Worship at Vine Street

Vine Street’s Worship Task Group finished the first phase of their work and presented their report to the Board of Elders. Congratulations, Kathy Berhow, Pat Cole, Sarah Ligon, Stephen Moseley, Greg Rumburg, and thank you! Thomas Kleinert was the convener of the group.

The Elders heard and discussed the report at their June 14 meeting, and recommended that we implement all proposed changes. What does this mean?

When we began The Journey process, it soon became clear that we wanted to take a close look at our worship services. In the story that draws us into what we have identified as God’s future for  Vine Street (the story we commonly refer to as our future story), we call for worship services that “each have a clear profile. Each has its own unique format, but all of them are also clearly us.”

We will continue to look at our Sunday morning worship services as events that give focus to our community’s Sunday morning gatherings (in addition, of course, to the rest of our week): God’s hospitality to all at the Table implies that we show hospitality to all, and not only after they have crossed the threshold to the chapel or the sanctuary. This, of course, has significant consequences for what we do before and after worship – but more about that soon.

What will change? We will continue to have two services on Sunday morning, a service at 8:30am in the chapel and a service at 10:45am in the sanctuary.

In the chapel service, we will build on the sense of intimacy and informality it has developed over time. We will remove the remaining pews to allow worshipers to see each other face to face, and encourage a more conversational style “in the round.” We will explore new ways of preaching, praying, and sharing the meal around the table. These changes will be introduced in the near future, but not in the summer.

In the sanctuary service, we will follow an order that maintains the current overall structure (gathering, listening, giving thanks, and being sent), while improving flow and disrupting patterns of too much predictability. Many of the recommended changes will be introduced beginning July 4:

We replace the Passing of the Peace with an informal greeting at the very beginning of the service.

We move the Scripture reading that is the basis for the Children’s Conversation, so the children can hear it with the rest of the congregation. Occasionally, we use a very child-friendly translation or story-telling instead of reading from the New Revised Standard Version (which is our standard version).

Service leaders occasionally introduce elements of the service (“this is why we do this, this is what we are doing here”) without becoming overly didactic.

We continue to select music of various styles that support the flow and fit the thematic structure of the service, and we include as much special music (sometimes harp, sometimes trumpet or viola or guitar or…) as we can.

We will begin to introduce these changes on July 4, and we invite your comments in person and at www.vinestreet.org/worship-feedback

Update on 2010-06-22 13:08 by Thomas Kleinert

Printed copies of the Worship Task Group report to the Elders are available in the reception area at the church, or via mail from the church office.

Summertime

by Thomas Kleinert

No more exams for a while. No more tests. No more papers overdue or homework turned in late. School’s out. Summertime. It’s Meet-you-at-the-pool season. It’s “Off to camp, to the mountains, to the beach, to Italy and France” season. Summertime.

I don’t know if you noticed, but this year, after the final half-day of school was over and after the commencement speeches were delivered, the cry of relief wasn’t quite as euphoric and loud as in the past. Some of that lack of enthusiasm can be explained as post-flood soberness: we’re still working, still cleaning up, still trying to figure out what’s next, and we’re just not quite ready yet to go party or do our usual lazy-summer-stuff. Then there is the economic uncertainty where too many are still looking for work and too many are still worried they might lose their job if the markets don’t start humming again soon. And there is the hole in the bottom of the gulf with millions of gallons of crude spewing into the water – and who knows what this means for life in the ocean and on the coast, and for our demand for energy or our standard of living? It’s summertime, and we wish we could sing, ‘…and the living is easy,’ but we can’t because it isn’t.

My mom and my brother have been with us for a few precious days. Sometime last week, I took my mom to Green Hills Mall; she wanted to do some shopping. I dropped her off between Panera and Davis-Kidd, told her that Panera would be a good place for lunch, and off she went. She had a great morning; she loved Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma, and especially Coldwater Creek.

When she got hungry, she started looking for a place to eat. More specifically, she started looking for the food court. Now, you all probably know that there is no food court at Green Hills Mall, but she kept looking for a while, wondering if she was on the right level or at the wrong end of the building. Eventually she decided to ask a couple for directions.

She could have said, “Excuse me, where is the food court?” or “Pardon me, can you recommend a restaurant in this mall?” Instead she began by telling them the reason for her quest. She said, “I am hungry.”

She meant to add, “Where can I get a sandwich here?” but never got there, because the lady immediately took a step back. When my mom told us the story, I started laughing and said, “Did she offer you a couple of dollars or a cookie from her purse?” No, she didn’t. With both hands raised in a defensive gesture she sought protection behind her husband’s back. She was afraid.

She wasn’t afraid of my mom, a slender woman without any of the traits you expect to see in the large women in a Wagner opera – No, the lady was afraid that real human need had intruded what was for her a safe place, a place where she could look at pretty things and forget the world for a while.

