TENNESSEE CONFERENCE REVIEW APRIL 6, 2007
Stories You’ll Find in this Issue
1. Rev. John H. Collett, Jr. Appointed Nashville District Superintendent
2. The Lillian Story by Norris Allen – Three photographs dramatically show the impact of Volunteers in Mission
3. 61st Avenue United Methodist Church Gallery Show on April 14th demonstrates the photographic skills of children – kids turned loose with cameras create art pieces for gallery show
4. Channel Five News Broadcast Features Glendale United Methodist Church’s Prayer Shawl Ministry—other United Methodist Churches came to the rescue when Glendale’s supply of prayer shawls ran low.
5. Memorial Service for Dr. W.C. Link, former President of McKendreee Village
6. Tennessee United Methodist Association of Preschools Getting Underway!
7. Martin Methodist College Choir has life-changing experience in concert tour of Germany
8, Photo of the “Murfreesboro District Retired Ministers and Spouses” group
9. VBS Kids are “Truckin’ to End Hunger”, Order of St. Andrew offers resources for summer VBS units.
10. No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus, article by Lucy Neeley Adams. Lucy reflects on a hymn that has been especially meaningful in her life.
“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
(photo credit, Mt. Zion United Methodist Church presentation “Three Crosses.”)
1. Rev. John H. Collett, Jr. Appointed Nashville District Superintendent
2. The Lillian Story by Norris Allen – Three photographs dramatically show the impact of Volunteers in Mission
3. 61st Avenue United Methodist Church Gallery Show on April 14th demonstrates the photographic skills of children – kids turned loose with cameras create art pieces for gallery show
4. Channel Five News Broadcast Features Glendale United Methodist Church’s Prayer Shawl Ministry—other United Methodist Churches came to the rescue when Glendale’s supply of prayer shawls ran low.
5. Memorial Service for Dr. W.C. Link, former President of McKendreee Village
6. Tennessee United Methodist Association of Preschools Getting Underway!
7. Martin Methodist College Choir has life-changing experience in concert tour of Germany
8, Photo of the “Murfreesboro District Retired Ministers and Spouses” group
9. VBS Kids are “Truckin’ to End Hunger”, Order of St. Andrew offers resources for summer VBS units.
10. No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus, article by Lucy Neeley Adams. Lucy reflects on a hymn that has been especially meaningful in her life.
“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
(photo credit, Mt. Zion United Methodist Church presentation “Three Crosses.”)Rev. John H. Collett, Jr. Appointed Nashville District Superintendent
Bishop Richard J. Wills, Jr. has announced the appointment of the Rev. John H. Collett, Jr. to become the Superintendent of the Nashville District. He replaces Dr. Garry Speich who will be retiring at the 2007 Annual Conference.
In his 35-year ministerial career Collett has served in a variety of ministerial settings and the last 15 years at Belmont United Methodist Church, a large congregation in a Nashville neighborhood that has changed radically since the early 1960s. From upscale residential housing in the early 1900s to major decline, Belmont’s neighborhood has experienced resurgence in recent years, reflected in the church’s present growth and vigor. At Belmont Collett has taken part in making the congregation a church with major ties to all parts of the surrounding community including the two neighboring universities. The church’s motto became “The Church in the Village (Hillsboro Village) Serving God’s Global Village.” The congregation also partners with Edgehill United Methodist Church on many matters. Edgehill, a nearby church located close to one of Nashville’s Public Housing developments, has been active through the years in promoting neighborhood life and social justice.
The experience at Belmont has made Collett unusually aware of problems, challenges, and opportunities present in Metro Nashville. As Nashville District Superintendent Collett will relate to 58 congregations, 88 elders and deacons appointed to congregations, and more than 50 elders and deacons appointed to extension services. He will also relate to three Wesley Foundations, Community Care Fellowship, Bethlehem Center, Miriam’s Promise, and other boards and agencies within the Nashville District. “I am grateful to Bishop Wills,” says Collett, “for giving me this opportunity to serve the ministries of Jesus Christ with the pastors and congregations of the Nashville District and the work of the Tennessee Conference. I am deeply committed to supporting pastors and congregations in their mutual work of building up the body of Christ and reaching out to the world through the love of God.”
Collett received a B.A. degree from Carson-Newman College and his M.Div. degree from The Divinity School of Vanderbilt University. He was admitted to the Tennessee Conference as a deacon in 1972 and an elder in 1974. Besides Belmont, Collett has served Madison Street in Clarksville (1988-92), Donelson Heights (1983-88), West Nashville (1976-1983), Belmont Associate (1974-76) and the Bell Buckle Circuit (1972-1974).
Collett has provided a great deal of leadership on the Annual Conference level. He has been a member of the Tennessee Conference Episcopacy Committee 2000-2004 and has been Chairperson of that Committee from 2004 to the present. He has served two full terms of 8 years each on the Martin Methodist College Board of Trustees. In addition, he is presently Chairperson of the McKendree Village Foundation Board.
Since 1984 Collett has been elected delegate to each Jurisdictional Conference and is a member of the Southeastern Jurisdictional Council on Finance and Administration. He was also a delegate to the General Conference in 2004.
John is married to Rita Bennett Collett who is the Managing Editor of Upper Room Books. They have three children: Justin, Lauren, and Lisa.
Does VIM Make a Difference?
The Lillian Story
by Norris Allen
Over the many years that I have worked with our conference VIM teams, I have been asked many times if we really make a difference in the lives of the people with whom we serve and share our faith. My answer is always yes. I'll always remember when we were boarding the plane to Belize in 1981, Rev. Bob Spain, who at the time was District Superintendent and later became Bishop, challenged us to "make a difference".
We help build churches, schools, parsonages, Christian life centers, Sunday school rooms, and clinics. We have provided money to dig a well for water supply at a school, provided typewriters for typing classes, provided student and teacher desks two schools (a total of 650 students), provided religious materials for churches, conducted Bible schools, taught students how to sew, provided medical and dental services as well as many eye glasses. We have brought medical patients to Tennessee for heart, brain, clef pallet and eye surgeries. Medical teams including surgeons have provided untold numbers of services in the Caribbean Islands and Central America. We are providing monthly financial support for pastors, schools, conference office personnel. We sponsor promising students to secondary schools. We have put roofs on homes damaged by hurricanes and have provided food for the hungry.
I am proud of all our teams that have worked on these tasks; knowing full well that our purpose or mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
Meriem Swift, a VIM team member to Belize in 1981 writes: "Did this mission trip make a difference?" I agree with her when she says, "The tangible things we have already mentioned we can measure. The intangible, the effect we may have made on lives, is, at this time immeasurable. We may never know the good that was accomplished, nor is it necessary that we do. Fully believing that each of us is important to God, if we have stopped one heart from breaking, or eased one life the aching, or cooled one pain, then our efforts were not in vain."
Lillian in 2004, before surgery
Dr. Winfrey Clay “W.C.” Link
Hermitage, TN – McKendree Village held a Memorial Service for Rev. W.C. Link on Saturday, March 17, 2007 in the Willard Blue Chapel of the W.C. Link Building on the McKendree campus. The service was followed immediately by a reception. Family members received Dr. Link’s friends and colleagues at that time .
