Summer Gospel Sing-Along & Potluck Supper begins June 7

One of our favorite summer traditions is back! On Wednesdays in June & July, we will have a gospel sing-along at 5:15 PM in Room 105, followed by a potluck supper in Drowota Hall at 6:00 PM.

"Narnia" touring musical at Woodmont June 5

On Monday, June 5, a youth cast from Peachtree Christian Church in Atlanta is putting on a “Narnia” musical in our sanctuary at 6:00 PM and you’re invited! The story is based on the first and most famous story of The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.

This unique, enchanted world is filled with creatures and spirits of myth and fable, both good and evil, nefarious and transcendent. We will meet the majestic King Aslan and his nemesis the White Witch, as they struggle for control of Narnia. And entering Narnia at a moment of high adventure are some children — plucked from our world in unexpected ways to help Narnia and to learn from their Narnia odyssey lessons of courage, unselfishness, and wisdom that will help them grow.

Intro to Woodmont next Sunday

If you’re new to Woodmont, we want to see you at our Intro to Woodmont luncheon next Sunday, June 11, at noon in the boardroom! This is a chance to meet with Clay and some of our leaders to learn more about Woodmont and if God is calling you to make this your church home. Lunch is served and you are warmly invited! Childcare is available with an RSVP to tammy@woodmontcc.org

Starting this Sunday, June 4, we will begin a new summer sermon series - “Questions that Matter.”

Throughout his life and ministry, Jesus taught us many many things. One of his primary teaching methods was to ask deep and profound questions, ones that stir the soul and cause us to reflect. This summer, we will take a close look at some of these questions that we find in the gospels including: 

• Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not recognize the log in your own eye? 

• What will it profit you to gain the whole world but forfeit your soul? 

• Can you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 

• Why are you afraid? 

• Who do you say that I am? 

• What were you arguing about along the way? 

• Can you drink the cup that I drink? 

• What is truth? 

• My God my God, why have you forsaken me? 

These are questions that provoke, prod, and cause us to reflect. These are questions that help us grow and mature as people of faith. These questions are not easy but they matter because Jesus was the one who asked them. Join me this summer as we wrestle with the questions. 

I am also recommending the following book as a resource: What Did Jesus Ask? It contains many contributing authors and can be used in small groups or in your own devotional life. Let’s dive into these important questions and keep growing together!

New series this Sunday, June 4

New summer series: “Questions that Matter”

“Specks, Logs, & Self Reflection”

Dr. Clay Stauffer

Matthew 7:1-5 & Romans 7:15-20 

Our weekly fellowship breakfast is off during the summer with plans to return in August.

Our Sunday schedule is:

• 9:30 AM – Informal service in the sanctuary with livestream
• 9:40 AM – The Bridge service in the chapel with livestream
• 11:00 AM – Traditional service in the sanctuary

2023 Leadership Slate

The nominations are in for our 2023 treasurer, board, elders, & deacons! Our annual congregational meeting and election is Sunday, June 18, at 10:30 AM. Installation of our newly-elected leaders is Sunday, June 25, as part of our 11:00 AM service.

May 30 stewardship update

As the month of May comes to a close, we want to let everyone know that we are now up to 405 pledges that total $3,334,494 for our annual stewardship campaign. We will spend the next few weeks continuing to take pledges and finalizing the budget for our 2023-2024 fiscal year that begins July 1.

The last 9 weeks have been truly some of the hardest weeks of my life. As a Covenant School parent, “that Monday” marked a changing point in the way I see life, how I interact with people, and how I parent my own children. It has been dark, so dark, at times. And yet, this church, you have brought joy and a light in the darkness. You have stepped up in ways that I didn’t know possible.

A community is by definition “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.” I have always known Woodmont was different. The way in which we love, care, and help others was evident in so many ways way before March 27. As I taught the 5th grade Sunday school this past school year, we talked a lot about the three pieces of our mission statement. You all showed those students and the Nashville community what it means to “share love and serve others”.

