Breaking Bread

An Ecumenical Campus Ministry at Tusculum University

We meet weekly during the school year
for a meal and “faith conversations that matter!”

You will hear our group referred to as “Breaking Bread.”
Since the Church began with the Apostles, when Christians gathered in Jesus’ name, they broke bread as they shared a meal in common. That meal became the sacrament (an outward and visible sign of the inward and spiritual grace we receive from God). So, we refer to our time together as “Breaking Bread.” Often, we will have time to share the sacrament of bread and wine (break bread together) when we gather together.

Episcopal / Lutheran / Methodist / Presbyterian

Spring 2024

We meet on Thursdays
in the Meen Building – Rm. 200
@ 6:00 p.m.

This semester, we are having POPCORN THEOLOGY!

We are watching movies and having a theological discussion!

So far we’ve watched:

  1. Treasure Plane
  2. The Princess Bride

Topics (Fall 2023):

  1. Sodom & Gomorrah
  2. Faith & Mental Health
  3. Iconography
  4. Mystics / Mysticism
  5. Child-Like Faith
  6. End of Times / Escatology
  7. Second Coming of Christ
  8. Mixed Denominational Marriage
  9. Gnostic Texts (Gnostic Gospels)
  10. Tracts – Use of Literature for Evangelism
  11. The Person of Jesus

Recent discussion topics have included:

Different translations of Holy Scripture (the Bible)
Creation Care / w/ Pastor Leah Schade
What things/traditions have been lost or gained due to mistranslations
C.S. Lewis / J.R.R. Tolkien
Theology in Movies
The Dali Lama & Bishop Desmond Tutu
Women in the Bible
Prayer Practices
Worship Practices (Similarities and Differences)
Feminine Theology
Multi Denomination Households
Religious Orders
Sabbath

We welcome you in the name of Jesus the Christ.

In the Summer of 2018 the Rev. Dr. Ken Saunders (Fr. Ken) and Bill Smith (formally of Tusculum Baseball) of St. James Episcopal Church in Greeneville, Tennessee, envisioned this ministry, then partnered with Reformation Lutheran in Greeneville, TN, to form Breaking Bread. We are supported by the Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee (The Episcopal Church) and the Southeastern Lutheran Synod (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America). We are also pleased to have Jordan Baker of the Tusculum Biology Department on our Ministry Team as a ministry leader and faculty advisor!

In the Summer of 2022, we welcomed the Rev. Greg Cartwright of First Presbyterian Church of Greeneville and Natasha DeBord of Asbury Methodist Church of Greeneville to our ministry circle to offer a broader and more inclusive ecumenical program. Our primary purpose is to provide everyone on the Tusculum Greeneville campus an opportunity to gather, discuss, learn, and be together in a welcoming, learning, and worshipping Christian community.

We aim to be grace-filled and Christ-centered. We welcome ALL students, faculty, and staff, regardless of their religious affiliation or background. We welcome ALL people of any faith or no faith! We welcome seekers, skeptics, devotees, sinners, saints, sis-gendered, LGBTQIA+, poets, and scientists – It doesn’t matter who you are. EVERYONE IS WELCOME! This is a safe space!

We encourage you to bring your doubts, hopes, and questions, your longing for community and authenticity, and your search for worship, relevance, and connection. Bring your genuine self, whoever you are, and whomever you want to become.

There is love here! There is a place for you at this table regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, current religious affiliation, GPA, SAT/GRE score, or anything else. In the name of Christ, you are welcome in this faith community!

Come and See!! Visit, Learn, Worship, and Fellowship with Breaking Bread to discover how to connect.

Contact Us at BreakingBread@StJamesGreenEville.org