W.C. Link was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1927. He grew up in the Inglewood area of Nashville and was a member of Inglewood Methodist Church and graduated from Isaac Litton High School. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Emory and Henry College and his Bachelor of Divinity Degree from Vanderbilt Divinity School. He did additional graduate studies at the University of Alabama and the University of Tennessee.
Link was licensed to preach in the Tennessee Conference in 1947, ordained a Deacon in 1950 and received his Elder’s Orders in 1952. He served the following appointments in the United Methodist Church: 1948 Barren Plains Circuit; 1950 Thompson Station Circuit; 1952 St. John’s; 1955 Glendale; 1960 Winchester; 1963 Manchester; 1967 Director of the Four-Fold Challenge Campaign; 1968 President of McKendree Village; 1990 Retired.
He was appointed to the Presidential Commission on Obscenity and Pornography by President Lyndon Johnson. During his time as pastor of Glendale Methodist Church, one of his flock was Buford Ellington. When Mr. Ellington became Governor of Tennessee, he would often call W.C. to come over to the Governors mansion and pray with him over the issues of the day.
As President of McKendree Village, W.C. Link guided the institution through an amazing 22 years of growth and development. All the buildings that are now located on the McKendree campus were built during his tenure. The number of residents increased to the 650-700 person range to make it the largest private, non-profit retirement community in the State of Tennessee. During the years of uncertainty following the Pacific Homes case in California, W.C. led the McKendree Village in developing a Covenant Agreement with the Tennessee Conference and was one of the founders of the United Methodist Association of Health and Welfare Ministries. As a part of the UMA leadership he was a pioneer in the area of accreditation for retirement communities and helped write the stands for the EAGLE Accreditation, which also became the basis of the CCAC Accreditation. McKendree Village is one of only 7% of retirement communities in the country that are recognized for excellence through these accreditations. W.C. Link’s legacy of quality loving care for senior adults is continuing at McKendree Village and across the nation.
During the service David Link, on the right, spoke of his dad as a family man who bent his schedule to fit family requirements. David, heavily involved in athletics while he was in school, pointed out that no matter what sport he was playing, his dad showed up to show support, missing only one game in all the years he played. In one instance, W.C. was virtually the only person in the stands.
During the memorial service Dr. Mearle Griffith read a resolution in honor of W.C. Link from the UM Association of Health and Welfare Ministries that recently completed its 67th Annual Convention. The proclamation was presented to the family after Dr. Griffith finished sharing the Association’s appreciation for W.C. Link’s national leadership.
Bishop Robert Spain in his eulogy quoted the brief notation that Mel Blanc (1908-1989) requested for his tombstone. Blanc, the man “of 1000 voices” provided the cartoon voices of Yosemite Sam, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Daffy Duck, and Bugs Bunny, and his tombstone reads simply, “That’s all Folks.”
Spain pointed out that in Link’s case the notation “That’s all Folks” would not be true. “The legacy and importance of W.C’s lifes work outlived him . . . the ministry of W.C. Link has not ended—is not even close to ending. It outlived him, and will out live all of us here.”
Dr. Link died on January 12, 2007, in Florida where he and his wife Francis lived since his retirement from active ministry in the Tennessee United Methodist Conference. He served as President of McKendree Village from 1968 to 1990. He is survived by his wife Francis, sons David and Dan, and several grandchildren.
Many persons that lovingly greeted Francis Link after the service were former parishioners in congregations served by W.C. Link before he became president of McKendree Village.
Tennessee United Methodist Association of Preschools Getting Underway!
by Starr Strickland
Susan Groseclose welcomes directors of weekday children’s ministries to the Tennessee Conference Center
VBS Kids are “Truckin’ to End Hunger”
Mission project to feed the hungry adapts to any VBS theme and curriculum
Each year thousands of children attending Vacation Bible Schools (VBS) around the nation learn what Jesus meant when he said, “You give them something to eat.” Through Bible stories and activities found in the Society of St. Andrew's mission project package, the children learn that there are people who go hungry, even in their own town, and they are given the opportunity to actually help feed their hungry neighbors through donations of their nickels and dimes.
The Society of St. Andrew’s (Advance #801600) very popular, effective, and free annual VBS mission project package is now available. This year’s program, “Truckin’ to End Hunger,” is a fun way to involve VBS in feeding the hungry right here in America. “Truckin’ to End Hunger” is designed to supplement any VBS program and help students learn about hunger in America and how Jesus wants us to help. Student sheets, containing a short scripture story, facts about hunger and the Society of St. Andrew’s hunger-relief ministry, potato trivia, and a pencil activity, are included for each day.
The mission project title relates to the Society of St. Andrew’s (SoSA) national hunger-relief program, the Potato Project, which salvages potatoes that are perfectly good and nutritious, but can’t be sold because of market factors. The spuds are either too big, too small, or there are simply too many of them. Instead of letting them go to waste, SoSA ships these donated white and sweet potatoes in tractor-trailer loads to agencies feeding the hungry throughout the nation, and at a cost of just over five cents a pound! It’s a simple and effective way to obey Jesus’ commands to feed the hungry, while also being good stewards of our nation’s abundance.
Along with teaching children about hunger and helping those in need, the goal is for each VBS to raise enough through offerings for 1,000 pounds of potatoes that will end up on the plates of hungry people right here in America. At a nickel a pound, that’s a goal of $50.
Last year 175 churches used the Society of St. Andrew’s VBS program. The children attending VBS enthusiastically answered Jesus’ call to feed the hungry by donating $40,123 – enough to provide more than two million servings of food to hungry men, women and children! On average, each participating VBS raised four and half times the goal of $50.
“Truckin’ to End Hunger” is free and there is no obligation. Order a free sample kit today. Call Susan Allen at the Society of St. Andrew, 800-333-4597; email church@endhunger.org; fax your request to 434-299-5949; or order on line at www.endhunger.org/order_material.htm. Materials should arrive within two weeks of ordering.
More information about the Society of St. Andrew and its hunger relief ministry, including the Potato Project, Gleaning Network, Harvest of Hope, and Hunger Relief Advocate programs, is available at www.endhunger.org
No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus
by Lucy Neeley Adams*
It is simple to spell l-o-v-e, not always so simple to experience it. But just as a baby wrapped in the arms of a loving parent is fed even if he is not drinking milk, so God's love can flow through the loving arms of a mom or dad, and give that baby strength for a lifetime.
With each new stage of growth there is that same basic need for love that fills the heart and soul of every child. After talking with a judge of a family court, one statement in our discussion has stayed with me. He said, "Most of the children I try to help are those who see but do not say." There are many children who see much at home but have nowhere to discuss it. My friend Joe Ann knows it is true.
As I walked by her house one day, I saw her in the rocking chair on her front porch. "Hi, Joe Ann," I called, not wanting to disturb her beyond a simple greeting, but she invited me to visit with her. I sensed she wanted to say many things about her childhood. Memories overflowed as she clutched her baby book. "You see this blue baby book? My parents were surprised when I was a girl. I was to be their little boy, Joe. But in my baby book, it is written as Joe Ann. Only my name is here, and that is how I felt, like there was nothing else to say. And I never said very much."
Then with a stifled sob, she mumbled, "No one ever cared, no one ever cared." I patted her hand in understanding since I too had often felt that way. My older sister seemed to be the blessing to my parents and there were times when I felt like an appendage.
We talked at length about the failure of parents to nurture their children in a perfectly loving home. "Since none of us are perfect in our ability to express love, the children in our homes might suffer," I said. "We must teach them that God's love is the only sustaining and perfect love there is."