It’s summertime, and we wish we could sing, ‘… and the living is easy,’ but we can’t because it isn’t. Whether we care to admit it or not, there’s uncertainty in the air, even fear.

Don’t you wish Jesus were here? Don’t you wish he simply appeared in all the places where fear threatens to overwhelm hope? Don’t you wish he had sneaked into a commencement celebration somewhere and given the speech the whole world needed to hear right now?

We have these fantasies of God having created the world just a little different or of intervening now with one decisive action from on high to set things right. We have dreams of God sending a strong leader who won’t get corrupted by power or crushed between the wheels of interest groups. We wish Jesus were here.

Beginning with chapter 13, John tells the story of Jesus’ last night with his friends. They didn’t know it would be there last hours together. They didn’t know that he would be arrested, convicted, and crucified the very next day. They didn’t know what was coming next, but Jesus did [for this view of the “farewell discourse,” I follow Eugene Peterson, The Story Behind the Story, Journal for Preachers Vol. 26, No. 4, Pentecost 2003, pp. 4-8].

And so he spent that last night with them preparing them for what they couldn’t even begin to imagine: how to follow him without seeing him; how to do his works without him there to teach and admonish them; how to hear his voice in the noise of the world.

During supper, Jesus got up from the table, got a towel, poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet. And after he had washed their feet, he asked, “Do you know what I have done to you?”

And then he began to talk, and he talked for a long time – it’s more than three chapters, the longest conversation we know of between Jesus and his friends. It’s actually not much of a conversation, because the disciples listened the whole time, only occasionally did they throw in a comment or a question.

And after he had spoken, he prayed. He gathered up the life they had lived together and the life they would continue to live without him. He prayed his life and work and their life and work together into one – one life, one mission, one movement of God’s love to the world and in the world.

That is how he prepared them for the difficult transition. That is how he helped them move from seeing in his life who God is to letting others see in their own lives who God is.

He washed their feet, down on his knees before each of them, teaching them to do to each other what he had done to them, choosing the lowly task of a servant.

He prayed to the one he called Father that their mission and his would be one.

He worked and he prayed, and between those focal points of service and worship, he created a tapestry of images, promises, and commandments. Two things he said over and over again.

I am with you only a little longer (13:33).

Now I am going to him who sent me (16:5).

I am leaving the world and am going to the Father (16:28).

Fifteen times in this conversation, Jesus told his disciples, in one way or another, that he would be leaving them.

The second thing he said, and this also over and over again, was that he would send them the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth (14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7).

Two things he said over and over again, “I am leaving…, I am sending…; I am leaving…, I am sending.” Jesus would leave, but he wouldn’t abandon them. He would no longer be with them, but the Holy Spirit would be in them and continue to connect their life and work with his.

The repetitions in these chapters may seem reduntant, but this speech isn’t just information about God, Jesus, the Spirit, and the church. The rhythms and patterns are themselves formative, and listening attentively and reading receptively become the very gates through which the Spirit comes and speaks.

We wish Jesus were here, but he isn’t. But in continuing to live the Jesus way, we are not left to our own strength and imagination. Jesus is sending the Spirit. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now,” Jesus said. “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” Jesus’ words are not locked in the past, restricted to a particular period in history. The Spirit allows all generations to receive the word of Jesus in the changing circumstances of our lives, and not just to recall the life of Jesus but continue to live it.

There are words of Jesus that we need to hear to make sense of the church’s role in the current messes of the world, and it is the Spirit who helps us to remember faithfully what Jesus has said and receive obediently what Jesus is saying. We believe that the Spirit has been poured out on all flesh – men and women, young and old, poor and wealthy – and to me that means that we who long to hear the word of God for this day must be attentive to all flesh. Women and men, old and young, poor and rich, trust fund babies and undocumented immigrants. We must listen for the word of God not just in the reading of Scripture or the proclamation of the word, but in every word spoken, whispered, sung or censored among us. We must listen very carefully.

I keep thinking about the two women at the mall. One says, “I am hungry,” and the other is afraid. Of course it is just a simple misunderstanding. Of course it is one that can be easily resolved. And it is soo funny. But it is also true. There is much hunger among God’s children; hunger for bread, for justice, for meaning, hunger for community. And there is much fear; fear of strangers, of the unknown, of losing control, fear of moving down the ladder. I can hear the Spirit speaking: There is hunger and fear, and God wants to make us partners in addressing both, in the name of Jesus.

God is in the midst of the city

by Thomas Kleinert

God is in the midst of the city. The line is from Psalm 46.

God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
God will help it when the morning dawns.

The Cumberland River is a river of blessing for the city of Nashville, but in the last few days it has brought devastation and loss. The Cumberland and its many smaller tributaries, every river, brook, and creek, bring gladness to our city, but in the last few days they brought fear and suffering.

