Sermon given on the 10th Sunday after Pentecost All Saints, Sewanee | August 18, 2019 Luke 12:49-56 Watch the video of the sermon here. Did you know there is such a thing as a fire historian? I knew historians could specialize. Civil War historians, historians of the Reformation, art historians—such ones as these I had heard about. But fire? I have only recently discovered that you can grow up to be a fire historian. So, while those other boys and
Read MoreReconciling Thoughts
Susan and I traveled to Door County, Wisconsin in late July for our summer vacation. While we were there, along with a chance to unwind, take long walks, read books, and enjoy cooler weather, we also celebrated that it had been two years since the East Tennessee bishop election. In that time since the election, it has been a real joy for us to put down roots in East Tennessee and listen to you and dream and plan for common
Read More‘Blessed Jonathan, pray for us’
Reflection on Jonathan Myrick Daniels Pilgrimage by Michelle Simmons Michelle is a Sewanee seminarian from the Diocese of Colorado doing her Field Education at St. Timothy, Signal Mountain I spent the last two days on an amazing pilgrimage in honor of Jonathan Myrick Daniels and the martyrs of Alabama. Daniels was an Episcopal seminarian (like me) studying for the priesthood in 1965 when he responded to a call by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for volunteers to help assist with
Read MoreWe have Gospel Work to Do; We Pray and We Act
East Tennessee Friends, I want to commend to you the statement below from Bishops United Against Gun Violence. I am a member of this network of Episcopal bishops committed to ending the epidemic of gun violence in the U.S. Our core gospel work as Episcopalians in East Tennessee is the ministry of reconciliation. A reconciled land is one where the vision we hear from Zechariah is made real, “where old men and old women shall again sit in the streets
Read More‘Still a Need to Fight for Women’s Proper Role in the Church’
July 29 is the 45th Anniversary of the first ordinations of women in The Episcopal Church, the “Philadelphia 11.” In April 2015, East Tennessee Episcopal Church Women sponsored a Symposium and Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of Women’s Ordination with two of the Philadelphia 11, and the author of a book about the 11. Below is a reprise of the article written by Pam Strickland about the celebration. They were compared to witches and called names by male priests that
Read MoreForming New Habits: The Ecumenical Order of Charity Comes to East Tennessee
By Bro. Andrew Aelred “In all times and places, the Eternal One calls forth souls to help creation realize its destiny. God so calls us, believers from many Christian denominations, to come together into the Ecumenical Order of Charity. Through living out the principles embodied in our rule of life, The Founding Document, and through the profession of our five unique vows, we dedicated ourselves to becoming active conscious participants in the unfolding of the Reign of God on Earth, co-workers with Our
Read MoreBrother Reich’s Journey to Answer God’s Call
By Brother Larry Walter Reich In 2009 I began my journey to answer God’s call. At my age, the priesthood and diaconate were not in my future. At that time we had two brothers at St. Paul’s in Chattanooga that were in the Brotherhood of St. Gregory (BSG). This is a large order of Friars in The Episcopal Church. I began to ask questions of them and I had a dream that this was what God has called me to
Read MoreReconciling Thoughts
I recently hiked up Mt. LeConte with a group of hikers, mostly made up of Good Samaritan Knoxville members. There were nearly 60 of us and we chose different trails to make our way up to the Lodge, where we spent the night. My group chose the Boulevard Trail. Somehow, our trail required you to walk uphill BOTH ways. I’m really serious. Both going and coming, there were stretches of uphill, even in the descent. My quads are only now
Read MoreA Pastoral Letter on Baptism and Citizenship
“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?” —Book of Common Prayer, p. 305. “You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” —Deuteronomy 10:17 (NRSV) Dear East Tennessee Friends, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I write to you as we prepare
Read MoreBurial Eucharist for the Rev. Deacon Jim Parry
St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church, Knoxville, Tenn. John 6:37-40 Go west. Make space. Lose nothing. Even before he was ordained as a deacon, Jim Parry did a rather rare thing. And he did it three times. He went west and helped start a new Episcopal parish church. Now when I say west, I do not mean West Memphis or western Kansas or South Dakota. I mean Northshore Drive and Cedar Bluff Road and Farragut–Ascension and Good Samaritan and St. Elizabeth’s. Jim
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