Copyright © 2006 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee

Bishop breaks ground for chapel, blesses dorms

By Sharon Rasmussen
Diocesan Communication Director

A visit to Grace Point, the diocesan camp and retreat center on Watts Bar Lake, is always a good idea. It offers scenic beauty, charm and a restful quality that paradoxically renews and energizes.

On the second Saturday in September, nearly 200 people decided to spend the day enjoying Grace Point together.

Some 70 East Tennessee Episcopalians gathered on the cool, bright morning of Sept. 9 to participate in two special events that kicked off the day: the founding of St. Paul’s Chapel and the blessing of two tree house dormitories.

Bishop Charles vonRosenberg and the diocesan liturgist, the Rev. Matthew Dutton-Gillett, led the procession from the Commons Building to the Point while chan- ting a litany. Four stakes in the ground marked the rough dimensions of the chapel. As part of the service, the cross and thurible were carried around the perimeter, and strings were stretched between the stakes and through the area’s center to create a cross pattern.

Standing at the site of the altar, the bishop said, “Since faithful people desire to build a house of prayer, dedicated to the glory of God to be known as St. Paul’s Chapel, on this ground now marked with the symbols of Christ … I break ground for this building, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

The parish of St. Paul, Chattanooga, had pledged the chapel to the diocese at the 2003 convention, and more than a dozen of its clergy and members were on hand to assist in turning the ground where the chapel will stand.

“May the Gospel be preached, the Sacraments be administered and prayers and praises be offered in this place, from generation to generation,” the bishop prayed.

The procession then moved up the road to the hillside where the tree house dormitories stand – one under construction and one that came through its first summer camp season with flying colors.

During the service, the bishop prayed, “O God of life and love, the true rest of your people: Sanctify to your servants who will stay in these dormitories their hours of rest and refreshment, their sleeping and their waking; and grant that, strengthened by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, they may rise to serve you all the days of their life …”

After the sharing of the peace, people roamed through the tree houses, led by children who raced to show parents and friends the precise location of “my bed” during summer camp.

Some who participated in the service went off to other Saturday engagements, but many more stayed to unpack coolers and share their lunches, discovering common interests with people from other parishes or renewing previous acquaintances. Members of the Grace Point Board of Managers piloted pontoon boats, kept a watchful eye on swimmers in the pool, dragged canoes and kayaks in and out of the lake and generally helped the afternoon hours to pass pleasurably in outdoor pursuits – though relaxing on one of the screened porches or under a tree seemed to rank highly as well.

More people arrived toward the end of the day, and around 5:00, a group of 100 or so gathered again at the Point, where Bishop vonRosenberg presided over a service of Holy Eucharist during which Resurrection, Loudon, parishioner Katie Twiggs was confirmed.

Grace Point Chef Frank Moore served up a wonderful meal to close the day.

Grace Point on the Web: etdiocese.net/gracepoint/index.php

Vicar makes plans to ‘re-retire’

About sixteen years ago Bishop Sanders invited me to go with him to inspect two pieces of land someone had donated to the then-new Diocese of East Tennessee. He knew of my involvement with and interest in diocesan camping programs, and he wanted to consider such a program for this diocese.

After several hikes into the nether-reaches of East Tennessee with the good bishop, I had the unofficial portfolio of “he-willing-to-observe-likely-or-unlikely-real estate-for-use-by-the-diocese.”

Bishop Tharp continued this unofficial duty but without the companionship on the hikes.

Bishop vonRosenberg made the thing official by appointing a committee of Bishop and Council to research the feasibility of a camp and retreat center. He came on the hikes.

By 2001 I was retired as a rector and installed as the vicar of Grace Point. With an understanding that I would do “whatever necessary” to get things started, we forged ahead.

The Rev. Hugh Jones, our first chair of the Board of Managers, was untiring and truly sacrificial in his leadership. The board members were incredibly devoted and giving of their time and treasure. With their support and that of the current board and its chair, Norma “Butch” Mills, I have muddled through.

As we now search for new management I reflect on the past five (is that possible?) years with great joy and an inexpressible sense of humility and gratitude.

The people! The place! The laughter! The noise! The stillness! The animals! The smells! The people! The people! God! Jesus! Holy Spirit!

Thank you, bishops, diocese and Lord!

And if our house across the cove from the Point gets finished apace, I will re-retire and continue to wallow (or abide?) in the afterglow.

- The Rev. A. D. "Bo" Lewis

Grace Point on the Web: etdiocese.net/gracepoint/index.php

Board of Managers hires architects to design St. Paul’s Chapel; it will be built on the Point

The Grace Point Board of Managers has been meeting on the first Thursday of each month since its annual retreat in early spring.

Chapel architects hired: In recent action, the board has selected Chattanooga architects Frank McDonald and Ann Aiken to immediately launch the process for a chapel to be designed and constructed on the Point, using funds donated by parishioners of St. Paul, Chattanooga.

The Master Planning Committee of the board had solicited interest and requests for qualifications from firms in Chattanooga and Knoxville. After interviewing two firms, the committee recommended one, and the board affirmed their choice.

Early in October the committee met with the architects to study the site and exchange ideas for the chapel design. The architects may present conceptual drawings at their next meeting.

Bishop Charles vonRosenberg officiated at a chapel ground-breaking service during the September Diocesan Day.

Executive Director sought: Members of an ad hoc committee researched and wrote a job description for an executive director to succeed the Rev. Bo Lewis, who announced his plan to retire, possibly at the first of the year.

