Strategic Plan to Debut at Board Meeting

The Official Board will meet Wednesday, April 27 at 6:30 p.m. in Fellowship Hall for a special presentation. Inspired by our Future Story, which was approved by the congregation Feb. 28, the Vision Team will offer an initial 5-year strategic plan for the ministry of Vine Street Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

All Board meetings are open to Vine Street members and this one is no exception. If you are a member or a regular participant, then maybe you are curious about:

• Vine Street promoting its Disciples identity as a voice for equality and justice in Nashville;

• the Vine Street essentials: food, shelter, water; deep Christian spirituality and worship; authentic community;

• stewardship practices that respond to our call to ministry and balance our budget;

• our next steps toward property-related decisions as we improve our facilities at 4101 Harding Pike.

It’s an ambitious vision, born out of faithful prayer and conversation, and the strategic plan will help us to realize these dreams.

Vision Team members contributing to this conversation include Allyn Maxfield-Steele, Camille Biter, Amanda Miller, Ed Cole, Stephen Moseley, Jackie Halstead, Katie McLaughlin and Thomas Kleinert.

Our consultant is the Rev. Dr. Dick Hamm, a church consultant/coach from The Columbia Partnership. Dick is the former general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada. He served, too, as the Disciples regional minister in Tennessee; he and his family have participated in the life of our congregation previously.

A general presentation to the congregation is forthcoming.

Dancing On Ashes

Bent, but not broken, we are year-round Easter people.

by Casey Sigmon

It was one of my favorite sermons to date, and it involved few if any words.

My toddler, too restless to sit patiently through the Lenten sermon, pulled me from the pew. We had never wandered to the garden behind the clear glass cross before, though I have spent countless services at Vine Street watching how the light filters through it, watching trees birth, bloom, and then drop leaves with the seasons. The combination of the warm weather and a few early birds in the form of green shoots and brave pansies lured too by the warm weather beckoned the toddler outside.

She ran immediately to face the stone angel watching over the garden. “Hello, angel!” her sweet voice pierced the silence. Then she began to sing a song I have sung over her since she was an infant, “All night, all day, angels watching over me my Lord…” traipsing on fallen, dead leaves, as though dancing in the midst of the ashes of a summer that had come and gone months ago.

She approaches a stone garden cross then, “Hello Jesus!” she says, then gives it a kiss.

Our journey to Easter began in the midst of ashes of verdant palm branches from a spring long ago… Remember you are dust… and it ends with an empty tomb, a wounded yet risen Christ, healed but not cured, a message that God can transform and transfigure the most heinous events that deal death in this world into radiant, radical, life—resurrection.

It’s hard to comprehend resurrection from down here. It’s hard to imagine the return of our beloved, radiant in the Eternal Love of Christ, when the season of their physical presence seems so long ago.

It’s hard to imagine how an instrument of execution, the Roman cross, becomes a symbol of devotion and love, so treasured that a child could stoop to kiss it rather than run from it in fear. But that’s what resurrection did to that accomplice of death.

It’s hard to comprehend resurrection from down here because so few things seem to be beyond our brilliant comprehension, our safe expectations. But thankfully, resurrection remains just out of our limited comprehension.

Easter people. We are Easter people all year-round. In a world prone to cynicism, we proclaim hope. In a world pursuing happiness, we proclaim joy. In a world searching for cures, we promise healing.

As Christians, we are not excluded from experiencing pain and loss and tragedy in life. Rather, through the Resurrected One, we are promised to be given strength of heart and presence, through the beloved community here and above and around, to live in the face of death, to find a new form and pattern for living when all seems lost.  To be resurrection walking and talking on earth, healed in spite of death from within, by the one who lured a young girl from her deathbed, who called Lazarus from the grave, who surprised the women mourning in the garden…. By the power of the Holy Breath, we catch ours when it’s knocked out of us—resurrection.

And like Mary mourning in the garden before her beloved’s tomb, we cannot believe that we find the strength to dance once again. Resurrection finds us and we leap to our feet, traipse through the ashes, and sing a new song. We are Easter people all year-round.

Church Retreat: What’s in Your Bucket?

We carry loads of demands and responsibilities daily (buckets and pails of them) and often feel too tired to replenish our spiritual resources. Yet, God’s spirit can fill even the tiniest spaces with the sweetness of life—joy—creating courageous spaces for knowing God richly. Open to this gift, we increase, too, our capacity for sharing joy with people around us.

