7 from Kevin - July 2023
Kevin Jeske-Polyak • June 29, 2023
- You may have noticed the "new look" our buildings are sporting as a result of the professional pressure-washing work performed by Top Knox Pressure Washing this month! Trey Gaff and the team at Top Knox demonstrated great care and super efficiency in removing the dark stains that had resulted from years of weathering. The difference in the appearance is truly amazing!
- Making the adjustment from our permanently installed audio visual equipment in the Nave to the completely different portable system being used in the Parish Hall has provided interesting challenges for everyone involved. This includes the A/V team responsible for setting things up every Sunday morning, everyone who steps up to the microphones to share the liturgy, and especially the congregation. Thanks to everyone for demonstrating patience and flexibility during these times of transition
- Every week, St. James generates a significant amount of paper, metal, and plastic recyclable waste. Fortunately, we have a team of committed volunteers who routinely collect and transport sorted recyclables to the local recycle center, including used church bulletins, cardboard boxes, aluminum cans, and plastic bottles.
- The seating arrangement we currently enjoy in the Parish Hall provides a wonderful opportunity for all of us to see and acknowledge one another, even if only from across the room. It is so much more warmer than looking only at the back of the heads of everyone, or trying to catch only a brief glance when walking to or from the communion rail. It really helps to nourish our sense of community and church family.
- The Altar Guild & Flower Guild teams are a busy bunch of folks these days as they are operating out of the kitchen, pantry, and children's chapel to create the same amount of brilliant color and tradition in the Parish Hall we are accustomed to having in the Nave. These committed volunteers enjoy fellowship with one another every time they get together on the weekend to make sure everything is taken care of before and after each service on Sunday mornings.
- Serving on the Kitchen Guild is a great way to meet folks and an easy way to serve our faith community at St. James. We serve up fresh, hot coffee, lemonade, and water to parishioners and guests who have the time to visit during "Coffee Hour" after the 10:30 morning worship service. Kitchen Guild teams serve on a rotating basis. Please contact Carol Yates cyates0222@gmail.com or 865-363-7539 if you are interested in helping!
- St. James is pleased to provide meeting space for
outside community groups, especially those whose mission is to provide support and/or increase a sense of community among our neighbors. Currently, these groups include: Allies of Knoxville's Immigrant Neighbors (AKIN), Alcoholics Anonymous, Episcopal Peace Fellowship, Justice Knox, Narcotics Anonymous, Old North Knoxville Neighborhood Association, Sharing Experiences Together (S.E.T.), and Three Rivers Market.
Friends and Neighbors, This Sunday is Mother's Day and also Good Shepherd Sunday. Both celebrations have been shaped and changed over the years. Good Shepherd Sunday got the name as we do read the passage from John 10 about Jesus the Good Shepherd, and Mother's Day has roots going back to Mothering Sunday in England. The establishment of Mother's Day in the United States was motivated by the recognition of the work of Ann Reeves Jarvis, Julia Ward Howe, and Anna M. Jarvis. These women worked for sanitary health care for soldiers and were advocates for peace during the Civil War. They imagined a union of mothers who would call for peace because mothers knew so deeply the loss of their children to war. Mothering and shepherding call for similar qualities of protection and care.
We continue celebrating Easter as we move into a month full of celebrations and transitions. I am looking forward to just hanging out with folks this Saturday night at our spaghetti dinner. You can find details about that in this email. Please mark your calendars for the annual Justice Knox Celebration on May 19 from 6:30 PM- 8:30 PM at First Presbyterian Church. We will have dinner and share stories about the next steps. You will also be asked to consider making an investment in the work of Justice Knox. I hope that you will consider giving to this important ministry.
Alleluia. Christ is risen. We celebrated the resurrection with so much joy this past Sunday. The Easter feast continues for 50 days. Thank you to everyone who made Holy Week and Easter Sunday so special. You helped people feel welcomed to this place where we proclaim the welcoming love of Christ in word, deed, song, Easter egg hunts, and something good to eat. We welcome others because we have known the love of Christ and want to share it.
Friends and Neighbors, As we journey through Holy Week, I encourage you to pause and consider those events that lead us to the joyful celebration of Easter. May that also be reflected in our lives. We walk through hard things and know that God is with us. We hold to the hope that nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Friends and Neighbors, As the weather teases us with warm days followed by chilly ones, we enter Holy Week. You have probably heard me encouraging folks to experience the journey to the cross and the grave so we might celebrate the resurrection with that insight. God has shared this human experience and is with us in the darkness and the light. Our liturgies of Holy Week take us on that journey with Jesus and remind us that God is indeed with us on our own journeys.