The Cumberland has crested, and the waters are receding, and in many places the destruction is only now becoming visible. But there is another river flowing through this city: it's a river of healing mercy, a river of neighborliness, a river of compassion and generosity, a river inspiring service, prayers, and songs. May its waters continue to rise, and may it wash the muddy places and heal the broken hearts.

God is in the midst of the city.

Hands on Nashville - volunteer coordination

Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee - donations for flood relief

Will you be a part of the river?

Little Words of Power

by Thomas Kleinert

Little words of power, you know them. Words like please (there’s a reason that parents and teachers refer to it as the magic word), or no (a small child’s discovery of self-assertion infuses this little word with considerable physical and emotional energy), or yes (it opens arms and doors). Nothing, however, is more powerful than why – since every why begets another why.

Moms and dads (and children) know that sometimes the only way to stop the next why from popping up like the next pearl on an endless string is the ancient parental reply, “Because I said so.”

Quite often the only good response to why is, “I don’t know,” and occasionally the best reply is to hand it back, “Good question. What do you think the answer might be?”

Why quickly takes us to the heart of things. Why is the sky blue? Why do the stars only shine at night? Why does skin get wrinkly?

And why takes us to the places where we find ourselves completely surrounded by deep mystery. Why do some people suffer more than others? Why does love end? Why is there something rather than nothing?

A couple of weeks ago, one of our children raised a beautiful question in Sunday school, “Why did God make us?”

What do you think? Is it because God loves stories? Is it because God needs company? Is it because people are more interesting than other creatures? Are we? Is it because God delights in creatures that ask questions?

Sometime this summer, I will preach a sermon in response to this fine question. I decided to do that the moment Sarah Ligon told me how the question emerged in her group of children one Sunday morning. Later I wondered if there were other questions that hang around the corners of the hallways, waiting to be asked.

Do you have a question you would like me to address one Sunday morning? Would you share it with me? We may have a lovely little series of sermons triggered by when, why, what, who, where and how. Please send me an email or simply leave a comment below, will you?

At the Heart of Worship

“Worship at Vine Street is home. I come for the message. I get to sit and listen to something. It slows me down. It’s not about me. It gets me outside of my world; reminds me of the world outside of my own.”

Vine Street's worship task group met on Maundy Thursday for a meal and conversation.  We talked about what is, for us personally, at the heart of worship at Vine Street, and how other Vine Streeters name that heart, that soul of worship. The text with quotation marks aren’t exact quotations, but snippets of conversation.

“For me, at the heart of worship at Vine Street is the focus on social justice, social issues. A connection with outreach in our city, not just “the world” in a global sense. I come to be inspired to action. Sometimes it’s the music, sometimes a story, etc.”

“For me, it’s about centering, learning, focusing on God. I get to cut out all the noise and get my priorities straight. I remember there’s something outside of my life that is bigger, it helps me make sense of the world, and the world is often crazy. I love communion. Worship keeps me going in the direction I need to go, and just being there is comforting.”

“For me, word and table are at the heart of worship. Centering and being called to respond outwardly. God’s kingdom through social justice. It’s very “Disciple” in the intentionality of the table and the connection to mission.”

• Music can be powerful, and we desire more opportunities for being touched deeply by images, clips, stories, moments, etc. We want to make room to include creative and memorable elements that break the mold of predictability, room for a little playfulness within the pattern/flow of the service. 

• We want to find ways for worship leaders to introduce elements of the service in a way similar to the invitation to the table (“this is why  we do this, this is what we are doing here” without becoming overly didactic).

At our next gathering, we will discuss how we will include the characteristics mentioned in the previous two paragraphs into the current order of our 10:45 worship.

Mapping the Pantry

by Thomas Kleinert

The sweater I’m wearing today was made in China. My socks in South Korea, pants in Lesotho, shirt in Hong Kong, underwear in Honduras, shoes in Slovenia.

For breakfast I had coffee from Sumatra/Indonesia, milk from Middle Tennessee, cereal from somewhere in the United States, and an apple from New York State. Before I left for work (in a car from Japan), I filled my thermos (made in Nashville!) with tea from India. I’m typing this on a laptop made in Malaysia while listening to music from Italy on a device designed in California and assembled in China.

I’m amazed at how connected my life is with people in so many other places around the world, and how most of the time I’m not aware of that reality.

As part of our hunger:360 ministry project, we invite you to do a little domestic geography and economy research. We call it Mapping the Pantry in phase one, and Mapping a Meal in phase two.

Phase one. Between now and the end of March, take a moment (ideally in the company of all members of your household, especially the children),find a pencil and a piece of paper, and pick up all the food items in your pantry and/or your refrigerator and/or your cupboard, and write down where they came from. List their place of origin as accurately as possible – countries, states, and cities.

