Loading...Greetings and best wishes to all of you this very pleasant end-of-Summer season! Having returned to the Tazewell area in the past few years, I cannot tell you how pleased I am to have to returned to my family home, my roots and of course, my church. I have such fond memories of growing up in a community that welcomed me, nurtured me and supported me as I graduated and went off to build a career, a family, and a future. As was planned for me, I have returned and am ever so grateful and thankful that the Episcopal Church is still active and very much still a part of our community. The church has been the cornerstone of my values, my heritage and my spirituality. Our church has been most fortunate to have had such strong and formative leaders in the community as congregants, all of whom have helped to shape and mold me personally.
Although excited to rejoin my church family, I have been troubled to have lost so many of those who have bolstered and supported our church throughout the years. Our average weekly attendance is half of what it used to be when I was an acolyte, charged with counting the heads of those in attendance in preparation for Eucharist, along with other very important responsibilities. As we forge ahead into an uncertain future, I invite you to step into the past. The Episcopal Church has been active in our community for more than 126 years and has provided worship services every Sunday ever since. You also will readily recall the baptisms, weddings, funerals or other services in which you have been present and relied on the church to provide. In the era of declining membership and further movement away from the teachings of Christ, I invite you to return…to recollect your formative experiences and rejoin your church family. As our sign says, the Episcopal Church Welcomes You…and we miss you! Our church is well known for its position of acceptance, forgiveness and unity. The Episcopal Church has been there for you. Will you be there for her?
May the Lord be With You,
Christopher Stras Brown, Junior Warden - Stras Memorial, Tazewell
