Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee

06/14/2026

06/11/2026

Did you know ... that while bishops mostly confirm youth and adults at visitation services, they also baptize, receive, and reaffirm members?

Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body, the church. God establishes an indissoluble bond with each person in baptism. God adopts us, making us members of the church and inheritors of the Kingdom of God (BCP, pp. 298, 858). Baptism is the foundation for all future church participation and ministry.

Reception is when baptized persons who have been members of another Christian fellowship ( Roman Catholic and Lutheran) and who wish to be affiliated with the Episcopal Church make a public affirmation of their faith and commitment to the responsibilities of their baptism in the presence of a bishop. The bishop lays hands on each candidate for reception and says, “We recognize you as a member of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, and we receive you into the fellowship of this Communion” (BCP, p. 418).

Reaffimation refers to those persons already baptized who are presented to the bishop in the context of a service of Baptism or Confirmation to reaffirm their baptismal vows. These might be persons returning to the church after a period of unbelief or those who have entered a new level of spiritual life.

Bishop Bauerschmidt visits Trinity Church, Wi******er this Sunday, June 14.

Photo: Baptismal font at Trinity Church, Wi******er

06/10/2026

Summer Series: Bishops of the Diocese of Tennessee

Charles Todd Quintard, M.D., D.D., LL.D., was born in Stamford, Connecticut, on December 22, 1824 and attended Trinity School in New York. In 1847, Quintard received his M.D. degree from University Medical College, New York University. For a year he worked at Bellevue Hospital. He moved to Athens, Georgia, where he practiced medicine. In 1851, he became professor of physiology and pathological anatomy at the Memphis Medical College and one of the editors of the Memphis Medical Recorder. While in Memphis, he became friends with Bishop James Otey and began to study for the ordained ministry. Quintard was ordained deacon on January 1, 1855, and priest on January 6, 1856. He served as rector of the Church of the Advent, Nashville, until he was consecrated Bishop of Tennessee on October 11, 1865. He served as bishop until his death on February 15, 1898. As bishop, he was instrumental in the revival of the church in Tennessee and supported missions to the freed African Americans. He was a supporter of the Oxford Movement and was deeply interested in the educational mission of the church. Quintard was the second founder of the University of the South after the devastation of the Civil War. In March 1866, he went to Sewanee, selected locations for the buildings, and planted a cross. He was the first vice-chancellor of the University, February 14, 1867-July 12, 1872, and presided at its official opening on September 18, 1868. He made several trips to England to raise money for the University. On one of those trips he convinced a woman to give the money for a theological building resulting in the construction of St. Luke's Hall, so named because Quintard was a physician. Quintard died in Darien, Georgia. (source: https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/quintard-charles-todd/)

06/10/2026

Bishop John has a new post on the Christian tradition of thinking about war.

An illiberal rule-breaking in war has found its most straightforward articulation: the US military engagement with Iran.

06/09/2026

This past Saturday at Christ Church Cathedral Bishop Bauerschmidt ordained John Ajith and Peter Mangok from our South Sudanese congregation at St. Bartholomew's, Nashville to the transitional diaconate. John and Peter will be eligible to be ordained into the priesthood after 6 months as transitional deacons. Congratulations Deacon John and Deacon Peter!

Photo: Bishop Bauerschmidt prays over John and Peter during the ordination service while Canon Jody Howard assists.

06/09/2026

Bishop John made his annual Visitation to Grace Chapel, Rossview, this week, preaching and celebrating at the mid-morning liturgy. Afterward, he and Caroline Bauerschmidt joined the congregation, and supply priest Dorothy Hartzog, for brunch and conversation at a local restaurant. https://edtn.org/proper-5-year-a-grace-chapel-rossview-june-7-2026/

06/06/2026

Today, Peter Mangok and John Ajith from our South Sudanese congregation at St. Bartholomew's Church in Nashville will be ordained into the Transitional Diaconate by Bishop Bauerschmidt. Please pray for them as they enter this next phase of their journey.

06/05/2026

Last week Bishop John was with Bishop John Michael Botean at Blessed Martyred Bishops Byzantine Catholic Mission in Nashville, one of the congregations of Bishop John Michael’s Eparchy, for a prayer liturgy and the showing of a documentary film. Bishop John Michael was visiting the mission, dedicated to the bishops martyred under the Romanian Communist government in the 1940s and 50s. Bishop John and Bishop John Michael are paired as part of the International Anglican Roman Catholic Commission on Unity and Mission.

06/03/2026

Today we begin our Summer Series on Bishops of Tennessee, leading us up to the election of our 12th Bishop of Tennessee on August 22, 2026.

The Rt. Rev. James Hervey Otey, first Bishop of Tennessee, was born January 27, 1800 in Liberty, Virginia. Otey graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1820 and then served there as a tutor for a year. In 1821 he became the principal of Harpeth Academy in Maury County, Tennessee. From 1823 until 1825, he was the principal of the Warrenton Academy, Warrenton, North Carolina. Otey studied for the ordained ministry under Bishop John Stark Ravenscroft of North Carolina. He was ordained deacon on October 16, 1825, and priest on June 17, 1827. From 1827 until 1834, he was rector of St. Paul's Church, Franklin, Tennessee, and held services in Columbia and Nashville. He helped to organize the Diocese of Tennessee and was consecrated its first bishop on January 14, 1834. He served in that position until his death on April 23, 1863. During his episcopate he served as Provisional Bishop of Mississippi and of Florida. He also served as Missionary Bishop of Arkansas, Louisiana, and the Indian Territory. Otey founded numerous schools in Tennessee. He was one of the founders of the University of the South and its first chancellor, serving from July 4, 1857, until his death. Otey's churchmanship was in the high church tradition of Bishop Ravenscroft. He stressed that the Episcopal Church was the American branch of the catholic church. He died in Memphis, Tennessee. (Source: https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/otey-james-hervey/)

Photo: The Rt. Rev. James Hervey Otey