We had an overwhelming response to  our Matthew 25 Approach in December! Now we're putting our best efforts forward as we introduce "All About Outreach!" month for February 2012.  Check out this list of ministry opportunities for you and your family.  A special thanks to the Vine Street Youth group for initiating so many of these events and activities.  In advance, we thank the Vine Street community for supporting all of these events.  Don't forget....It's "All About Outreach!"

All About Outreach! schedule:
February 4- Predators Fangtastic 5K benefiting Vanderbilt Children's Hospital  details here
February 5-  Souperbowl of Caring - an offering for  The Society of St. Andrew , a gleaning ministry in TN
February 5- Superbowl Party with Room in the Inn: come watch the big game with our room in the inn guests
February 5-10- Room in the Inn  sign up here
February 11- TNT Valentines Party volunteers neeeded
February 12- The Festival of Cakes/BBQ luncheon, proceeds help with the youth summer mission trip to Camp Sunshine
February 19- Dodgeball Tournament for Week of Compassion
February 19 and 26-  Week of Compassion Offering
February 24- Fair Trade Coffee House with Jamie Joey and the Movement for the youth summer mission trip.

See the Slide Show Below for more INFO!

We resume Wednesday Nights at Vine Street on January 25, and before you get to read about our season-opening program, let’s talk about dinner. We continue to enjoy the good things coming out of the kitchen at Copper Kettle, but this year we’ll make it more affordable for families with children to participate. The cost per meal is still $8.50, but only people age 12 and older have to pay. We operate with a very tight budget, but we want to move at least a little closer to treating all our children as all our children. Wouldn’t it be great if we could invite all children and students to eat as guests of the congregation?

Our season-opening program is Roger Bishop, a well-known man in Nashville who has been a long-time member of our congregation. Roger was named Master Bookseller during his years at Davis-Kidd, and according to Adam Ross, he “deserves a raft of medals for making Nashville a literary destination spot.”

Ross described Roger masterfully as “slight, boyish looking and commanding all at once. There's a touch of Bilbo Baggins to him. He has a luxuriant, leonine head of silver hair and his reading glasses sit precipitously on the end of his nose. According to former co-workers, his command of ISBN numbers approaches the rabbinical, and he's the kind of book lover who will, upon the mention of, say, Bowling Alone, gently add, ‘Robert Putnam,’ as if it were indecorous to utter a title without its author.” We recommend that you read Adam Ross’s entire article, written in November of 2010, after the closing of Davis-Kidd Bookstore had been announced. It is a great introduction to Roger’s great passion, the world of books.

On January 25, Roger Bishop will have dinner with us, and then he’ll review some books for us. He’ll look back on 2011, invite us to talk about our own “great reads of the year,” and he’ll also look ahead a bit and tell us what we may look forward to in the literary world in 2012. We hope you will join Roger, Martha, and the rest of us for the evening. You may make your dinner reservation by noon on Monday, January 23, but you are also welcome to bring your own supper or join us only for Roger’s talk. Dinner is at 6pm, and the program usually starts around 6:30pm. See you on Wedneday!

[And if you can't wait, go to bookpage for a smorgasbord of Roger's reviews]

Ed Cole, Executive Director of The Transit Alliance and an Elder at Vine Street, likes to refer to this corridor as the "main street" of Middle Tennessee, because of the central role it plays in our region's economic, cultural, and educational life. Here at Vine Street, we are thrilled to call this city home, and we look forward to this upgrade to our neighborhood.

You may review press coverage by following these links to The Tennessean and The City Paper, and if you are interested in receiving regular updates, sign up here.

The election of female Disciples leaders to the boards of two ecumenical organizations is a reflection of the changing face of ecumenism, says the Rev. Robert K. Welsh, president of the Council on Christian Unity, the denomination’s ecumenical office.

The Rev. Sharon E. Watkins, general minister and president, begins her term in January as vice president on the governing board of the National Council of Churches, while Week of Compassion’s executive director, the Rev. Amy Gopp, will serve as 1st vice chairperson of the Church World Service board of directors.

Read more

The Christian Church in Tennessee offers support for Disciples pastors so they can be better servants of God's Church. Your gift to the Christmas Offering supports the life changing ministry of the Christian Church in Tennessee.

At Vine Street, we will collect the Christmas Offering on December 11 and 18. Special envelopes will be inserted in the bulletin. You may also mail a check with the memo "Christmas Offering" to the church.

Thank you for your generous support of our common ministry!

5:30 pm—Christmas Around the Hearth

Saturday, December 10

2:00 pm—TNT Christmas Party

Wednesday, December 14

6:00 pm—Dinner (Reservations are due on Monday, December 12)

6:30 pm—Children’s Choir Christmas Program

Sunday, December 18

4:00 pm—Board & Staff Party

Saturday, December 24

4:00 pm—Family Worship

11:00 pm—Lessons & Carols

Sunday, December 25

No 8:30 am Worship in the Chapel

10:45 am—Christmas Day worship

Tuesday, December 27

Mission Trip to Vine Street (talk to Hope about details)

Wednesday, December 28

Room in the Inn (talk to Hope about details)

Thursday, December 29

All Church Winter Retreat to Christmount begins

Light of the World

 A musical by Mark Patterson

Wednesday, December 14 at 6:30pm

Fellowship Hall 

Dinner is at 6pm, and we ask that you make your dinner reservation by Monday, December 12 at noon. The children and their helpers have been preparing for weeks for this special presentation, and we hope that the whole congregation will gather to receive their gift. The musical drama tells the story of Christmas, and ends with a special candle lighting. 

Carol Doidge finished printing our Advent Devotionals last night. Thank you, Carol!

Julia Keith had collected and assembled them. Thank you, Julia!

Some twenty-five of us have written them. Thank you all!

Soon the days will come when all of us will read them, one at a time, counting the days.

You may pick up your copy at the church this Sunday, or download the pdf file.

Have a blessed Advent!

The light

shines in the darkness,

and the darkness

did not overcome

the light. John 1:5