Lutheran Life Advent 2019

A PUBLICATION OF ST. JOHN’S LUTHERAN CHURCH

LUTHERAN LIFE

IN THIS ISSUE ...

Advent / Christmas Worship Schedule ……………….. page 3 Pastoral Transition Update ………..……………...…….. page 4 Tyson House ………..…………………………………..…. page 13 Birthdays ………………………………………………...…. page 15

PENTECOST III 2019

LUTHERAN LIFE

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riends of St John’s,

Blessings upon your Advent. May your reflections and moments of meditation be fruitful in strengthening and growing your relationship with our Lord.

As we reflect on the infant Jesus, the Christ child to be born into our world and into our hearts - what will become of the baby? What will become of us? How will we identify with the child and how will this Child born in Bethlehem shape us?

2000 years ago the community of Bethlehem rejoiced at this miracle. Then the baby and his parents fled to Egypt for fear of death. There was jealousy among the leaders of the country.

Fast forward to 1888 ... a great blizzard hits the eastern seaboard killing 400 people. Jack the Ripper’s first victim is found in London.

Fast forward to 1988 and the Soviets pull out of Afghanistan; an Iranian jet was shot down by the US. The longest undersea tunnel opens.

Fast Forward to 2019: St Johns is in transition. There is division about who should serve as senior pastor and how things are playing out. Lay people are excited about ministry and empowered to lead and vision and dream. There is joy, there is tension, there is peace and nervousness, there are parking lot meetings and there is concern and healthy energy and in the midst we give thanks for who we are and whose we.

So I ask, amid all of this, how will the Christ child shape us this Advent? How will our identity with the child of Christmas gift us? And how will we make manifest the gifts of love and peace and joy and hope? It is easy to get caught up in feelings and wishes, and getting.

This advent I invite you into the art of centering: in the quiet of you mind and heart, center on one word like Emmanuel, come Jesus and let your soul reflect on the phrase and where ever that phrase takes you, always coming back to Come Jesus, O come, O come Emmanuel.

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ur theme for Advent this year is For Unto Us a Child…, which you may recognize from Handel’s Messiah, as well as from Isaiah 9:4, “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Advent means “arrival,” and it’s a season of preparation for Christ’s coming into the world 1. as an infant long ago, 2. at the end of time when all creation gathers to God, and 3. among us now, in the proclamation of the gospel, in the bread and wine of communion, in the least of those we serve, and everywhere two or three are gathered in Jesus’s name.

Wednesday evenings at 6:30pm, we will have a beautiful service of Holden Evening Prayer by candlelight, with reflections by lay leaders of St. John’s. December 4 (“Wonderful Counselor”) will be Scott Krogmann, council vice-president. December 11 (“Everlasting Father”) will be Chris Clay, St. John’s Communication Director. December 18 (“Prince of Peace”) will be Anne Langendorfer, our new chair of Faith Formation.

There will be beautiful music, Holy Communion, and afterward, cookies and wassail in the welcome center!

December 8, at 1pm, is a Service of Remembrance, a time to remember loved ones we miss, especially as Christmas approaches. There will be a luncheon beforehand, immediately after second service.

Tuesday, December 24, is Christmas Eve, with two services, the first beginning at 5pm, with prelude music at 4:30pm; the second at 8pm, with prelude music at 7:30pm.

December 29, the first Sunday after Christmas, there will be one service, at 10am.

January 5, the second Sunday after Christmas, we’re back to regular schedule, 9am and 11am. It will also be when we celebrate Epiphany, as we remember the Magi, the first non-Israelites to come see Jesus, who then went out to tell the world what they had seen. In a way, it’s a miniature of what we all do, when we come to see Jesus and go to share the good news.

Back to the theme, “For Unto Us a Child…,” I recommend a song by Chris Thile, “Douglas Fir,” as a meditation. If you google “douglas fir chris thile,” it brings up links to video and lyrics. I especially like this bit: “Unto us ten million children were born last May — rejoice! — and the government shall rest upon their shoulders, blessed be their names.”

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his is a great congregation and I ask for your prayers during this transition.

Transition is a process that create all sorts of feelings. Sometimes we start to think, how do I keep things the way they have always been?

