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The
year 1908 brought an important addition to the Summertown community
of Waldens Ridge above Chattanooga in Tennessee. A group of summer-time
residents constructed a small building with the name of Union
Chapel, that soon thereafter came to be known as The Little Brown
Church in the Wildwood. This latter name was lifted from a song
in the Cokesbury Worship Hymnal titled The Church in the Wildwood.
A prominent resident of Summertown, Robert Henry Williams, altered
the wording and it became the Union Chapel's theme song.
This book tells the story
of the small, but loyal, congregation of the Little Brown Church,
that meets only during the months of June, July and August each
year, as it has ever since it was founded. But there is much
more involved than the bare facts of its history .
In a world that is caught
up in a sticky tangle of sweeping changes, social, technical
and economic, with all the accompanying stress and bewilderment,
this tiny chapel, hidden in the green woodland of one of the
oldest settlements on Walden's Ridge, is a quiet oasis of traditional
and unchanging values. It's a voluntary association of the young,
the middle aged, and the old, who wish to hold fast to the fundamentals
of the Christian faith, regardless of denomination and is an
example of communal sharing that is highly familial.
On Sunday mornings as the
weekly message is being delivered to the adults, the children
are sent to classes downstairs or out in the yard.The songs sung
are those of long ago: the thumping, rollicking enthusiasm of
Revive Us Again, or Love Lifted Me, or Beulah Land, alternate
with the haunting melodies and lyrics of In the Garden
or The Old Rugged Cross, or Amazing Grace.
Best of all is the happy
inclusion and enthusiastic participation of the youngest children,
who pass the baskets for the collection, or run up and down the
only aisle, or sit in the windows -and at the end of the service,
as the congregation unites in singing The Little Brown Church
in the Wildwood, they come forward to tug on the rope that rings
the church bell, telling all on the mountain and in the world
that the Little Brown Church is alive and well. Nature itself
participates: the birds are caroling in the leafy branches outside;
the horses and ponies tethered to the trees, neigh and nicker;
and the friendly dogs trot in and out and up and down the aisle,
happily wagging their tails. The whole of creation seems to join
in!
Memories built here last
lifetimes. Whether it be in the cool fresh green and gold of
early June, or the brassy heat of July, or as the leaves begin
to turn in late August, the Little Brown Church is a precious
symbol of faith in God, family, and Things Eternal. This book
tells its life story ...up to now! |
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- About the author:
- Karen
Paul Stone lives with her husband, Charlie, in the little Town
of Walden, Tennessee. She has been documenting history since
1965 when she completed her first oral history project. A student
of the well known folklorist, Dr. William Hugh Jansen at the
University of Kentucky, she recorded stories on Place Names
of Walden's Ridge.
- Beginning
in 1971, she operated the typesetting and composition departments
of Ashland Press and of Transylvania Printing Company in Lexington,
KY. There she collaborated with authors in graphic design, composition
and editing to produce books, guides, maps, and art prints of
historical interest.
- She
has collaborated on several memoirs. Recent books she has authored
include: Educating
for Eternity - A History of Boyd-Buchanan School and
Walden's
Ridge:The Early Years
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