Phase two. This is a very similar research project.  Between now and the end of March, choose a meal and write down where all its ingredients came from, again, as accurately as possible (the honey in my tea is from Goodlettsville, depending on how far Mr. Johnson takes his beehives around Middle Tennessee).

On two Sundays (March 21 and 28) and on the days in between, we will transfer all the results to a couple of maps in our sanctuary, one of the U.S. and one of the world. We want to get a visual impression of just how connected we are with people all over the whole world in the things we eat. We want to create opportunities for questions and wonder.

You can use the form below to report your results, or return one of the “grocery lists” from the hunger:360 bulletin board (these lists will also be available in the Sunday bulletins). Better yet, bring your list to worship on March 21 or 28, and transfer the results to the maps yourself!

hunger:360 continues

We are happy to announce upcoming events and programs in our hunger:360 ministry project.

On Saturday, March 6, from 5-7pm, we have the opening reception for muddy hymnal, a photography exhibit in our sanctuary. The artist, Tallu Schuyler will be present and give a gallery talk at 6pm about her experience in Nicaragua.

Also on Saturday, March 6, the Vine Street youth group will host another fantastic Fair Trade Coffee House.

On Sunday morning, March 7, at 9:30 a.m. we look forward to welcoming Prof. Douglas Heimburger, the Associate Director for Education and Training at the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health. Prof. Heimburger will help us understand what happens to our bodies when we don't get proper nutrition, and what the impact is on an individual's as well as the larger community's development.

Hunger in Nashville

Perhaps you think of hunger only as something that happens in far away countries, but there are men, women, and children in our city who know hunger. Not just the kind of hunger anybody knows who has ever skipped a meal; people in our city experience the kind of hunger where you never know where your next meal will come from, and when you will eat it.

There is hunger in Nashville. Food security is a term from the dictionary of bureaucrats. Hunger is a human experience that impacts body, mind, and spirit. There is hunger in Nashville, and there are people who help us see and understand and address it.

Following the 10:45am worship service on Sunday, February 28 (approximately at 12:30pm), Tallu Schuyler will be at Vine Street to talk about food security, food deserts, and hunger. She is the Executive Director of Mobile Loaves and Fishes, a ministry named after a miracle. We will eat a simple, nutritious meal (rice, beans, and cornbread) and we will learn together - statistics, terms, facts, numbers, and the human experiences that so easily get lost behind them. Come and join us for this Sunday afternoon opportunity to eat and learn together!

This lunch & learn is part of our hunger:360 ministry project, and more events and programs are coming up soon. Check the calendar for details, and watch for more information early next week.

Garlic And Other Magic

by Thomas Kleinert

Friday I had the pleasure of spending a couple of hours in the kitchen with friends. We browned turkey breast, cooked rice, chopped  and sauteed onions, sweet peppers, broccoli, sweet potatoes, and celery. And when we were finished - the last ingredient we added was a handful of fresh oregano - there were several trays of delicious lunch, ready to be served.

It all began with the lovely fragrance of garlic from the marinade that had infused the turkey. With the magic of heat and olive oil, all the other flavors emerged and blended, sweet and salty, meaty, malty, musty, hot and mmmh. Cooking a meal is alchemy, beautiful magic.

We loaded the food on a truck - a great truck equipped with heated compartments - and then the miracle continued in the streets of Nashville. We had made lunch for men and women who spend the night in shelters and tents, under bridges, or just walking until morning. We had cooked a good meal for people who spend the better part of the day hoping for better days.

There is hunger in Nashville. Food security is a term from the dictionary of bureaucrats. Hunger is a human experience.

There are food deserts in Nashville. And there are people who help us see and understand and address those realities.

Next Sunday, February 28, following the 10:45 worship service, Tallu Schuyler will talk to us about hunger in Nashville. Tallu is the Executive Director of Mobile Loaves and Fishes, a ministry named after a miracle. We will eat lunch together (rice, beans, and cornbread) and we will learn together - statistics, terms, facts, and the human experiences that so easily get lost behind them.

On Saturday, February 27, you have an opportunity to be part of a little kitchen magic. There will be rice, black beans, onions, peppers, garlic, corn meal, eggs, salt, milk, water and fire. Would you like to be part of turning all that into a meal for many? The cooks will meet in the Vine Street kitchen sometime on Saturday. Just complete the form at the bottom of this post.

Before you scroll down: on Friday, February 26, a group will gather at 9am in the kitchen at Woodmont Christian Church's South Hall to prepare lunch for the homeless. Contact Caitlin Dally caitlin.m.dally@vanderbilt.edu or Tallu Schuyler talluschuyler@gmail.com for details.

hunger:360

In our 360 projects, we bring together what belongs together. Too often, we treat church life and ministry like a pizza: a slice of worship, a slice of education, a slice of service in the community, etc.

