What are prisons for?

At first the answers may seem simple: prisons are for the punishment of people who have broken the law, for the protection of the community from potentially dangerous offenders, and for the correction of behaviors that threaten life in community. But prisons are also places where people live and work; where babies are born and people die of old age. Some prisons are run by the government, others by private corporations.

In the fall, we will take time to talk about prisons. We will invite people to tell us what happens inside a prison. We will schedule a visit to one of Nashville's prisons. We will hear about what happens to people when they leave prison. We will think and pray and talk about what prisons and prisoners have to do with our faith, and what role our faith can play in the lives of prisoners and their families.

We will make plans for about four weeks of study, worship, and service. The working title for the whole project is, as you probably already suspected, prison:360. If you would like to be part of the team that creates the programs and projects, send us an email. Our first brainstorming session will be very soon, on August 3.

“Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” Matthew 25:44

Easing Difficult Conversations

Communication between aging parents and adult children is often strained because of difficult decisions that need to be made. Many of us just don’t know how to talk about making the home more accessible, changing living arrangements, finding in-home care, monitoring bank accounts, writing living wills, managing medications, or dealing with driving limitations.

Our facilitator is Carol Smith, a Pastoral Counselor with the Pastoral Counseling Centers of Tennessee. She will give us some tips that apply to all kinds of situations, and she will also try to answer our very specific questions.

This program is part of our series, aging:360.

Dinner (catered by Copper Kettle) is at 6pm; the program starts at 6:30pm

We need Dinner reservations by Monday, May 2

Childcare provided - Call the church office if you need transportation

Mapping the Pantry

Over the next couple of weeks, as part of our hunger:360 ministry project, Vine Street members and friends will be mapping the pantry.

We believe this will be eye-opening: get a pencil and a piece of paper, and go to your pantry and/or refrigerator, and write down where in the world your food is coming from.

You can do the same thing with just one meal: how far can you track the ingredients of your lunch?

We will have a couple of maps in the sanctuary, one of the U.S. and one of the world, to help us visualize our connection with people all over the globe through our food.

One question we will have to ask ourselves: What do we make of the fact that food follows demand rather than need?

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.

Forgotten Veterans?

On Veteran's Day, we thank the men and women who have served in our nation's armed forces. How can we thank the ones who returned from wars but never fully came home?

The Veterans Administration estimates that 131,000 veterans are homeless on any given night; the National Alliance to End Homelessness puts that number close to 200,000. And approximately twice that many experience homelessness over the course of a year. Conservatively, one out of every three homeless men who is sleeping in a doorway, alley or box in our cities and rural communities has put on a uniform and served this country.

America’s homeless veterans have served in World War II, Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War, Grenada, Panama, Lebanon, Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), Operation Iraqi Freedom, or the military’s anti-drug cultivation efforts in South America.

• 23% of homeless population are veterans - let's thank them with more affordable housing
• 67% served three or more years - let's thank them by honoring their commitment with more than just a parade
• 33% stationed in war zone - let's thank them by helping them find peace at home
• 85% completed high school/GED, compared to 56% of non-veterans - let's thank them by supporting job training programs
• 76% experience alcohol, drug, or mental health problems - let's thank them by creating health care programs they can access and afford

And let's thank them in person when they come to Vine Street next week to spend the night with us.

Oasis Center

Oasis Center does great work in Nashville. The Center's mission is to help young people overcome serious challenges that could easily prevent them from transitioning into a healthy adulthood, including homelessness, violence, depression and low self-esteem, and disconnection from caring adults.

As part of our homelessness:360 project, we have two opportunities to visit the Oasis Center's new site on Charlotte Avenue and meet some of the people who work there.

Please register for one of the tours on Monday, November 9, at noon or Wednesday, November 11, at noon.

If you can't make the tour, please make sure you watch this brief video about their work.

In the Jail?

Many factors contribute to homelessness; high up on the list are mental health issues. Many homeless men are veterans who came back from war, but couldn't escape the mental and emotional wounds. Men and women suffering from alcohol or drug addiction often end up homeless. Some suffer from mental disorders that have left them without family or friends.

Would you be surprised to hear that the Mental Health Court in Nashville deals almost exclusively with homeless men and women?

Would you be surprised to learn that the mental health facility of last resort in Nashville is the Metro Jail?

On Sunday, October 25, we have an opportunity to hear from a man who has been working in the criminal justice system in Nashville for over tweny years. Jeff Blum, an ordained Disciples minister, is the Mental Health Coordinator for the Davidson County Sheriff's Office. His work gives him a unique perspective of the ways in which homelessness, mental health issues, and delinquency intersect.

Did we close our mental health institutions only to transfer the patients to our jails and prisons?

Come and hear Jeff Blum on Sunday, October 25, at 12:30 at Vine Street. We are preparing lunch, so please let us know you are coming. Childcare will be provided.

The Journey: We're Sailing On!

A Place of Rest  -  A community-wide celebration of Room in the Inn 

October 20 at 7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary at Vine Street

• An ecumenical service of worship and prayer 
• A celebration of communion 
• Commissioning of Room In The Inn volunteers for the 2009-10 season

And that's just the beginning of homelessness:360!