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.