Holy Resurrection Byzantine Catholic Mission
Pastor: |
Rev. Thomas P. O'Connell |
Deacon: |
Deacon Ronald Volek |
Address: |
307 Black Oak Ridge Road
Seymour, TN 37865 |
Phone: |
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Fax: |
865-579-3645 |
E-mail: |
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Web site: |
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DIVINE LITURGY SCHEDULE |
Sundays: |
4:00 pm |
Holy Days: |
7:30 pm |
Confessions: |
one half hour before all services |
SOCIAL/ANNUAL EVENTS |
Potluck Supper: |
3rd Sunday of the month, after Divine Liturgy |
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Holy Resurrection Byzantine Catholic Mission meets at Holy Family Roman Catholic Church where Father Thomas P. O'Connell is pastor. Father O'Connell, a bi-ritual priest of the Knoxville Diocese, has served the Byzantine Catholic community in Seymour since its inception in 1999. It was raised to the status of a mission on Easter Sunday, April 15, 2001. Metropolitan Basil visited Holy Resurrection Mission in September of 2002, celebrating Divine Liturgy for the members there.
Many of the faithful drive one hour each way, twice each weekend, to attend Sunday Divine Liturgy celebrated by Father O'Connell and Saturday Vespers sung by the people led by a cantor. Vespers are among several services that can be conducted by the laity without a priest or deacon.
A pot luck dinner, traditional to the south and west, follows the Divine Liturgy in the hall beneath the church as a regular feature of Sunday worship for the Holy Resurrection Mission community. It provides an important opportunity for fellowship among Byzantine Catholics who are spread throughout the area. The weekly Liturgy and dinners also often attract interested Roman Catholics and potential members.
Holy Resurrection Mission has been blessed with many gifts over the past four years, not the least of which is the tremendous support it has received from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Knoxville and the Holy Family parish.
For example, early on the mission group acquired all the liturgical items they needed from a church in the Passaic Eparchy that had closed, including multiple sets of vestments for all liturgical seasons, chalices, altar cloths, and an icon screen on casters that is rolled into place as needed, transforming the Western-built church into the unique and identifiable Byzantine tradition. Holy Family parish found storage room for all of these liturgical necessities.
Beyond that, a Byzantine Catholic gift stand regularly occupies a portion of the vestibule, offering candles, icons and other religious items to anyone interested. And a second permanent signboard, hung beneath the Holy Family Church sign, lets all visitors and passers-by know that it is also home to Holy Resurrection Byzantine Catholic Mission.
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