I then shared with her a scripture that blesses my heart each time I read it. "Warm me, your servant, with a smile; save me because you love me" (Psalm 31:16, The Message). We ended our visit with happiness because we had shared our pain. We rejoiced that we knew the love of God through our Savior, Jesus Christ, who always cares. His perfect love and caring never end.
Jesus is sufficient for our needs whatever age or stage we are in life. One of my favorite hymns of the Christian faith is "No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus." The composer, Charles Weigle, was born in 1871 in Lafayette, Indiana. As a young boy, he heard of God's love and asked Jesus to come into his heart. At the age of twelve he felt a definite call to preach. His life of ministry is descriptive of the scripture, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).
However, during Weigle's early years of ministry he experienced a heartbreaking moment that he describes this way: "A mantel of grief covered me, but God's grace sustained me."
These sentiments are echoed by many great composers. Their music gives us renewed hope and an assurance that if tragedy comes, disciples of Jesus Christ can overcome.
Weigle was an evangelist who spent much time away from home conducting preaching missions. One day he returned to find a note from his wife that she had left him and taken their small daughter.
Historian Kenneth W. Osbeck, author of the book Amazing Grace, writes more about Weigle: "He became so despondent during the next several years that there were even times when he contemplated suicide. There was the terrible despair that no one really cared for him anymore. Gradually his spiritual faith was restored and he once again became active in the Christian ministry. Soon he felt compelled to write a song that would be a summary of his past tragic experience."
The first verse begins: "I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus, since I found in Him a friend so strong and true."
In our lives there are times when we feel all alone, whether it's due to a broken marriage, the betrayal of a good friend, the death of a loved one, a lonely childhood, or just the everyday trials of relationships at the workplace. This loneliness is a sure sign of a need for deepening one's faith in Jesus, who said, "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you" (John 14:18).
The chorus following each of the three stanzas of this hymn makes one feel secure in the loving relationship with our living Lord:
Bishop Richard J. Wills, Jr. has announced the appointment of the Rev. John H. Collett, Jr. to become the Superintendent of the Nashville District. He replaces Dr. Garry Speich who will be retiring at the 2007 Annual Conference.In his 35-year ministerial career Collett has served in a variety of ministerial settings and the last 15 years at Belmont United Methodist Church, a large congregation in a Nashville neighborhood that has changed radically since the early 1960s. From upscale residential housing in the early 1900s to major decline, Belmont’s neighborhood has experienced resurgence in recent years, reflected in the church’s present growth and vigor. At Belmont Collett has taken part in making the congregation a church with major ties to all parts of the surrounding community including the two neighboring universities. The church’s motto became “The Church in the Village (Hillsboro Village) Serving God’s Global Village.” The congregation also partners with Edgehill United Methodist Church on many matters. Edgehill, a nearby church located close to one of Nashville’s Public Housing developments, has been active through the years in promoting neighborhood life and social justice.
The experience at Belmont has made Collett unusually aware of problems, challenges, and opportunities present in Metro Nashville. As Nashville District Superintendent Collett will relate to 58 congregations, 88 elders and deacons appointed to congregations, and more than 50 elders and deacons appointed to extension services. He will also relate to three Wesley Foundations, Community Care Fellowship, Bethlehem Center, Miriam’s Promise, and other boards and agencies within the Nashville District. “I am grateful to Bishop Wills,” says Collett, “for giving me this opportunity to serve the ministries of Jesus Christ with the pastors and congregations of the Nashville District and the work of the Tennessee Conference. I am deeply committed to supporting pastors and congregations in their mutual work of building up the body of Christ and reaching out to the world through the love of God.”
Collett received a B.A. degree from Carson-Newman College and his M.Div. degree from The Divinity School of Vanderbilt University. He was admitted to the Tennessee Conference as a deacon in 1972 and an elder in 1974. Besides Belmont, Collett has served Madison Street in Clarksville (1988-92), Donelson Heights (1983-88), West Nashville (1976-1983), Belmont Associate (1974-76) and the Bell Buckle Circuit (1972-1974).
Collett has provided a great deal of leadership on the Annual Conference level. He has been a member of the Tennessee Conference Episcopacy Committee 2000-2004 and has been Chairperson of that Committee from 2004 to the present. He has served two full terms of 8 years each on the Martin Methodist College Board of Trustees. In addition, he is presently Chairperson of the McKendree Village Foundation Board.
Since 1984 Collett has been elected delegate to each Jurisdictional Conference and is a member of the Southeastern Jurisdictional Council on Finance and Administration. He was also a delegate to the General Conference in 2004.
John is married to Rita Bennett Collett who is the Managing Editor of Upper Room Books. They have three children: Justin, Lauren, and Lisa.
Does VIM Make a Difference?
The Lillian Story
by Norris Allen
Over the many years that I have worked with our conference VIM teams, I have been asked many times if we really make a difference in the lives of the people with whom we serve and share our faith. My answer is always yes. I'll always remember when we were boarding the plane to Belize in 1981, Rev. Bob Spain, who at the time was District Superintendent and later became Bishop, challenged us to "make a difference".
We help build churches, schools, parsonages, Christian life centers, Sunday school rooms, and clinics. We have provided money to dig a well for water supply at a school, provided typewriters for typing classes, provided student and teacher desks two schools (a total of 650 students), provided religious materials for churches, conducted Bible schools, taught students how to sew, provided medical and dental services as well as many eye glasses. We have brought medical patients to Tennessee for heart, brain, clef pallet and eye surgeries. Medical teams including surgeons have provided untold numbers of services in the Caribbean Islands and Central America. We are providing monthly financial support for pastors, schools, conference office personnel. We sponsor promising students to secondary schools. We have put roofs on homes damaged by hurricanes and have provided food for the hungry.
I am proud of all our teams that have worked on these tasks; knowing full well that our purpose or mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
Meriem Swift, a VIM team member to Belize in 1981 writes: "Did this mission trip make a difference?" I agree with her when she says, "The tangible things we have already mentioned we can measure. The intangible, the effect we may have made on lives, is, at this time immeasurable. We may never know the good that was accomplished, nor is it necessary that we do. Fully believing that each of us is important to God, if we have stopped one heart from breaking, or eased one life the aching, or cooled one pain, then our efforts were not in vain."
Lillian in 2004, before surgery Little Lillian, an 8 year old child in Guatemala can testify that our efforts were not in vain. We met Lillian in 2004 while we were building the John Wesley School. She was born with a black birth mark that covered a large part of her face. A doctor described it as a black, hairy nevi with risk of becoming melanoma. Jim Sowell from Dickson First United Methodist Church became very interested in her and was able to arrange for Lillian to see a surgical team from California.
Lillian in 2006, after some surgery.
Lillian has undergone five surgical procedures of cutting away small sections in the middle of the nevi each time, until it had been removed. What a difference has been made in her life and what a joy for us to see her beauty and her smile. This is but one example of the many that could be cited where VIM has made a difference.
Lillian in 2007 following five surgical procedures.
61st Avenue United Methodist Church Gallery Show on April 14th demonstrates the photographic skills of children
61st Avenue United Methodist Church invites all persons interested in children and the arts to a special gallery showing of photographs made by children on Saturday, April 14, 2007, from 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Cory and Kristopher, a photograph taken by a girl in first grade.
