May 8, 2020 Dear East Tennessee Friends, In St. Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus declares that loving God fully and loving our neighbors as ourselves are the two great commandments. Everything else we do as followers of Jesus builds on these calls to love. The Diocesan COVID-19 Task Force is releasing today Guidelines and Questions that will assist all of us in discerning when and how best to return to some form of in-person, public worship. As you read and study their
Read MoreAbide with me, fast falls the eventide
“The darkness deepens, Lord, with me abide When other helpers fail and comforts flee Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me…” Abide with Me, Henry Francis Lyte Dear East Tennessee Friends, I am writing to you on the Wednesday after the fourth Sunday of Easter. I write to you as we all continue to live in the midst of changes and chances of the COVID 19 pandemic. In writing to you now, I do so aware that the
Read MorePoetry with Bishop Brian: Mastery July 21, 2020
Sign for My Father, Who Stressed the Bunt By David Bottoms On the rough diamond, the hand-cut field below the dog lot and barn, we rehearsed the strict technique of bunting. I watched from the infield, the mound, the backstop as your left hand climbed the bat, your legs and shoulders squared toward the pitcher. You could drop it like a seed down either base line. I admired your style, but not enough to take my eyes off the bank
Read MorePoetry with Bishop Brian: Meaningful Connection July 28, 2020
Callings By Claire Keene Nets, nerves, the silver web of streams in the moonlight moving seaward, in roots and branches, journeys. Prophecies in the pink hands of babies, blue histories in diaphanous aged flesh. All movement is of life to life. Like hands stretched out, arms wrapping around, prayers melding like the smoke from many candles. We are so woven that the going forth and the coming home are one.
Read MorePoetry with Bishop Brian: Thoreau in the Rain by David Wagoner
Thoreau in the Rain By David Wagoner He liked bad weather best. He would keep walking when others hurried home, then he would be the only one on a road or a pathway or trespassing through an orchard, lifting his boots and putting them down among the windfall apples. Rain beat on his cape. He felt it urging him to deepen like a bush or a wildflower, to change his shape, to smooth away his crotchets and quirks, and as
Read MorePoetry with Bishop Brian: Mindfulness
Prayer of Dedication By The Rev. Claire Keene Holy places are where, like a wick within a flame, we burn away with God, into God– a union that dissolves us. Holy places are the cliffs where the Wind blows our graven souls to finest sand, a vast blowing powder of light. Holy places are the dark naves, the arks, the bellies of whales where, as if within a vacuum, we expand into ourselves. Gentle Ravisher, make me a holy place.
Read MoreJesus Desires to Bring Peace and Breathe Upon You, a pastoral letter by Bishop Brian Cole
April 22, 2020 “When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear…Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’” -John 20:19 Dear East Tennessee Friends, I am writing to you on Wednesday after the Second Sunday of Easter. I am writing to you in a season when many of us are spending countless hours inside our homes,
Read MoreWe are One Diocese, One People of God Together
On Friday, April 17, we visited with a small group of clergy and lay leaders from our parish churches in Chattanooga and Cleveland who were most impacted by the tornadoes of Easter Sunday night/Monday morning. We met at St. Francis Ooltewah, fewer than 10 of us, socially distanced and masked. Along with a time for prayer, we updated each other regarding the damage done to homes of parishioners and church buildings. If you would like to make a donation
Read MoreAn Easter Message from Bishop Brian Cole 2020
Transcript Hello. I’m Bishop Brian, and I wanted to bring Easter greetings to you today. This Easter, 2020, will be unlike any Easter we have ever experienced in our lifetime. A typical Easter Sunday morning, the church is filled with people, the church is filled with the smell of Easter lilies and music, celebration, proclamation. This year, we will celebrate Easter, not together, but in our homes, away from each other, apart from each other, in order to support
Read MoreCan you sit with him while he sleeps? A Meditation for Holy Saturday by Bishop Brian Cole
Collect for Holy Saturday O God, Creator of Heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Jesus once slept in a boat while a storm raged
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