Copyright © 2005 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee

‘Appalachian Pilgrimage’
journeys to Cleveland

From left, Black Fox Elementary School Principal Kim Fisher describes a reading program, which included two preschool classes, to “Appalachian Pilgrimage” participants Bill Fryar, Nancy Worland, Bishop Charles vonRosenberg, Mary Rhoades and Linda Dietrich. Behind at right are BICC members Jeff Hamm and Ed McIntire.

It may seem odd to travel south for the diocese’s annual Appalachian Pilgrimage, until one remembers that all of East Tennessee is in Appalachia.

On May 18, Bishop Charles vonRosenberg and members of the Appalachian Ministries Resource Team were among those who journeyed south to Cleveland to meet representatives of the Bradley Initiative for Church and Community. Others came up from the Chattanooga area to learn abou the ecumenical nonprofit organization, which also is a Jubilee Center of the Episcopal Church. BICC’s executive director, Brenda Hughes, was unable to attend because of a schedule conflict.

Pilgrimage participants included Arline Caliger of St. Francis of Assisi, Ooltewah; Linda Dietrich of All Saints, Morristown; Sandy Elledge of St. Thomas, Knoxville; Bill Fryar of St. John, Johnson City; Marita Pratt, AMRT chairwoman, and Bill Pratt of St. Clare, LaFollette; Mary Rhoades of St. Stephen, Oak Ridge; the Rev. Ed Scott of St. Alban, Hixson; and Nancy Worland and the Rev. Pat Cahill of Thankful Memorial, Chattanooga.

The day of learning began at the BICC offices, where staff and BICC members described the organization’s roots and operations. Later stops took the group to Black Fox Elementary School; St. Luke’s Church, where parishioners served lunch; and the Bradley Initiative Credit Union.

Sandy Elledge, executive coordinator of Episcopal Appalachian Ministries and an AMRT member, recalled that Hughes began developing BICC when she invited a pastor and spouse to a meal at which she shared her vision of a community-oriented organization. The meals spun out over nine months as she talked with first one clergy couple and then another. “She started with clergy for access,” Elledge said, but to join the process, the clergy were asked to involve lay people as well.

BICC operates from a foundation of listening, the group was told.

“We don’t need to go into the community and assume we know their needs,” said Ed McIntire, a BICC member. When it launched in 1998 with the support of the Commission on Religion in Appalachia and the Center for New Community in Chicago, BICC targeted initial community issues in the areas of “racial problems, denominational strife and the economic divide,” he said.

The listening process begins with training volunteers and sending them out to interview church and community members. Interviewers ask a few demographic questions and then move on to several opinion questions, including “What do you particularly like about our church / community?” and “What are the needs or concerns you have about our church / community?”

Interviewees are encouraged to elaborate on their answers, and the steering committee uses the information to identify issues needing attention.

“The steering committee is steered by the listening process, and as things begin to surface, we take the No. 1 issue,” said Jeff Hamm, chairman of the steering committee. Next they “seek out the experts” for more information to refine the direction, he said. “Once we start examining an issue, we invite the community into forums that we advertise” for further discussion and refinement. BICC then considers appropriate action to address these issues.

Hamm said the committee hopes eventually to include a clergyperson and two lay members from every church at its monthly meetings, which he said now draw 20-60 people from 5-25 churches. Group Bible study is vital to committee members, he said, as is open conversation.

“The steering committee is the dreaming committee, because we dream what we can do,” he said.

The issue of adequate education surfaced early. One way BICC responds is through support of a preschool class at rural Black Fox Elementary School. It is the school’s second class that prepares children for kindergarten, and this class blends students who qualify for assistance from the national Head Start program with those who do not.

The pilgrimage stopped at Black Fox to meet the school’s principal, Kim Fisher, and hear about the class.

The preschoolers’ day begins when they are signed in at 7:30. Students go to breakfast and watch the school-produced “WBFE” news program, which is created in what used to be the “special ed” room but now serves as a resource for the whole school, Fisher said. The children play outside daily and have lunch before leaving at 12:30.

The students participate at their own speed in school programs. Literacy efforts begin at this young age as children who are learning their ABC’s get credit for reading a book if it is read to them and they are able to answer questions about its content, she said. Federal, state and foundation programs support the school’s reading projects, and the children respond well, she said. “We like everybody to be happy and feel good about themselves,” she added.

The location of the preschool classes within the elementary school building is inspired, Fisher added. The young children really do get a head start: They become comfortable in a school environment before they begin standard schooldays – and as a bonus, the older students have developed a fondness for the “babies,” she said.

At the other end of the educational age spectrum, pilgrims learned during lunch at St. Luke’s Church that the REACH Adult High School program of BICC has 52 students enrolled, with more than 70 registered for the fall. Students work toward a high school diploma.

BICC members noted the positive influence graduates can have on family members. “Parents will go and get their diplomas, and then they’ll send their brothers and cousins,” said Cindy Powers, chairwoman of the BICC board of directors.

REACH classes are held at Cleveland State Community College, and organizers hope the location may inspire successful students also to set post-secondary school goals.

In an afternoon visit to the former Blythe Avenue School, pilgrims learned of a BICC response to concerns voiced in the community about the economic divide. The Bradley Initiative Credit Union, which is housed at the former school, is one of only two community development credit unions in the state. It is organized independently of BICC, and its members must have some connection with the neighborhood in which the institution is based.

According to a brochure, BICU aims to serve people who “previously have had no interaction with existing financial institutions.” It has 894 members, and “we expect 1,000 by year’s end,” said employee Jean Malone.

She said the credit union’s mission is threefold: to urge savings, to offer loans at reasonable rates and to teach people to manage their money.

Some account holder are participants in the BICC Individual Development Account program, which Mattie Benton organizes.

“People who participate in IDA save $300 to $1,200 a year and get a 1:1 match from us,” she said. “The money can be applied toward purchase of a house, computer or car, or it can be used for education.” The program stresses financial literacy and requires completion of a 12-week course.

Other BICC programs include its Festival of Cultures each April that celebrates the estimated 64 distinct ethnic groups in the area and is designed to remove racism and classism barriers; the annual BICC Assembly that brings churches and community members together; and the Commission on Racial Equality, which is the framework through which BICC addresses issues of racial inequality.

“It’s a very exciting thing to see men and women come together and be the church,” Hamm said of BICC. “We come together in fellowship around a common cause.”

BICC: 423-559-1112 or www.bicc-inc.org/.