61st Avenue United Methodist Church invites all persons interested in children and the arts to a special gallery showing of photographs made by children on Saturday, April 14, 2007, from 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Cory and Kristopher, a photograph taken by a girl in first grade.
Most churches in the Nashville District know 61st Avenue for the Last Minute Toy Store it has hosted for more than twelve years. This outreach ministry to the poor and working poor provides Christmas gifts for families not covered by other agencies, families that would have a bleak Christmas without the efforts of 61st Avenue UMC. Many area churches provide volunteer help during the time the Last Minute Toy Store is being set up, is in full operation, and being dismantled until the next year.
Sixth-First Avenue United Methodist Church is located in a changing neighborhood and is much more than a Christmas shopping center as it works throughout the year with neighborhood children in a special after-school ministry. Through that program, Children and Youth Director Nita Haywood points out, “we have been introducing the children to the arts for several years. We are thrilled with the results as the children are able to explore and visualize through the arts.”
Even Haywood was somewhat shocked with the results when the after school volunteers determined that they would attempt to let the children visualize their world through photography. “In our photography initiative,” Haywood says, “each child was given a digital camera and encouraged to capture the world around them. Discovery through the images they captured was magical as they found beauty all around.”
“One seven-year-old boy found a calming presence and exhibited a gentle smile when he held the camera for the first time. His angry face softened and his demeanor changed when he was allowed to express himself through his camera, and his pictures are simply amazing. We encourage everyone to attend this special event as the children of 61st Avenue UMC let their ‘light shine’ in photographs made with love.”
Jackie Shields, who has volunteered with the after school program for eleven years, is equally as enthusiastic about the gallery showing of the children’s photographs. “We have been blessed to have two artists provide onsite teaching as well as guidance in this venture and they have surely been placed in our path by God. One, Nancy, is from St. Louis, and is returning to Nashville for the gallery showing. Suellen Parker from Georgia is providing 54 gallery prints, done professionally, and we’ll mat them here in Nashville. We are showing the prints to other agencies that could have local art showings—the Frist, the library, the school the kids attend. We are not
limiting our vision at all—whatever confirms these children, gives them a sense of value and shows God’s love for them is what we want. Their photos are wonderful.”
61st Avenue United Methodist Church is located at 6018 New York Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37209. The phone number there is 615-292-7184.
The photographers to be featured in an April 14th gallery show.
Sixth-First Avenue United Methodist Church is located in a changing neighborhood and is much more than a Christmas shopping center as it works throughout the year with neighborhood children in a special after-school ministry. Through that program, Children and Youth Director Nita Haywood points out, “we have been introducing the children to the arts for several years. We are thrilled with the results as the children are able to explore and visualize through the arts.”
Even Haywood was somewhat shocked with the results when the after school volunteers determined that they would attempt to let the children visualize their world through photography. “In our photography initiative,” Haywood says, “each child was given a digital camera and encouraged to capture the world around them. Discovery through the images they captured was magical as they found beauty all around.”
“One seven-year-old boy found a calming presence and exhibited a gentle smile when he held the camera for the first time. His angry face softened and his demeanor changed when he was allowed to express himself through his camera, and his pictures are simply amazing. We encourage everyone to attend this special event as the children of 61st Avenue UMC let their ‘light shine’ in photographs made with love.”
Jackie Shields, who has volunteered with the after school program for eleven years, is equally as enthusiastic about the gallery showing of the children’s photographs. “We have been blessed to have two artists provide onsite teaching as well as guidance in this venture and they have surely been placed in our path by God. One, Nancy, is from St. Louis, and is returning to Nashville for the gallery showing. Suellen Parker from Georgia is providing 54 gallery prints, done professionally, and we’ll mat them here in Nashville. We are showing the prints to other agencies that could have local art showings—the Frist, the library, the school the kids attend. We are not
limiting our vision at all—whatever confirms these children, gives them a sense of value and shows God’s love for them is what we want. Their photos are wonderful.”61st Avenue United Methodist Church is located at 6018 New York Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37209. The phone number there is 615-292-7184.
The photographers to be featured in an April 14th gallery show.
Channel Five News Broadcast Features Glendale United Methodist Church’s Prayer Shawl Ministry
Late in February Channel Five news presented a dramatic story about a group of women at Glendale United Methodist Church. Channel Five Reporter Barry Simmons began the story with these words, “A group of women in Nashville has found a unique way to comfort the suffering. It’s good old-fashioned prayer, with a twist. When the women at Glendale United Methodist offer to cover you in prayer, they mean this quite literally.”
Simmons went on to describe the work of the Glendale knitters as they knit and pray over shawls that are presented to the sick and hospitalized, individuals who are about to undergo surgery--in short, any individual, who needs to feel strong love and support during a time of crisis. After interviews with persons in the knitting group Channel Five accompanied one of the knitters, Carolyn Nash, as she delivered a shawl she had knitted to a woman who was about to have surgery to remove a kidney. Nash delivered both a shawl and words of comfort to the 84-year-old who was worried about the surgery. Channel Five also interviewed the person who initiated the idea of a prayer shawl group at Glendale Church, the Rev. Sandra Griggs.
Since the Channel Five broadcast Griggs shared the story of Glendale’s Shawl Ministry birth--a story of God using a most personal and painful loss to birth something new. After the suicide death of Sandra’s 24 year old son Lee, Reverend Lisa Gwock (Belmont UMC) knitted a prayer shawl for Sandra’s birthday gift last April. Lisa took the shawl to a gathering of the United Methodist Student Association from Vanderbilt Divinity School where the shawl was blessed by Professor Doug Meeks and his students. This shawl and the accompanying prayers continue to support Sandra in her grief work. She described her initial experience of receiving the shawl in the Channel Five story: “For me, whenever I was feeling really grief sick and stuck, I would just go grab it, put it around me, and just think of all the people who have supported me in this loss.”
Griggs brought the shawl to church as a joy and challenged some of the knitters in her congregation to start a prayer shawl ministry. Glendale member and busy Vanderbilt Graduate Nursing Student, Lindsey Hill, took the challenge, researched knitting ministries, talked with other knitters, and the ministry began in earnest about a year ago. In the local congregation it has created a deeper sense of community and love--an important small group ministry gathering knitters from various churches as they prepare to welcome new knitters to the fellowship. Some Sundays there are rows of prayer shawls on the altar waiting to be blessed and given as expressions of God and human love.
The small cluster of women shown at work on the news story had no idea what would happen after the story broadcast late one Wednesday night. Immediately, the church phone began to ring and the voice mail box was full--persons throughout the viewing area thought of loved ones who were sick and would benefit from prayer and the gift of a prayer shawl. The Glendale knitters had no stockpile to turn to when the requests came so quickly. Reporter Barry Simmons failed to tell them he was putting their church phone number at the end of the story with an invitation to call if you had someone in need.
Days after the story ran Glendale had received requests for over 50 shawls. A quick plea on the conference list-serve made everyone aware of the importance of a connectional church. Sister churches with prayer shawl ministries heard about the situation and shawls began to arrive. Glendale has received shawls from West End, Blakemore, Crievewood, Franklin First, Columbia First, Hillcrest, and Brentwood United Methodist Churches--even a Methodist Church in Iowa sent 10 shawls allowing Glendale to send out over 70 shawls with requests still coming in. A true multiplication miracle!
