Where is Margie?

Margie will be out of town, starting this weekend, to attend a retreat with colleagues in ministry. This is a great opportunity to highlight the good work of Bethany Fellows:

Since 1999, Bethany Fellows has served congregations by helping young pastors transition from seminary to sustained congregational ministry. Twice a year, the cohort of Disciples of Christ ministers meets to spend time together at different retreat centers across the country. They meet in small groups to discuss the ins and outs of their ministry, spend a day in silence, and learn "wise practices" for the long haul from different thought leaders in the church. 

This week, Margie and the other Fellows will stay at the Catholic Conference Center in Hickory, North Carolina. They will learn wise practices from two faith leaders: Gareth Higgins, the founder of the Wild Goose festival and The Porch, and Reverend Lisle Gwynn Garity, Presbyterian pastor and founder of A Sanctified Art. 

Margie asks for prayers during her day of silence and her time in community as she embarks on one of her last retreats with Bethany Fellows. 

Worship Conference

Andra Moran invites worship leaders, musicians, pastors and anyone interested in justice-building, progressive and inclusive music and worship. Participants will gather for an opening lecture with Bryan McLaren and special music and liturgy followed by a reception on Wednesday, Oct 18th at Vine Street Christian Church. October 19th, 20th and 21st programming will be held at Woodmont Christian Church featuring keynote speakers Diana Butler Bass, Otis Moss III, Mark Miller, Noel Paul Stookey, and more. In addition, participants will be able to attend multiple workshops. For more details and to register, visit CMPConverging.com or contact Andra Moran with questions.

Community Grants

We are excited to once again be able to offer community ministry funds to our neighbors working to support Vine Street's mission "to actively pursue spiritual growth while contributing to the basic needs of others." 

The application for the 2023-2024 fiscal year is now live, along with instructions for completing the application form.

The grants will range from $500 to $1,500 and the application deadline is October 15, 2023. Please share this information with any local non-profit organization that you would like to see apply. 

Vine Street recently received a special gift that will allow support for rescued animals as per the donor's wishes. Help us spread the word that the application is open on our website. If you are interested in more information, please contact Pat Cole.

Dr. Christal Resigns

Elder Arnold Hayes, Moderator of the Christian Church in Tennessee, shared the following letter to inform the church of the resignation of Rev. Dr. Christal Williams.

September 6, 2023

To: Congregations and Members of the Christian Church in Tennessee

The Rev. Dr. Christal Williams Resigns as Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Tennessee's Regional Minister and President effective December 8th, 2023.

On behalf of our Regional Board, we are saddened that Dr. Williams is leaving us, but we are excited for her opportunity to serve our church in a new role as Regional Minister and President of Indiana. We are thankful for her seven years of faithful and effective service to our region, during a number of challenging times, including the Covid19 epidemic. Our region is better off because of Dr. Williams’ excellent leadership. 

This communication is being sent to notify our members and congregations of Dr. Williams’ resignation, to thank her for her service, to inform the body of the actions that have been taken so far, and to convey that our Regional Board and Dr. Williams will be doing everything possible to ensure a smooth transition. 

Please note the following actions that have taken place:

• August 29th. A preliminary phone conversation between Dr. Williams and Regional Moderator Hayes.

• September 2nd. Resignation letters, along with a Preliminary Exit Plan was submitted by Dr. Williams to Regional Moderator Hayes

• September 3rd. In response to the resignation letter, an Urgent Virtual Regional Board meeting was conducted. After a passionate discussion, the Regional Board voted to accept Dr. Williams’ resignation.

• September 5th. Regional Moderator Hayes had a phone conversation with the General Church’s Search Committee Chair.  

We ask for the Lord’s guidance as we enter into a new era of regional leadership.

Please read Dr. William's letter to the Tennessee Region here.

Please call the regional office or email me at arnold@tndisciples.org if you have questions.

