A lesson in tailgating from our Catholic friends

Thank you to Hannah Parker of Moxley Carmichael for writing this guest post for the Blue Streak. -Cynthia Moxley

A former boss of mine used to say, “Rooms have feels to them, you know? They can either give life or suck the life out of you.”

Rooms do have feels to them. And, apparently, so do picnics, such as the one hosted at Sacred Heart Cathedral to launch the Diocese of Knoxville’s fundraising campaign to build a new center of worship.

From left, Tom and Deanene Catani, Pam Rhoades, and Father David Boettner.  Loved his orange pants!

From left, Tom and Deanene Catani, Pam Rhoades and Father David Boettner, rector of Sacred Heart Cathedral. Loved his orange pants!

On a summer afternoon on the first weekend in September, more than 500 people attended a picnic in sweltering heat in a church parking lot. They brought umbrellas, folding camp chairs and blankets because they wanted to be present at a historic event in the life of their church and the life of our community.

Several weeks ago, the Diocese of Knoxville announced plans to build a new cathedral at Sacred Heart. At the picnic last Sunday, the renderings were unveiled, and the campaign formally was launched.

For quite some time, I have been familiar with the work of Catholic Charities of East Tennessee. Several years ago, I remember being astounded to learn that nearly 95 percent of the funding they give away goes to non-Catholics.

What I didn’t realize is that Catholicism in East Tennessee is growing. Since the Diocese was founded in 1988, the Catholic population in our area has doubled, and it is expected to double again over the next 10 years. One recent study identified the Knoxville diocese as one of the top 10 fastest growing areas in the country for adult conversions.

The Diocese of Knoxville serves about 65,000 of our neighbors. That number includes prominent business leaders, community members, hospital presidents and CEOs – and even our own Cynthia Moxley. It also includes many rural East Tennesseans, members of the Hispanic community and children. Lots and lots of children.

A blog post about an event at a Catholic parish likely wouldn’t be complete without a confessional. Here’s mine: This entry was authored by a Protestant.

But being a non-Catholic at a Catholic event gave me fresh eyes and enough objectivity to make this statement: The event held that Sunday at Sacred Heart Cathedral oozed of community, excitement and warmth.

In fact, I’m not certain I’ve been to another event recently that represented such a unique cross-section of our community.

City Councilman Duane Grieve and Father David Boettner.  Sacred Heart is located in Councilman Grieve's district.

City Councilman Duane Grieve and Father David Boettner. Sacred Heart is located in Grieve’s district. (Photo by Scott Maentz)

Campaign co-chairs Dugan McLaughlin and Bruce Hartmann and Jerry Bodie, chairman of Sacred Heart’s building committee.

Bruce Bosse of Merit Construction was stationed at one of the information booths where attendees could view up close the renderings for the new cathedral.

So was Dugan McLaughlin, and he helped explain various portions of the building site plan.

So was Dugan McLaughlin, and he helped explain various aspects of the building site plan. (Photo by Scott Maentz)

The Chillbillies provided music for the evening.  I'd say the steps of a church might be among some of the more interesting places they've played!

The Chillbillies provided music for the evening. I’d say the steps of a church might be among some of the more interesting places they’ve played!

Bishop Richard F. Stika and Diego (Photo by Scott Maentz)

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The cathedral also is in Rep. John J. Duncan Jr.’s congressional district.

Kristin Farley, right, of WATE emceed the event. She is pictured here with Bishop Stika. Loved his baseball jersey for the “parish tailgate!”

Ha! The back was even better. (Get it? Bishop? Cardinal?)

Bob and Diane Safernick

 

When Bishop Stika began to speak, these children walked right up to the church steps and sat down. We all loved it!

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Love the bow.

Arias

Felipe and Antonia Arias

Brian and Pam Rhoades

Brian and Pam Rhoades (Photo by Scott Maentz)

Biker

I told you – there were all kinds of people at a welcoming event!

Bishop and Wogan

Jim Wogan, a familiar face from his days in television, now serves as the communications director for the Diocese of Knoxville. He is with Bishop Stika. (Photo by Scott Maentz)

Christine Maentz, right, volunteered to paint faces for the event. (Photo by Scott Maentz)

She’s incredibly talented! (Photo by Scott Maentz)

John at Buffet

John Deinhart, right, enjoying the barbecue. (Photo by Scott Maentz)

From left, Dr. Bob Capps, Bruce Hartmann, Mary Mac Wilson, and Dave Rechter. (Photo by Scott Maentz)

From left, Jim Wogan, Robyn McAdoo, John Deinhart and Kelly Headden. Robyn and Kelly are from BarberMcMurry, the local architecture firm heading up the project.

Air toss

It really was a fun afternoon. (Photo by Scott Maentz)

I loved this lady’s shade screen!

The roofline of the new cathedral will match the height of the current bell tower.  It will truly be a momentous project.

The roofline of the new cathedral will match the height of the current bell tower. It truly will be a momentous project. (Photo by Scott Maentz)

The future of Sacred Heart can be seen in the rendering for a new cathedral. But this is the reason for building it. (Photo by Scott Maentz)

For more information about the campaign for a new Sacred Heart cathedral, visit www.sacredheartcampaign.org.

For additional information about the new cathedral, click here to see Josh Flory’s story from the News Sentinel. For television coverage, click here for the story from WBIR, here for WATE, here for WVLT and here for WTNZ.

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7 Responses to A lesson in tailgating from our Catholic friends

  1. cmmoxley, on September 10th, 2014 at 4:31 pm said:

    Great job, Hannah! Thanks for writing this guest post. Hated to miss the event, but I was out of the country. I think Sacred Heart parish and the Diocese are off to a great start to building a much needed new cathedral.

  2. Tami Hartmann, on September 10th, 2014 at 5:32 pm said:

    It was a great turnout for a once in a lifetime project! Thanks for covering Hannah! It’s very rare that a new cathedral is built. We are so blessed to be a part of this.

  3. Pam Rhoades, on September 10th, 2014 at 7:14 pm said:

    Thanks to Hannah, Cynthia, and the whole MoxCar team. You all are a blessing to the Diocese and the Sacred Heart family.

  4. Sharon Bosse, on September 10th, 2014 at 10:24 pm said:

    Thanks, Hannah! You captured the spirit of the event beautifully! It is such an exciting time in our diocese!

  5. Mallory Irwin, on September 10th, 2014 at 11:19 pm said:

    Excellent story Hannah! My whole family had a blast at the tailgate party. We are very much looking forward to the new Cathedral and extremely excited about how quickly the Diocese is growing. Thank you for pointing out how much Catholic Charities does for our community. Even though building a new Cathedral is a tremendous undertaking, the Diocese will give more funds to the poor of our community during the 5-year campaign than they will spend on the build. It will be awesome for our whole Diocese to have a new HOME!

  6. Hannah Parker, on September 11th, 2014 at 10:06 am said:

    Thank you for the opportunity, Cynthia.

    Tami, Pam, Sharon, and Mallory, thanks for your kind comments and for welcoming me so warmly. It really was a great event.

    Mallory, I loved your dad’s music on Sunday night!

  7. Mary Linda Schwarzbart, on October 1st, 2014 at 8:24 pm said:

    Love this quote
    “Rooms have feels to them, you know? They can either give life or suck the life out of you.” – so true.

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