Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

134

Date

2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts

Major

Creative Writing

Committee Chair

Kristen Iversen

Committee Member

Jan Coleman

Committee Member

Rebecca Skloot

Committee Member

Livingston Sonja

Abstract

This piece emerged from an article I wrote for The Poughkeepsie Journal, a Gannett daily newspaper in the Mid-Hudson region of New York State. As a summer reporter for the local section I wrote weekly “Dateline” stories that highlighted local and historical places in the area. I chose to write about my own church, St. Nicholas on the Hudson, because of its history and community spirit in the small river town of New Hamburg. Membership and resources were dropping and I hoped that my article would promote interest in the chapel. While researching and interviewing for that news story I learned the struggle of a small band of worshippers, mostly older women, who kept the church afloat, even when active membership dwindled to 15 and there was very little money to hire a priest.This fifteen-chapter account follows the parishioners of St. Nicholas through their ups and downs at the chapel. Through my personal experiences and research my story chronicles a church, the last gathering place for neighbors in a tight-knit community that is fading away. The piece explores my personal spiritual journey on the way to finding peace in my own relationships and the questions I asked along the way. I’ve come to recognize, through St. Nicholas, the difference between finding a place of worship and finding a place that connects you with God.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

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