In a recent sermon Griggs spoke to the heart of the prayer shawl ministry:
“I’ve realized it’s not just about sending out shawls. It’s about connecting people, wrapping one another in God’s love. We’ve received calls from churches wanting help in starting their own shawl ministries, we’ve had neighbors who would like to knit with us, we’ve been given the opportunity to pray with folks on the phone for loved ones--this is a connecting ministry, it is greater that the sum of it’s parts. That’s the way things are in the Kingdom of God. It started here when someone wrapped me in love as I grieved for love lost. It continues because things are not what they seem. God knows the bigger picture. It continues because the right people come together at the right time for God’s purposes.”
“This is much bigger than knitting for those we know . . . we are knitting for those that God knows. We are part of a bigger picture . . . we are an important part of a bigger picture—we are connected with Abram, we trust where we cannot see. We will never know where these shawls will go or how they will touch lives, grow other ministries, turn people’s eyes and hearts toward God, or lead us in being open to other ministry possibilities.”
Memorial Service for Dr. W.C. Link, former President of McKendreee Village
Late in February Channel Five news presented a dramatic story about a group of women at Glendale United Methodist Church. Channel Five Reporter Barry Simmons began the story with these words, “A group of women in Nashville has found a unique way to comfort the suffering. It’s good old-fashioned prayer, with a twist. When the women at Glendale United Methodist offer to cover you in prayer, they mean this quite literally.”
Simmons went on to describe the work of the Glendale knitters as they knit and pray over shawls that are presented to the sick and hospitalized, individuals who are about to undergo surgery--in short, any individual, who needs to feel strong love and support during a time of crisis. After interviews with persons in the knitting group Channel Five accompanied one of the knitters, Carolyn Nash, as she delivered a shawl she had knitted to a woman who was about to have surgery to remove a kidney. Nash delivered both a shawl and words of comfort to the 84-year-old who was worried about the surgery. Channel Five also interviewed the person who initiated the idea of a prayer shawl group at Glendale Church, the Rev. Sandra Griggs.
Since the Channel Five broadcast Griggs shared the story of Glendale’s Shawl Ministry birth--a story of God using a most personal and painful loss to birth something new. After the suicide death of Sandra’s 24 year old son Lee, Reverend Lisa Gwock (Belmont UMC) knitted a prayer shawl for Sandra’s birthday gift last April. Lisa took the shawl to a gathering of the United Methodist Student Association from Vanderbilt Divinity School where the shawl was blessed by Professor Doug Meeks and his students. This shawl and the accompanying prayers continue to support Sandra in her grief work. She described her initial experience of receiving the shawl in the Channel Five story: “For me, whenever I was feeling really grief sick and stuck, I would just go grab it, put it around me, and just think of all the people who have supported me in this loss.”
Griggs brought the shawl to church as a joy and challenged some of the knitters in her congregation to start a prayer shawl ministry. Glendale member and busy Vanderbilt Graduate Nursing Student, Lindsey Hill, took the challenge, researched knitting ministries, talked with other knitters, and the ministry began in earnest about a year ago. In the local congregation it has created a deeper sense of community and love--an important small group ministry gathering knitters from various churches as they prepare to welcome new knitters to the fellowship. Some Sundays there are rows of prayer shawls on the altar waiting to be blessed and given as expressions of God and human love.
The small cluster of women shown at work on the news story had no idea what would happen after the story broadcast late one Wednesday night. Immediately, the church phone began to ring and the voice mail box was full--persons throughout the viewing area thought of loved ones who were sick and would benefit from prayer and the gift of a prayer shawl. The Glendale knitters had no stockpile to turn to when the requests came so quickly. Reporter Barry Simmons failed to tell them he was putting their church phone number at the end of the story with an invitation to call if you had someone in need.
Days after the story ran Glendale had received requests for over 50 shawls. A quick plea on the conference list-serve made everyone aware of the importance of a connectional church. Sister churches with prayer shawl ministries heard about the situation and shawls began to arrive. Glendale has received shawls from West End, Blakemore, Crievewood, Franklin First, Columbia First, Hillcrest, and Brentwood United Methodist Churches--even a Methodist Church in Iowa sent 10 shawls allowing Glendale to send out over 70 shawls with requests still coming in. A true multiplication miracle!
In a recent sermon Griggs spoke to the heart of the prayer shawl ministry:
“I’ve realized it’s not just about sending out shawls. It’s about connecting people, wrapping one another in God’s love. We’ve received calls from churches wanting help in starting their own shawl ministries, we’ve had neighbors who would like to knit with us, we’ve been given the opportunity to pray with folks on the phone for loved ones--this is a connecting ministry, it is greater that the sum of it’s parts. That’s the way things are in the Kingdom of God. It started here when someone wrapped me in love as I grieved for love lost. It continues because things are not what they seem. God knows the bigger picture. It continues because the right people come together at the right time for God’s purposes.”
“This is much bigger than knitting for those we know . . . we are knitting for those that God knows. We are part of a bigger picture . . . we are an important part of a bigger picture—we are connected with Abram, we trust where we cannot see. We will never know where these shawls will go or how they will touch lives, grow other ministries, turn people’s eyes and hearts toward God, or lead us in being open to other ministry possibilities.”
Memorial Service for Dr. W.C. Link, former President of McKendreee Village
Dr. Winfrey Clay “W.C.” LinkHermitage, TN – McKendree Village held a Memorial Service for Rev. W.C. Link on Saturday, March 17, 2007 in the Willard Blue Chapel of the W.C. Link Building on the McKendree campus. The service was followed immediately by a reception. Family members received Dr. Link’s friends and colleagues at that time .
W.C. Link was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1927. He grew up in the Inglewood area of Nashville and was a member of Inglewood Methodist Church and graduated from Isaac Litton High School. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Emory and Henry College and his Bachelor of Divinity Degree from Vanderbilt Divinity School. He did additional graduate studies at the University of Alabama and the University of Tennessee.
Link was licensed to preach in the Tennessee Conference in 1947, ordained a Deacon in 1950 and received his Elder’s Orders in 1952. He served the following appointments in the United Methodist Church: 1948 Barren Plains Circuit; 1950 Thompson Station Circuit; 1952 St. John’s; 1955 Glendale; 1960 Winchester; 1963 Manchester; 1967 Director of the Four-Fold Challenge Campaign; 1968 President of McKendree Village; 1990 Retired.
He was appointed to the Presidential Commission on Obscenity and Pornography by President Lyndon Johnson. During his time as pastor of Glendale Methodist Church, one of his flock was Buford Ellington. When Mr. Ellington became Governor of Tennessee, he would often call W.C. to come over to the Governors mansion and pray with him over the issues of the day.
As President of McKendree Village, W.C. Link guided the institution through an amazing 22 years of growth and development. All the buildings that are now located on the McKendree campus were built during his tenure. The number of residents increased to the 650-700 person range to make it the largest private, non-profit retirement community in the State of Tennessee. During the years of uncertainty following the Pacific Homes case in California, W.C. led the McKendree Village in developing a Covenant Agreement with the Tennessee Conference and was one of the founders of the United Methodist Association of Health and Welfare Ministries. As a part of the UMA leadership he was a pioneer in the area of accreditation for retirement communities and helped write the stands for the EAGLE Accreditation, which also became the basis of the CCAC Accreditation. McKendree Village is one of only 7% of retirement communities in the country that are recognized for excellence through these accreditations. W.C. Link’s legacy of quality loving care for senior adults is continuing at McKendree Village and across the nation.
