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7 from Kevin - May 2022
Kevin Jeske-Polyak • May 6, 2022
- Thanks to everyone who contributed to this year’s Easter Remembrances program honoring the memory or expressing thanksgiving for the life of loved ones. As a result, $480 was raised for the Flower Guild, $1,225 was raised for Bryant’s Bridge, and $2,375 was raised for the Clergy’s Discretionary Fund.
- Please help St. James achieve our goal of having 175 parishioners attend the Justice Knox Nehemiah Action Assembly on Monday, May 2 at World’s Fair Park. Team Leaders Mark A, Margaret B, Nick S, and Carol Y have worked very hard all year to keep us informed about how attending this event can help us seek justice and mercy and walk humbly with our neighbors.
- Thanks to Fr. John Mark for his creative inception and the special content he provided for our Easter Sunday worship bulletin. His notes in the “sidebars” were so interesting and meaningful. These design elements added a very special texture to our already inspirational Holy Week.
- For nearly ten years, Andy C & Sam F with A.C. Lawn Care have been handling our mowing, blowing, and trimming landscaping needs, as required at St. James. Both are extremely impressed with the outstanding work of our St. Francis Guild and the many outreach ministries at St. James. Each is also very involved in family & spiritual life and serving our community in many different ways.
- Eucharistic Ministers assist the clergy during the Sunday communion services by sharing the chalice of wine with members of the church community. Now that wine is being served again, we are grateful for the assistance provided by Jane C, Gregg D, Victoria H, Drew J-P, Carlene L, Brigitte M, and Mary Nelle O.
- Cross-training is one of the best ways to build strength and preserve traditions. The St. James Audio/Visual Team has been doing just that as Kevin & Drew J-P and Linda F have mastered the audio board and Margaret B and Nick S have mastered the remote controlled video camera used to provide live streaming of our Sunday morning worship services.
- St. James is extremely fortunate to have selected a highly qualified manager to coordinate every aspect of the activities related to our centennial renovation and construction project. Rick Blackburn’s resume includes an impressive list of new-build and renovation projects for many high profile hotels, restaurants, public housing projects, assisted living facilities, and other properties in Tennessee and throughout the Southeast. We continue to work with Rick and the architects at Barber-McMurray on our plans. Join us on June 19th to see details and hear about our plans for the future.
As ambassadors to the communities where they’ll perform, members of the Maryville College Concert Choir have a timely message for the 2025 Spring Choir Tour: “Times, They Are A-Changing,” but through music, connections can be made and unity can be achieved. The Concert Choir will begin its spring performance season with a 4 pm concert on Sunday, Feb 23, here at St. James.
One-to-One StorySharing is an intentional conversation between two people who share and receive each other’s stories of what matters most. It is a potent tool for forming community, deepening relationships, identifying gifts, healing brokenness and overcoming resistance; and building a relational culture. It is the basis for Episcopal Evangelism.
Friends and Neighbors, I hope you have your calendar marked for the St. James Ministry Marathon this Sunday, February 9. The event has been delayed by snow and ice, but this Sunday, you can learn more about the many opportunities for prayer, study, service, and community at St. James. This past Sunday was exciting as our Justice Ministry gathered to prepare us for a big turnout at our Nehemiah Action on April 8. You can learn more about that ministry and others this Sunday.
Friends and Neighbors, Thank you for celebrating with our folks who were baptized, confirmed, and received on Sunday. We all promised to support them in their faith. Supporting one another in following Christ is what we do. Your time, talent, and money help make that happen through St. James. I am excited about our Ministry Marathon coming up on February 9 where we can all learn about the many ways we serve and support.
Friends and Neighbors, What a week it has been. There was football, an inauguration, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We have also continued to experience very cold temperatures around here. Then we see that the Episcopal Church is in the news as a result of the sermon of The Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde at the Service of Prayer for Our Nation at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Bishop Cole commends this sermon to all of us. I encourage you to read it HERE. I have seen many positive and a few negative responses to it. Bishop Budde stood and delivered the type of message that I hope you often hear at St. James. She called for mercy and compassion for vulnerable people. This is what the Gospel of Jesus Christ calls us too.
Friends and Neighbors, Snow and ice caused us to postpone our Ministry Marathon until February 9. On that day you will find folks in different spots sharing about the various ministries here at St. James. This will be a good day to see the church, learn about ways to serve, and connect with friends old and new. You may be surprised at all the various opportunities to serve, pray, and study together.
Friends and Neighbors, Our church calendar has many feasts and fast days. These days remind us of the stories and faithful people they commemorate and encourage us to live our faith today. This Sunday is the first Sunday after the Epiphany and is the day we celebrate the baptism of Jesus. It is fitting that we are having our Ministry Marathon as we remember this event. Baptism is our initiation into the Body of Christ. All members of the body are empowered to serve as ministers. The Ministry Marathon can help us discern ways we can use our gifts in God's service.
Friends and Neighbors, A new year dawns and voices all around call us to make resolutions, be more productive, and to change our bodies. Sure, some good messages are there, but they often get covered with blame, shame, and exhaustion. I appreciate that a call to be a faithful follower of Christ isn't a call to be perfect. Following Christ is a journey. Sometimes we take a wrong turn or need to stop and rest. The metaphors of scripture and tradition speak of being made well, growth, bearing fruit, and death that leads to resurrection. Faith is an ongoing process in which God's grace is working in us.
Merry Christmas! Yes, the Church continues to celebrate Christmas beyond the one day. Even with 12 days of Christmas, the mystery of incarnation continues to unfold in our world. I see us living out that mystery at St. James by the way we seek to feed the hungry, do justice, and nurture our souls in prayer and worship together. We become those who bear Christ to the world.
Friends and Neighbors, As Advent moves towards Christmas, we are currently in Ember Days (12/18, 12/20, 12/21). These days of prayer and fasting correspond closely to the change of seasons. You will see them indicated on liturgical calendars, but I will confess that even many of us clergy have to look up what they mean. The Episcopal Church uses those days as times that people in the ordination process are to write letters to their bishop. Can a fast that has fallen out of practice mean anything for us in the present time? I am exploring that as I think about the approaching solstice, holiday festivities, and the onslaught of information in our time.