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St. Thomas Episcopal Church will celebrate the third Sunday in Advent with Appalachian Evensong with Christmas lessons and carols at 6 p.m. Dec. 11.
Featured will be Thomm Jutz and Tim Stafford, celebrated Bluegrass songwriters and musicians.
“This is our fifth annual celebration of Appalachian Evensong. This celebration leads up in the love of home, family, neighbor, and the whole wide world, all for whom God became incarnate into humanity in Jesus Christ,” said Father Timothy Holder, priest and pastor at St. Thomas.
Thomm Jutz is a Grammy-nominated songwriter, producer and guitar player living in Nashville and Johnson City. He is the winner of the International Bluegrass Association’s Song Writer of the Year Award. Thomm’s songs have been recorded by John Prine, Balsam Range, Mac Wiseman and many more.
Tim Stafford is a three-time, Grammy Award-winning guitarist. songwriter, author and singer, two-time International Bluegrass Association Songwriter of the Year, former member of Alison Krauss and Union Station, and founding member of the celebrated Bluegrass group, BlueHighway.
St. Thomas since 1942 hosts a traditional membership in its historic surroundings. Appalachian music has been more fully welcomed throughout its worship and celebrations in recent years. “How can a church love, be loved, appreciate and welcome our neighbors if we cannot celebrate the beautiful spirit of our home of Appalachia as celebrated in our music and traditions?,” asks Father Holder. “We are thankful for our Appalachian ministries at St. Thomas.”
St. Thomas will award its first “Appalachian Ministries Scholarship at the Appalachian Evensong to Josiah Benjamin Nelson, a graduate student in Appalachian Studies at East Tennessee State University and widely renowned fiddler.
St. Thomas is located at 815 East 2nd Avenue in Elizabethton’s Historic District.