Sometimes we resist what we don’t know. Sometimes amid transition conflict surfaces because homeostasis is interrupted. And sometimes transition is exciting because new visions are birthed.

I ask, Who are we? Where do we want to be? What do we want to be doing?

This questions help us to define ourselves, shape our identity separate from the leadership of past or present. When an identity is organic, and is of and by the people the congregation is strong and committed to mission. When an identity is shaped by the leader or leaders then the commitment is often based relationships. We are so blessed because St John’s is a faithful and vibrant congregation. During this transition you the people have a wonderful and awesome opportunity to dream and think and vision about who we are, and where do we want to be and what do we want to be doing.

So, for the next weeks and months we will meet in ZIP CODES small groups. HOW can you help….chose to host a zip code meeting at your home. Chose to bring refreshments to the meeting. Choose to participate in the zip code meetings. They will last about 1 1/2 hours. As soon I get a host home I will notify everyone in that zip code about meeting time and date. This is your opportunity to reflect and dream and ask questions.

Transition Accomplishments: 1) constitution and bylaws have been approved by the bishop. It will be posted on line and voted on at the January congregational meeting. 2) establishing a method to keep track of who worships and communes, this is required by the ELCA for our parochial record keeping and to determine who is an active or inactive member 3) established a counting of the offering system for Sunday mornings get a handle on finances past and present, wrap existing line of credit into long term debt, and live with our means. 4) building employee files. 5) choose vender for background checks and safe church training 5) set up beginnings of a church savings account as opposed to a line of credit 6) begin process to repair the flat roof, make landscaping more user friendly for safety, 7} elect a nominating committee. 8) learning about social ministry opportunities Knoxville 9) emphasize gratitude and naming our blessings through the use of a blessing bowl 10) establish teams/committees for each major area of the church, each team is up and run with vigor and commitment and vision, teams/committees are learning to work together as necessary 11) Pastors John and Amy are in process of their own discernment process separate from the discernment process of St John’s.

Transition TO DOs: 1) Zip Code small group gatherings. 2) vision and leadership discernment 3) prepare the financial books and records for audit. 4) write guideline for use for Memorial gifts, 5) Align budget expenses with budget income. 5) background checks on employees and on volunteers. 6). Stewardship education year round. 7) prepare congregational records for audit. 8) draw up guidelines for the nursery. 8). Complete tasks in the 2018 synodical risk management document for finances, personal and building. 9) implement the use of sales tax exemption. 10) establish a check approval and 2 party signature system. 11. Update job descriptions. 12) Write the Mission Site Profile for St John’s. This is a partial list of items that are being addressed.

Look forward to the Transition Team guiding us in a prayerful time of discernment and reflection. Thank you to everyone who has so graciously committed time and energy to St John’s and to the work of transition.

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t's time for our Dove Tree! Each year we fill the Dove Tree with the names of students from Christenberry Elementary. These children are limited to those who receive a backpack of food for the weekend. Our gifts to them will make their Christmas morning brighter and show them our love. Please stop by the tree beginning Sunday, December 1st. Choose a dove and RECORD YOUR NAME AND PHONE NUMBER ON THE LINE ASSIGNED TO YOUR DOVE. We are limiting purchases to two items of clothing, a pair of shoes, the requested toy, or an age appropriate toy or book.

We have children from several families, and by providing a similar number of gifts, all will be satisfied. Please return your gifts on Sunday, December 15th for delivery to Christenberry on Monday morning.

Additionally, you may choose a Safety Patrol Dove for Christenberry or a Tremont Dove for Sarah Moore Greene.

Your gift of money will help fund these opportunities for travel and adventure for students who might otherwise not be able to attend. Simply put your donation in the offering made out to St. John's and clearly labeled with the type of Dove you chose. Your Dove from the tree is your reminder to fulfill your pledge to help! Sign out on the list before you leave!

Each year St. John's generosity is a testament to God's boundless gifts to us. Thank you in advance for your gifts during Advent this year. Contact Marcia Power with your questions - 865-216-8551 or marciabowerpower@gmail.com

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e are excited to kick-off our TLC Fall 1st Sunday Brunches. This is a wonderful time to share fellowship and friendship over yummy food. Please join us at 10:00 this fall on these dates:

December 8, 2019 January 5, 2020 February 2, 2020 Contact Nancy Maland with your interest in being a part of the TLC team to assist in cooking for first Sunday brunches , spring Lenten suppers, or special gatherings/events such as funerals, ordinations, and other events throughout the year.