Blessings,

Elder Arnold Hayes

Regional Moderator

Workday

There are all kinds of little projects in and around the church, and we will tackle some of them on our workday on Saturday, September 30th. The window well outside fellowship hall needs cleaning, as does the ramp leading from the parking lot to the education wing door. The nursery and kitchen need some loving attention, and there are a couple of storage areas in need of reorganizing - there’s plenty of work, and we’re planning on having fun doing it together! We will gather in fellowship hall at 9 a.m. and wrap up by 1 p.m. Please sign up and let us know if you have any questions!

Sarah goes to Spain

On September 6th, Sarah Matthews will travel to Madrid, Spain in advance of her 9-month award to serve as an English Teaching Assistant (ETA) through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. The program will span from mid-September 2023 through June 2024. During her time there, Sarah will live in central Madrid and work as an ETA at a bilingual high school in a suburb north of Madrid. She will assist local teachers with activities and lessons by helping teach English language and serving as a cultural ambassador for the United States. Additionally, Sarah will undertake an independent community engagement project and support her school’s Global Classrooms program (similar to the Model United Nations program in many American high schools). Through this experience, Sarah will have the opportunity to meet, work, live with, and learn from the people of Spain. 

The Fulbright Program is the world’s largest and most diverse international educational exchange program; it is overseen by the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The Program partners with more than 140 countries worldwide to offer grantees opportunities to pursue graduate study, conduct research, or teach English abroad. It is a program specifically dedicated to “increasing mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.”

Feel free to reach out to Sarah via email with any questions or encouragement (before or after her departure).

At the Movies

For our September movie, Vine Street at the Movies returns to the classics with 1950's In A Lonely Place by Nicholas Ray.

Humphrey Bogart stars as a screenwriter with anger-management issues—who gets into serious trouble with the law. Is he innocent or guilty? No one can be sure, even the woman who made him feel like he had just been born afresh. The result is one of Hollywood's best noir romances (with all that this implies).

This movie is not rated, but would be a PG or mild PG-13.

"In a Lonely Place is a superb example of the mature Hollywood studio system at the top of its form. Photographed with masterful economy ... it understands space and uses the apartments across the courtyard to visualize the emotional relationship between Dixon and Laurel. ...

"... a crisp black-and-white film with an almost ruthless efficiency of style. It taps into the psyches of the three principals: Bogart, who bought the story to produce with his company; Nicholas Ray, a lean iconoclast of films about wounded men ... and the legendary Gloria Grahame..." -Roger Ebert

Wednesday, September 6th, 7:00 PM in the South Meeting Room

If you have any questions about Vine Street at the Movies, please reach out to Jim Carls.

Children's Choir

Children’s Choir will resume on Sunday, September 10th.  Rehearsals will be immediately following worship and will last approximately 30 minutes.  Rehearsals will take place in the South Meeting Room.  Any interested children in kindergarten through 7th grade are welcome to join.  We will work on anthems to be sung in worship throughout the year, as well as prepare a special presentation for the 10 a.m. worship service on Christmas Eve!  Please contact Katie McLaughlin with any questions. katie@vinestreet.org

School supplies

School has started, and we want to help make sure that all students and their teachers at West End Middle School have the supplies they need for teaching and learning. Please purchase items from the list below and bring them to church no later than September 5. There are collection boxes for all items by the desk just outside Thomas’s study.

If you wish to make a financial contribution, please mark your online donation or check, “school supplies.” Carol Doidge and her team will use the funds to purchase the most needed items. Thank you for your support of our partnership with West End Middle School!