At Vine Street, we want to integrate what we do in those areas: the life of faith is not a pizza, but more like a circle where all points are defined by a common center. Our work, our worship, our family life, our study, our hopes, our fellowship – they all share, we all share a common center in the God who meets us in Jesus Christ.

360 is the sum of all angles. 360 is our way of saying, “We want to look at this from as many angles as possible. We want to experience this as completely as possible. We want to bring together what we know belongs together.”

hunger:360 is our second 360 project. Why hunger? That’s the question. Our gardens, fields and farms produce more than enough food for all, and yet there is persistent, deadly hunger on every inhabited continent. In November, the Department of Agriculture reported that here in the United States the number of Americans who lacked consistent access to adequate food soared last year, to 49 million. The government began tracking what is now commonly called “food security” 14 years ago, and the number of men, women, and children lacking “food security” has never been higher.

During Lent this year, beginning with Ash Wednesday on February 17, we will bring hunger and faith together to see how and where they touch.

We will study, we will fast, we will prepare and serve meals, we will pray, we will map our pantries, we will walk, we will read, we will trust the God of abundance in the deserts of scarcity.

hunger:360 offers us opportunities to

• talk with Tallu Schuyler, Executive Director of Mobile Loaves and Fishes, about hunger in Nashville, and how we can address it
• hear Kevin McCoy, Coordinator of the Nashville CROP Walk, who is passionate about the work of Church World Service and its fight against hunger
• prepare meals and serve them in unfamiliar places in our city
• walk through a photography exhibit in our sanctuary
• pray with Jesus, the bread of life
• watch a movie about a community garden project in L.A.
• tour Second Harvest Foodbank
• ask ourselves what hunger drives our insatiable consumerism
• talk with Prof. Douglas Heimburger from the Vanderbilt Institute of Global Health about the effects of hunger and malnutrition on the human body
• read Sara Miles, Take This Bread and discuss it in a small group
• participate in the Nashville CROP Walk
• map our pantries and refrigerators and find out where all this food comes from
• worship God with our whole being

Watch for updates on individual events on this website.

The calendar below looks best in Agenda view.

Ashes to Ashes

by Andra Moran

[This is from the liner notes of Andra's 2009 Insta-Rock Records Release: In Small Things. We know that after reading this, you'll definitely want to check out her website]

It was February of 2006 and I had a tall order:

The children’s choir I direct had been asked to sing in our church’s Ash Wednesday service.  Now, I don’t know if you are familiar with any children’s choir anthem that addresses our mortality, our need to repent, or our general insignificance, but I couldn’t seem to find any in our filing cabinet in the choir room.

I sat on the floor of my living room and as I mulled it over, I somehow found myself thinking about middle school science class and Carl Sagan and a rock concert I’d been to the previous winter.  Here’s what happened:

In 1990, NASA sent Voyager 1 into space.  After it had travelled about 4 billion miles away from Earth, Voyager 1 was directed to turn around and take some pictures.  Astronomists were very surprised to find that Earth showed up in the picture.  Can you see it?

It became known as the Pale Blue Dot picture, because that was all our Earth looked like in the vast expanse of space.

Carl Sagan, an astronomer, author and scientist affiliated with the space program since its inception, gave a talk the year these photos were released.  These are his words:

Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader”, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

Alright, now I was cookin’.  This is definitely Children’s Choir Anthem material, right?

The answer is YES! It’s EVERYBODY ANTHEM material!  We’re all in this together: our hopes, dreams, frustrations, loves, losses, significance, insignificance — all of it.

We are all in this together as one tiny speck of dust on a sunbeam, the sunbeam that God holds in His hand.

The way I see it; the way I sing it, we live our lives to know that we are called by love.

So.

After all that worry and effort into trying to find an appropriate anthem for the kids to sing, I wrote the song for Ash Wednesday in twenty minutes.  The song just arrived.

The only part missing was a bridge.  I talked it over with Thomas Kleinert, the minister of our church.  Thomas recommended Psalm 42:2.

My soul is thirsting for You.  When will I see You face to face?

When the kids and I gathered to rehearse, I wondered how to preface the song.  I decided words like “cosmos” and phrases such as  “mote of dust suspended on a sunbeam” might  be a little much for these second and third graders.

I decided to keep it simple and preface the song with “We’re going to sing a new song. Here’s how it goes.”

To my astonishment, the kids were captivated by this song from the get go.  By the second chorus, they were singing along, and when we got to the end, the kids and I sat silent with only the buzz of the yucky fluorescent church light overhead.

It was one of those holy moments.

I was struck by the brilliance of the miracle that we are significant to God.

