I don’t who came up with naming our county “Union,” but I can’t think of a better name to describe these wonderful, welcoming and working-together people! When I say I have moved a lot in my life, I mean I have lived in at least 19 different cities; so I know a thing or two about reading and adapting to a local culture.
I particularly appreciate that there is a place for everyone who wants to be involved in Union County, and the people here welcome and support new efforts even when led by those who are new to the community.
When Father Steve Pawelk first moved to Maynardville, he didn’t just work to pull together the Roman Catholics to start a church here, he also worked to unite different types of people. One of the ways he did that was to join in praying with leaders from different faith traditions, which led to planning the first community Thanksgiving service. That first community service was held at Millers Chapel UMC with Father Steve bringing the message and Revival Vision bringing the music.
Through the years it has rotated through different churches taking turns hosting, speaking or performing for the community and has included breaking bread together and cooperatively sponsoring special performances by the Sunshine Ambassadors and the WordPlayers Theatre Group.
The first time the WordPlayers came to Union County, Ethan Norman was so inspired by the camaraderie that he wrote about it in his blog. The following is an excerpt:
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Full Moon Over Maynardville: Unified Light
The moon was enormous when I came over the ridge into Maynardville: an alarming, inescapable light, looming over the hills, and brightening the landscape that should have been lost in the darkness of coming night. It gave one the feeling that something was about to happen.
Now, I knew this performance of our Advent touring show “Sleepers, Wake!” was for a collaboration of churches, but it wasn’t until I was face to face with the pastors, and priest, of three vastly different traditions, that it really sunk in.
They pray together every Thursday morning. This is monumental.
The performance went well, but I don’t know who was more inspired. They spoke highly of us, but I just wanted to grab them by their ears and shout “What you are doing is beautiful, and it is the thing that will make the Kingdom of God visible to the world!”
People could make jokes that it was the full moon that made something like that occur. But let us all take note of the saintly example that Father Steve, Pastor Bryan, and Pastor Kathy set for us.
In Knoxville, and perhaps the whole country nowadays, the church down the street is competition. But thanks be to God that someone is willing to set aside differences for the sake of unifying the Body of Christ.
The gospel will only be taken seriously when Christians consider Jesus a bigger deal than their differing opinions. As the closing line of our Advent show says, “It’s time, time for us to wake up.”
The moon, large and fascinating as it was, has no light of its own. Just a big, gray ball of dirt. The church, large and interesting as it is, has no light of its own. But when they are aligned with the true source of Light, they reflect its light into the darkness.
The fullest moon in Maynardville Saturday night was the church—a unified body.
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Of course, after COVID separated and isolated us for a while, I think we all have a deeper appreciation for the beauty and joy of coming together again. I am happy to report that this spirit of uniting to celebrate the season of Advent and the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is alive and well in our community.
This year, four churches are working together to sponsor the WordPlayers returning to retell the nativity story set as a western in the script written and directed by Ethan Norman “West of Bethlehem.”
The sponsoring churches are St. Teresa’s Catholic Church, Revival Vision Church of God, Miller’s Chapel UMC, and Irwin’s Chapel UMC. Leaders of these churches continue to meet every Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. at Ridge & Valley Coffee Shop to share joys and struggles, support one another, read scripture, and pray together; and we welcome others from the community to join us.
They invite you to be their guest on Dec 13 at 6 p.m. for a free community fellowship meal at Revival Vision Church of God, 154 Durham Drive, Maynardville, 37807 – across from Dr. Chinta; and stay to enjoy the Advent Play “West of Bethlehem” at 7 p.m.