School Supply List

• 5-tab dividers for 3 ring binders

• Loose leaf wide-ruled notebook paper

• Pencils

• Blue or black ink pens

• Highlighters

• Composition notebooks

• Ear buds

Classroom Wish List

• Hand sanitizer

• Paper towels

• Kleenex

• Clorox wipes

• Dry erase markers

• Post-it notes

• Extra pencils, pens, notebook paper

• Tape (scotch or masking)

• Staples

Scandalous Gospel

At the end of August, we will launch yet another opportunity for faith formation: a study of The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus by Peter Gomes. Gomes was the Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church at Harvard, where he also served as Plummer Professor of Christian Morals. Having already written a couple of bestselling books on how to be a faithful and intelligent reader of the Bible, Gomes commented,

“Now I write another Bible book, with the radical suggestion that we use the Bible to go beyond the Bible and embrace that to which it points: the gospel, or the good news. In a time when it is easier to write about doom and gloom than about hope and promise, I suggest that Jesus came into the world not as a Bible teacher directing us back to the text, but as one who proclaimed a realm beyond the Bible. He proclaimed his good news against the conventional wisdom of his day, taking up with unacceptable people and advancing dangerous, even revolutionary, ideas, nearly all of which remain to be discovered and acted upon.”

Bill McKibben called it “a very important book,” and he added

“From his strategic post at the crossroads of many traditions, Gomes shows the only real way forward for American Christendom. And he does it with a depth of fierce and sometimes angry hope that’s new even for the finest preacher in the land.”

We can all use a good dose of fierce and sometimes angry hope, and so we invite friends and members of the congregation, as well as neighbors, to join us for a series of conversations about this book (you may also call it a book group; please borrow or purchase your own copy of the book). Thomas Kleinert will serve as the convener of two groups, one meeting in his study on Tuesday evenings at 5pm, starting on August 29, and the other on Wednesday mornings at 9am, starting on August 30, also in his study. The book has about 240 pages, and current plans expect the groups to meet weekly, about ten times, until the end of October/early November.

Please register to receive additional updates via email, and direct any questions you might have to Thomas.

Dinners with Margie

by Stephen Moseley

I have a friend who always asks to schedule work meetings over lunch, because "you gotta eat" he says. And when the hours in a day are few and far between, that logical and efficient approach makes a lot of sense.

As Margie continues to settle in at Vine Street, and continues to put names with faces and faces with stories and stories with history, we know she's "gotta eat" as well.

So, let's combine a few meals with some "getting-to-know-you" time over the next couple months.

If you are interested in joining a group of Vine Streeters and Margie for a meal, please fill out the short form below. Once groups are formed, we'll coordinate with Margie to schedule time together to, at a minimum, discuss our shared "Margie Bingo" squares.

Elders affirm "Pillars"

On Monday, our new Vine Street Elders met to discuss what it means to be spiritual leaders in a season of change. Given the significant cultural shift in churches, we challenged ourselves to a) be more transparent about what it means to be an Elder, b) show up in consistent and meaningful ways for the congregation, c) be observant and listen to the needs of our community, and d) be intentional about greeting visitors on Sundays.

We hope to embody, and help lead the congregation in embodying, our pillars of faith formation this year, and we believe that hosting events that offer interesting topics and food serve that purpose very well. Speaking of food, Quentin Flowers, Chair of Elders, brought chocolate to begin the meeting—not a bad way to start! 

We have begun referring to these Core Components as “Pillars of Faith Formation.”

Insight Webinar

Living Your Best Life Now: Mental Health for Older Adults – Panel Discussion

Monday, July 17 at 10 am CDT on Zoom

How do we bridge generational gaps and connect with the people in our family? What can we do to heal from the mental and emotional wounds from our past? Can seeing a therapist really help us live our best lives now?

Join us for a one-hour panel discussion where we’ll explore the unique struggles faced by adults aged 60 and over and the resources that are available for building mental, emotional, and spiritual strength and well-being.

Our featured panelists include therapists Ngodoo Golden, Amanda Gibson LPC-MHSP (Temp.), and Josh Medeiros LPC-MHSP (Temp.). This event is free to attend and open to all.

Please register to receive the event link.

At the Movies

Our Vine Street at the Movies group will gather on July 5 to watch a movie that is appropriate to the July 4th holiday and the summer season: National Treasure, with Nicholas Cage as a historian on the trail of clues hidden in the most famous documents of U.S. history. Expect mystery, thrills and a bit of humor as he and his associates unravel a dastardly plot at the nation's landmarks.

