June 30 - July 7, Pittsburgh, PA  

Please be in prayer for all attending the General Assembly in Pittsburgh.  Pictured below are our Young Adult Advisory Delegate, Jennifer Carter, and our commissioners: Elder Jack Danner,  the Rev. Emily Anderson, the Rev. Michael Stanfield, and Elder Connie Umbach. 

News from GA will be plentiful and in many formats 

From the Presbyterian News Service - Jerry L. Van Marter 

News and information from the upcoming 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Pittsburgh - June 30-July 7 - will be available in a variety of formats to suit every visual and aural taste.

Online, coverage of Assembly events will be available as they happen on www.pcusa.org/GA220. Coverage will include news stories from a staff of 11 reporters, daily photo galleries and live streaming of opening worship (Saturday afternoon, June 30) and all plenary sessions. The Assembly website will also include links to all items of business - about 800 - being considered by the Assembly.  

News stories will also be available on the News and Announcements page of the PC(USA) website and all email subscribers will receive those stories automatically.  

VoiceLine, the PC(USA)'s recorded telephone information service, will feature daily three-minute summaries of the Assembly's activities and a five-minute wrap-up of the entire Assembly at its conclusion. Daily summaries, produced by the Presbyterian News Service, will be available after 6:00 pm. Eastern Time; the wrap-up will be available by 1:00 p.m., one hour after adjournment on Saturday, July 7. Call 1-800-728-7228, ext. 2012, or 502-569-5000, ext. 2012.  

The Assembly can be followed on Twitter at @presbyGA.  

Assembly in Brief, the 16-page bulletin insert-size summary of the Assembly jointly produced by the Presbyterian News Service and the Office of the General Assembly, will be available for PDF download by Wednesday, July 11. The publication is free.  

A new GA communications feature this year is a "comment line." Those wishing to register their comments on any Assembly action may do so by email at ga.amendments@pcusa.org.  

Missionaries to Ethiopia to Visit our Presbytery in August

Barbara and Larry Moir have been missionaries in Ethiopia, working at the Bethel Evangelical Secondary School. They, along with their newly adopted daughter, Dinke, are leaving Ethiopia and are praying for a new call in the United States.

The Moirs will be at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Knoxville on Sunday, August 12, for worship at 10:00am (Larry will be preaching), followed by a reception and presentation. They will be staying in Knoxville and would be available to speak about their mission work between August 7 and 14.

If you would like to invite the Moirs to speak at your church, please contact Larry directly at larry.moir@gmail.com.

Peace,

Max Reddick

Moderator, Serve Mission Team

The Presbyterian Campus Ministry at UTC has had another amazing year. We have grown in numbers but more importantly we have been growing in faith. In the two years since I started my first fall with no returning students, we have grown to a group of over 25. We have lifelong Presbyterians, we have people who grow up in other denominations, and we have people who are just starting their Journey with Christ. What is amazing for me to see is how God is touching and leading each of these into deeper levels of faith.

Each week during the colligate year we have program after program. On Mondays and Thursdays we have Bible Studies. On Tuesdays we have a free lunch. The churches (mainly the PW's) of Chattanooga volunteer their time and donate the food so the students of UTC can have the best meal they will have all week. Thank you to the PW of Rivermont, Second Chattanooga, and the churches of Northminster, New Hope, and Trinity for your generous gift of food so we can continue this amazing mission. That evening we have a dinner and discussion group. We gather around the dinner table to catch up with each other, then we go down and watch a ten minute video (we just finished NOOMA) and we talk about we just saw. On Wednesdays we have our Worship service where we have music and talk from either me or one of our student leaders. And on Thursday we have a prayer group in the morning then for lunch we journey to the University Center and share a meal on campus.

We took three trips this year. In October we had our annual fall retreat at the John Knox Center. We worshiped, we played, we prayed, and we did the flying squirrel at night! On January 2nd we began the New Year at the Montreat College Conference. We had 15 people celebrate Christ with over 1000 other college students from all over the country. And for Spring Break we went down to South Florida to work with a PDA site in Immokalee, FL. We worked on 6 to 8 Habitat Houses painting, hammering, caulking, tiling, and hauling heavy things to the dumpster. And as a reward for the students' hard work we had a pool party at my parents' house on the way home. A special thanks to Rivermont Presbyterian for their generous gift of loaning us their van so we could keep costs low to our students.

This ministry, that is supported by the Presbytery and by the churches of Chattanooga and surrounding areas, is growing and thriving. If you would like to know more about us please give me a call at 423-265-2227 or email me at HiBobM@gmail.com. We also do an email prayer list every week during the colligate year. If you would like to receive this please email me and I will put you on our growing list.

Bob Hill, Campus Minister

By Miki Vanderbilt, Pastor of West Emory Presbyterian Church

A few years ago a garden ministry was begun at the presbytery offices under the direction of Hunger Action Enabler, Deborah Phillips. A dozen or so raised beds were lovingly attended and produced great quantities of fresh vegetables that were given to food banks in our community.

