“Thou art there within the cloud to challenge us to love. Show to us the glory in the grey. Awake for us Thy presence in the very storm till all our joys are seen as Thee and all our trivial tasks emerge as priestly sacraments in the universal temple of Thy love.” –A portion of a prayer from the Iona Community A few Sunday evenings ago, I participated in a Celtic Eucharist at Church of the Ascension, Knoxville. The nave
Read MoreBishop Brian’s Homily at the Renewal of Ministry and Welcoming of a New Rector with the Rev. Johnny Tuttle and St. Paul’s, Kingsport
Homily given at the Renewal of Ministry and Welcoming of a New Rector with the Rev. Johnny Tuttle and St. Paul’s Kingsport October 2, 2019 Ruth 1:8, 14-19a, Psalm 85, Ephesians 2:11-22, Luke 1:39-45 Text is below. CLICK HERE to listen to the homily – you’ll get to hear the homily, Bishop Brian’s biggest fan, and a snippet from “Dust in the Wind,” by the 70’s band Kansas! When I was in college, I got a new roommate at the
Read MoreReconciling Thoughts
Today is September 11th. 9/11. For many, this day will always take us back to an incredible national tragedy, a day of deep and unspeakable loss, as deaths in New York City, Washington DC, and a field in Pennsylvania touched all of us. Today is also my mother’s birthday. Before 2001, this day was all celebratory for my family. Now, while we still express thanks for my mother’s continued health and presence in our family’s common life, we do so
Read MoreTouched by a Holy Fire
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 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
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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
Read MoreReconciling Thoughts
“…Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these the kingdom of heaven belongs.” ~Matthew 19:14 (NRSV) This past Saturday evening, Susan and I attended a Vespers service at St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Knoxville. We were there to celebrate the reopening of the main church, which was badly damaged in an April 2015 fire. The Vespers and rededication was led by Metropolitan Alexios, the Greek Orthodox bishop who oversees
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