In an excerpt from the book A Guide to Prayer For All Who Seek God, Stephen V. Doughty says the following about community:

“The source of all such coming together is surely Jesus himself. Community is ever his gift. It was this way from the start. He formed the table fellowship. He sent his followers out not alone but in the company of one another. When he came upon them after the Resurrection, he joined two on the road, encouraged a frightened crew huddled behind locked doors, fed a hungry band of them at dawn on the shores of Galilee. He initially had drawn persons together, and he continued to shape them as a body. When the Holy Spirit burned forth Pentecost, it settled not on one but on a whole assembly…

In Christ Jesus we are formed into one people stretching through the ages of time. And in this sense, the community he creates is not only a gift. It is holy. That is, its source is not in us. It emanates from him. Community sweeps forth and claims us from the realms of grace.”

Thank you, Woodmont, for continuing to be the hands and feet of Jesus. To show the world what it means to be a follower of Christ and to show that love conquers all. 

Last chance to sign up for VBS

Woodmont Kids' annual Vacation Bible School (VBS) is daily from June 27-30 and registration is only open until Friday, June 2! Click the button below to sign your children up.

When I was a little girl, my Oma would sing a song to me and my siblings that had the line “If you love me, plant a rose for me, but if you think you’ll love me for a long, long time, plant an apple tree,” and this song was one of my favorites as a young child. I have found myself humming the melody and whispering the lyrics to myself over the last few months, finding comfort in the familiar tune as I have spent countless hours in our church trying to think of ways to help people who want to love those in our congregation who are hurting.

As I have watched this community pour out care in ways that are not ceasing, I have been reminded of the idea that we are taught by God throughout scripture - a love that sustains is a love that is Divine in nature. We are called as Christians to build love around our lives and not let that love dwindle under any circumstances. And you all have done that during this painful season of life that has brought heartache and grief to so many of us. You have shown up as the light and love of God in this world in ways I never dreamed of! How hundreds of meals have been made and dropped off on porches and in coolers to try to ease the burden of having to prepare a meal when existing is all someone may be able to do. How there have been more volunteers downstairs with our children’s ministry than ever before because you all desired to show up and love our kids with everything you have. How when our youth created a beautiful Youth Sunday service, this congregation supported them with smiles and adoration as these young people claimed their space in the pulpit, behind the piano, and at the communion table. How our deacons and shepherds made it so that the hundreds of people who showed up for our forum on gun safety felt welcome and comfort in our building last Monday evening.

Church, you know how to love. I have seen it day in and day out the last few months and even longer. I have felt it by your words of compassion and care as people in our congregation have needed the light that this place gives more than ever before. I have borne witness to a love that is breathing and living and growing every single second in each of us because of this community. But it cannot stop because love is what grieves with us in the midst of every valley and celebrates with us at each mountaintop we summit. A love that God calls us to choose every morning we wake up. One that is sacred and limitless.

Keep showing up. Keep calling and checking in. Keep sustaining one another like the love of God sustains us. Faith does not happen alone, but in community. And so does love, my friends. Love is the healing balm that makes the brokenness we all may feel soothe for even a moment. The Divine heartbeat that passes from me to you and you to me is one that we can no longer take for granted because we have work to do. We have love to do. And that love is one that will sustain us through it all. Let us choose to love for a long, LONG time. Let us plant apple trees together, y’all. 

Last chance to register for Light Up Music City June 12-16

Light Up Music City registration closes tomorrow, Wednesday, May 31! Be sure and click here to sign up for a week where your youth will be fully immersed in “serving others” along with fun afternoon excursions. The cost is $100 per student to pay for their food and activities for the week. You can also pay via Venmo (@woodmontchristian) by typing your student’s name and “Light Up Music City” in the memo line, or you can bring cash or check to the church office before June 11.