As plans were being made for the sale of presbytery offices, hopes were that a happy home would be found for the garden beds. As providence would have it, last fall West Emory Presbyterian Church's Child Enrichment Center applied for and was awarded a "Healthy Habits" grant of $600 from the Tennessee Department of Health - one of only thirty schools - to establish vegetable and flower gardens at the church. With the availability of raised beds from PET, the church was able to recycle and re-purpose these resources and a new ministry in a new location was begun.

Workdays were held to remove yards and yards of monkey grass, prepare the donated beds, and fill the boxes with enriched soil. All that was left was for the children to plant the seeds and watch the wide variety of vegetables, herbs and flowers begin to grow. And grow they have!

Sheena Johanns, Director of the Center has said, "We are very excited to use our grant money to build vegetable gardens and flower beds for our children to tend. This is enabling them to learn about the earth, healthy eating choices, and learn how to successfully grow their own resources. We thank the Presbytery of East Tennessee for helping us make this dream come true. It will be a ministry that will endure for years to come."

Our synod, the Synod of Living Waters, and the Synod of Alaska-Northwest have formed a unique partnership to create a ministry of communication known as the Presbyterian Technology Ministry. This ministry offers dynamic and affordable websites, web hosting, and support to allow Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ministries to effectively communicate and connect with people.

The Synod of Living Waters is offering a one-day training event where you will have the opportunity to learn the tools that it takes to build your church website. You will learn DotNetNuke (DNN), theweb development platform used for Synod-hosted websites.

Workshop flyer with additional information 

Saturday, August 4 , 2012

9:00 am-4:00 pm

Sequoyah Hills Presbyterian Church

Spitzer Education Building

3700 Keowee Avenue

Knoxville, TN

Cost: $75 (includes lunch & materials), payable at the event.

RSVP to Janet Tuck

janet@synodoflivingwaters.org

or (615) 618-0307

If you are a lover of Scots/Irish music, you are invited to enjoy an evening with Nashville-based lead singer/songwriter Ric Blair and fiddler Rebecca Baumbach of the group, The Celts. Blair's most recent TV show for PBS entitled "Christmas with The Celts" aired on over 222 TV channels across the United States including Ireland. His band The Celts (formerly The Blair Band) has performed in major Concert Halls, arenas, theaters, and churches around the world for the past 16 years. Blair also hosts an annual show at the world famous Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. He has also been involved in Contemporary Christian Music as well.

Today, Blair reigns as one the country's most respected purveyors of Celtic music. The American-born Blair credits the group's popularity to their unique blend of Celtic tradition and 21st century sounds. "I'm proud of my Irish/Scottish roots, but I'm equally proud of my American roots," he explains. "Our music is kind of a hybrid that's evolved between the two."

Ric Blair sings and plays acoustic and electric guitar, bodhran, piano, Irish whistle, some Celtic fiddle, and has written and produced most of The Celts 8 recordings. Check out the band on their website  www.TheCeltsMusic.com.    

Living Waters for the World Booth - July 21

Sponsored by the Wartburg and Lancing Presbyterian Churches

Come join us on Saturday, July 21 at the Wartburg Courthouse Square for the WECO Outdoor Show. We will  again have our booth set up for Living Waters for the World. We will have items for silent auction, baked goods, our new church cookbook, and other items for sale. Event begins at 9 a.m. and runs until 4 p.m. This is our 8th year at the Outdoor Show, and we are excited for this opportunity to be there again. Come and have a great time, and help support LWW. Please contact Carolyn Anderson (canders@utk.edu) for more details.

"You Feed Them" a Vacation Bible School Morning  

Hosted at Lancing Presbyerian Church, July 28 

Lancing Presbyterian Church is excited to invite you to attend our first Vacation Bible School in many years. Our VBS will be on Saturday, July 28, from 9-1:00 at Lancing Presbyterian Church, 204 Shady Grove Rd., Lancing TN . We will have music, games, crafts, interactive storytelling and much more! Guest speaker Ella Smith from the Morgan Scott Project will be on hand to speak to us about the importance of helping food pantries. At the end of our program, we will pack a "picnic" basket of food we have been collecting for the Morgan Scott Program. Lunch is provided, free of charge. Any donations of canned or boxed food to include in the basket for the Morgan Scott Program are greatly appreciated. We hope to see you there! Please contact Carolyn Anderson ( canders@utk.edu) for more details.

"I love that the Presbyterian Church is connectional!"

Jonathan Warren, pastor of Powell Presbyterian Church

Powell Presbyterian Church went on a three day mission trip to...Chattanooga.  In three short days, four ministries in the Presbytery of East Tennessee partnered to do the work of Christ.  Powell Presbyterian Church worked on several projects at the Newton Child Development Center, we stayed overnight at Rivermont Presbyterian Church, and after working on Sunday morning, we worshiped with Renaissance Presbyterian Church, which is next door to the Newton Center.  The Newton Center is more than child-care program for low-income and at risk children because it also provides hot meals for the children and the teachers provide a safe learning environment.  We couldn't have done this project without the help of the churches in Chattanooga!  Here's a link to a  

Westminster Presbyterian Church in Knoxville was recently featured on WATE-Channel 6 for their installation of solar panels - see "Knoxville church goes green with solar panels."