Dear Churches of the Presbytery of East Tennessee:

We are concerned about how all of you are faring following the rough storms that have come through our area in recent days. Please let us know if you have sustained significant damage or have other concerns you would like to share. We will pass this information along to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance to help them assess needs in our area. Check the PDA website for information about current needs and how you can help. 

Our prayers are with you and your congregations.

Faithfully,
Judd Shaw

What Summer Camp means to me

By Jessica Murray, JKC Program Intern

Jessica with Keli and Tarah at John Knox Center

When I think about all of the experiences I had growing up, I smile. The one memory I am missing, though, is going to summer camp as a kid. My first experience at camp was as a camp counselor at John Knox Center. I had as much fun as the kids did swimming, canoeing, sleeping under the stars, and creating relationships with campers and staff. As I continue to return as a staff member, I will always remember that first summer as the best playtime I ever had. I will also remember the spiritual growth I experienced while serving at John Knox Center.

At camp, your child will have Bible study with their group every day. Being in the middle of God's creation gives us a lot to talk about. Imagine talking with a child about what God has made for us, and a Great Blue Heron (affectionately known as Juliet) flies overhead majestically. Your child will not only see what God has given us, but really get to experience it while at camp.

Kids at camp also participate in an evening worship service. Parts of worship are traditionally assigned to each family group, so everyone in the group gets to have a piece of worship to share with the rest of camp. It is a powerful experience to spend time with God in church, but to contribute to the process can be even more meaningful. At camp, your child will do just that.

I might always wish that I could have been a summer camper, but I feel so fortunate that I am able to contribute to your child's experience. I have seen children grow leaps and bounds while at this camp; your child can have that, too. We love kids, and we will love yours.

We have overnight camps available for 2nd-12th graders and day camps for 4-10 year olds. Sign up today. Call us at 865 376 2236 or register online at www.johnknoxcenter.org.

Greetings from River Ridge Environmental Education Program!

RREEP welcomed four schools so far this season to John Knox: Akiva/N.E. Miles, Christian Academy of Knoxville, and St. John Newmann Catholic School. Akiva/N.E. Miles were the first two schools to leave their footprints in our garden. They helped us plant tomatoes and basil in our garden and since then we've added kale to the garden and marigolds to our straw bales. We are in the process of putting up a new fence around the garden. John Knox added a new ropes element to our Challenge Course - the Giant's Ladder. Some of our staff attended Earthfest at Pellissippi State Community College. Our booth was well-attended, and we made the paper. You can find the link at www.knoxnews.com, Earthfest.

Rice and Beans Campaign

(a low-cost, nutritious mission project)

Every donation of $20 will allow me to purchase wholesale 45 lbs. of rice and beans (a 25 lbs. bag of rice and a 20 lbs. bag of pinto beans) for food pantries in East Tennessee. Please send contributions to The Presbytery of East Tennessee, P.O. Box 5436, Knoxville, TN 37928-0436. Memo section: Rice and Beans.

Cents-Ability Offering At Work  

To date, the following grants have made an important impact on hunger in East Tennessee:

Roane County Cooperative Ministries' Garden Program ($1,000 grant)

Morgan Scott Project's Good Earth Garden Project ($1,000 grant)

Claiborne Hunger Ministries ($500 grant)

Fountain City Ministry Center ($500 grant)

New grants to food pantries this month:

Good Samaritan Center of Loudon County ($500 grant)

PET Vegetable Garden Update

Saturday, April 9, 2011 was a service blitz day through Knoxville Serving As One, and I had 17 wonderful volunteers from Fountain City Presbyterian, Central Baptist, and Smithwood Baptist. They turned the soil and pulled weeds in the existing beds, built four new raised beds, tilled a 6' x 8' patch of earth, and planted some seeds and tomato plants. It was really incredible to see just how much was accomplished in a short period of time; it was also good to see people coming together in community to garden for the benefit of others! A special thanks to Witt's Building Material for donating the wood for the four new beds and to Mayo Gardening Centers for four bags of mushroom compost!

Deborah Phillips
Hunger Action Enabler
Presbytery of East Tennessee
Deborah@presbyteryeasttn.org
Office: 865-688-5581
Cell: 865-335-0342

And Jesus said, "You give them something to eat." Mark 6:37

Help for Getting Started or Getting Re-Acquainted

By Lina R. Hart, Associate Presbyter

With MissionInsite you have free, user-friendly, up to date demographic information about your neighborhoods surrounding your church. Your presbytery is making this service available for you.

If you are a current user but haven't been on in a while, much has changed. But not to fret. I highly recommend using their new orientation guide called StartingPoint.  StartingPoint takes an MI user through several action steps designed to familiarize them with several features of the MI System, to assist them in creating their first demographic report and then to go deeper into "mission discovery" for their ministry area.  The StartingPoint orientation is available on the Welcome screen or under the Help/Documents menu option.

If you have not signed up yet, be not anxious. Please contact me (Lina@presbyteryeasttn.org or 865-388-2381 or 423-877-2422) or Laura Tappan in the Presbytery's office (Laura@presbyteryeasttn.org or 865-688-5581 or 800-542-4246) and we will give you the Agency Code for signing in.

