As this year's chair of the Nominating Committee (consisting of Daniel Odle, Caroline Carter Smith, Ray Kielarowski, Adam York, and Chip Severance), it gives me enormous pleasure to present a slate of candidates for the Shepherding Team.  They are:

Erin Callahan
Jana Morgan Kelly
Travetta Johnson

This year we had an exceptional group of eight nominees, all gifted in so many ways.  We are blessed to have so many in our body with leadership skills willing to serve.  Eventually the nominating committee were unanimous in sensing God's will for these three to be called.

The election will be held after church on Sunday evening, November 22.  So that you may know more about your candidates, here are brief biographies and photos.  We encourage all members to seek out these candidates, that you may feel prepared for the vote.

Also, after church this coming Sunday, November 8, each candidate will make a brief presentation and be available for a Question and Answer session.

Marie Alcorn is rotating off the Shepherding Team at the end of December, having served as chair this last year. 

Please thank her for her years of service and much time engaged in service to our body.

Here are your candidates, in their own words:

Erin Callahan
When I first came to All Souls in January of 2010 on the recommendation of someone I met in Denver while living in Denver, I knew that it was special.  Nearly six year later, most people in my life know how much I love and value this church.  I love the people of All Souls. I grew up in church, so I don't love All Souls because it is a novel experience or because it introduced me to faith or the love of God. The churches of my past have played different and important roles in shaping my beliefs, and for that I am grateful. But none have kept tapping me on the shoulder in the quiet, persistent, and powerful way that the people of All Souls do week after week, month after month, year after year. All Souls is a place where I know in the deepest parts of me that I still have so much growing to do. And I'm so glad to be in a community where that growth is possible and encouraged. On a more personal note, I recently completed my Master's in Social
Work and have been working for the past 11 years in the field of social services in a variety of roles and with many different populations. I am originally from Maryland, but east Tennessee has become my home since I moved here in 2010. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve on the Shepherding Team and consider it an honor.

Jana Morgan Kelly
Jana Morgan has been an active member at All Souls since she and her husband Nate Kelly moved to Knoxville 10 years ago to take jobs at the University of Tennessee where they are both professors in the political science department. Not quite three years ago, Jana also became mom to an adorable, intense, generous red-head, Arwen. Jana enjoys mentoring young women, spending time with children, and thinking deeply about the intersections of faith, work and life. As a member of the Shepherding Team, she hopes to help All Souls continue being a rare place that exudes love for Jesus, for each other and for our neighbors, even (or perhaps, especially) when we don't agree.

Travetta Johnson
  Originally from the plains of west Texas, David and Travetta Johnson met in high school, later married, and decided to move to the mountains of East Tennessee to raise their three daughters.  With a degree in education and a minor in music, Travetta has worked professionally as a classroom teacher, a preschool director, a music educator, a music director for theatre, and most recently as the director of worship, art, and liturgy for All Souls Church during its first seven years.  As a church volunteer since her teen years, she has served as a leader in children's, women's, small group, worship, and arts' ministries. She and David have been active in the work of All Souls Church since its first worship service.  They were compelled to seek the peace of the city by moving downtown to the Parkridge neighborhood six years ago, where they have both been active in neighborhood events and projects.  They converted an empty carriage house behind their creaky old Victorian home, into a neighborhood arts venue known as "The SHAREhouse," where, over the span of two years, they invited all their neighbors and friends to dozens of events, including art exhibits, small concerts, movie nights, art markets, and a variety
of social gatherings-all in an effort to help build a stronger sense of community and to support local and regional artists.  (They are presently on hiatus.) Travetta served on the Parkridge Community Organization Board for two years, was a finalist for the city's "2013 Neighbor of the Year" Award, and was appointed by the mayor to serve on the Neighborhood Advisory Council for the Office of Neighborhoods.  When she isn't trying to "save the world" through one endeavor or another, you will find her quietly tending her gardens, reading, writing, hiking in the mountains with David, or serving the needs of her family as a daughter, wife, mother of three, and grandmother of five.

Travetta was overcome by the love of Jesus when she was a young child, and committed her life and heart to serving Christ to the best of her understanding.   By God's grace, she has lived and learned through the unexpected loss of her mother as a teen, the plummet and redemption of her father through alcoholism, an extended personal battle with inflammatory arthritis, the heights and depths of a 38-year marriage, the drug addiction and rehabilitation of their oldest daughter, and most recently, the ongoing struggles with mental illness of their youngest daughter.  

"Though I have experienced both valleys and vistas, ultimately, God has become bigger for me now than I could have ever imagined, and my love and devotion for the beauty and wonder of life I experience through the love of Christ is deep, and rich, and full of peace."