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 More
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 More
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
Read More
Collect for Good Friday Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. On Good Friday in the year 1991, I was a Baptist seminarian in Louisville, Kentucky. I had not grown up with any
Read More
Maundy Thursday Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Today, Maundy Thursday, is a day when the Church is called to remember.
Read More
April 8, 2020 “Hear my prayer, O God; do not hide yourself from my petition. Listen to me and answer me; I have no peace, because of my cares.” Psalm 55:1-2 Dear East Tennessee Friends, I am writing to you on Wednesday in Holy Week. Psalm 55 is the Psalm appointed for Morning Prayer today. Like you, I have been praying fervently these last several weeks for God to hear and listen as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to upend our
Read More
Collect for Wednesday in Holy Week Lord God, whose blessed Son our Savior gave his body to be whipped and his face to be spit upon: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. I recently read an account of a Civil Rights era student
Read More
Collect for Tuesday in Holy Week O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. The Good Friday liturgy from
Read More
Collect for Monday in Holy Week Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Resurrection people
Read More