During the service David Link, on the right, spoke of his dad as a family man who bent his schedule to fit family requirements. David, heavily involved in athletics while he was in school, pointed out that no matter what sport he was playing, his dad showed up to show support, missing only one game in all the years he played. In one instance, W.C. was virtually the only person in the stands.
During the memorial service Dr. Mearle Griffith read a resolution in honor of W.C. Link from the UM Association of Health and Welfare Ministries that recently completed its 67th Annual Convention. The proclamation was presented to the family after Dr. Griffith finished sharing the Association’s appreciation for W.C. Link’s national leadership.
Bishop Robert Spain in his eulogy quoted the brief notation that Mel Blanc (1908-1989) requested for his tombstone. Blanc, the man “of 1000 voices” provided the cartoon voices of Yosemite Sam, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Daffy Duck, and Bugs Bunny, and his tombstone reads simply, “That’s all Folks.”
Spain pointed out that in Link’s case the notation “That’s all Folks” would not be true. “The legacy and importance of W.C’s lifes work outlived him . . . the ministry of W.C. Link has not ended—is not even close to ending. It outlived him, and will out live all of us here.”
Dr. Link died on January 12, 2007, in Florida where he and his wife Francis lived since his retirement from active ministry in the Tennessee United Methodist Conference. He served as President of McKendree Village from 1968 to 1990. He is survived by his wife Francis, sons David and Dan, and several grandchildren.Many persons that lovingly greeted Francis Link after the service were former parishioners in congregations served by W.C. Link before he became president of McKendree Village.
Tennessee United Methodist Association of Preschools Getting Underway!
by Starr Strickland
Susan Groseclose welcomes directors of weekday children’s ministries to the Tennessee Conference CenterThe organizational committee for the Tennessee United Methodist Association of Preschools (UMAP) hosted a lunch on Monday, February 5, for directors of weekday children’s ministries in all United Methodist churches within the TN Conference. Twenty-six people attended, coming from Clarksville, Dickson, the Franklin area, the Hendersonville area, LaVergne, Murfreesboro, the Nashville area, Nolensville, Pulaski, and one from Memphis.
The purpose of this gathering was to provide an opportunity for directors of United Methodist weekday children’s ministries to network and become acquainted with TN-UMAP and what it has to offer them, their staffs, and the churches they represent.
The purpose of this gathering was to provide an opportunity for directors of United Methodist weekday children’s ministries to network and become acquainted with TN-UMAP and what it has to offer them, their staffs, and the churches they represent.
Networking was important at the UMAP meeting.
UMAP is an organization of Christian early childhood professionals that encourages, supports, and seeks to enable the increase of quality care and Christian education in United Methodist early childhood program ministries. TN-UMAP plans to offer training events and spiritual retreats for weekday ministry directors and staff, to foster covenant relationships between churches and their early childhood program ministries, to maintain cooperative relations among other educational institutions and state agencies, and to advocate for legislation that protects children and develops high standards for quality childcare programs. The overall policy and direction of TN-UMAP is the responsibility of the Board of Directors who will be elected at the association’s annual meetings. 
A nutritious and tasty salad bar kicked off the important meeting.
As of March 8, 2007, TN-UMAP had a total of twenty-five members --- seven individual and eighteen organizational (school) members. An official kick-off celebration will be held 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, April 24, at the Tennessee United Methodist Conference Center, 304 South Perimeter Park in Nashville. For further information please contact Susan Groseclose at (615) 329-1177, 800-403-5795, or sgroseclose@tnumc.org
Martin Methodist College Choir has life-changing experience
Students perform six concerts during 10-day spring break tour through Germany
PULASKI, Tenn. – For the concert-goers who were in the audience for each of the performances, the experience was uplifting, but for the performers themselves – the Martin Methodist College Concert Choir members who toured Germany for 10 days during their recent spring break – it was life-changing.
“Everybody should travel out of the country,” said Melissa Stewart, a junior from Hendersonville, Tenn., and a member of First United Methodist Church of Hendersonville. “When you dive right into another culture, you get the ultimate educational experience. It’s truly life-changing, because you literally change lives – you eat different food, you say different things, you meet different people. I was there only 10 days, but I could have been there for 10 months and still not learned everything about their culture.”
Pictured is Scott Solomon, a senior from Goodlettsville and a member of Connell Memorial UMC, and Velvet Waits, a junior from Pleasantville, Tenn., enjoying some of the centuries-old architecture in Wurzburg, Germany.
The 50-member choir performed six times during its four-city tour. It marked the second time in four years that Martin Methodist College’s choir has traveled abroad during spring break; in 2004, the students sang at locations throughout England.
“It was a very successful and educational tour of four major cities of Germany,” said Dr. Albert Hughes, professor of music and director of choral programs at Martin Methodist. “We spent two days in Frankfurt am Main, two days in Wurzburg, two days in Nuremburg, and two days in Berlin. We also made day trips to neighboring towns and historic sites. It was truly a trip that none of us will ever forget.”
The choir sang at Methodist churches and other venues in each city, with much of the coordination done between Dr. Roger Ireson, a member of the college faculty who served as General Secretary of the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Higher Education and Ministry for 13 years, and Dr. Heinrich Meinhardt, senior pastor of the United Methodist Church Lindenkirche Berlin-Wittenau and the founding pastor of the Oranienburg Mission. Meinhardt received an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Martin Methodist College in the fall of 2003.
One of the most memorable visits, in fact, occurred at the Oranienburg Mission, established by Meinhardt in an impoverished section of the city of Oranienburg. The students were so inspired by the story of this church – which holds its services in a large, portable storage container – that they donated to the mission all the “love offering” funds received from the six performances.
“It’s an area with a 30-plus percent unemployment rate,” said Annie McClanahan, a senior who first suggested the donation, “and this mission is bringing Christianity to people who, in some cases, have never heard the Gospel. Dr. Meinhardt told us about one experience where he was reading the Christmas story, and one little boy didn’t know what Bethlehem was and had never heard of Jesus. I just thought it would be neat to support what is happening there.”
The cultural element was a significant part of this trip as well. Along with the centuries-old cathedrals in which they performed, the students visited such historic sites as the stadium in Nuremburg where Hitler began his rise to power in the 1930s and the church in Wittenberg where Martin Luther nailed his famous “Ninety-Five Theses” to the church door on Oct. 31, 1517.
Stewart and other students also took a train excursion to Dachau, site of one of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps of World War II.
“For the first time in my life,” she said, “I was able to visualize 600,000 (the number of Jews reportedly put to death at that particular location) by seeing the buildings and touching the bunks. I had never been able to actually visualize a real number like that until going there. Germans are so sensitive to that history; I’ve never seen that kind of pain about a culture’s history.”
Matthew Johnson, a sophomore from Clarksville, Tenn., and a member of Olivet United Methodist Church in Pulaski, was so moved by what he saw on the trip that he plans to return to Germany, perhaps for a summer-long cultural immersion experience before his senior year.
“I’m very much into architecture, and I thought the grandeur of the cathedrals was just breathtaking,” he said. “Being outside of the American culture was refreshing. Germany is so rich in cultural diversity; everything has a history, a story behind it, and they take great pride in that.”