The group meets at 7:00 PM in the South Meeting Room (some will remember it as the former choir room). Please enter via the South Entrance.

Vine Street at the Movies is for folks who love to get together once a month, typically on the first Wednesday, to watch a movie. Jim Carls is the curator of the playlist, and he’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Petite Pentecôte

A little Pentecost! On July 2 we worship with our friends from the DR Congo, Nouvelle Alliance Christian Church. We will witness four baptisms, sing in Lingala and English, pray with Pastor Celet, and get pretty close to do a little dancing with our clapping! Nouvelle Alliance have used the Vine Street chapel for their weekly gatherings for several years. We have tried to worship together at least once a year, but it’s been a while, due to the pandemic disruption. Mbote na bino, loosely translated means, Welcome, y’all!

Installation of Rev. Margie Quinn

You are invited to join us in worship on July 9, 2023 for the installation of Rev. Margie Quinn. Following the service, we will gather in Fellowship Hall for Installation Sundaes with Margie, a sweet and informal meet and greet. The church will provide vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream, sorbet, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream, and we ask congregants to contribute a topping or two from this grand buffet of possibilities.

Brass Band Summer Concert

This year’s summer concert will once again fill the sanctuary at Vine Street with patriotic tunes. Julia Callaway will join the band on the organ for an arrangement of Battle Hymn of the Republic. The concert on June 29, at 7pm, is free and open to the public. Donations to the band are appreciated.

Wedding shower Kara & Alex

Kara Reed and Alex Carls invite Vine Street friends to celebrate with them at their wedding shower at The Preserve at Bellpointe Clubhouse, 1000 Heatherly Way, Lebanon, TN 37087. 

This will be a come and go gathering of family and friends on July 1, 2023 from 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. Please call or text Brenda Jones at 615-481-7037 to let her know you’re coming.

Kara and Alex also invite friends to virtually join them for their wedding on October 7, 2023. Registry information, a zoom link for the day of the wedding (at Christmount in North Carolina), and an adorable timeline of their relationship in pictures can be found at Kara Reed and Alex Carls's Wedding Website - The Knot.

Immersion trip

On Sunday, a group from Vine Street will be traveling to Tucson, AZ for an immersion trip.

Participants are Dair Grubb, Meda Miller, Liam Dixon, Quinn Moseley, Calin Trabue, Margie Quinn and Jeff Miller.

The trip is planned and coordinated by Be the Neighbor, a ministry affiliated with the Disciples of Christ and the United Church of Christ; Allison Lanza, a former Vine Street intern, is one of the founders and co-directors. 

“Tucson, Arizona is 60 miles from the border of Mexico. …  Groups have the opportunity to explore what loving and welcoming our neighbors looks like through interactive experiences dedicated to growing your understanding around immigration, refugees, and persons seeking asylum. Weekly opportunities include desert walks, humanitarian aid, preparing and serving meals, building projects, learning about the immigration process, activism and advocacy. …  Each day includes a morning gathering with a biblical reflection and videos to learn more about immigration and the partner organizations for the day, hands-on activities with non-profits, connect time and free time. Connect time is our justice based curriculum that will help your group connect what you are doing on your trip with how your will put your faith into action in new ways with immigrants when you return home.” —from the trip description

Your gifts to Vine Street and the generosity of leaders like Jeff Miller make transformative experiences like this possible. Thank you!

During the summer, Vine Street is hosting groups who come to Nashville with Be the Neighbor to explore homelessness and housing.

Welcome, Margie!

Margie’s first day with us, before she takes off on the immersion trip to Tucson, is Thursday, June 15. Let’s surprise her with a basket of welcome cards and letters! Please mail your envelope to the church or drop it off in person, in time for the basket to be assembled on Wednesday morning. Feel free to include a picture or photo, or your favorite poem (Margie loves poetry).

We are making plans for an installation service during worship on July 9, with a reception to follow, as well as for other informal opportunities to get to know Margie.