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June Devotional |
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A Word By Any Other Name
By Alan Payne, CLP, Fork Creek
On the way home from church, the mother asked her six year old son what he learned in Sunday school. He replied, "We learned about John the mattress." To his young mind the word Baptist was foreign, so he substituted a word he knew - mattress.
To read the rest of the devotional, click here. |
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| PET Calendar |
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2008 Presbytery Meetings:
Tuesday, August 19 @ 10:00am - Northside, Chattanooga (packet deadline: July 31)
Saturday, November 15 @ 10:00am - Location TBA
(packet deadline: Oct. 28)
June Mission Team/Committee Meetings:
Support Mission Team - 6/5, 3:00pm @ First, Sweetwater
Presbyterian Women of the Presbytery Leadership Retreat - 6/7, 9:30am @ New Hope, Chattanooga
Committee on Ministry - 6/10, 11:00am @ Mars Hill Equip Mission Team - 6/12, 10:00am @ Mars Hill
Youth Council - 6/12, 12:30pm @ Maryville College
Committee on Preparation for Ministry - 6/19, 12:00pm @ Rivermont
Events at John Knox Center:
Dates and online registration for Summer Camp 2008 are available at the JKC web site. Once there, click on Summer Camp. Scholarships for camp are available.
For the latest meeting and events information, go to the presbytery website: www.presbyteryeasttn.org
and click on the Calendar of Events link.
Church Info-Pak Deadlines for 2008:
These Info-Paks include information for pastors and sessions, notices of churchwide events, resources for church educators, and the presbytery calendar. Info-Paks are mailed to all churches, affiliated colleges and agencies, at-large and retired ministers, and current members of PET mission teams and committees.
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| PC(USA) News |
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NCC seeks young adult stewards for annual gathering
by Jerry Van Marter
Presbyterian News Service
LOUISVILLE - The National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCC) [ www.ncccusa.org ] is seeking young adults ages 18-30 to serve as stewards for its 2008 General Assembly, Nov. 11-13 in Denver.
Each year, the NCC and its partner relief and development
agency, Church World Service, gather for worship, legislation, fellowship and ecumenical sharing. More than 250 delegates from the NCC's 36 member churches attend.
For more information, click here. |
| From the Committee on Nominations |
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WANTED: Faithful Presbyterians with gifts and enthusiasm for service in the Church of Jesus Christ through the Presbytery's mission teams, committees, and groups.
The Presbytery's Committee on Nominations is seeking your recommendations of yourself or persons from your congregation who are called to serve the church on the presbytery level.
A form to submit your nominations is on the Presbytery web site (under Resources - Forms) or you may download or print the form by clicking here. The Committee needs to receive your forms by July 1.
Thanks for your participation in the nominating process,
Ann Owens Brunger for the Committee on Nominations |
| Board of Pensions News |
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Here's what you'll find in the latest newsletter from Helen Locklear, our regional BOP representative:
* Annette Donald appointed Member Advocate
*Express Scripts maintenance medication program reviewed
*Stewardship of Self Debuts
*2007 Annual Report now available
*Spring '08 Issue of Education Talk posted
*Web site guide published
To read the full newsletter, click here.
BOP Fall Seminars
Location: First Presbyterian Church, Sweetwater
Growing Into Tomorrow... Today Seminar
Sept. 9 & 10, 2008
Holistic retirement planning for Benefits Plan members age 50 and older. For more information, click here.
Render Unto Caesar Seminar Sept. 11, 2008
Clergy tax and terms of call issues. For more information, click here. |
| Loaves and Fishes Afternotes |
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During worship at Loaves and Fishes this year an offering of $835 was taken up for the Newton Child Development Center in Chattanooga. Lina Hart, Associate Executive for Equipping Congregations reports, "Yesterday I got a lovely thank you note from them expressing their appreciation."
A few CDs of Dr. Chuck Campbell's Saturday morning sermon are still available for pick up at the Presbytery office, 609 Cedar Lane, Knoxville. The cost is $1 each. Contact Laura Tappan in the presbytery office - 865-688-5581 or laura@presbyteryeasttn.org. |
| 2009 Mission Yearbooks |
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Order through PET and save money
It is time to order the 2009 Mission Yearbook. The bulk price remains at $5.10 each, compared to $9.25 each plus shipping. The order form and payment must be received in the Presbytery Office by July 7 to be included in the bulk order. Orders must be picked up at the Presbytery office, 609 Cedar Lane, Knoxville.
To print or download the order form, click here.
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| We Want Your News! |
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The purpose of this newsletter is to provide you with the information and support you need to keep in touch and connected with your fellow Presbyterians in East Tennessee. This monthly publication features news and events from around the presbytery, resources to assist you in your ministry, and devotionals authored by our members.