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Nominating Team Update – November 10, 2020

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he Nominating Team’s responsibility is to discern and recommend a slate of individuals to serve as Church Council members (we need 4), Call Committee members (6), and Synod Assembly delegates (2). Our team is meeting weekly – and praying daily. Please join us in praying for God’s will and wisdom as we fill these important positions. FYI: The slates for these positions will be presented at the Congregational Meeting on January 26, 2020.

If you are interested in serving on Church Council or the Call Committee or as a Synod Assembly delegate, here’s what you need to do: 1. Read the job descriptions below.

2. Prayerfully consider how you might serve the St. John’s congregation.

3. If you are interested, contact a member of the Nominating Team before December 1 st, 2019.

4. The Nominating Team will prayerfully discern, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, a slate of individuals to present to the congregation on January 26, 2020 for the following: 4 – Council Members 6 – Call Committee Members 2 – Delegates to the Synod Assembly Church Council This is a general description of what you can expect and what is expected of you: Be a member in good standing of the congregation, regularly attending worship services and involved in congregational life.

Attend all meetings of the council – once a month, plus additional meetings as called by council leaders.

Attempt to discover, through prayer and discernment, what is best for the congregation.

Consider the well-being of the council when dealing with specific issues and ministries.

Treat all matters relating to council deliberations as confidential, until such time as the information is determined a matter of public record.

Assist the pastor in nurturing the spiritual life of the congregation.

Care for the congregation’s membership.

Ensure that the decisions of the congregation are carried out.

Be a part of a united body by supporting all decisions of the council, even if you don’t agree with the decision.

Treat members of the council and staff as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Be familiar with the governing documents of the congregation.

Be a leadership presence in the congregation.

A three-year commitment to serve.

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LUTHERAN LIFE Call Committee This is a general description of what you can expect and what is expected of you: Be a member in good standing of the congregation, regularly attending worship services and involved in congregational life.

Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to do God’s will.

Good at visioning: ability to work with other teams to complete the Ministry Site Profile Review and clarify the congregation’s purpose, mission, and need for pastoral leadership in view of this information.

Maintain appropriate levels of confidentiality, discernment and maturity Read profiles, resumes, and read between the lines of what people write or say, and what is not being said.

Develop a list of questions for potential candidates.

Good interviewing skills.

Non-partial Attend regular meetings for as long as it takes to complete the tasks above and recommend candidate(s) to the congregational council.

You will be trained prior to taking on your duties.

There is a 70-page manual explaining the ELCA Call Process for your review: This is the link to the Southeastern Synod ELCA Call Process Manual https://se.brtapp.com/files/forms/call+process+manual+2016.pdf Synod Assembly Delegate This is a general description of what you can expect and what is expected of you: Represent St. John’s at the Synod Assembly meeting in Chattanooga, June 5- 7, 2020.

Attend workshops and general sessions while at Assembly.

Share what you learned with the congregation when you return.

Thank you for your prayers and contact us if you are interested in serving.

David Bocangel – dbocangel@gmail.com Nancy Friedrich – nancy.o.friedrich@gmail.com Thea Peterson – theabpeterson@gmail.com Dale Teague – dbteague@comcast.net Laura Trout – ltrout13@gmail.com Jackie Tucker – jvtucker51@gmail.com

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Where’s Waldo?

by Pastor John

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’ve seen many of you on Sundays, at the celebration of Pastor Amy’s and Joe’s wedding, and a good bit in between, but at times some may have wondered, “Where’s Pastor John?” The past couple months have been an unusually full season of leading music regionally, plus a required conference, so I thought it would be good to share what I’ve been up to.

