Loading...The Reverend James R. Anderson will be instituted Rector Emeritus of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church by the Rt. Rev. George D. Young III, Bishop of the Diocese of East Tennessee, in a special celebration of The Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, June 29, 7pm. The service will be at the church, 600 S. Chestnut Street.
The preacher for the service will be the Rev. Dr. Harold Middlebrook, iconic preacher, lieutenant to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Knoxville civil rights leader. Well-known Knoxville vocalist Kelle Jolly will provide special music. Bishop Young will celebrate Eucharist. The Rev. Bo Townsend is St. Luke’s interim rector. The public is invited.
Father Anderson served St. Luke’s from April 2013 to October 2016. During that time he pioneered several important ministries, among them an annual Community Easter Sunrise Service at Knoxville Botanical Gardens and Arboretum; a Diocesan Celebration of Absalom Jones, the first black Episcopal priest; resurrecting the Bishop Sanders’ Scholarship for minority students, and leadership in Justice Knox, the grassroots faith communities' organization for community justice. He is also honored as the most recent of five African American priests to serve St. Luke’s, the only historically black parish of the diocese.
The Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul (June 29), is especially meaningful to Father Anderson: On that day in 1973 he was ordained deacon in the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul. Now In a 2017 celebration of that feast which honors the two saints most closely associated with the dynamism of the early Christian church, he will be blessed as rector emeritus of the parish he served last.
The service will hold great meaning to the parish as well, comments senior warden Nancy Mott. “With Father Anderson becoming rector emeritus, we acknowledge an ongoing relationship of affection and will pledge to hold him in prayer for his health and happiness. Moreover we dedicate ourselves as a parish to faithfulness to his legacy in the characteristics of his ministry--joy and zest in following Jesus, faithful preaching of the Gospel, delight in solid liturgy, a heart for all God’s children, and passion for
A reception in the parish hall will follow the service. All are invited.