We invite you to share your news with us! All articles and news items must be submitted by the 20th of the month prior to publication. Send your information to Dana Hendrix, preferably in electronic format. Her e-mail address is Dana@presbyteryeasttn.org. |
| Spread the News! |
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| Don't keep the good news of our presbytery to yourself! You can easily forward this newsletter to others (friends, family, church members, etc.) by using the convenient "Forward email" link at the bottom of this newsletter. To help them get on the list to receive our newsletter directly every month, you can tell them to go to our website -- www.presbyteryeasttn.org -- where we have a sign up button right in the middle of our home page. We appreciate your help! | |
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| Peeling the Onion |
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By Carl Schlich, Interim Executive Presbyter
About halfway through his novel, Shoes of the Fisherman, Morris West has the pope say to a woman struggling with her identity, "... All life is a mystery, but the answer is outside ourselves, and not inside. You can't go on peeling yourself like an onion, hoping that when you come to the last layer you will find what an onion really is. At the end, you are left with nothing. The mystery of an onion is still unexplained because like man (sic) it is the issue of an eternal creative act...."
Like individuals, when we churches and presbyteries go through a process of evaluating the mystery of our existence as the body of Christ, we need more than a peeling away of our layers of being to discover who we are. It is helpful to look within ourselves, to come to grips with our history, with our place where God has planted us, to know something of what we are on the inside. But to finally know ourselves, we need also to look from outside ourselves to find the complete vision. Where do we go to find a vantage point outside ourselves, from which we can see ourselves?
To read the full article, click here. |
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PET Meeting Highlights |
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 The Presbytery of East Tennessee held its Ninety-Fifth Stated Meeting on Saturday, May 3rd at the First Presbyterian Church of Knoxville. Among the actions taken was the installation of the Rev. Dr. Carl Schlich as Interim Executive Presbyter and Stated Clerk.
To read the highlights of actions taken at the meeting, click here.
The next Stated Meeting of the Presbytery of East Tennessee will be held on August 19, 2008 at Northside Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga. |
| PET Marketing and Advertising Update |
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New Evangelism Campaign Gaining Momentum
The New Vision marketing and advertising program is continuing, with churches beginning to gear up for the summer events in their communities.
To date, Donna Hoppestad, our marketing consultant, has visited with Baker's Creek, First in Harriman, First in Rockwood, Graystone, Lake Hills, Madisonville, New Hope in Chattanooga, New Providence, Northside in Chattanooga, Pine Grove, West Emory, UTK and UTC Student Centers, and John Knox Center. Many others are being scheduled for this summer. Donna has also worked on promotional items and ideas with other churches in the Presbytery. If your church hasn't yet scheduled a visit with Donna or needs assistance in any way, email her (2008newvision@gmail.com) or call her (865-805-6772) TODAY! If you have a fantastic evangelism idea or event that you'd like to share with the rest of PET, please email us and we'll include the ideas in future publications. If you'd like new ideas or suggestions, call Donna!
The Presbytery's marketing and advertising program is attracting national attention. Donna Hoppestad and the Rev. Lina Hart, Associate Executive for Equipping Congregations, were interviewed for the following article from the Presbyterian News Service...
LOUISVILLE - East Tennessee Presbytery wants people to know its Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations are alive and well, and so it's proclaiming it from the highways and byways, airwaves and fairways.
Television advertising spots and roadside billboards placed by the presbytery herald the news that the doors of PC(USA) churches in the region are open and welcoming everyone to come.
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| Our Eyes Were Opened: Reaching Out to People in Poverty |
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Maryville College, June 17, 2008
 Several organizations and churches including the Center for Strong Communities at Maryville College and New Providence Presbyterian Church, Maryville are sponsoring workshops on reaching out to the less fortunate in our communities. The featured speaker will be the Rev. Beth Templeton, director of Our Eyes Were Opened, an outreach of United Ministries in Greenville, SC. Rev. Templeton draws on her twenty-five years as a nonprofit executive working in the area of poverty and as a PC (USA) minister to help open people's eyes to the needs of others.
Thanks to the supporting organizations and churches, there is no fee for the workshops. The only cost is $5.00 for lunch. Check-in begins at 8:00am and the workshops conclude at 4:00pm.
For more information on the workshops and how to register, click here. |
| Young Adult Ministries |
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 Through the work of the Equip Mission Team, our presbytery wants to support young adults (ages 21-40 something). We want to create a contact list of young adults in the pews of each church so that we might share more directly age-appropriate news and minister to one another through networking, sharing program ideas and spiritual encouragement. To do this, we need pastors, elders, campus ministers or volunteers to share email addresses with one arranger - Rev. Mark Lampley at the address below, whereby lay members and church workers can equip one another better. Sending names and emails could enrich your ministry through our churches' connectionalism.
Contact Mark Lampley (MLampley@sequoyahchurch.org or 865-522-9804) to share emails or for more information.
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| Cents-Ability At Work in 2008 |
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By Deborah Phillips, Hunger Action Enabler
Roane County Cooperative Ministries ($1,000 grant)
R.C.C.M.'s Garden Project enables over forty families to obtain seeds, plants, and fertilizer to plant and grow food in their own gardens. Surplus produce is shared with family, friends, and others in the community.