At the beginning of October, several members of St John’s and I went to Atlanta to celebrate the installation of Kevin Strickland as bishop of the Southeastern Synod, our regional body of the national church (Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama). Years ago, when he was Pastor Kevin at St Paul, Maryville, he used to worship at Tyson House, our campus ministry, from time to time. One way Tyson House serves is as as place pastors can simply worship and recharge, without having to be “on” or responsible for anything. At that time, worship always began with a song I wrote, “To You, All Hearts Are Open,” and as bishop elect, Kevin invited me to play it at his installation. Of course I said yes, and it was wonderful leading a cathedral full of people in song for such a happy occasion. St. John’s Communication Director Chris Clay led a choir as part of the service too, which was a treat to hear.

In mid-October, I was in Indianapolis, not as a musician but as a grant supervisor. In 2015, with the excellent help of Tyson House’s faculty advisor, Dr. Misty Anderson (also my spouse), we received a $100,000 grant from the Lilly Endowment to support retreats, internships, and other things helpful to students’ faith development. As part of the grant, supervisors gather yearly to train and share information.

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One thing they shared this year was a model for thinking a likening it to the above-ground life of a plant (sprout, bloo curve on the diagram). They pointed out that, just as ther ground where old plants turn to soil for new plants, there’s

scenes, toward new program (the yellow curve).

The takeaway for me is that, wherever your program is in of the next opportunity. While the program blooms and g desirable. While it flourishes, you sense what else might be in decline, you’re already imagining the next one, ready ae were invited as well, which gave me a chance to catc John’s member Robin Lovett, who came down from the L Chicago for the event. She and Lee are doing well and s

A week later was an overnight trip to Lenoir-Rhyne, our ne NC, to give a talk on “A Life Worth Living.” They asked me of view of a songwriter, so I used a lot of music. I’m not su concert with stories, but a high point for me was performin Singers, on a choral arrangement I wrote for the occasion basses and tenors out front, doing a verse with me a cap the men joined the women for the chorus. Second verse, and I backed them up, and then the bridge made the ke have to match measure-for-measure—even when we cla dissonant chord, “we’re good together, so good togethe into an easy groove. Students, professors, and staff were and it was a joy to work with them. I also got to have dinn Misenheimer, and he says hello!

about the life cycle of a program, om, flourish, decline, death—the red re’s a lot of hidden work under the s similar work we can do behind the

the life cycle, you can think creatively grows, you learn from it, noticing what’s e good to do. By the time a program is to begin. This year, program alumni/ ch up with Tyson House alumna and St. Lutheran School of Theology at send their best!

At the beginning of November, I led music with a band made entirely of campus ministers, for the ELCA’s National Youth Summit at Lutheridge, in Arden, NC. Conference attendees were youth from every state, and as we led music for worship and devotions, it was a great way to give them a sense of what they might experience in campus ministry. It also gave us an easy opportunity to engage with them and get to know one another. One sweet moment was learning songs from teens there, including a song brought by one girl’s family from Indonesia,“Terima Kasih,” or “Thank You.” Finally, while visiting my parents in Connecticut, I got to see Tyson House alumna and St. John’s member Emilie Casey, who is Interim Director of Marquand Chapel at Yale Divinity School. She’s doing a wonderful job, and I got to work with several of her musicians to lead a sung Morning Prayer service made of hymns I set to music — all of which we use at St. John’s but were new to the community there.

When I booked these things initially, it was just the Lenoir-Rhyne overnight, the Youth Summit at Lutheridge, and the conference in Indiana, which seemed like a lot but manageable. Then came the bishop’s invitation, and I needed to visit my folks, and though it ended up being a bit much it was all a blessing, especially getting to see so many Tyson House alumnae, St John’s members, and friends out in the world, doing wonderful work in Jesus’s name.

earest Lutheran university, in Hickory, e to approach the topic from the point ure if it was a talk with music or a ng with their choir, the Lenoir-Rhyne n, called “Harmony.” It started with ppella. Then I sat at the grand piano as , the women took the lead as the men ey point I was teaching, “We don’t ash,” and here we sang a beautiful, er,” as the chords resolved and settled incredibly generous with their time, ner with former St John’s pastor Ward

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he Senior Adult Ministry at St. John’s is celebrating the Christmas season on Wednesday, December 4th beginning at 11:30am .

