Copyright © 2007 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee

Diocesan Day draws crowd
to ‘center of the diocese’

 

Photo by Sharon Rasmussen The finished screened porch along the back of the Commons Building provided a perfect stage for an active table grace before lunch on Diocesan Day: "Oh, the Lord is good to me, and so I thank the Lord ..."

Nearly 100 people sat on folding chairs, benches and the grass at Grace Point on Sept. 8, listening to a young man tell them why this place is important to him. His words were the sermon in this service of Holy Eucharist on Diocesan Day.

“There’s a feeling you don’t get anywhere else – kids get out of cars the first day of summer camp and know your name, and you get to watch them grow over the years,” said MacKenzie Hardt, a senior in high school and a communicant of St. Stephen, Oak Ridge. “I got to teach a kid this summer how to swim, and it was a great experience, to see how proud he was of himself and what he’d accomplished.

“I ask all of you to not just give money but also to give time – to come out and see how Grace Point can touch each one of your lives,” he said.

The thought was not long in coming that this wonderful property had been in the care of the diocese most of this young man’s teen years. The purchase was finalized in 2001, and this past summer marked the sixth year of Grace Point Summer Camp.

But Grace Point isn’t only about summer camps; it’s about the vestry and EFM weekends and a host of other events requiring just the right place to ensure the proper balance between group activity and individual reflection.

Spacious meeting rooms, comfortable – if a bit rustic – sleeping quarters, crackling fires, gentle walking trails and commanding lake views combine to inspire individuals and groups alike.

As camp Executive Director Christopher Turner said to those who came to Diocesan Day, “Welcome to a place we hope you will think of as home. Grace Point has become the center of the diocese.”

As your parish, ministry group or family plans its next overnight experience, consider Grace Point. For more information, contact Christopher Turner, 865-376-0589, 865-803-8921 (cell) or gracepoint@etdiocese.net. n

Ascension choir camp may become annual event

By Jim Garvey
Director of Music for Ascension, Knoxville

A high point of this past summer for me professionally was not a conference or convention out of town, but rather a camp only sort-of-out-of-town with youngsters. This year was the first time I had undertaken a choir camp for my choristers at Grace Point, and based on the overwhelmingly positive response from the children and their parents, I think we will try to make it an annual event.

For several years now I have offered to take my Ascension choristers to one of the choir camps that the Royal School of Church Music in America offers around the country, but for a number of reasons none of my singers’ families have been able to go.  And for two or three summers in a row a colleague of mine at Christ Church Cathedral in Lexington, Ky., invited us to join his choir on their annual summer camp at the Domain, the retreat center for the Diocese of Lexington. My choristers loved those trips to eastern Kentucky, and while I knew that I should be organizing a camp of my own, I wasn’t sure of a venue for it.  

At this point I must sheepishly admit I had never been to Grace Point, and so I was intrigued when Ascension planned a daylong staff retreat there last spring. On that retreat, during breaks when my confrères were enjoying some coffee or a Coke, I found myself exploring the sleeping accommodations downstairs with an eye toward a possible choir getaway. The house had everything we needed: lots of beds, a fully equipped kitchen, a rehearsal space down the hill, a pool. Suddenly I could no longer rationalize not having a choir camp.

We scheduled the camp for the three days in August right before the public school fall semester started, which paid dividends since virtually all of the singers would be in town. Chaperones volunteered, menus were planned, provisions shopped for – we were set. And it was a marvelous time together! Both Christopher Turner and Bo Lewis could not have been more accommodating, welcoming us and making themselves available for any eventuality. 

The actual camp schedule tried to balance work and play: a morning rehearsal followed by rhythm scheme work, free time after lunch with a rehearsal and evening prayer in the late afternoon, and one last rehearsal after dinner with free time after that. I daresay the most memorable points for the youngsters were the two evenings out on the lake – one evening we canoed and kayaked on our own, and the other evening Bo and his son (who was visiting from Egypt) took us out for a pontoon boat ride. The last day Bo celebrated a Rite III Eucharist during which we sang a song of his own composition; it was a fitting end to a wonderful time together.

We all remember wonderful experiences from our youth, perhaps lovely spots we have visited or friendships formed. I like to think that the camp experience will take root in our singers’ minds the way similar memories were formed for me.

I am so glad that Grace Point is available to us, and my thanks to Christopher Turner, Bo Lewis and the diocesan staff for making choir camp such an enjoyable and memorable time for us.

Ascension, Knoxville: 865-588-0589

SUMMER CAMPS 2008! Grace Point offers summer camp sessions throughout June and July. Each session is one week, except for sessions 5a and 5b, which are shorter sessions for very young campers with a parent. Camp 1: June 6 - 12 Rising 10th Grade through Rising College Freshmen Camp 2: June 15 - 21 Rising 8th- and 9th-graders Camp 3: June 24 - 30 Rising 6th- and 7th-graders Camp 4: July 3 - 9 Rising 4th- and 5th-graders Camp 5a: July 11 - 13, 5b: 15 - 17 (pick one) Rising 1st-, 2nd-, 3rd-graders, with a parent CAMP SCHOLARSHIP FUND! To support a camper through the diocesan scholarship fund, make your check payable to Diocese of East Tennessee with the notation, “Grace Point camp scholarship fund,” and send it to: Mary Berl Grace Point Scholarship Fund Diocese of East Tennessee 814 Episcopal School Way Knoxville TN 37932 — Thank you!!

No kid misses out on camp because of money ...

By Mary Berl and Mike Keene

This summer more than 150 young people from our diocese and beyond had the great experience of being campers at Grace Point, either in one of our basic camp sessions or in the Appalachian camp. Another 46 campers came for the Ulster Project or another specialty camp.