FISH Hospitality Pantries, Knoxville ($1,000 grant)
This grant will support the organizing work of building relationships throughout the community across denominational, economic, ethnic, and racial lines, and the training of leaders to work together to respond to the hungry and transform neighborhoods.
Volunteer Opportunity: FISH Hospitality Pantries (the new one off of Central Ave. in Knoxville) needs drivers for the pantry truck to pick up donated food once a week in the morning hours. The truck is about the size of a U-Haul truck and there is no lifting involved. The contact person is Jim Wright at 207-8572. This is a wonderful ministry and the need is great.
Scott County Emergency Food Assistance ($1,000 grant)
SCEFA began operating in 1992 as a joint project of First Presbyterian Church (Huntsville) and four other organizations; it provides emergency food assistance to low-income families, as well as assisting with other family emergencies.
Marcella Center ($1,000 grant)
This grant will help the Marcella Center provide food assistance to the people of Sweetwater through its new food pantry.
To all who have made these grants possible through their continued dedication to the Presbytery of East Tennessee's Hunger Program. THANK YOU!
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| Environmental Stewardship |
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Eating "Green"
This article was written by Leslie Rotella, a member of Environmental Care Team at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Knoxville, and originally appeared in the church's newsletter.
 Several studies have shown that the average meal on your plate has traveled 2000 miles from the farms to you. The long-distance transport of food and other goods comes with a heavy ecological cost. It has been estimated that every calorie of food you consume costs an average of ten calories of energy to produce. That energy cost is just another contributor to the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases being poured into the atmosphere at a far greater rate than our ecological system can store or reprocess.
To learn more about eating locally grown food and some sources for local agricultural products, click here. |
| News and Events Around the Presbytery |
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Summer Youth Get-A-Way, June 8-12
Faith~Leadership~Vocation~Fun
For youth who are
rising 10th-12th graders
Middle Kingdom Churches - Meet Carl Schlich
 The session and congregation of Fork Creek Presbyterian Church invite the churches of the Middle Kingdom to meet Dr. Carl Schlich on June 15th at 2:00pm. Light refreshments will be served. In addition to greeting our Interim Executive Presbyter, come and make new friends and renew old acquaintances. The church is located on State Road 322 between Sweetwater and Vonore. Anyone needing directions can contact Alan Payne via email at MiddleKingdom@comcast.net or by telephone at (423) 263-5548.
Joint Vacation Bible School
 Sponsors: Emmanuel, First United,
Shiloh Presbyterian
Churches Location: First United Presbyterian
Church
901 College Drive
Knoxville, TN
Registration Celebration: July 5, 2008
Time: 5:30pm to 8:30pm
VBS Dates: July 7-11, 2008
Time: 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm
VBS Closing Worship: Shiloh Presbyterian Church
Date: July 13, 2008
Time: 11:00 am
Questions: Phone / Fax / 865-671-9141
Church Women United Honors Shiloh Member
 Mrs. E. B. Love received the "Valiant Woman" Award from Church Women United on Friday, May 2, 2008. "Edna is a unique person who cannot be duplicated or replaced," says her admiring grandson LeRoy. "She is a courageous person who has reached out for more than 72 years to serve her community in extraordinary ways."
To read more about Mrs. Love, click here. Older Adult Ministries
41 marathons! In our devotion at the Older Adult Ministries Spring Event on May 14, we were told of a fellow Presbyterian who has run 41 marathons. There were times in races when he had to force himself to put one foot before the other, but he persevered and completed the race. He may not have won, but he finished. We older adults are also running marathons - the marathon of life - and we must persevere in our faith in Jesus Christ and our work in His church until we finish the race. Roxie Gibson, our speaker, led us to see how we can do this by telling us about her call to write children's books.
To read more about the OAM Spring Event, click here.
Twelve-year-old Contributes to Evangelism Campaign
 Anna Hoppestad, who attends Farragut Presbyterian Church, has been helping her mother with the marketing and advertising campaign the last several months and has come up with an idea to help the Presbytery continue to fund the campaign. Anna donated her own money for materials to make bead crosses that she is selling for $1.00 each, with all of the money going into New Vision. The crosses come with an explanation of the Christian meaning of each bead color. They are great to give to your friends! So far she has raised $81.00 in May alone!
If you'd like more information or would like to order some of Anna's crosses, you can contact her at her mom's email address - 2008newvision@gmail.com . For an explanation of the bead colors, click here.
"Lost Boys" Now Helping Sudan
 Due to Sudan's civil war, the U.S. provided a home for more than 4,000 "Lost Boys" from 2000 to 2003. Now that the war is over and the boys are becoming men, many of them are seeking ways to express their appreciation for the generosity they received, by helping with development projects in Sudan.
Here in East Tennessee, a group called Sudanese Lost Boys and Girls Volunteers Association, Inc. has joined these efforts. For more information, click here. |
| Quick Links |
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Mission Team Blogs:
The Tool Box - Equip
Resources for ministry, conference announcements, grant application forms, etc.
Care Cafe - Support
Special events for clergy and their families, area clergy lunches, conference info, link to BOP, etc.
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