Join us in the Sparks Fellowship Hall for lunch, followed by a wonderful program of Christmas music in the sanctuary featuring KELLE JOLLY! The lunch menu includes Honey Baked Ham, potato casserole, green beans, broccoli salad, biscuits with honey & butter, rum cake, coconut cake, and tiramisu. The cost is only $5.

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hurch council and staff Christmas party is scheduled for Sunday, December 15 beginning at 5:30PM at the home of Kevin and Lauren Kimzey.

Childcare will be provided. Everyone is asked to bring food and drink to share. Meat will be provided .

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e are excited to announce our children’s Christmas Pageant, happening Sunday, December 15th at 10am. The kiddos will be presenting 'Itsy Bitsy Christmas". We will have a rehearsal on Sunday, December 8 right after the SECOND SERVICE. For additional information, contact Chrystal Brewer via phone at 865-963-7685 or via email at BrewerChrystal@gmail.com.

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ed poinsettias will be used to decorate the sanctuary for Christmas Eve worship.

The Altar Guild is providing the opportunity for you to contribute one or more plants in honor or in memory of someone special. Each plant will cost $14.00. The poinsettia envelopes are in the sanctuary pews. All orders must be turned in by December 20th and names will be printed in a special bulletin.

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he seventh annual St. John’s Lutheran Women’s Ministry/ Katie’s Sisters event, “Advent By Candlelight” will be held on Tuesday, December 3, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm in the Sparks Fellowship Hall. We welcome all women to join us for a special evening designed to help prepare our hearts for the seasons of Advent and Christmas.

The program this year, “Mercy Mild,” will inspire us to look for the needs of others during this season of joy and light. Candlelight, laughter, and friends will fill the room, gathering to celebrate an evening of fellowship, beautiful music, and delicious desserts.

You won’t want to miss it!

Reservations are currently being taken for table hostesses as well as for individual seats. Please extend an invitation to your friends and sisters in Christ, and make plans to be a part of this special event.

Sign up in the Welcome Center, or contact Ruth Crowley at 405-3727 or RNVC@comcast.net for more information.

As an expression of gratitude for all we have been given, please consider bringing an offering to share with others. This year, we are asking that you contribute an inexpensive pair of children’s athletic-type shoes, any children’s size 10-5, (please, no name-brand shoes) for the shoe closet at Christenberry Elementary. Little feet grow quickly, and giving a child a new pair of shoes that fits is such a good way to brighten a day, and provide for a need that is often unmet. Any additional monetary donations will also help provide shoes or socks for a child, and checks may be made to Christenberry Elementary, with a notation of shoes. What a great expression of sharing this will be during this season of giving!

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e will gather for a festive Christmas concert led by our own Chris Clay. It's the 3rd Annual Christmas at Emory Place concert on Saturday, December 14th beginning at 3pm. The theme is the same as our Advent worship theme, "For Unto Us a Child ... " Chris will be inviting special guests to share their musical gifts and help celebrate the season. We will share a time of fellowship with hot cider and sweet treats immediately following the concert in our fellowship hall.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR and SAVE THE DATE!

Listen to sermons you’ve missed ONLINE at www.sjlcknox.org

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he Stephen Ministry Lunch & Service of Remembrance is scheduled for Sunday, December 8, 2019. Lunch in the Sparks Fellowship begins at 12:15 pm, then we will move to the sanctuary for worship beginning at 1pm. At 12:15, the Stephen Ministers will host a light lunch in the Sparks Fellowship. At 1:00, the St. John’s family will remember those who completed life during the past year, celebrating the promise of resurrection in worship.

We will light a candle in memory of those who enriched our lives by being present and who now remind us of a hope-filled eternity: parents, children, siblings, extended family members, and friends. Please plan to join us for a gentle time of reflection. RSVPs for lunch are requested; please contact Toni in the church office at 523-3330 or toni@sjlcknox.com.

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uring this time of transition for our congregation, prayer is a very important part of our discernment process. Each congregation that goes through a transition is asked to participate in a prayer event to help guide the group’s shared discernment and to faithfully focus on the important aspects of transition, the ministry of Christ.