For the past three years, the children’s choir at Vine Street Christian Church has sung “Ashes to Ashes” each Ash Wednesday while our congregation comes forward to receive the mark of the cross, made from the ashes of last year’s palms on their foreheads.

I am so thankful to all the children and youth from Vine Street who came into the studio to finish this track with me (watch them singing along to the playback in the studio).  After all, this song started out with their sweet voices in mind.  You’ll also hear Ben Harper singing a sweet, sweet harmony in the bridge, Will Harrison’s mournful guitar, Stephen Daniel King on bass and Jason Cheek on drums.   

This year, we’ll come together for our Ash Wednesday service on February 17th at 6:00 in the chapel.  I hope you can be there with us.  Feel free to sing along!

Download here or listen below (and sing along!)

 
Ashes to Ashes
by Andra Moran

We watch, we wait
We hope, we pray
We try to take
A path that returns to You

Ashes to ashes, water and rust
We are but dust on the sunbeam You hold in Your hand
You call us by name
And we rise from ashes again

A breath of life,
A thirst, a fire
We live our lives
To know that we’re called by Love

Ashes to ashes, water and rust
We are but dust on the sunbeam You hold in Your hand
You call us by name
And we rise from ashes again

My soul is thirsting for You, I long to see Your face
My soul is thirsting for You.  Fill me up.

andramoran.com

Haiti Earthquake

As the reports continue to come in, the initial shock and the growing fears give way to ever clearer knowledge of what has happened and what actions must accompany our prayers.

Again, we are proud to be part of Week of Compassion and its approach to ministry: we work with local partners, we cooperate with international partners, all of our disaster relief gifts go to disaster relief (and not to overhead). "Earthquakes are acts of nature, extreme vulnerability to earthquakes is manmade," wrote Tracy Kidder in the New York Times (Country Without a Net). Our response will always address the immediate need as well as reduce the systemic, extreme vulnerability to natural disasters.

Our current focus, as part of the coordinated effort of Church World Service, is on transporting basic material supplies like tarps, blankets, hygiene kits and baby supplies to Haiti's capital area. We are grateful for our strong relationship with our historic partner from the Dominican Republic, Servicios Sociales de Iglesias Dominicanas. Their proximity makes our response possible.

The second prong of our response addresses another basic need: clean water. Our response is targeted and effective because we work closely with ecumenical church partners. This is a powerful reminder that church unity is not a mere matter of opinion or doctrine, but of faithfulness in witness and service.

At Vine Street, we want to make sure that our response always includes even our youngest members. They overhear the news reports, they ask questions, they remember the people of Haiti in their prayers, and they want to help. And we want them to always be part of our mission and ministry.

The hygiene kits that are being shipped to Port-au-Prince via the Dominican Republic come from Church World Service warehouses, and the shelves are now empty. On Sunday, before we gather in worship, we will assemble one hundred of these basic kits from hundreds of towels, tooth brushes, bars of soap, etc. we have already purchased. This is one small thing even the youngest member of our community can do. We will dedicate those gifts in worship together with a special offering for Week of Compassion and with our other gifts.

Because we work with our partners on the ground and in countries around the world, we will soon know what else we can do to honor God in our brothers and sisters in Haiti.

Update on 2010-01-16 15:13 by Thomas Kleinert

Kim Bentrott has written a powerful and moving account of the earthquake and its aftermath. She and her husband, Patrick, are currently living and working in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.

They are employed through our Global Ministries and partnered with the ecumenical Haitian church organization CONASPEH.

New Orleans a.k.a. NOLA

This has become a Vine Street tradition. Every year after Christmas, a group of children, youth, and adults travel to New Orleans to get dirty for Jesus. The tradition started in 2006, when we came to NOLA to help with putting the finishing touches on West Side Mission Center. Since then, we have come to help rebuild homes, and every time we stay at the West Side Mission Center with our good friend, Brother Vance.

This year, there are about twenty of us (more are coming during the course of the week), and we are working on Mrs. Banks's house. Her home was flooded after Katrina, but she never had the resources to rebuild. The first floor of the house was gutted, and she and her family continued to live on the scecond floor. Now, thanks to churches paying attention and pooling resources, we are able to gut the remainder of the building, do some necessary repairs, and get it ready for new insulation and sheet rock, fresh paint, new floors, new windows and doors.

While it is sad to think that so many years after Katrina people are still living in these circumstances, it is a joy to be part of making a difference in a very significant way.

Update on 2010-01-04 19:31 by Thomas Kleinert

We created a web album with some of our pictures. Come and see!

Update on 2010-01-04 19:17 by Thomas Kleinert

While we were in NOLA, the New York Times published this article (December 29) about issues in helping the most vulnerable.