After you are signed in and have reviewed the StartingPoint Guide, then I highly recommend getting a QuickInsite Study of a radius area (the smaller the radius, like < 3 miles, the more accurate the results) or a shape you determine (census block group, zip code, polygon, etc). This free PDF file QuickInsite Study gives you population trends and demographic types of the people who may be most influenced by your congregation's gifts and ministries. Additionally, there is a free PDF file Impressions Report for that same area which is a fascinating tool describing in broad strokes what your neighbors' interests and tendencies are. There are other free reports that are more in-depth and lengthy.

Call me for any further questions about MissionInsite. Your stewardship dollars are at work bringing this wealth of information at your fingertips.

PWP Moderator Mot Krick provides information on a number of Presbyterian Women activities in their newsletter, including:

- The Alabama/Mississippi Women's Conference, Blessed are You, O Woman, July 20-22, 2011, in Montgomery, AL.

 

- The Presbyterian Women's Bible Study Training at Columbia Theological Seminary's Life Long Learning Center - Confessing the Beatitudes by Margaret Aymer -  offered twice: Mon.-Wed., Aug. 1-3 and Fri.-Sat., Aug.12-13, 2011.

 

- A 12-hour antiracism training is being offered as a pre-conference to Big Tent II on June 30-July 1, 2011 - a collaborative effort of the Racial Ethnic & Women's Ministries/PW and the Compassion, Justice and Peace Ministry Area.

 

For more information, see Mot's Memos 

Eusebia Presbyterian Church celebrates 225 years

Eusebia Presbyterian Church, 1701 Burnett Station Rd., Seymour, will celebrate 225 years of service to God and their community the weekend of May 14-15.  This special Homecoming Celebration will include:

Sat. May 14 - A gospel concert by the Foothills Quartet at 7:00pm

Sun. May 15 - The Heritage Room will be open at 9:30, a special worship service will be held at 10:45am, followed by a luncheon at 1:30pm.

So they will know how many to plan on serving, please make reservations for lunch by calling 865-982-6332.

First, Rockwood celebrates pastor's 50 years of ministry

First Presbyterian Church of Rockwood wishes to congratulate our pastor, William Marvin Randolph, on serving the ministry for 50 years!  Marvin and his wife Anne have been a true blessing to our church for the past three years. Friends of Marvin are invited to a reception in his honor for this accomplishment. The reception will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Rockwood (429 West Rockwood St.) on Sunday, May 15th at noon. If you have any questions, please call the church office at (865) 354-1674.

Maryville College hosts the Smoky Mountain Highland Games

The three-day schedule for the Smoky Mountain Highland Games at Maryville College has been announced, and tickets are available now for purchase online at the Scottish festival and games' website, gsfg.org.

The regional event, the 30th festival and games for the organizing group but the first for the East Tennessee college, is scheduled for May 20-22, with the majority of the activities occurring Sat., May 21 and Sun., May 22.

See news release with more details.

 

Bethel and community unite through the arts

Following a $2.1 million renovation and addition to their 153-year-old building, Bethel Presbyterian Church in Kingston began looking for ways to use their new space for community outreach. They explored the gifts of the congregation and the needs of their surrounding area and discovered a match. The Bethel congregation is particularly blessed with artists and musicians, while the arts programs in the Roane County schools are limited due to lack of funding. Thus, the Bethel Arts Ministry (BAM) was born.

In 2010, BAM offered children and adults the opportunity to explore a variety of painting styles, sculpting with clay and the basics of stained glass. The classes met weekly after school and in the evening, with a modest fee of $5 per class covering all supplies and tools, as well as a simple meal. The children's classes had 18 participants and the adult classes had up to 25 participants.

"BAM is designed to nurture and develop the student's God-given desire to create and to appreciate the aesthetic beauty in God's universe," explained Micki Anderson, director of the program and a certified art educator.

This year, the program is expanding to include the BAM Art Club, where adults can explore their talents in a variety of art media, expand upon skills learned in the other BAM art classes, and enjoy the fellowship of others. The Art Club provides all art supplies for club members to use, meets weekly, and currently has 15 members. Future BAM program plans include guitar lessons and drama.

Montreat Conference Center offers "Being Spiritual in a CrazyBusy World" - May 29 - June 1, 2011 

For people of faith who are yearning for a deeper spiritual life.

How do we pause in the midst of a fast-paced life to reconnect with the person we have been created to be? Are we as "crazybusy" as the world around us... or, in this sweeping examination of the challenges we face, will we find a source of stillness and peace?

Workshops
� Centered Faith for a Turbulant World with Steve Hayner
� Facing Workplace Challenges with Stephen Payne
� Seeing the Fingerprint of God with Bill Greenway
� Practices of Justice with Julie Clawson
� Worship and the Arts with Ann Laird Jones
� Beyond Bathrobes: Drama and Storytelling for the Church -- Friends of the Groom
� Conversations with the Preacher of the Day

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, dana@presbyteryeasttn.org.