Former U.S. Attorney General at Woodmont May 29

On Wednesday, May 29, the Honorable Alberto Gonzales will be in Carpenter Chapel to speak on "Faith, Public Leadership, Partisanship, & the U.S. Justice System" at 6:00 PM.

Currently the Dean of Belmont’s School of Law, Gonzales was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate as the 80th Attorney General of the United States in February 2005 and served in that capacity until September 2007. He has worked as a partner at a major Houston law firm (Vinson & Elkins) and held government positions as a Justice on the Texas Supreme Court, Texas Secretary of State, General Counsel to the Governor of Texas, and Counsel to the President of the United States.

Gonzales' work in the Hispanic community and his achievements as a role model have also earned him recognition as "Hispanic American of the Year" by HISPANIC Magazine and one of "The 25 Most Influential Hispanics in America" by TIME Magazine.

Judge Gonzales became dean of Belmont's law school in 2014 and presently teaches constitutional law, First Amendment law, national security law, and separation of powers.

Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier at Woodmont June 12

On Wednesday, June 12, Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier will join Clay in Carpenter Chapel at 6:30 PM to discuss "Higher Education, Ideology, & Free Speech."

A visionary leader and lifelong academic, Diermeier is dedicated to advancing Vanderbilt's mission and values at every level across the university's ten schools and colleges. Born in Berlin, Germany, he is a first-generation college graduate who most recently served as the Provost at the University of Chicago.

Diermeier became Vanderbilt University’s ninth chancellor in 2020 after an extensive search. In the years since, Chancellor Diermeier has led an ambitious program of expansion and improvement in the spirit of Vanderbilt’s motto, "Crescere aude," or “dare to grow.” Under his leadership, the university has risen in stature, topped the $1 billion mark in research expenditures, successfully launched a $300 million fundraising campaign for Vanderbilt athletics, and reaffirmed its long-standing commitment to free expression and civil discourse.

VBS volunteers needed

VBS registration is open and will remain open until the end of May. Please note that the rising 1st-grade group is already closed and on a waitlist. If your student is in that age group, please email abby@woodmontcc.org to be placed on the waitlist. For all other age groups, click here to register your children.

We need VBS volunteers! VBS is June 25-28 from 9:00 AM to noon. All volunteers are asked to arrive by 8:30 AM each morning. We have a mandatory volunteer training day on Monday, June 24, at 10:00 AM. Please click here to register as a volunteer if you did not on your student's registration form.

Once again, thank you to everybody who has made a commitment to support Woodmont’s ministries for another year as a part of our “Loving God, Loving Nashville” campaign. We have now received 430 pledges totaling $3,621,058. This is an increase from this past year. We are winding down this campaign and our finance committee will be meeting soon to set the operating budget. Thank you for your generosity and support! It makes a big difference in the life of our church.

This Sunday, we will honor all of our mothers and grandmothers at all three of our services and begin a new sermon series called “Anxious for Nothing!” Anxiety has been on the rise in our culture for many years now. Anxiety has been defined as, “Fear of the unknown.” Many people find themselves afraid and uneasy, but they are not sure why. Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt has just published a groundbreaking book titled, The Anxious Generation where he shares his extensive research on what has happened to our young people since they have obtained access to smartphones and social media. Haidt calls this, “The great rewiring.” Parents need to pay attention to the data he is sharing. When it comes to anxiety, there is no simple cure. But recognizing how technology and social media are making this worse is a very important first step. In the book, Haidt makes four specific recommendations that parents need to consider:

1. No smartphones before high school - only basic phones with no internet capacity

2. No social media before 16 - let their brains develop first

3.  All schools from elementary to high school should be phone-free zones (put in locker)

4.  Bring back unsupervised play so that kids can develop social skills and become self-governing

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat and what you will drink or about your body what you will wear.” Paul says, “Do not worry about anything, but in everything with prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God. And the peace that passes all understanding will guard your heart and mind.” (Philippians 4)

We know these words but we have a very hard time following them. We can all name the many things that keep us fearful and anxious on a regular basis. So how can we live better? How can we pray more? How can we trust in God fully? How can we live our lives in the present, one day at a time? That is what we will explore in the coming weeks with this new series. We will be looking at both the words of Jesus and the words of Paul. In addition to The Anxious Generation, I am also recommending Max Lucado’s book Anxious for Nothing.