Murfreesboro District Retired Ministers and Spouses
by Lynda Phillips
The Retired Ministers and Spouses of the Murfreesboro District is a very active group. They meet once a month in different locales throughout the District. Recently, they met at Christ United Methodist Church in McMinnville for a delightful luncheon. Those attending were:
(Front row: left to right) Starr McVey, Wayne and Janet Simmons, Charlotte and Billy Ray Panter, Bobbie Spencer, Valera Jones, Lynda Phillips.
(2nd row: left to right) Eunice Norris, Bettie Spiva, Boofie Newman, Lou DeRamus, Faye Layne, Anna Johnson, George Jones, Gene Cunningham.
(3rd row: left to right) Ed Spiva, Shelby Newman, Tom DeRamus, Maurice Moore, Larry Layne, Louis Johnson, J.D. Spencer, Bob Case.
Regular members who were unable to attend are: Bill and Rosemary Starnes, Elmo Birkhead, Nancy Moore, Luke and Ann Dunn, Melvin and Dot Collins, Lewis and Betty England, Mitchell Sawyer, J.C. and Robbie Stewart, L.C. and Ann Troutt, Nicky Medley and Leon Norris.
Martin Methodist College Choir has life-changing experience
Students perform six concerts during 10-day spring break tour through Germany
PULASKI, Tenn. – For the concert-goers who were in the audience for each of the performances, the experience was uplifting, but for the performers themselves – the Martin Methodist College Concert Choir members who toured Germany for 10 days during their recent spring break – it was life-changing.
“Everybody should travel out of the country,” said Melissa Stewart, a junior from Hendersonville, Tenn., and a member of First United Methodist Church of Hendersonville. “When you dive right into another culture, you get the ultimate educational experience. It’s truly life-changing, because you literally change lives – you eat different food, you say different things, you meet different people. I was there only 10 days, but I could have been there for 10 months and still not learned everything about their culture.”
Pictured is Scott Solomon, a senior from Goodlettsville and a member of Connell Memorial UMC, and Velvet Waits, a junior from Pleasantville, Tenn., enjoying some of the centuries-old architecture in Wurzburg, Germany.
The 50-member choir performed six times during its four-city tour. It marked the second time in four years that Martin Methodist College’s choir has traveled abroad during spring break; in 2004, the students sang at locations throughout England.
“It was a very successful and educational tour of four major cities of Germany,” said Dr. Albert Hughes, professor of music and director of choral programs at Martin Methodist. “We spent two days in Frankfurt am Main, two days in Wurzburg, two days in Nuremburg, and two days in Berlin. We also made day trips to neighboring towns and historic sites. It was truly a trip that none of us will ever forget.”
The choir sang at Methodist churches and other venues in each city, with much of the coordination done between Dr. Roger Ireson, a member of the college faculty who served as General Secretary of the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Higher Education and Ministry for 13 years, and Dr. Heinrich Meinhardt, senior pastor of the United Methodist Church Lindenkirche Berlin-Wittenau and the founding pastor of the Oranienburg Mission. Meinhardt received an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Martin Methodist College in the fall of 2003.
One of the most memorable visits, in fact, occurred at the Oranienburg Mission, established by Meinhardt in an impoverished section of the city of Oranienburg. The students were so inspired by the story of this church – which holds its services in a large, portable storage container – that they donated to the mission all the “love offering” funds received from the six performances.
“It’s an area with a 30-plus percent unemployment rate,” said Annie McClanahan, a senior who first suggested the donation, “and this mission is bringing Christianity to people who, in some cases, have never heard the Gospel. Dr. Meinhardt told us about one experience where he was reading the Christmas story, and one little boy didn’t know what Bethlehem was and had never heard of Jesus. I just thought it would be neat to support what is happening there.”
The cultural element was a significant part of this trip as well. Along with the centuries-old cathedrals in which they performed, the students visited such historic sites as the stadium in Nuremburg where Hitler began his rise to power in the 1930s and the church in Wittenberg where Martin Luther nailed his famous “Ninety-Five Theses” to the church door on Oct. 31, 1517.
Stewart and other students also took a train excursion to Dachau, site of one of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps of World War II.
“For the first time in my life,” she said, “I was able to visualize 600,000 (the number of Jews reportedly put to death at that particular location) by seeing the buildings and touching the bunks. I had never been able to actually visualize a real number like that until going there. Germans are so sensitive to that history; I’ve never seen that kind of pain about a culture’s history.”
Matthew Johnson, a sophomore from Clarksville, Tenn., and a member of Olivet United Methodist Church in Pulaski, was so moved by what he saw on the trip that he plans to return to Germany, perhaps for a summer-long cultural immersion experience before his senior year.
“I’m very much into architecture, and I thought the grandeur of the cathedrals was just breathtaking,” he said. “Being outside of the American culture was refreshing. Germany is so rich in cultural diversity; everything has a history, a story behind it, and they take great pride in that.”
Murfreesboro District Retired Ministers and Spouses
by Lynda Phillips
The Retired Ministers and Spouses of the Murfreesboro District is a very active group. They meet once a month in different locales throughout the District. Recently, they met at Christ United Methodist Church in McMinnville for a delightful luncheon. Those attending were:(Front row: left to right) Starr McVey, Wayne and Janet Simmons, Charlotte and Billy Ray Panter, Bobbie Spencer, Valera Jones, Lynda Phillips.
(2nd row: left to right) Eunice Norris, Bettie Spiva, Boofie Newman, Lou DeRamus, Faye Layne, Anna Johnson, George Jones, Gene Cunningham.
(3rd row: left to right) Ed Spiva, Shelby Newman, Tom DeRamus, Maurice Moore, Larry Layne, Louis Johnson, J.D. Spencer, Bob Case.
Regular members who were unable to attend are: Bill and Rosemary Starnes, Elmo Birkhead, Nancy Moore, Luke and Ann Dunn, Melvin and Dot Collins, Lewis and Betty England, Mitchell Sawyer, J.C. and Robbie Stewart, L.C. and Ann Troutt, Nicky Medley and Leon Norris.
VBS Kids are “Truckin’ to End Hunger”
Mission project to feed the hungry adapts to any VBS theme and curriculum
Each year thousands of children attending Vacation Bible Schools (VBS) around the nation learn what Jesus meant when he said, “You give them something to eat.” Through Bible stories and activities found in the Society of St. Andrew's mission project package, the children learn that there are people who go hungry, even in their own town, and they are given the opportunity to actually help feed their hungry neighbors through donations of their nickels and dimes.
The Society of St. Andrew’s (Advance #801600) very popular, effective, and free annual VBS mission project package is now available. This year’s program, “Truckin’ to End Hunger,” is a fun way to involve VBS in feeding the hungry right here in America. “Truckin’ to End Hunger” is designed to supplement any VBS program and help students learn about hunger in America and how Jesus wants us to help. Student sheets, containing a short scripture story, facts about hunger and the Society of St. Andrew’s hunger-relief ministry, potato trivia, and a pencil activity, are included for each day.
The mission project title relates to the Society of St. Andrew’s (SoSA) national hunger-relief program, the Potato Project, which salvages potatoes that are perfectly good and nutritious, but can’t be sold because of market factors. The spuds are either too big, too small, or there are simply too many of them. Instead of letting them go to waste, SoSA ships these donated white and sweet potatoes in tractor-trailer loads to agencies feeding the hungry throughout the nation, and at a cost of just over five cents a pound! It’s a simple and effective way to obey Jesus’ commands to feed the hungry, while also being good stewards of our nation’s abundance.
