The Reverends Larry Coesens and Robert Roy serve as Cantor and Reader at the Cathedral Church of the Americas in earlier years.

In May 2001 work began in earnest on the new storage facilities at Red Rock Consecrated Sanctuary.

*

On June 6, 2001, the 20th Annual Celebration of Second Advent Pentecost was observed.

*

On June 9, Gary Huss Jr. graduated from Galena High School among the top 5{1fa2ef75e2e78439128d99df03acfe1d8ee3047374abe3d4676fe3470ff8b909} of high school graduates in the United States and was selected to be included in Who’s Who in American High School Students.

Bishop Gene Savoy Sr. greeting Rt. Rev. Reano Castell at the Cathedral Church after Sunrise Service

On January 14, 2001, The Most Right Reverend Gene Savoy Sr. was invited by the Reverend Onie Cooper to deliver the Benediction at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Service held at the Second Baptist Church in Reno, Nevada.

*

In February 2001, irrigation and fencing was installed at the Church of the Christian Churches to provide mule deer with much needed forage this Spring, thus completing the second phase of projects negotiated with the Nevada Department of Forestry and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to preserve and enhance the Sanctuary’s wildlife. In addition, 2,200 feet of irrigation from the Sanctuary’s reservoir was laid in preparation for the installation of deer drinkers later this summer.

*

On February 15, 2001, the International Community of Christ hosted an ecumenical luncheon at the Rectory-Abbey at Bishopstead. Since 1999 Northern Nevada clergy have been meeting at informal luncheons, which are hosted quarterly by one or another of the area churches that support interfaith work. This luncheon was the first hosted by The Second Advent Church. Nearly forty area clergy attended. The Most Right Reverend Gene Savoy Sr. was able to introduce the representatives of the area’s mainline churches who were in attendance to Second Advent doctrine and tradition.

*

On March 21, 2001, the Reverend Robert Petrovich represented the Second Advent Community at an interfaith service in support of the area’s Muslim Community held at the Northern Nevada Muslim Center. The service was held to bring the attention of the Reno community to the concerns resulting from the robbery and beating of two Muslim elders in front of the Muslim Center. Rev. Petrovich was able to speak to a number of Muslim Community leaders following the service, including Dr. Ahmed Essa.

*

In March 2001 The Most Right Reverend Gene Savoy Sr. received a special invitation to attend the Welcoming Service for the new Episcopalian bishop. The Reverend Gene Savoy Jr. attended on his behalf.

*

On Saturday, April 7, 2001, the congregation of the International Community of Christ, Church of the Second Advent was formally advised that the reorganized Church of Latter-Day Saints has officially changed its name to “Community of Christ.” An news report on the topic appeared in the Reno Gazette-Journal the same day.

*

In April 2001 reconstruction began on the Oratory of the Monastery Gardens at Red Rock Consecrated Sanctuary.

Eastern view from the Church of New Epiphany

As part of the Interfaith Christmas Program held December 1, 2000, at one of the churches of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Reno, Simona Savoy of the International Community of Christ performed two songs, “Reveal Your Love” and “Grant Life unto Me,” accompanied by The Community’s bell choir, harpist Elizabeth Reece, and flutist Gail Fosbury. The song “Reveal Your Love” is Simona’s own composition.

*

In January 2001 Gene Savoy Jr. attended an interfaith service at Temple Emmanuel on behalf of the International Community of Christ in response to a new Year’s Day fire bombing attack on the synagogue.

*

In January 2001 The Most Right Reverend Gene Savoy Sr. sent out an invitation to fellow clergy in the Northern Nevada region to attend the first interfaith luncheon hosted by the International Community of Christ.

Church of New Epiphany

The Counsels lectures delivered by the Most Right Reverend Gene Savoy Sr. on October 12-13 during the Annual Convocation in 2000 fulfilled the promise Bishop Savoy made in 1982 to deliver “part two” of the fifth symposium in the Project “X” Solar Cultures Series, Solar Teachings of Egypt and Arabia: The Golden Phoenix, or Sun Bird of Resurrection. This four-hour group of lectures built upon one of the great myths of ancient religious lore, the Phoenix, and explored the concept of Divine Food.

*

The Reverend Sean Savoy of the International Community of Christ served both on the Planning Committee and as Master of Ceremonies for the Governor’s Prayer Breakfast held in Nevada on October 17, 2000, at the Atlantis Hotel Casino Resort in Reno. The event was sponsored by The National Conference for Community and Justice, and Scott Scherer, the chief of staff for then governor Kenny Guinn, delivered the welcome. Keynote speaker was the Reverend Ronald Rentner of Lord of Mercy Lutheran Church, who has remained an active leader in the interfaith community and a friend of The Church for many years after the event. The International Community of Christ sponsored a table at the event, together with several other churches and business organizations.

Photo Roger Weld

On May 28, 2000, an historical celebration was held at Steamboat Hot Springs to formally recognize the hot springs as an historical site.

*

In June 2000, thousands of wild flowers and one hundred tree seedlings were planted at Red Rock Consecrated Sanctuary along the creek bed fed by the Sanctuary pond.

*

On July 11, 2000, Steamboat Hot Springs was featured on the local Nevada history television series John Tyson’s Journal.

*

On July 20, 2000, in one of the first public visits to Red Rock Consecrated Sanctuary, thirty students of cultural geography at Truckee Meadows Community College visited the University Chapel and Red Rock Consecrated Sanctuary as part of their class. As their host on the tour, the Reverend Robert Petrovich responded to numerous questions raised by the class at the end of their Sanctuary visit regarding The Church’s concepts of the Second Advent and the Cosmic Christ, The Church’s use of the New Testament and its relation to Pauline teaching, Second Advent scripture, and the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Especially fascinating to the visitors was the concept that one needs to develop a certain level of spiritual Consciousness before one is able to understand higher spiritual concepts.

*

On July 28, 2000, the Reverends Sean Savoy and Robert Petrovich delivered an hour-long presentation on the International Community of Christ, Project “X,” and the Andean Explorer Foundation’s Grand Ophir Expedition to thirty high school students and their counselors at Camp Galilee at Lake Tahoe, a summer camp sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Nevada.

In March 2000, the Reverends Gene Savoy Jr. and Robert Petrovich attended the first Catholic-sponsored event to which clergy of other denominations were invited, a lecture by archbishop emeritus John Quinn of San Francisco, who spoke on his book The Reform of the Papacy and on the work of Pope John Paul II and the imminent unification of the Christian churches suggested by talks that have been taking place between the heads of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches since 1965 regarding the settling of their millennial differences.

*

In March 2000, Part Two of the Project “X” lecture series on Metaphysics, Philosophy, and Mystic Theology was initiated by the Most Right Reverend Gene Savoy Sr.

*

On April 18, 2000, the Reverend Carol Ann Crabb officiated at a memorial service for her husband, the Reverend Lawson Crabb, at the open-air Church of New Qumran.

The Reverend Dr. Tyrus Peace passed away in Fall 1999. A memorial service was held to celebrate his life on November 27 at the University Chapel.

*

In Fall 1999, the International Community of Christ was asked for the first time to deliver invocations at Reno City Council meetings, as other churches in the area had been doing for some time.

*

An ensemble of seven performers from The Church performed “So Is My Joy the Lord” to ovations at the 1999 Interfaith Thanksgiving Eve Service.

*

In Fall 1999, The Church became especially active in the local Reno interfaith community, with Church members attending numerous events and liturgical services and serving on organizing boards and committees for these events.