Make your pledge online!

Our 2024 stewardship campaign is wrapping up! Click the button below to make your pledge quickly and conveniently online so that we can plan for another amazing year of ministry together.

Welcome, new members!

 Jose & Jessica Amden, joined April 30

Linda Lamb, joined April 21

New to Nashville, Jeanne & Bob Partridge are the parents of Dr. Megan Stauffer and the grandparents of Montgomery, Clayton, & Wade Stauffer. The couple joined Woodmont on April 15.

Young Professionals Crawfish Boil next week

Our YP group is hosting their annual Shrimp & Crawfish Boil on Tuesday, May 14, from 6 PM to 8 PM Campbell West, the former parsonage house behind the church. The group will have lawn games, crawfish tables, drinks, and fellowship during one of the prettiest times of year! Contact moriah@woodmontcc.org to RSVP, ask questions, or request childcare by May 10.

Youth Sunday

May 5

We want to hear from you!

Our visioning team has been working hard to plan for the future growth of our church. Where do we want to be in three years? In five years? What challenges do we currently face? What is God calling us to do? 

If you haven't already, please take a few moments and fill out this brief congregational survey so we can gather additional input from the church family about Woodmont’s future. It is important to the visioning committee that we hear from as many members as possible.

With recent security upgrades in the wake of the Covenant tragedy, Woodmont has limited access through the Woodmont preschool space during normal pre-school hours, 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM. In order to move through these areas, you will now need an authorized code or key fob. 

For virtually all church meetings held at Woodmont during the week, normal fob access is sufficient for access if one enters through the "bridge entrance" in the east parking lot (facing Hillsboro Pike). This entrance grants access to all second-floor meeting spaces from the sanctuary to the chapel and ground-level meeting spaces from Room 105/gym/kitchen to Room 100. 

We appreciate greatly everyone's cooperation as we keep our children safe throughout the week!

-The Woodmont Christian Church Property Committee

New series this Sunday, May 12: "Anxious For Nothing!"

“The Anxious Family"

Clay Stauffer

 Matthew 6:25-34 & Ephesians 6:1-3

Jesus had a lot to say about fear and anxiety. One of the recurring messages throughout the Bible is “Be Not Afraid.” However, we live in a very anxious world. Technology and social media have made it even worse. 

Drawing from the words and teachings of Jesus, Paul, and a newly published book by Jonathan Haidt titled The Anxious Generation, this sermon series will focus on how we can strengthen our faith, overcome our fears, and find inner peace in a world of distractions and anxiety.

May 12 – Focusing on anxiety in the family and how parenting has changed

May 19 – Focusing on how to reign in anxiety that seems out of control; spiritual disciplines, prayer, scripture, and more.

Our schedule this Sunday is:

• 8:30 AM – Continental breakfast in the gym
• 9:30 AM – Traditional 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 with livestream

“The longer I live, the more deeply I learn that love — whether we call it friendship or family or romance — is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other’s light. Gentle work. Steadfast work. Life-saving work in those moments when life and shame and sorrow occlude our own light from our view, but there is still a clear-eyed loving person to beam it back. In our best moments, we are that person for another.”

