rockefeller Center’s storied Rainbow Room launched the weekend. Jim Haslam was one of the speakers, and Lord George L. Carey, 103rd Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lady Eileen Carey also were present.

The next evening’s celebration, emceed by NBC Today Show anchor Katie Couric, drew 1,000 people to the nave of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Attendees included Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold and his wife, Phoebe Griswold; the Very Rev. Robert Willis, dean of Canterbury Cathedral, and many bishops of the church and other notables.

The Trinity Choir sang Aaron Copeland’s “The Promise of Spring,” and wardens and the cathedral dean, the Very Rev. Dr. James Kowalski, made welcoming remarks. Bishop Mark Sisk of New York said grace, then a tribute played across the many large video screens throughout the nave. After-dinner speakers included Matthews’ son, the Rev. Daniel P. Matthews Jr., former rector of St. Paul, Kingsport; Rabbi Ronald B. Sobel; Wilford V. Bane of Vision Management Corp.; and Lord Carey. Clerk of Trinity parish Lorraine LaHuta presented a book of remembrances, and Matthews closed the dinner with acknowledgments. Dancing ended the gala evening.

Matthews celebrated Sunday services at Trinity parish, and the offertory anthem was a world premiere by Owen Burdick in honor of Matthews and his wife, Diane “Deener” Matthews. Lord Carey preached. “We have to admit to feelings of sadness as we gather with you — old friends who go back longer than they care to admit, and newer friends who have caught a glimpse from both of you of God’s love,” Carey said in part, “but all of us are united in admiration of all you have achieved for God’s kingdom.”

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