Episcopal Church Women of The Diocese of East Tennessee

If you have specific questions about the following events or any activitiy of the diocesan ECW, contact Nancy Bosson, East Tennessee ECW president (NBB721@aol.com or 865-671-6852 or 865-207-8570).

To make a nomination to the ECW's diocesan board, please download and complete this form.

The 2009 ECW Fall Gathering and Annual Meeting will be held on
Saturday, September 19 at St. John's Cathedral in Knoxville.
Keynote speaker: Dr. Tom Burman

Each fall the diocese’s Episcopal Church Women come together in Knoxville for their annual meeting to worship, visit and conduct business together. The bishop of East Tennessee, the Rt. Rev. Charles vonRosenberg, celebrates Holy Eucharist, and installs new board members and affirms continuing members for the next year.

The meeting includes a luncheon and a keynote speaker: Dr. Tom Burman, chair and professor of history, University of Tennessee.

Professor Burman specializes in medieval Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations and medieval intellectual history. He earned a Licentiate of Mediaeval Studies from the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies in Tornonto and a Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from the University of Toronto, and has been a Visiting Fellow at the Center for the Study of Islamic Societies and Civilizations in St. Louis as well as at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies.

The luncheon will be catered by Stewart Catering; the cost for lunch is $15. Reservations are needed for all attending, but there is no charge for clergy.

ECW presidents and contact persons click here for letter from Nancy Bosson, budget and registration form.

The 2009 Spring Conference, held May 1-2, featured the Rev. Martha Holton Hedgpeth, speaking on "Forgotten Women of the Bible"

As the spring approaches each year, plans and registration ramp up for the Women's Spring Conference. Women from all three Episcopal dioceses in Tennessee gather with their bishops at DuBose Conference Center in Monteagle, Tenn., in late April.

Registration is on a Friday afternoon. A eucharist with all three bishops opens the conference, and a reception and dinner follow. The evening continues with the longstanding tradition of conversations with the bishops, and the first day closes with compline. The second day focuses on presentations by the keynoter, and lunch is served before the conference closes.

Registration and conference planning revolve among the three Tennessee dioceses, but a registration form is typically available here for download and in the East Tennessee Episcopalian. It is due early in April. For more information, contact Nancy Tanner, East Tennessee conference chair, at 865.577.7614 or nancybt@comcast.net. >

To read reports about spring conferences in recent years, please click the desired link below:

The Tucker Memorial Scholarship Fund was established by the ECW of the Diocese of East Tennessee according to the ECW 2004 yearbook, "in thanksgiving for Mollie Tucker's life and witness and for her many years of service to the Episcopal Church Women in Tennessee." The financial award is intended to help recipients reach educational goals at accredited colleges or technical schools. Since 1988, more than 20 women in the diocese have been awarded a Mollie Hazen Tucker Scholarship for $1,000. It is a one-time grant for one year only.

An update on past Tucker Scholarship winners was included as part of the ECW's 2004 Fall Meeting. Three scholars attended the program, along with the Rev. Louisa Tucker Parsons, daughter of the woman in whose name the scholarship is awarded. The event was covered in the East Tennessee Episcopalian.

If you would like to support this program of the Episcopal Church Women, please send contributions to the ECW treasurer, Ginny Galphin, 15 Mountain Orchard Path, Signal Mountain, TN, 37377. Make checks payable to ECW, Diocese of East Tennessee, and designate your contribution for the "Mollie Tucker Scholarship."

The deadline to apply for grants is May 1 of each year. Winners are announced around June 1, Tucker's birthday. Information, guidelines and applications for the scholarship are available from the ECW scholarship chairman, Cheryl Jones.