Dear friends,
Today’s stewardship testimonial comes from Hollis and Bessie Holland, stalwarts of the 8:30 service. They also have the distinction of having tuned in to every online service since March 15. That means every Compline as well as every Sunday morning. I confess there are evenings when I think it would be nice not to do Compline, but then I think of Hollis and Bessie sitting in front of their computer waiting for the service to start and my enthusiasm is renewed. So thank you, Hollis and Bessie for your faithfulness! Here is their message to you. — Tricia
Peace and love from Bessie and Hollis. It is a real honor to tell you why we love and support St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church. Bessie and I are relatively new Episcopalians. Bessie was baptized by Tricia in January 2016 and I became an Episcopalian about 10 years ago after being a Baptist for 55 years! I use to say “Born a Baptist… and will die a Baptist.” Well, I fell in love with the Book of Common Prayer.
My first Priest was Betty Latham, a very dear friend of Tricia, in the Diocese of East Tennessee. Perry Scruggs, Priest and another friend of Tricia, actually was the one who told me about St. Dunstan’s. He described the location and the neighborhood. I relocated to Georgia from Tennessee and after visiting a few other Episcopal Churches close to my new home with Bessie, we visited St. Dunstan’s, August 2015. We arrived a little early for the 8:30 service and met the guest Priest in the parking lot. Tricia was on vacation. Note: I did not tell Bessie, but I fell in love with St. Dunstan’s in the parking lot. Wow! What a beautiful location to worship God. Upon Tricia’s return the following Sunday, we met her and we both fell in love with Tricia; so warm, welcoming, and caring! Now it was set in stone!!
On April 16, 2016, Tricia married us at St. Dunstan’s. There were three other Priests besides Tricia in attendance…Betty Latham and Perry Scruggs both from Tennessee and Charles Granger from Kansas. Charles and I graduated from Cleveland East High School (1961) together and he is the main reason I became an Episcopalian. The wedding was a very special event in our lives and we had the privilege to hold our reception at St. Dunstan’s as well. One hundred and fifty friends and relatives to include all of our children and grandchildren, sisters and brothers with spouses from 12 states…GA, VT, CA, NY, VA, NC, TN, MS, OH, FL, KS, CT, and a very special friend that flew in from Russia the night before and surprised us.
Bessie was Confirmed and I was Re-Confirmed by Bishop Wright in November 2017.
Final point: I am currently reading BLACK FATIGUE (How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and Spirit) written by Mary-Frances Winters (a near and dear friend of ours). I would like to recommend to all of you – good reading!
Trivia: Joe Monti, Tom Gibbs and I were born in the same month and year!
We look forward when we will be able to return to Church and physically worship and fellowship…especially 2nd Sunday breakfast with Claudia and Pam.
Peace and love from Suwanee, a long way from St. Dunstan’s…It is so worth it!