Many thanks are due to Lewis for his work over the past five years in helping to launch the camp and retreat center and bring it to its next phase of development.

The ad hoc committee was authorized to run a call for applications in the East Tennessee Episcopalian and on the diocesan Web page for Grace Point and to run ads in Episcopal Life, the Living Church and with the Episcopal Camps and Conference Centers. The board met with the Rev. Canon Stephen Askew in October to complete a Church Deployment Office profile as well.

Fee structure under review: In other business, several board members are reviewing the fee structure for all Grace Point facilities, given one tree house dormitory is now available for rental and another one is under construction. When finalized, revisions to the existing rates will be posted to the Grace Point Web page at etdiocese.net/gracepoint.

Volunteer assists board, director: Joyce Grubb has taken on the task of recording minutes of the board meetings, and she also will maintain the database of “friends” of Grace Point. In October, she had begun work on the next issue of a newsletter to those folks whose addresses are listed in the database.

Specialist in public relations, journalism to begin work: Jeannine McKamey of St. John Cathedral, Knoxville, is taking on public relations and journalism work related to the camp and retreat center. She will create and carry out a public relations plan and do other PR work for the board. She also will serve as Grace Point correspondent for the East Tennessee Episcopalian.

Quiet Day scheduled: The Rev. Paige Buchholz plans to lead a Quiet Day at Grace Point on Dec. 9, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and suggests attendees bring a bag lunch. A small program fee will be charged.

Financial Facts

The June/July 2005 ETE reported the outstanding debt for Grace Point stood at $1.43 million. Since then, additional payments of $631,000 have been made from the sale of property given by Monday family and Grow in Mission Capital Campaign gifts. Thank you for your support!

As of Oct. 1, the balance of debt owed to the Patten Trust Fund was $594,600; the balance owed to the Emergency Fund was $144,000; and the balance owed to the Opportunity Fund was $97,000, for a total debt of $835, 600. Continuing expenses to support operations at Grace Point average $30,000 per year.

Gifts to support Grace Point are greatly appreciated and may be sent to the diocesan administrator, Mary Berl, at 814 Episcopal School Way, Knoxville TN 37932.

Parishes’ spirit to be captured in banners for Grace Point

RaRa Schlitt is on a mission. She is contacting all East Tennessee parishes and inviting them to create a banner expressing the spirit of their church. All the banners will be hung at Grace Point.

Her idea has been percolating for a while.

A home health physical therapist, Schlitt served as the Christian education director at St. Andrew, Maryville, for about four years. Then she felt a tug to something new.

After hurricane Katrina happened, “I heard from a lot of different artists in the United States who were concerned about the loss of spiritual folk art on the Gulf Coast. From October to Easter, I worked with eight denominations – 23 churches. My part was to sit alongside the artists as they recreated things they lost when their parishes were destroyed.

“I’d say, ‘what is the one art tradition in your church you don’t want to lose?’ They’d connect with their clergy and come back and say the kneeling pads, or a banner, flag, chasuble or stole. They’d encourage each other and share their traditions across the denominations.”

The artists were displaced, and they gathered together to recapture their parish traditions. “We met at a library or a church, once at a Shoney’s. Last Easter, they took all these things to the churches that had adopted them, and I went to seven services to watch their artwork being blessed. I started to see how we’re all connected.

“I really missed the Episcopal Church. And I thought, I’ve never done anything for my diocese. I’m so in love with St. Andrew’s that I never get to any other Episcopal churches. I thought, I wonder if I can find out what connects all of us as a diocese? I prayed about it. I communicated with the bishop by phone and by letter, and he trusted me with this. A letter went out to all the parishes, and I am going to each parish.

“I contacted a friend who does fabric art, and explained to her what I was doing, and she said, ‘I’m closing that part of my business – would you like to have this?’ And another friend said she had extra tent coverings that she makes for Civil War re-enactments.” The two had offered her a quantity of the very same fabric. They decided to use the fabric as the background, determined four sizes, cut out the pieces and sewed the edges. A sleeve for a pole was sewn as well.

So far, about half of the parishes have responded to her request. “I can’t tell you how easily it’s come together and in a short period of time,” she said.

“I’m hoping whoever reads this article will … be in touch with me,” she said. “Anybody can work on these. Altar guild, clergy, men’s group, first-graders … you don’t have to form a new group. An existing group may want to take this on.

“I’ve asked people to make sure the church name is on there somewhere. The other request is that they use permanent materials – sew it on, paint it with acrylics.

“There are several things I’m willing to do: I’m willing to go sit in their pew and worship with them for a couple of weeks and talk with them about this; I’m willing to put paint on a paintbrush and work with them; or I’m willing to hand it to them and give them a timeline of when I’d like it back. The only one I’ve asked to design is the one representing the diocese.

“We’re going to hang these as they’re done. As people walk in the front door [of the Retreat House at Grace Point], they’re going to see the banners flat against the walls to either side. My hope is that children who come here for camp, people who come for retreats, will look up and see their banners and feel at home.

“These are not banners that show shields of the churches – though if they do that, that’s fine – but these banners should show the spirit of each church. For example, St. Andrew’s is about feeding people; that’s the spirit of the church.

“When I contact the churches, they see what this means – the spirit of each church, what connects us.

“I don’t know if we’ll be done in a year or three years, but I’m hoping this will have a ripple – that this will connect churches to churches and that the artists and storytellers and people in the churches get together.”

RaRa Schlitt: 865-414-2325 or raraschlitt005@aol.com