|
|
Copyright © 2004 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee | May / June 2004 |
|
| |
|
REACH
OUT: MISSION MATTERS Episcopal Church designates diocese’s 10th and 11th Jubilee Centers |
|
|
|
By Emily McDonald A residential program for physically challenged adults in Chattanooga and a social ministry in Cleveland have been named Jubilee Centers of the Episcopal Church.
Hosanna Community was designated a center on April 18, and the Bradley Initiative for Church and Community Inc. was made a center on May 7. Bishop Charles vonRosenberg presided at both designation services.
Hosanna Community and BICC are the 10th and 11th Jubilee Centers respectively in the diocese and are among approximately 800 centers in the United States and in other countries.
“You are a Jubilee Center for one reason,” the Rev. Wade Frye, diocesan Jubilee Center officer, said at the BICC program. “You are the best at what you do.”
BICC was founded in 1998 to bring together churches and the community to address pressing social issues in Cleveland and Bradley County. Its services include a credit union and match savings program for low income individuals and families. BICC sponsors community forums and the annual Festival of Cultures and has an education initiative that covers preschool and high school students.
Today 34 churches representing 12 denominations are involved with BICC, including St. Luke, Cleveland.
Ben Helmer, who works with community development of rural and small community missions for the Episcopal Church, came from New York for the designation service. Five years ago the church’s Roanridge Trust gave a three-year grant to BICC as it was getting started. “When I came down (then), all this was just a dream,” he said.
Today, he said, “I suspect it is one of the primary ecumenical endeavors in the whole of the United States” as far as rural and community ministries are concerned.
“We are so excited about being a Jubilee Center,” said Brenda Hughes, BICC director. One benefit will come from being part of a network that will provide a way to share information, she said. “We can learn from each other.”
Ben Holt, director of Hosanna Community, also said that networking was a primary advantage of being a Jubilee Center. Directors of the five Jubilee centers in the Chattanooga area are now meeting on a monthly basis for just that purpose. In addition, Mr. Holt said, being a center is “kind of like having the Good Housekeeping seal of approval.”
Hosanna Community, which accepted its first residents in 1996, is designed as a haven for men and women with physical disabilities. It seeks to provide a family atmosphere where residents and assistants can grow and learn from each other while sharing the responsibilities of daily life.
Hosanna Community has seven residents. It receives support from Episcopal churches in the Chattanooga area and also from the Episcopal Commission of Southeast Tennessee.
The Jubilee Ministry is a ministry of peace and justice established by the 1982 General Convention to serve an underserved population. The other centers in the diocese are the Chattanooga Community Kitchen; Esperanza del Barrio, Chattanooga; St. Elmo/Alton Park Reading Center at Thankful Memorial Church, Chattanooga; Mountain Community Parent Resource Center, White Oak; Mountain Women’s Exchange, Jellico; Food of the Multitude, Elizabethton; Episcopal Appalachian Ministries, Knoxville; St. James Feeding Ministries, Knoxville; and the Volunteer Ministry Center, Knoxville.
The Rev. Wade Frye, diocesan Jubilee officer, 865-983-3512 or in the South East Area, Ann Holt, assistant diocesan Jubilee officer, 423-802-0485.
REACH OUT: MISSION MATTERS related stories:
|