Serve at Apostles Anglican Church

Serving

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (Romans 12:1)

We present our lives to God in worship and service. This means physically serving one another, the community around us, and the world at large. Members of Apostles live out these commitments in a variety of ways, including the following:

Outreach Ministry

Apostles Anglican members serve at many different local and international ministries. Here are five key ministries that we as a community support through service and prayer. To learn more about how you can serve in any of these ministries, please contact office@apostlesonline.org. Also, to learn more about the whole range of local outreaches in the Greater Knoxville Area, please visit Ways to Connect at Compassion Coalition.

Anglicans for Life

Anglicans for Life is a sanctity of life ministry associated with the Anglican Communion. Anglicans for Life provides pastoral resources dealing with abstinence, abortion, adoption, assisted suicide, elderly care, cloning, and embryonic stem cell research. Each year, Apostles Anglican participates in the Anglicans for Life ministry through fundraising, support of events and even hosting classes. Visit their website to learn more about the ministry of Anglicans for Life.

Cedarbrook Outreach

Cedarbrook serves at-risk children and families in the name of Jesus Christ through compassionate mobilization and transformation. They do this in part by mentoring students, summer programs, mobile food pantries, and a furniture ministry. You can learn more about this ministry HERE. Contact Fr. Thomas about getting involved.

Hope Resource Center

The Hope Resource Center is a cost-free healthcare center for women, offering medical care by licensed professionals for reproductive health concerns, education, and connection with community resources. Our mission is to equip women to make informed and healthy reproductive decisions. We want to help you find a path to your best health and wholeness because your health is important. All services offered by Hope Resource Center are free and confidential. No proof of insurance or proof of employment is required.. Visit The Hope Resource Center website to learn more.

Restoration House

The Restoration House organization works to help restore single mothers and their children back to God’s good intent for their lives. Through transformational housing, team mentoring, and family advocacy, TRH is helping single mother families end cycles of poverty and distress. In turn, TRH’s Participating Families are empowered to build brighter futures for themselves and their families. Apostles members have supported TRH by sponsoring families and by hosting a family night here at the church. Visit The Restoration House website to learn more.

Tools for hope

Tools for Hope (TFH) supports Rwandan subsistence farmers through training and support so they can transition to more stable, healthy, and dignified lives. The organization is headquartered in our building, and almost all of the Board of Directors are Apostles members. You’re invited to join TFH on this mission to empower Rwandan subsistence farmers and build a more hopeful future for their families.  You can get involved and learn more about Tools for Hope HERE.

Apostles Ministry

Here are some of the many ways you can participate in serving at Apostles Anglican Church. If you would like to volunteer in one of these areas, please send us an email to office@apostlesonline.org.

• • • Acolyte men light candles and assist during the communion service. In the 8:45am service, an acolyte leads the procession by carrying the cross.
    • Altar Guild ladies prepare the altar for communion service.
    • Chalice Bearers serve the wine during communion.
    • Children’s Ministry workers assist Kaye Freels with the various children’s ministries during service.
    • Coffee servers help prepare and set the coffee table.
    • Greeters welcome visitors before the services.
    • Healing Prayer Ministers pray for members as needed, at the end of the 8:45am service and during communion at the 11:15am service.
    • Intercessors lead the intercessory prayers from the bulletin.
    • Readers read Old and New Testament passages during service.
    • Ushers hand out bulletins, take up the offering, and help lead members forward during communion.

Ordination

We believe that all Christians are called to serve Christ and one another in the home, in church, in the workplace and in other places both local and abroad. Some Christians are called to serve the church as Deacons, Priests, and Bishops. The call to ordained ministry should be confirmed in the heart of the candidate and through the witness of clergy and laity. To learn more about the call to ordained ministry, talk with The Rev. Jack King, Rector.

To learn about ordination within the Anglican Diocese of the South please visit the Canon to the Ordinary.

Table Groups

The Bible is full of hospitality: God creates a home for humanity; Abraham welcomes the three visitors; Israel is commanded to welcome the stranger and treat neighbors like family; Just about everywhere that Jesus went in his ministry, there were meals in homes; And in Acts 2, the earliest Christians met with each other every day!

