As we approach our 60th anniversary as Church of the Resurrection, I would like to reflect on very special person who was here from the start . . . our one and only Jean Cardwell!

In 1963 Jean was 30 years old, a young mother of three children, wife to husband Jim, and working full time as a social worker for Loudon County Department of Human Services. No doubt she was a busy lady, but not too busy to be involved in helping establish a new church.

Jean has served on the altar guild, choir, vestry, search committees, you name it.  She said teaching Sunday school was the ONE thing she didn't do, but she did furnish the children!

One of the most exciting things for Jean was serving on the building committee. Three couples served on that committee; the men made the decisions on the exterior and the women made the decisions on the interior, and for the most part there weren't any big fights!  The Episcopal Church Women (ECW) had fundraisers to furnish the church, and our pews came from a Baptist Church in the Karnes community. Jean is a wealth of information of our church histor, and I encourage you to talk to her and learn more about our history.

Jean has also been a wonderful role model in our community for her tireless work in organizations such as Good Samaritan Center, where she served on the board three times during its infancy; the Loudon County Volunteer Support Committee; and is a charter member (64 years) of the Loudon Woman's Club.

There are many other ways Jean has served that I don't know about, but I can tell you she has been an inspiration to me in my life.

The founding members of this church took on a huge task and, thankfully, were successful in getting Church of the Resurrection started in this county.

So what can we do going forward to honor those who came before us and made our church possible?  In my humble opinion, I think we should cherish this gift from God  by continuing the work of growing an active, loving parish that can worship, love and support each other, and love our neighbors as ourselves.

Thanks be to God.
Dianna Stimpson