Merry Christmas

On Christmas Eve, we  celebrate the birth of Christ in three worship services. We begin with a Family Service at 5 p.m., with our friends from Nouvelle Alliance, a congregation of families and individuals from the DR Congo. We hear the Christmas story and sing the beautiful Christmas carols, the children create the nativity scene, we pray together for peace in the world, and we light our candles.  Special music with harp, piano, and viola will begin at 4:45 p.m.

Our second worship service will take place at 8 p.m., and it will bring together members of our congregation and our Room in the Inn guests.  To make room for those without a home or a place to rest for the night is always an occasion of mutual blessing, but on this night it is especially meaningful. If you wish to join us on Christmas Day for a great breakfast with our Room in the Inn guests, we invite you to come to the fellowship hall around 8 a.m. - and feel free to just stop by and say "Hello, merry Christmas!"

At 11 p.m. on Christmas Eve, we gather in the sanctuary for a celebration of Lessons & Carols.  Once again, special music with harp, piano, and viola will begin at 10:45 p.m.  This quiet night service includes the celebration of the Lord's Supper (and since the table is the Lord's, not the church's, all who receive Christ's invitation are welcome to share the meal).

From all of us here at Vine Street, a merry Christmas to you and yours!

Christmas Around the Hearth

Wednesday, December 16, 5:30 P.M.

Are you thinking, “Mmmmh, chestnuts roasting on an open fire…”? Close. Our hearth won’t have a fire in it, but we’ll gather around it anyway to sing our yuletide carols.

This cozy evening in our fellowship hall has a long tradition at Vine Street. We get together at 5:30 PM for dinner, and then we sing all our favorites and watch a program of music and skits (we haven’t had folks dressed up as Eskimos lately, but the Grinch showed up last year!).

Feel free to bring a dessert or some cookies to share, and if you want to get on the program (with a song or a dance or a story or a surprise?), please put your name on the poster by the door in the reception area.

Christmas Around the Hearth is festive fun for kids from one to ninety-two!

Hanging of the Greens

Thanksgiving dinner - the recipe for the stuffing is from grandma, uncle Phil always takes care of the turkey, the pumpkin pie travels about 500 miles, and everybody at the table knows the story about aunt Rachel's squash casserole.

We know the traditions, and when the children are old enough to sit at the "big" table, they have learned the stories that go with every dish. Yes, it was Jan who introduced the cranberry sauce whith horseradish in it - must have been 1987 or 1988. She heard it on the radio.

At Vine Street, we have a beautiful tradition to mark the beginning of Advent. On the Wednesday night after the first Sunday of Advent, we gather in the sanctuary for the Hanging of the Greens. We sing some of our favorite carols (before we get tired of hearing them in every mall, bank lobby, and gas station); we hear stories about bells, stars, evergreens, and poinsettias; we deck the sanctuary with wreaths, garlands, and candles; we watch the great star as it rises over the baptistery; we say a prayer or two that our hearts may be prepared to welcome the birth of Christ. And afterwards, we enjoy some cookies and cider.

This is a festive and yet quite informal service we all enjoy - from our little three-year-olds to our eighty-three-year olds. It's a great way to enter the gates of Advent. It's a great way to learn the stories behind some of our Chrismas traditions. And it's a great way to make new friends. Come and join us on Wednesday, December 2, at 6 PM for the Hanging of the Greens.

Every Single Person

These are remarks Greg Bailey, Chair of the Board of Elders, shared with the congregation on Sunday, November 8.

Two summers ago, we engaged in a spiritual strategic journey to create a vision for Vine Street Christian Church. Our prayer triplets talked and prayed and conversed about our church and who we would be in 2019. We captured the ideas and thoughts of every single person and created a future story through a journey of 100 days of prayer.

As we speed towards 2010, it is now time to further our dreams. The Official Board is considering a budget that does not merely tread water, but moves our congregation forward. Our 2010 budget includes partial-year funding for an associate minister position, giving us six months to identify the right candidate to join our faith journey.

Our 2010 budget will likely include the creation of a property maintenance fund. For the first time, we will set aside money on an annualized basis to end a legacy of deferred maintenance. This will allow us to create and maintain a 20-year property maintenance plan.

Coupled with a recently approved Congregational Strategic Plan, our Journey is gathering steam. Every single person in this room, and those who considers himself or herself a member of this community has a stake in these dreams.

On November 22, the path of our Journey will come right down this center aisle as we make and dedicate our financial commitments to the church for next year.

Every single person who makes a pledge in our campaign is saying,  “This is the journey that I wish to take. This is the time to move forward, to realize the future of this congregation.”

Every single person who comes on board will be a witness to the fulfillment of our future.

Every single person who steps forward and gives just a little extra in 2010 will be charting the next steps of this historic congregation.

But it will take every single one of us - every single person - to make this happen.

Come on along, every single one of you, and live our dream.