Summer reading list

 Recommendations from Woodmont's staff

Clay Stauffer

• Morality by Jonathan Sacks
• A Grace Disguised by Jerry Sittser
• A Grace Revealed by Jerry Sittser
• A Time to Build by Yuval Levin
• Failure of Nerve by Edwin Friedman
• What Did Jesus Ask? edited by Elizabeth Dias

Farrell Mason

• Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
• Savor by Shauna Niequist
• Bread of Angels by Barbara Brown Taylor
• The Lives We Actually Have by Kate Bowler

Jay Hutchens

• Beyond Doubt: The Secularization of Society by Isabella Kasselstrand, Phil Zuckerman, Ryan T. Cragnun
• Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention - and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari
• Following Jesus: Biblical Reflection on Discipleship by N.T. Wright

Andra Moran

• No Cure For Being Human by Kate Bowler
• Always a Guest by Barbara Brown Taylor 
• See No Stranger by Valarie Kaur
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Kimmerer 

Roy Stauffer

• Between the Dark and the Daylight by Joan Chittister
• The Gift of Years by Joan Chittister
• Christians Against Christianity by Obery Hendricks
• The Good Life by Waldinger and Schulz  

Jerry Johnson

• The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
• The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
• Clapton: The Autobiography by Eric Clapton
• Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
• The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday

Graham Watson

• Readings in the History of Christian Theology - Volume 2 - From the Reformation to the Present edited by William C. Placher and Derek R. Nelson
• The Song of the Bird compiled by Anthony de Mello
• Pillars of Cloud and Fire: The Politics of Exodus in African American Biblical Interpretation by Herbert Marbury 

Vases needed for chancel flower ministry

Our chancel flower team is running out of the medium-size (6”-9”) clear glass vases that they use to take flowers to people on our cares list, members, and others who need them each and every week. They are specifically looking for the type of vases used by florists. If you are able, please return or donate vases to the Warming Kitchen so that they can be “recycled.” If necessary, it can be arranged for vases to be picked up by contacting Carol Hankla at cahankla@gmail.com

Watch "Looking Back to See Ahead"

Watch Justin Gung at The Bridge

Church calendar

Sunday, June 4

9:30 AM 21st Century Class, Boardroom

9:30 AM Disciples Class, Room 105

10:45 AM Reflections Class, Room 200

10:45 AM Connections Class, Room 100

10:45 AM "Apawstles" Group, Bay Room

11:00 AM Points of View Class, Room 105

12:00 PM The Bridge congregational songwriter event with Steve Siler, Chapel

3:00 PM Pickleball, Drowota Hall

Monday, June 5

3:00 PM "Geezers," Boardroom

6:00 PM "Narnia" musical by Peachtree Christian Church's Youth Drama Team, Sanctuary

Tuesday, June 6

12:00 PM Pickleball, Drowota Hall

6:00 PM Young Professionals Dinner & Discussion, Campbell West

6:30 PM Alateen (ages 12-19), South Hall

6:30 PM Parents Al-Anon Group, Room 105

8:00 PM AA Meeting, South Hall

Wednesday, June 7

6:00 AM Men's Small Group, Room 107

7:00 AM Younger Men's Bible Study, Boardroom

8:00 AM "Original" Men's Bible Study, Room 105

1:00 PM CWF Circle Draw, Boardroom

5:15 PM Summer Gospel Sing-Along, Room 105

6:00 PM Potluck Dinner, Drowota Hall

6:30 PM Choir Rehearsal, Sanctuary

Thursday, June 8

10:00 AM Sit & Stitch, Gathering Hall

12:00 PM Pickleball, Drowota Hall

1:00 PM Mahjong Group, Gathering Hall

5:30 PM Handbells Rehearsal, Choir Room

6:30 PM Andra Moran Virtual Vespers, Zoom

6:30 PM Nar-Anon, Room 105

8:00 PM AA Meeting, South Hall 

Friday, June 9

3:00 PM Pickleball, Drowota Hall

Saturday, June 10

10:00 AM Al-Anon, Drowota Hall