Inspired by Acts 2: 17-18, scripture which is often connected to Pentecost, how about making plans to experience Vine Street’s spring retreat, “Buckets, Pails and Courageous Spaces”? It’s Saturday April 16-Sunday, April 17 at Bethany Hills Camp and Conference Center (just 35 minutes from the church).

Here’s what you need to know:

• This is an all-ages event. Some of our activities will be intergenerational. At other times, the children will share their own experiences, lead by Rev. Hope Hodnett. The rest of us will have opportunities for learning and praying, led by Rev. Greg Rumburg;

• Infant and toddler care is available on Saturday 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m.;

• The registration deadline is Sunday, April. 10. There are two ways to attend:

—choose a $10 retreat day pass, arriving Saturday morning and staying through dinner and vespers Saturday evening;

—choose a $20 retreat weekend pass, arriving Saturday morning, stay overnight and through breakfast and worship Sunday morning (children 5 and under are free. The maximum fee for a family is $75.);

• Scholarships are available--contact Greg Rumburg (greg@vinestreet.org);

• Share a ride from Vine Street on Saturday morning or drive yourself to Bethany Hills.

We’re looking forward to having you at our spring retreat 2016! To register online, click here.

No Pretending with Hepburn & Grant

All are invited to join Vine Street at the Movies for a flashback to classic 1960s romantic excitement with two of the period’s most glamorous stars. Charade features Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant, whose characters get involved in a cat and mouse-type thriller story, a standout from the era when James Bond was first entrancing movie house audiences. This film is rated G.

Kevin Carr, of 7M Movies, says, “Not only does this film take a new spin on the ’60’s spy thriller, it also dips its toe in the romantic comedy of the era.” Carr continues, “Like many of the films of Audrey Hepburn, the film is balanced on her shoulders and held there by her likeability. Grant’s charisma adds to the charm of the movie, and even though there are some serious and dangerous dealings happening, it’s still a fun romp... it holds up much better than many of its contemporaries."

Always a free event, Vine Street at the Movies, hosted by Jim Carls, meets the first Wednesdays of the month in Fellowship Hall.

Regional Minister Candidate Announced

The Rev. Dr. Christal L. Williams has been recommended as the next regional minister and president of the Christian Church in Tennessee. Dr. Williams is an associate regional minister for the Christian Church in Illinois and Wisconsin region. A called Regional Assembly will be held on Saturday, April 16 at 11 a.m. at Woodmont Christian Church (3601 Hillsboro Road) to affirm or deny the call. Anyone may attend; Vine Street will select voting delegates. Planning to attend? Please let Thomas Kleinert know so that we can ensure appropriate Vine Street representation (thomas@vinestreet.org).

CROP Hunger Walk 2016

Spring is just around the corner, and it’s CROP Hunger Walk time again! Join your Vine Street family and friends at Fannie Mae Dees Park (a.k.a Dragon Park, corner of Blakemore Ave. and 24^th Ave. South) on Sunday, April 17 for fellowship, exercise and a chance to fight hunger here and around the world. To register or sponsor a walker, please visit our team page here. The funds go to the work of Church World Service, and 25 percent remains here in Middle Tennessee helping our neighbors. Registration opens at 1:45 p.m. and the walk begins at 2:30 p.m. Questions? Contact Jim Zamata (jzamata@gmail.com) or Hope Hodnett (hope@vinestreet.org).

Tennessee Women to Gather

The Middle Area Disciples Women's Ministry Spiritual Journey will be April 9 at New Covenant Christian Church in Nashville. The dynamic resource leader is Rev. Rebecca Hale, currently National Benevolent Association vice president for mission and ministry and known to many when she was associate regional minister in Tennessee. Registration information and forms can be found at ccdctn.org. Or contact Julia Keith (julia@worldconvention.org) or Martha Bishop (bishopmartha@aol.com). Registration deadline is March 24. Carpooling is available.

Netterville Arrangements

A celebration of life remembering Margaret Netterville will be on Monday, March 7, 2016 at 11:30 a.m. at  West Harpeth Funeral Home (6962 Charlotte Pike). Margaret died Thursday evening.

Visitation with the family will be on Sunday, March 6 from 2-6 p.m. and on Monday from 10 a.m. until service time. Interment will follow at Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Click here to read the obituary.