Ongoing activities of the diocesan ECW

If you have specific questions about the following events or any activitiy of the diocesan ECW, contact Patricia Brake Rutenberg, East Tennessee ECW president (pbrake2@yahoo.com or 865-604-5479.

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

Spring Conference

The Rev. Dr. Daniel P. Matthews Keynoter
for the Women's Spring Conference
April 16-17, 2010
Du Bose Conference Center

The Rev. Dr. Daniel P. Matthews will be the keynote speaker for the joint Spring Conference of the women of all three Tennessee dioceses. His topic will be "Grow in Grace." Dan Matthews has served in all three dioceses and was the rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in Knoxville from 1972-1980.

As rector, but now retired, of 300 year old Trinity Church, Wall St., NYC, Dan Matthews was an apostle of hope and healing for lower Manhattan after the September 11 attack as the district sought to rebuild itself. He appeared on all the major TV news shows as an advocate for the church's post September 11 mission. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his leadership, and he has also been given four honorary doctorates, asked to preach all over this country, invited to preach at Canterbury Cathedral in Great Britain, and to preach in China. He is an outstanding speaker and one of the most distinguished priests of our time.

The Spring Conference will be April 16-17, 2010 at Dubose Conference Center. Registration will be from 1-3 p.m., followed by the Opening Service with all three bishops. The Conference ends Saturday after lunch. We hope you will join with us in spending time with Dan Matthews by completing the registration form, and we look forward to seeing you there.

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

spring conference reports:   2008  ·    2007  ·    2006  ·    2005  ·   2004

Fall Annual Meeting

The 2009 ECW Fall Gathering and Annual Meeting was 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 included 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.

Read reports of previous fall meetings by following the links below:

fall meeting reports:  2008   ·  2007  ·  2006  ·   2005  ·   2004  ·    2003

The Tucker Memorial Scholarship Fund

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. It is a one-time grant, currently $1,500, 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.