The Bishops of Province IV, the Southeast United States, including Bishop Brian Cole, issued a joint statement. You can read it here on the Episcopal News Service.
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Statement from Bishop Brian Cole June 2, 2020
June 2, 2020 “Q. What is the mission of the Church? The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.” Dear East Tennessee Friends, I write to commend to you Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s statement on President Trump’s use of St. John’s Episcopal Church in D.C. and a Holy Bible last evening. In our time together as Bishop and Diocese, you and I have committed ourselves to be
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Words, a Pentecost Sermon by Bishop Brian Cole, May 31, 2020
Words Pentecost 2020 St. John’s Cathedral Knoxville Acts 2:1-21 John 7:37-39 The Right Rev. Brian L. Cole Words. When a people share the same language and speak to each other and listen to each other, then words can be a powerful instrument for healing and wholeness, for finding a place of deeper forgiving and forgiveness. The right words, combined with a spirit of gracious listening, well, they become more than words. They take on marks of the sacred and
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Ascension Day Sermon 2020 by Bishop Brian Cole
Ascension Day 2020 Acts 1:1-11 Luke 24:44-53 The Right Rev. Brian L. Cole Andrei Rublev is arguably the most famous Russian icon painter ever. An Orthodox monk, he lived during the late 14th and early 15th centuries. His most famous icon, the Hospitality of Abraham, depicts three individuals seated around an altar. We think of it as an image of the Trinity, while also aware it depicts the strangers who visited Abraham and Sarah. Icons are more common in
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Update on Summer Camps at Grace Point May 9, 2020
May 9, 2020 To our Grace Point family, As we all know these are extraordinary times. Many of us have been wondering if summer camp at Grace Point would be possible this summer. After much deliberation with our Bishop and other executive directors around our country, we have come to the conclusion that summer camp will not be feasible this summer. Our main goal has always been to ensure the safety of everyone who visits Grace Point. The safety of our
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Guidelines & Questions for a Return to In-Person Worship
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
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Abide 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
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