Many of these campers paid the full fees for attending. For many others, their churches picked up all or part of the costs. For untold others, a benevolent Grandma, a family friend or some local agency paid all or part. There’s really no way to track just where the money comes from for such campers – at Grace Point, we’re just glad they are there.

But for 30 or so campers this past summer and every summer – nearly 20 percent of the young people who stayed at camp for a full week – all or part of their costs were directly paid by the Diocese of East Tennessee.

Putting it another way, the $3,387 from the diocese played a critical part in at least 30 campers being able to come to Grace Point Camp at all. That, it seems to us, is a lot of bang for not very many bucks.

For as long as it has existed, Grace Point Summer Camp has had the policy of not letting lack of funds keep anyone from attending. Many thanks are due to all the individuals, parishes, agencies and others who have contributed either to parish-based or to diocesan-based scholarship funding in the past. Contributions to “the Grace Point Scholarship Fund” come from all kinds of sources, most especially parishes and individual clergy.

Take a look at the adjacent box: By taking a few simple steps, you too can contribute to the Grace Point Scholarship Fund at Diocesan House. Every dollar you put into that fund will be used to maximum effect in sending more of our young people to camp.

The benefits of being a camper are tangible. Young people make new friendships and renew and strengthen old ones. They grow in their sense that there are other people of strong faith (and/or of searching hearts) who are their own age (or older or younger) and with whom they can share their faith journeys.

The benefits to the people of the diocese of having our young people attend summer camp are equally important – such as the opportunity to live into their baptismal covenant.

Remember, every time we stand up in church and renew the covenant, we loudly and joyfully answer these questions: Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ? Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the prayers? Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ? Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

We will!

How can you support the young people of our church? One really good way is to contribute to the camper scholarship fund, to make sure that nobody doesn’t go to camp because of money.

If you look at any of the group photos we take at the end of each camp session, you can’t tell which campers are on scholarship and which aren’t. At Grace Point Camp, they’re just kids. And if you look at the plaques we started adding on the Commons Building porch that every camper at every camp signs, you can’t tell which signatures are from campers on scholarship, any more than you can tell which ones are from tall, red-headed, or left-handed campers. What you have is a bunch of terrific kids, all having a great time, basking in God’s grace at camp.

The most important reason to contribute to the scholarship fund is that it enables more campers at Grace Point to have many and varied opportunities to experience the power of God’s grace moving in their lives. And that’s what summer camp – and Grace Point – are all about.

By Christopher Turner, executive director

Greetings from the shore of Watts Bar Lake and Grace Point Camp.

It has gotten noticeably cooler in the mornings and evenings at Grace Point. I came to that conclusion the other morning when I tried to turn on the heat just to knock the chill out of the air and … nothing happened. No heat, just a loud grinding noise.

After layering up, I called the friendly heat-and-air guy from around the corner. He came out, checked the system and reported that he “had to order a part.” Thank goodness the forecast called for warmer evenings for the next few days.

The cooler weather does bring with it a sense of refreshment. The lack of rain has limited the leaf color, but the lower temperatures seem to motivate all of us that live around Chamberlain Cove to get outside. And instead of having to stand 10 feet away from the campfires on the Point for fear of melting, visitors to Grace Point now huddle around the inviting (and needed) warmth.

There is something about being at camp and marshmallows, however. I don’t get it. I may be the only camp director in the universe that doesn’t really like the white, fluffy stuff. Too often the jet-puffed masses on the ends of sticks or (gulp) clothes hangers become flaming projectiles destined to test the mettle of the best camp director or youth adviser or parent. Yeah, the chocolate in a s’more makes it better, but still …

Camp in fall takes on a different look and feel, but not a different mission. It is still a place to retreat, to find peace, to experience what it is to live if only for a few hours with people you might not know very well.

And of course Grace Point will always be a place to play and pray, to learn and teach, to sing and be quiet, to sit and rock and rock and rock. (We’ve got a lot of new rocking chairs.)

My only advice to you this time of year: Layer up.

Grace and peace to all of us. Christopher Turner may be reached at 865-376-0589 or 865-803-8921 (cell), or by sending an e-mail to gracepoint@etdiocese.net.

Camp and Retreat Center availability

Did you know anyone may reserve facilities for their use at Grace Point, the camp and retreat center of the Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee?

In addition to events such as vestry and youth group retreats, Grace Point has hosted study and hobby groups, family weekends and day meetings.

Grace Point overlooks Watts Bar Lake near Kingston, Tenn. Nearly 270 acres of woods, hills, fields and two miles of shoreline offer plenty of space for activities including boating, fishing, swimming, hiking, camping, picnicking, games, sports, reflection, meditation and worship.

Rates are as follows:

• Diocesan/parish groups, day rate: $50 minimum for 10 or fewer guests; $5 for each additional guest. Overnight: $20 per person, per night, with a minimum fee of $160 per group. Full payment is due upon departure.
• Non-diocesan/private groups, day rate: $50 minimum for five or fewer guests; $10 for each additional guest. Overnight: $30 per person, per night, with a minimum fee of $240 per group. Full payment is due upon departure.
• Rate for diocesan youth events/parish youth groups in the diocese, overnight: $10 per person per night. Full payment is due upon departure.

A $50 deposit is required within 10 business days of making a reservation.

To make your reservation, contact Christopher Turner, executive director of Grace Point, at gracepoint@etdiocese.net, 865.376.0589 (camp) or 865.803.8921 (cell).

Grace Point pages on the Web include more facilities information and photos at gracepointcamp.org.
Directions to Grace Point