During Advent, you will notice small slips of paper in each pew printed with prayer directions. We invite each member of the congregation to find some time to write a brief prayer for our congregation and the transition process. Once you have written your prayer, please place it in the bowl on the baptismal font. We believe Advent, a season of preparation, is a perfect time for this event. Many have asked about ways they can participate in this transition, and prayer is a significant part of journey. Let us keep our hearts and our minds focused on the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and allow him to guide us during this time of preparation.

Nadia Bolz-Weber, March 26 Save the Date and Donate!

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n Thursday, March 26, Tyson House is bringing Nadia Bolz-Weber (author of Salvation on the Small Screen?: 24 Hours of Christian Television, Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint; Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People; and Shameless: A Sexual Reformation) to town!

She will give a talk at 7pm, followed by a book signing, at Episcopal Church of the Ascension. We’re waiting to set ticket prices until we see how we do in donations. Our hope is for students to attend free and for the event to net positive as a fundraiser for Tyson House (our shared, Episcopal and Lutheran UTK Campus Ministry). To donate, go to tysonhouse.org/support-us or send checks to Tyson House Student Foundation, 824 Melrose Place, Knoxville, TN 37916.

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Tyson House Report

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t has been a full couple months at Tyson House, with several key blessings: growth in student leadership and outreach, increased engagement of area clergy and lay leaders with students, development of young adult staff positions, a student baptism, two confirmations, and reception of one of our former interns into the Episcopal Church.

Toward the end of September, students and I went to Chattanooga to share a meal and lead worship at Project Canterbury, a LutheranEpiscopal ministry at the University of Chattanooga. They’re in clergy transition, with faithful board members keeping things going, and it was good to share encouragement and communion. Also in September, we had our second annual Hymn-a-thon, which raised over $1600 and brought the community together to sing a verse of every hymn in the Lutheran hymnal. Thank you to everyone who donated!

Tyson House resident and Peace Lutheran member Natalie Kratts preached on the Feast of St. Michael & All Angels (the feast day on which the chapel at Tyson House was dedicated), Tyson House alumnus and St John’s member Jordan Baker preached two weeks later, and Pastor Ingrid Schalk (formerly a member of St. John’s, now pastor at Shepherd of the Lake in Loudon) preached on Reformation Sunday. That last occasion was our annual Costume Eucharist, and I was particularly pleased with my costume, Martin Luther Vandross (see photo). Bishop Brian Cole of the Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee preached and presided on All Saints Sunday, at which Madison Dyer was baptized, Lucas Fiet and Micah Ketchens were confirmed, and Annie Smith was received into the Episcopal Church. Part of what led to this beautiful occasion was a weekly catechism class led by Fr. RJ Powell, my co-chaplain at Tyson House. We’ve also had weekly Bible study dinners on Tuesdays led by our intern, students, and me. Topics have included Science and Religion, the Meaning of Advent, and Wisdom from Scripture on Relating Well. In mid-October, instead of Bible Study we went to worship at Adoration, an ecumenical service led by Br. David Butzu, who is starting a monastery in the Johnson City area. In mid-November, Br. David led prayer hours and reflection for our Fall Retreat at Grace Point, which provided our students a much-needed time of rest and reflection.

All of this has been supported — especially in weeks I’ve been traveling — by two young adult staff positions we’ve developed: Tyson House Administrator (Caitlynne Fox) and Ministry Coordinator Intern (Ezra Brown).

Budget and property management, taking first year students out to ice cream after Bible study, planning, cooking, counseling, and cleaning up: every aspect of chaplaincy and campus ministry, these two are extending and enhancing. In the process, they’re growing in skill and gaining a sense of what it’s like to lead a church.

Finally, our worship council — students planning weekly worship — is handily led by Michelle Blackwell, who is also Head Resident. Outreach council — students planning ways to engage the university and community — is faithfully led by resident Chase Hollingsworth, who also led a beautiful All Hallows Eve service. Smokey’s Pantry is feeding 60+ households weekly, under Caitlynne’s leadership, and 240 students volunteer there over the course of a year, in addition to the many others who help out and lead various ways at Tyson House.

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ear friends,

We would like to thank each of you for the tremendous out pouring of love and support we received following, our daughter, Mary Elizabeth’s stroke.

We are very happy to report that she is making huge progress towards recovery. She continues to need prayers for her vision, mental clarity, energy and above all patience..