— James Baldwin

As a mother of six, I have always been drawn to Mary, the heroic matriarch, exemplar of courage and giver of sacrificial love. I have made pilgrimages to sites where it is said she made appearances, even performed miracles as proclaimed in Lourdes, France. I have collected books, art, and statues of Mary. A small alabaster figurine from Notre Dame Cathedral fits perfectly in the palm of my hand. She lives on my desk beside my computer, a wreath of twelve stars on her head, the baby Jesus tucked in her right arm, with a knowing smile on her face. Another special “Mary” is a hand-painted sculpture by an artist in Birmingham. She wears a blue gown trimmed in gold and holds her own at the center of my family room. The artist gave this Mary a very solemn face of devotion.

But my favorite “Mary” is painted with her heart exposed outside of her chest (a poignant symbol of motherhood for me). It is called the "Immaculate Heart of Mary." A sword pierces through her heart representing her sorrows, and her head is crowned with a halo of roses, symbolizing her supreme joy and exalted role on earth and in heaven. Mary’s living, earthly heart was a true miracle. One that could hold at once so much love and joy, but also endure terrible fear and unimaginable suffering. Mary gave her whole heart to Jesus from birth to painful death so he could give his to all of us.

The Catholic Church holds Mary in the highest esteem, giving her many titles, "Mother of God," "Mother of the Church," and "Queen of Heaven." But I especially love the one from Revelation 12:1, “Woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet.” As the mother of Jesus, she felt an especially close proximity to God here on earth. She knew Jesus the longest and loved him with a mother’s love. Pope John Paul II wrote, “At the center of this mystery, in the midst of the wonderment of faith, stands Mary. As the loving mother of the redeemer, she was the first to experience it.”

What a daring, glorious, faithful, but heart-breaking life Mary, mother of Jesus, lived. It all began with a visit from God’s trusted winged messenger, the Angel Gabriel. He told Mary she had been chosen by God. A woman beautiful inside and out. God promised to be with her always. Did she know in that moment the amazing role she would play in God’s plan to save the world? Probably not but her willingness was paramount.

At the first cry in a sterile hospital or in the hay of a stable, a mother’s life becomes devoted wholly (in mind, body, and spirit) to her child. That pure and unselfish love from a caring mother is one of the great miracles on earth.

I like to think it was Mary who introduced Jesus to the sheer beauty and joys of being human on this planet. Her melodic voice would have been his first experience of music. She must have shown him the wonders of nature; pointing up to the stars, picking a perfect fig for him to eat, showing him his first rainbow after a storm. I can envision Jesus crawling under the family table laden with food and friends seated all around. Their chatter and laughter, the joy of community imprinted his heart. Did those happy family meals inspire Jesus to host that miraculous final meal?

To be this special mother of God on earth was a herculean feat. What lengths she would go, such sacrifices she would make, all the prayers she would pray for him. Her secret power? Love and trust. She would love from the very best of herself, even beyond herself, whatever the cost. And then she would trust God with the rest. What a beautiful model for how to live and love on this life journey.

It takes incredible courage to be a mother. Your life is no longer your own. Your heart expands in ways you could never have imagined. It is also tested beyond measure. When Mary delivered her Magnificat, that most beautiful declaration of her own faith, she had no idea what was ahead. The sleepless nights, desperate prayers, and what-if fears. How her heart (every mother’s heart) would be tested, filled, broken, and ultimately redeemed. But as Mary discovered, life finds its ultimate meaning when love is given wholly and sacrificially. Nothing else truly matters. By divine design, creation flourishes in the presence of love. And a mother’s love whether she is a humpback whale, bald eagle, sequoia tree, or mama of six like me is undeniable proof that God planned our planet to be a very tender, love-driven place.

The hardest part of being a mother is to see your beloved child suffer. Mary stood beneath the cross and watched her son take his last breath. I cannot imagine the pain. I think about the year sitting at the bedside of my own son Charlie receiving chemo for a life-threatening cancer. A church member who turned over every stone to see her son make it through the darkness of depression, determined that he would find his way back into the light. My friend Elisabeth has dedicated her life to making sure foster children experience the miracle of a mother’s love. In the middle of civil unrest in Haiti, my friend Karris has made it her life mission to mother hundreds of displaced and orphaned children.

