The Annual Conference of The Episcopal Churchmen of Tennessee is said to be the largest conference of its type in The Episcopal Church and possibly in the world-wide Anglican Communion.

The first Annual Conference was held at the DuBose Conference Center in Monteagle, Tennessee, in September, 1947. In the early years of the Conference the Men of St. Paul’s, Murfreesboro, instituted the custom of awarding cedar buckets, made at a factory in Murfreesboro, to the parishes and missions with the largest number of men in attendance and the highest percentage of their membership in attendance.

The Episcopal Churchmen of Tennessee was the organization of the laymen of The Diocese of Tennessee. After the creation of the two Dioceses in West and East Tennessee in 1982 and 1983, we continued with the laymen of all three Dioceses operating as one state-wide organization, but with separate officers for each of the three Grand Divisions.

The Laymen’s Conference continued at DuBose Conference Center until its closing in 2022. The 76th annual conference was the final event held at the center. In July 2023, a new chapter began as the conference moved to St. Mary’s Sewanee, the retreat center for the Diocese of Tennessee. The layment are happy to continue gathering on the mountain.

A New Beginning – Allen Nohsey