East Tennessee grows in understanding:
Bulletin inserts

Episcopal News Service has made available a series of "Grow in Understanding" bulletin inserts, which are designed to give your congregants information about the Episcopal Church and the General Convention, including how the convention makes its decisions.

• The Episcopal Church's beginnings
  To know where we are going, it helps to know where we've been.
• Los comienzos de la Iglesia Episcopal
  Una historia plena de vida.
• The Episcopal Church today
  Our congregations range from thousands gathering to worship in venerable cathedrals to small groups worshipping in storefronts.
• Episcopal Church ministries between conventions
  Our life service begins in our congregations, expands across dioceses, and extends over the entire world.
• The Anglican Communion
  The Episcopal Church traces its roots to the Church of England and we are not the only Christian community in the world to do so.
• How the Episcopal Church is organized for mission
  Your Episcopal Church congregation is part of a much larger community.
• The General Convention
  Bishops, clergy and lay people from Episcopal dioceses all over the world will make broad decisions about our policies and our worship.
• The Presiding Bishop election
  The Presiding Bishop is the church's chief pastor and the key leader in articulating the vision and mission of the church.
• The new Presiding Bishop
  This bulletin insert highlights the election of Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori as the 26th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.

How to use these bulletin inserts

The inserts are each one half of an 8.5" by 11" black-and-white double-sided sheet of paper. The inserts are in PDF form so you will need to have the free Adobe Reader program installed on your computer to view and print the inserts.

To prepare the inserts for your Sunday bulletins, follow these steps:

1. If you don't already have Adobe Reader, click here to download and install it.
2. Click on each Sunday's insert to view it.
3. After the insert opens, you can print it in the way you normally print from your computer. (If you have trouble printing, try clicking the printer icon on the Adobe toolbar to the right of the word "Save a Copy.")
4. Each Sunday's insert comes two to a page and you will have two pages because the inserts are double-sided.
5. Copy the inserts using the 1-side-to-2-side function on your copier.
6. Cut the double-sided pages in half and insert into your bulletins.

You may want to use the text below in the announcements section of your bulletin to inform your congregation about the inserts:

You will find inserted into today's bulletin a sheet titled "Grow in Understanding," one of a series of informational pieces offered by the Episcopal Church's Episcopal News Service to give Episcopalians a sense of how the 75th General Convention (June 13-21 in Columbus, Ohio) fits into the church's mission, ministry and history.