Tender is how my own mom has carried my faith more times than I can count, fanned the flicker of hope within me when life circumstances did their best to snuff it out, and loved me through the dark until the joy returned. I am a person of hope in the world because of her love.

Love, pure and with no conditions, allows us to be more than we thought we could be, to be brave in this break-your-heart world, to get up when we get knocked down, and to hold on to hope in the worst circumstances. More importantly, it inspires us to be our own powerful force of love in the world. Mary did this for her special son. If I can do this, even imperfectly, for my own six children, my life will have mattered. A mother’s redemptive love mimics the way God embraces creation. Where there is that love, there is always hope.

In the end, it is the stamina of love, especially a mother’s, that is a true miracle. Hope came in the scene in Acts where all the disciples are gathered again in the Upper Room after Jesus’ death and resurrection to make big plans for the future. They would carry on what Jesus started. And there again was beloved Mary with them, clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet. Ready to love some more. She would carry on for him. A mother’s love never ceases.

Love and trust, Mary’s way, the only way.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Summer workshops at Woomdont's Center for Hope & Healing

Woodmont's Center for Hope & Healing will be offering several opportunities for lunchtime and half-day workshops at Campbell West, beginning in May and running through August. The workshops will include different areas for exploring and deepening your spiritual life, and will also offer opportunities for connecting with Woodmont members and the Nashville community-at-large.

Topics will include:

• Writing Your Faith Memoir

• Exploring Your Enneagram Type

• Healing Through Breathwork

• Understanding and Recognizing Trauma

• Learning to Lament

• Starting A Connection/Bible Study Group 

If there is a specific topic you would like to have added to this list, email the center's director, Vicki Askew, at vaskew@woodmontcc.org and we will do our best to find an expert in that field.

Stay tuned for more updates and dates for the workshops!

Memorial Day fundraiser

Woodmont’s grilling ministry is hosting its second annual Memorial Day fundraiser and offering pulled pork shoulder in 2 lb. bags for $20 each and racks of smoked ribs for $20 each. Pre-orders will be taken until Wednesday, May 22, until the group's limit is reached (50 bags of pulled pork, 30 racks of ribs) on a first-come, first-serve basis. Pickup is Friday, May 24, at Woodmont.

At pickup time, you can pay via cash or check made payable to Woodmont Christian Church with “Burnt Offerings” in the memo line. Payment can also be made on Realm by selecting "Miscellaneous Payment" in the memo line and typing "Burnt Offerings Fundraiser." To order, click the button below.

Proceeds from this event will go towards funding future mission and outreach projects. Questions? Contact wccburntofferings@gmail.com

Church calendar

Sunday, May 12

Mother's Day

8:30 AM Continental Breakfast, Drowota Hall

9:30 AM 21st Century Class, Boardroom

9:30 AM Disciples Class, Room 105

10:45 AM Pathways Class, Boardroom

10:45 AM Reflections Class, Room 200

10:45 AM Connection Class, Room 100

11:00 AM Points of View Class, Room 105

3:00 PM Pickleball, Drowota Hall

Monday, May 13

3:00 PM "Geezers," Boardroom

Tuesday, May 14

CWF Circle Meetings

10:30 AM Book Club, Room 100

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, May 15

6:00 AM Roy Stauffer’s Men’s Group, Room 105

7:00 AM Clay Stauffer’s Men’s Group, Boardroom

8:00 AM Men’s Bible Study, Room 105

6:00 PM DivorceCare, Bay Room

6:15 PM Disciples Women's Bible Study, Room 200

6:30 PM Choir Rehearsal, Sanctuary

Thursday, May 16

10:00 AM Sit & Stitch, Gathering 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, May 17

3:00 PM Pickleball, Drowota Hall

Saturday, May 18

10:00 AM Al-Anon, Drowota Hall