Homelessness & Peace

District 7 Councilman Erik Cole

NASHVILLE, Tenn. –Metro Nashville District 7 Councilman Erik Cole will present the 2009 Roger T. Nooe Lectureship on World Peace at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8 at Vine Street Christian Church, 4101 Harding Road.

Cole—drawing from his experience as a low-income housing expert and as the chair of the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission—will speak toward improving synergies among government services, nonprofit organizations and religious communities to address the causes and consequences of homelessness.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

New for 2009, the Nooe lecture is tied to the Vine Street’s current Homelessness: 360 program. Through this integrated approach, the congregation utilizes education, advocacy, service and worship to increase its awareness of homelessness issues, specifically, and poverty issues, in general. Inviting the public to join its efforts, there is hope for providing relief to local persons in need. 

“For the world to know peace, it must address the problem of poverty,” Vine Street Senior Minister Thomas Kleinert said. “Poverty is a systemic issue—here in Nashville and around the world—and a lack of housing makes all other problems related to poverty worse. So, housing is a good point of entry into the complexities of loving and serving the poor among our neighbors.” 

Cole knows this to be true in his day-to-day work. A well-known local justice advocate, the District 7 councilman serves as the Executive Director of the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services, a statewide network of low-income civil legal service providers. TALS works to ensure that every low-income Tennessean has timely access to the justice system.  

On the Metro Council, Cole has served as chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee and President Pro Tempore of the Council, having been elected by his peers in 2006. He chaired the Council Health, Hospitals and Social Services Committee. Cole also serves on several community and non-profit boards and committees focused on affordable housing, sustainable development, and equal rights.

A native of Nashville, Cole grew up attending Vine Street Christian Church. Cole is married to Jennifer Gilligan Cole and is the father of two children. He is a graduate of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. 

In response to Cole’s lecture and Homelessness: 360 program, Vine Street Christian Church will kick-off another season as a host for Room In the Inn on on Sunday, Nov. 15. Room In the Inn is a local outreach working with 151 area congregations to provide food and shelter for 185-225 people each night during the coldest months of the year.

Vine Street Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is one of Nashville’s oldest congregations and the community’s oldest church of the Stone-Campbell movement. The congregation traces its roots to a Nashville church that formed in 1826 and formally adopted the principles of Disciples of Christ founder Alexander Campbell in May 1828. The church occupied several locations in downtown Nashville before building a sanctuary on Nashville’s old Vine Street (now Seventh Avenue North) in 1889 and formally adopting the name Vine Street Christian Church. The congregation moved to its present location at 4101 Harding Road in 1958 and is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a Protestant denomination of about 700,000 members in the United States and Canada. 

Vine Street established the Roger T. Nooe Lectureship on World Peace in 1988 as a memorial to Dr. Nooe (pronounced Know-ee), the church’s senior minister between 1925-1951. Nooe’s ministry reflected a lifelong commitment to promoting world peace and religious ecumenism. The lectureship perpetuates Dr. Nooe's hope of a universal peace and a unified church.

For more information, call the church office at 615/269-5614 or contact Thomas Kleinert, senior minister, at thomas@vinestreet.org. 

New Ministry Project

homelessness : 360 is a ministry project that brings together what belongs together.

Too often we treat ministry like a pizza: a slice of worship, a slice of education, a slice of service in the community… But ministry is more like a circle where all points are defined by the common center.

Our worship, our study, our work, our fellowship, all share a common center in the God who meets us in Jesus Christ.

homelessness : 360 brings together all dimensions of our ministry around just one issue, homelessness.

At Vine Street, over the course of approximately four weeks

• we pray every day, guided by a simple question like, “What do I look forward to when I go home at night?”
• we visit places like the Oasis Center and Campus for Human Development;
• we listen to speakers who have left behind easy answers a long time ago, but won’t stop pushing for better responses;
• we learn together how and why women, men, and children lose their homes;
• we build little houses for our hopes and our sorrows;
• we watch movies that help us imagine and understand the reality of not having a home;
• we bring the little houses we have built and filled with our prayers to worship and we build a city with them;
• we make beds, prepare meals, open the doors, and invite homeless men to spend the night and tell their stories.

No, we won’t look at the complexities of homelessness from every angle, but we will go full circle in engaging with them: with all our heart, mind, and strength. This is how we love and serve our God. This is how we love and serve our neighbor.

If Grace Is True

As part of our Forum for Adult Christian Education (FACE), Ami Faenza is leading a 6-week book study at Vine Street on Sunday mornings, 9:30 AM, that began on October 11.

The study group is based on the book If Grace Is True: Why God Will Save Every Person by Philip Gulley and James Mulholland. One reviewer wrote, "hell fire and brimstone have really never made sense to me," and recommended this "kind and gentle argument for Christian universalism ... for those whose childhood Christian ideology no longer seems to fit."

For additional information see this page.