We are beyond blessed and supported by all of your prayers, cards and messages. Experiencing a crisis of this magnitude has showed us what a wonderful, caring, loving church family we have. The Lord is so good and we give him thanks daily with grateful hearts for her miraculous recovery. We are blessed to be a part of the wonderful St. John’s family!

Owen and Thea Peterson

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n January of 2019, David volunteered through Kids Hope and Big Brothers Big Sisters to be a mentor at Christenberry Elementary School. David is a native Spanish speaker and asked to be paired with a Spanish speaking boy. Juan was in the 1st grade and his teacher Ms Baker described their relationship in the following way. “Juan was so very shy, quiet, struggling with his school work, to the point where I wasn’t sure if he spoke English because he never really gave an impression that he fully understood me. The change in Juan after being matched with David was almost immediate. I noticed that he talked more, he began making friends, he SMILED, and his grades began to improve. Juan would tell me every day how excited he was to see David and would ask me when he was coming to see him.”

Seeing the transformation that one mentor can make has inspired Ms. Baker to become and mentor to a young child! What a blessing to have another mentor and young child being cared for.

Thank you David for volunteering to make a difference in Juan’s life and to Ms. Baker for stepping up to help transform the life of a child.

If you are interested in finding out more about Kids Hope please reach out to Thea Peterson: thea@sjlcknox.org or 865-591-4803.

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BIRTHDAYS 14 15

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Al Gill Nicki Nye Shirley Fogarty Shelley Rogers Quinn Chappelle Christine Jessel Lee Sinnott Chase Leatherwood Rose Perkinson Tanner Jessel Jo Anne Roning Landry Bernard Dresden Ley Debby Jones Keith Solt

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Changsheng Lu Sally Robinette Jada Parman Amanda Adams David Bocangel Dayne Cook Alice Garrison Tom Godden Patrick McWilliams David Wayland Rick Metelka Samantha Murphy Will McCarthy Don Ray Mitchell Rieger Emily Stapf Suzanne Brown

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Lindsay Cook Chris Mallette Sue Fischer Sam Hancock JC Miller John Tirro Nancy Friedrich Jennifer James Hairston Pat Hunsicker Neil Fischer Todd Sharp Michael Westphal Paul Anderson Judy Hunley Josephine Chavez Joseph Ray Chris Throckmorton Mary Elizabeth Peterson Richard Love Benny Smith Owen Peterson

Ian Daughety Mary Cole Kelly Hudson Ann Langendorfer Terry Burkhalter Elliott Schwahn Rachel Bast Charlsie Counts Lynn Harrison Steve Misenheimer Andrew Perkinson Russell Lay Kyle Metelka Ashley Hopkins Judy McCarter Danielle Sweany Grace Doyle Enlow Frank Wilson Susan Dowling Max Giesecke Dick Krogmann Josh Ley

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Griffin Hamstead Patsy Reeves Russell Kuhlman Billy Good Lily Hancock Jessica Sousa-Lewis Tom McGalliard Rita Schwartz David Martin

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ST. JOHN’S LUTHERAN CHURCH 544 Broadway, NW Knoxville, TN 37917

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Christmas Eve Festival Worship Tuesday, December 24 4:30 pm Prelude Music, 5:00 pm Worship and 7:30 pm Prelude Music, 8:00 pm Worship

CHURCH LEADERSHIP & STAFF Amy Figg Pastor of Faith Formation & Leadership Development amy@sjlcknox.org

John Tirro Pastor of Campus Ministry John@sjlcknox.org

Christopher Clay Director of Communications chris@sjlcknox.org

Deborah Dunne-Sousa Minister of Music sousa@esknoxville.org

Toni Denton Administrative Assistant toni@sjlcknox.org

Darrell Murrell Facility Staff facility@sjlcknox.org

Thea Peterson Kids Hope USA Director Thea@sjlcknox.org

Jean Vargo Interim Pastor jean@sjlcknox.org

Phone:: 865.523.3330

Mary Elizabeth Peterson, Lisa Minton & Bailey Morgan Nursery Assistants

Fax: 865.524.7895 Email: INFO@sjlcknox.org Website: www.sjlcknox.org