It’s important in our Christian formation to meet with other believers. In sharing life together, we can pray for one another, serve one another, and help each other bear life’s burdens, all the while pointing each other toward Jesus—reminding each other of our true identities and callings. Oh, and we can have fun, too!

But, it’s not easy in our day and age to regularly gather together mid-week. We’re a suburban church. Some members live close enough to walk to our facility, others live in another county and have a long commute to Apostles. If we are a people who value gathering with our church family during the week, then we must address the challenges posed by living far away from each other.

Even if we don’t have a commute, many of us would also face difficulty adding anything to our busy schedules. We don’t think we have the time to connect with others. The irony is that connecting with others is exactly what we need! We’ve been taught that to be valuable is to be useful, so that makes us strive for busyness. But the truth is that we are valuable because we are loved by God. Seeking relationship with our neighbors is a way to affirm the value of all people, our own and our neighbors’.

We are addressing these issues by creating a new ministry. It’s called Table Groups. The goal of a Table Group is to gather about twice a month in a member’s home for a shared meal and for simple prayer. Instead of being at Apostles and requiring a commute, it will be in neighborhoods and local for those who participate. We began September 2018 with five different areas around Knoxville—Farragut, Bridgewater, Rocky Hill, West Haven, and Fountain City. And, we continue to add new groups when and where we can.

We invite you to prayerfully consider participating in this new ministry. We believe God is calling us to do more of what the earliest Christians did together: to share a meal and to pray. By participating, we believe God will deepen our friendships with one another and begin new works of gospel presence in our neighborhoods. Please read below for more information about Table Groups and how to get involved.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I sign-up?

Click here for Table Group Registration. After you sign-up, you will be contacted by your table group leader with information about the next meeting.

What will a Table Group look like?

Table group meetings are characterized by two essential elements: food and prayer. Each time a group meets, the leader will send out an email invitation that will include a sign-up list for food. Each attendee will bring a piece of the common meal. Following the meal, the group will also go through a short prayer liturgy. This will look differently for each group, but it will be a time to share and ask for prayer, a time of thanksgiving, and a time to pray for others. Groups are encouraged to meet twice a month on an evening that works for both the leader and the group.

Isn’t this just a small group?

Small groups are known far and wide in the church-world, and they often look pretty similar. A group gathers, discusses a book, a passage of Scripture, or the week’s sermon. That’s not what this is. Those things are good and we have opportunities like that at Apostles at our Sunday Spiritual Formation Hour and other weekday Bible studies. This is NOT a replacement for any existing group. We encourage folks who do that type of study to also engage in this time of fellowship, food, and prayer in their neighborhood. There is nothing to accomplish during this time. This is simply a time to exist as a child of God with other children, to pray and to eat with them.

Is there a set time to meet?

There’s not a set time for these meetings to occur, but it will be around dinner time and end with consideration to not keep anyone out too late. Each leader is encouraged to pick a day of the week and stick with it for consistency. They will check with those interested in their group to find a day that works best for both the leader and the group members.

How long will my group meet each time?

Each group will be a little bit different, but the goal is to have enough time for a meal, for prayer, and to end at a reasonable time for a mid-week gathering—especially for those with children to get to bed. Your leader will communicate both a start and an end time. Group members are asked to respect those times.

How often will my group meet?

Groups are encouraged to meet twice per month, but it will vary on the needs and desires of each group. The intention is for gathering with neighbors to be a regular practice of your spiritual life. Getting less frequent than twice a month will make the gatherings feel more like “events” and less like a practice of community.

How big will each group be?

Jesus says in Matthew 18:20 that wherever two or three are gathered, he is with us! Sometimes community looks like a lively table, full of laughing people. Sometimes it is a time of quiet for two or three friends. Both are valuable to God. To help avoid being overcrowded, especially as this ministry is beginning and there are only a handful of groups, please always RSVP. Each group will have a Sign-up Genius page to make it easy to say you’re coming, how many will be with you this time, and what you can bring to contribute to the meal.

What about my kids?

Jesus teaches through his attitude toward children that they are to be at the center of the Kingdom. We would encourage you to include your children in the gathering as much as practically possible. Please talk your leader. They will be open to accommodating the needs and time schedule of your family.

Can I invite guests?

