We gather together for ONE Worship on July 1, which, appropriately, is Immigration Sunday in the PC(USA). Aaron Brooks (June 27-30) mows the church lawn for that integral day. When Vacation Bible School kicks off July 8, the lawn can report all present and correct, thanks to Fred Harkleroad (July 4-7). Larry Connolly (July 11-14) leaves the building to perform lawn maintenance for July 15.

Join the team! We welcome men and women, adults and teens. Even families: younger children can move debris to the curb, and a parent or elder sibling can mow. It's easy, and you can mow only once or, if you choose, even thrice. Simply contact Randy Cook at [email protected] or 423-956-1541. If you're new to Scag mowers, he will be happy to give you a lesson on ours.

Music for July 8: Our anthem, "Steal Away," is a well-known African-American spiritual. It falls into a category of spirituals known as code songs, in which the lyrics had double meanings. On the surface, "steal away to Jesus" meant dying and going to heaven, but it also meant escaping and finding freedom ("I ain't got time to stay here"). There is considerable evidence to suggest that the lyrics and tune of "Steal Away" may have been written by Nat Turner or, perhaps, by Wallis Willis.

Organist's footnotes: Kenton Coe is a classical composer whose works have been significantly inspired by Appalachian melodies and themes. Coe created operas, choral works, anthems, film scores, and orchestral compositions that reflect a strong sense of place (in terms of concept and function); they have been performed by major symphony orchestras and other ensembles across the United States and in Europe.

	Kenton Coe

The son of a US Army Corps of Engineers officer and his wife, Coe was born November 12, 1930, in Johnson City. He began his formal musical training at age seven at the Cadek Conservatory in Chattanooga. After moving to Knoxville with his family, he took after-school folk dance classes directed by Ethel Capps, who later became a well-known music and dance instructor. During these sessions, Coe was first exposed to the traditional Appalachian music that would inspire him throughout his career.

He graduated with a degree in music history from Yale University in 1953, then spent three years in Europe at the Paris Conservatory and Fontainebleau School studying with Nadia Boulanger. Returning to the United States, Coe took a job as production manager at Vox Records in New York City and, receiving a MacDowell Colony fellowship, began to work on his first major composition in collaboration with French playwright Julien Green. That work, the opera South, was successfully premiered by the Opera of Marseilles in 1965. Staged by the Paris Opera in 1972, it remains the only opera by an American composer ever performed by that prestigious company.

Coe went on to produce numerous other works, including the opera Rachel (about the wife of President Andrew Jackson), for which fellow Tennessean and Emmy Award-winner Anne Howard Bailey wrote the libretto. Coe has also composed film scores for James Agee Film Project documentaries, many of which explore topics related to Appalachia.

Coe returned to Johnson City in 1974. He received the prestigious Lyndhurst Prize in 1985 and the Tennessee Governor's Award in the Arts (individual artist category) in 1990. He currently lives in Easley, SC (near Greenville).

The three pieces heard July 8 are from his collection of Hymntune Preludes and Postludes - Book I: Southern. Kenton dedicated a number of these pieces to organists in our area, including Richard (Dick) Webb, Stephen Hamilton, David Hendricksen, and Andrew Hicks.

Church Officers
ELDERS
Class of 2018	Class of 2019	Class of 2020
Aaron Brooks	Anna Booher	Nancy Allerton
Randy Cook	Lee Galliher	Rebecca Beck
Debbie McMillin	Pete Holler	David Hyde
Stuart Parker	Han Ong	Jordan Pennington
Chuck Thompson	Pete Stigers	Jerry Poteat
DEACONS
Class of 2018	Class of 2019	Class of 2020
Adam Abel	Sujean Bradley	Blake Bassett
Nancy Butterworth	George Linke	Rhonda Comer
David Ginn	Greg Roberts	Brenda Lawson
Rett Stocstill	Nate Sproles	Barbara Thompson
Ann Woods	Bill Whisnant