Along with teaching children about hunger and helping those in need, the goal is for each VBS to raise enough through offerings for 1,000 pounds of potatoes that will end up on the plates of hungry people right here in America. At a nickel a pound, that’s a goal of $50.
Last year 175 churches used the Society of St. Andrew’s VBS program. The children attending VBS enthusiastically answered Jesus’ call to feed the hungry by donating $40,123 – enough to provide more than two million servings of food to hungry men, women and children! On average, each participating VBS raised four and half times the goal of $50.
“Truckin’ to End Hunger” is free and there is no obligation. Order a free sample kit today. Call Susan Allen at the Society of St. Andrew, 800-333-4597; email church@endhunger.org; fax your request to 434-299-5949; or order on line at www.endhunger.org/order_material.htm. Materials should arrive within two weeks of ordering.
More information about the Society of St. Andrew and its hunger relief ministry, including the Potato Project, Gleaning Network, Harvest of Hope, and Hunger Relief Advocate programs, is available at www.endhunger.org
No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus
by Lucy Neeley Adams*
It is simple to spell l-o-v-e, not always so simple to experience it. But just as a baby wrapped in the arms of a loving parent is fed even if he is not drinking milk, so God's love can flow through the loving arms of a mom or dad, and give that baby strength for a lifetime.
With each new stage of growth there is that same basic need for love that fills the heart and soul of every child. After talking with a judge of a family court, one statement in our discussion has stayed with me. He said, "Most of the children I try to help are those who see but do not say." There are many children who see much at home but have nowhere to discuss it. My friend Joe Ann knows it is true.
As I walked by her house one day, I saw her in the rocking chair on her front porch. "Hi, Joe Ann," I called, not wanting to disturb her beyond a simple greeting, but she invited me to visit with her. I sensed she wanted to say many things about her childhood. Memories overflowed as she clutched her baby book. "You see this blue baby book? My parents were surprised when I was a girl. I was to be their little boy, Joe. But in my baby book, it is written as Joe Ann. Only my name is here, and that is how I felt, like there was nothing else to say. And I never said very much."
Then with a stifled sob, she mumbled, "No one ever cared, no one ever cared." I patted her hand in understanding since I too had often felt that way. My older sister seemed to be the blessing to my parents and there were times when I felt like an appendage.
We talked at length about the failure of parents to nurture their children in a perfectly loving home. "Since none of us are perfect in our ability to express love, the children in our homes might suffer," I said. "We must teach them that God's love is the only sustaining and perfect love there is."
I then shared with her a scripture that blesses my heart each time I read it. "Warm me, your servant, with a smile; save me because you love me" (Psalm 31:16, The Message). We ended our visit with happiness because we had shared our pain. We rejoiced that we knew the love of God through our Savior, Jesus Christ, who always cares. His perfect love and caring never end.
Jesus is sufficient for our needs whatever age or stage we are in life. One of my favorite hymns of the Christian faith is "No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus." The composer, Charles Weigle, was born in 1871 in Lafayette, Indiana. As a young boy, he heard of God's love and asked Jesus to come into his heart. At the age of twelve he felt a definite call to preach. His life of ministry is descriptive of the scripture, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).
However, during Weigle's early years of ministry he experienced a heartbreaking moment that he describes this way: "A mantel of grief covered me, but God's grace sustained me."
These sentiments are echoed by many great composers. Their music gives us renewed hope and an assurance that if tragedy comes, disciples of Jesus Christ can overcome.
Weigle was an evangelist who spent much time away from home conducting preaching missions. One day he returned to find a note from his wife that she had left him and taken their small daughter.
Historian Kenneth W. Osbeck, author of the book Amazing Grace, writes more about Weigle: "He became so despondent during the next several years that there were even times when he contemplated suicide. There was the terrible despair that no one really cared for him anymore. Gradually his spiritual faith was restored and he once again became active in the Christian ministry. Soon he felt compelled to write a song that would be a summary of his past tragic experience."
The first verse begins: "I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus, since I found in Him a friend so strong and true."
In our lives there are times when we feel all alone, whether it's due to a broken marriage, the betrayal of a good friend, the death of a loved one, a lonely childhood, or just the everyday trials of relationships at the workplace. This loneliness is a sure sign of a need for deepening one's faith in Jesus, who said, "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you" (John 14:18).
The chorus following each of the three stanzas of this hymn makes one feel secure in the loving relationship with our living Lord:
"No one ever cared for me like Jesus,
there's no other friend so kind as He.
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me,
Oh how much he cared for me."
Composer Charles Weigle died at age 95. The world may not remember the sermons he preached. However, his ministry lives on as we sing his hymn of assurance. Our best friend is Jesus, whose love is perfect and everlasting.
God of all love, I humbly bow in Your presence as you reach out to touch me and assure me of your presence. I acknowledge my desperate need for you. I have no fear because you are sufficient for any need. Thank you for sending Your son Jesus who spoke these words of promise: "In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). I pray in His name, Amen
*Lucy Neeley Adams has always loved music. She began telling the story of hymns on Christian radio WWGM in Nashville, TN, in the '80s. She then wrote a newspaper column titled "Song Stories" for five years. During that time Lucy's book, “52 Hymn Story Devotions”, was published by Abingdon Press in Nashville. Each of the 52 stories contained in the book is written in a devotional format, with the words of the hymn concluding each devotion.
Lucy, dubbed "The hymn lady," can be heard on the first Thursday of each month when she discusses hymn stories during a telephone interview with Michelle Mendoza of "Living Christian." The program is aired on station KCIS in Seattle, WA.Lucy lives at Lake Junaluska, NC, with her minister husband, Woody who retired from the Tennessee Conference. They have four children and fourteen grandchildren. She may be reached for comment at lucya424@aol.com. Visit her at 52hymns.com
Composer Charles Weigle died at age 95. The world may not remember the sermons he preached. However, his ministry lives on as we sing his hymn of assurance. Our best friend is Jesus, whose love is perfect and everlasting.
God of all love, I humbly bow in Your presence as you reach out to touch me and assure me of your presence. I acknowledge my desperate need for you. I have no fear because you are sufficient for any need. Thank you for sending Your son Jesus who spoke these words of promise: "In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). I pray in His name, Amen
*Lucy Neeley Adams has always loved music. She began telling the story of hymns on Christian radio WWGM in Nashville, TN, in the '80s. She then wrote a newspaper column titled "Song Stories" for five years. During that time Lucy's book, “52 Hymn Story Devotions”, was published by Abingdon Press in Nashville. Each of the 52 stories contained in the book is written in a devotional format, with the words of the hymn concluding each devotion.
Lucy, dubbed "The hymn lady," can be heard on the first Thursday of each month when she discusses hymn stories during a telephone interview with Michelle Mendoza of "Living Christian." The program is aired on station KCIS in Seattle, WA.Lucy lives at Lake Junaluska, NC, with her minister husband, Woody who retired from the Tennessee Conference. They have four children and fourteen grandchildren. She may be reached for comment at lucya424@aol.com. Visit her at 52hymns.com
posted by TN Conference UMC @ 11:46 AM
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