Yes! The goal for Table Groups is to be active in the neighborhood. Please invite others to join and be welcoming of new people at the table. This may be someone’s first encounter (or reencounter) with the Church and could represent the beginning of a transformative journey. Pray for God to send new faces to your table.

Children’s Ministry

 
Our desire at Apostles is to explore God’s love and the promises He has for each of us. The Children’s Ministry team strives to communicate God’s love to our kids and to show them the beauty of exploring His word. We believe that building relationships with our children is the best way to show them the love of the Father. We strive to teach children how to worship at an early age.

Our purpose is to provide a time for children to hear God’s word and to learn to apply it to their lives, as well as to prepare them to participate in worship by using prayer, praise, and instruction.  For more information on Children’s Ministry, please contact Kaye Freels at kaye@apostlesonline.org.

Nursery

For our nursery age children, birth to age 3, we focus on showing God’s love by caring and nurturing. We sing songs, read stories and play with our youngest members of the parish. We also have a variety of developmentally appropriate activities that include toys, nativity set and Noah’s Ark playsets, as well as puzzles, blocks and games.

We offer nursery on Sunday mornings at both services as well as during special services such as Christmas Eve, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and Messy Church.

Preschool

During Sunday morning services, our preschool children ages 3-5 (not yet in Kindergarten) enjoy a variety of developmentally appropriate activities that include art, games, dramatic play, nature, and block center play as well as listening to bible stories, singing, and focusing on God’s word and His love for us. By exploring God’s creation through fun activities, the children can grasp the concepts of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

At 10:10am, preschoolers ages 3-6 take part in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. It is a Montessori based program that is contemplative in nature. The children will enjoy taking part in activities that explain and teach us how Jesus is our Good Shepherd. For more information on Catechesis of the Good Shepherd you may visit www.cgsusa.org.

We offer preschool care on Sunday mornings at both services as well as Christian Formation at 10:10am. Childcare for preschoolers may also be provided during special services such as Christmas Eve, Ash Wednesday, and Good Friday.

Elementary-Aged

For children grades Kindergarten through grade 5 (ages 6-11), we offer an older version of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Part 1 begins at 10:10am on Sunday morning and concludes at 11am so children can join their parents for the 11:15am service. Before the sermon begins, the children are dismissed from church (normally at 11:30am) for Part 2 of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. The children’s service concludes shortly after the end of the sermon, and children rejoin their parents for the remainder of the service so that each family may receive communion together.

Children and Communion

All baptized persons of any age are welcome to the Lord’s Table, and young children are encouraged to come forward with their parents when Communion is distributed. Parents are encouraged to prayerfully discern when their child is ready to receive the sacrament, and our priests are available to answer any questions that parents may have concerning Communion.

Some parents lead their children to receive the Eucharist soon after the infant’s baptism. Other parents prefer that their child receive the bread only in preschool years, allowing them to dip the bread in the chalice when they are older. Some parents prefer that their children refrain from receiving Communion for some time, requesting a priestly blessing instead. Each of these decisions is an honorable choice by parents.

The clergy at Apostles desire to assist parents in this prayerful decision. Throughout the year the Apostles clergy and ministry staff will teach the children about the gift of sacraments.

Our Commitment to a Safe Environment for Children and Students

Apostles is committed to providing a safe environment where our children and students may grow in their faith and experience the love of Christ in a caring church.

To ensure that safe environment, we have over 20 volunteers and 4 part-time nursery attendants who shepherd the flock. All these leaders are required to attend training to work with the younger members of the body of Christ. This training is provided for all ACNA congregations, and we believe this thorough preparation equips our volunteers for ministry and preserves a safe environment for the children in our parish.

Any person who works with children not only has training on Child Protection, but also has a background check too.
 
Updated 8/28/2018
 

Youth Ministry

Our Youth Ministry is led by our pastoral staff. If you are looking for a small youth group, with personal attention to each student and thoughtful studies, then this group will work well for you.

Our students ages 4-6 grade meet for Formation Hour (10:10-11) on Sunday mornings. Older students are invited to join the adult classes.

Our youth also get together for fun events throughout the year, such as putt putt.

For more information about what’s currently happening in youth ministry and to ask more detailed questions, email Thomas@apostlesonline.org