TENNESSEE CONFERENCE REVIEW August 7, 2009
Articles in the August 7, 2009 issue of THE REVIEW
1. Quadrennial Men’s Gathering features Sheltered Reality Percusssion Team
3. Over 1,200 United Methodist men meet in Nashville
4. Fire Destroys Historic Bethlehem United Methodist Church Building but not the spirit of the people
5. Bethlehem United Methodist Church --Serving Clarksville since 18366. One of America’s Great Festivals—“Native Moccasins Rock”—Camp Lake Benson, Bon Aqua, August 14-15-16
7. Warmth in Winter Youth Ministries Event for 2010 to make exciting move to Murfreesboro, article with one captioned photo, Photo #14
8. Jordan-Lake's Novel “Blue Hole Back Home” wins 2009 Christy Award, article with one uncaptioned photo, Photo #15
9. LaVergne First UMC Celebrates First Sunday In New Sanctuary July 19th, article with two uncaptioned photos, Photo #18 and Photo #19
10. Angels: Commentary by the Rev. Dr. Ted Hill, M.D., article with one captioned photo, Photo #20.
Quadrennial Men’s Gathering features Sheltered Reality Percussion Team
The United Methodist Men’s Quadrennial Gathering in Nashville, Tennessee, July 10th to 12th, 2009, attracted some of the greatest visionaries in developing ministries with men, several Bishops of the United Methodist Church, and notable performing artist including Paul Saik, Steve Hornbeak and Vince Gill. Yet conversations with the Gathering participants constantly involved mention of the Sheltered Reality percussion performance featuring youngsters from Nashville’s 61st Avenue UMC and from across the United States.
Saturday morning was the worst of times for the Gathering, an outside transformer had blown, and the main building housing the event was without light and air conditioning. The auditorium sound system, computer controls, stage lights, and video screens were all non-functioning, and an emergency generator could only bring a few of the lights and a make-shift sound system back on line.
Onto the main performance area came the group Sheltered Reality which has affiliated percussion groups across North America—the nearest in west Nashville at 61st Avenue United Methodist Church. The Sheltered Reality program teaches basic music skill and rhythm, but beyond that it takes children and young people who could be at risk and focuses on the primary message that we can all succeed if we:
• Take a chance
• Never give up
• Believe in ourselves
• Are willing to do whatever it takes
• Are willing to be a Friend (and empower others to succeed)
Along with this, Sheltered Reality performers are urged to believe in God, and develop a strong religious faith.
The Sheltered Reality Program at 61st Avenue started when Brentwood United Methodist Church member Scott Frech arranged for two percussionists from Iowa to return to middle Tennessee after first seeing them perform at Brentwood United Methodist church. Brentwood supports the ministry of 61st Avenue with resources and volunteers.
The two percussionists—Steve Schlosser and Jordan Fratt—were so inspired by the neighborhood programs at 61st Avenue they felt this would be an ideal spot to begin a Nashville section of a National Program, Sheltered Reality.
The impact of the Program has been profound for the young people that started drumming at 61st Avenue. Kristy Shyloski, mother of 11-year-old Austin Pruitt, feels strongly about Sheltered Reality. She says, “The program at 61st Avenue changed his (her son’s) attitude and helped him believe in himself—and it has certainly brought us closer together, mother and son.”
Grandmother Joyce Shyloski adds, “It teaches kids responsibility and not just how to play a drum. They learn to believe in themselves and attempt things which are big steps. At the same time they are learning about God. When all the drummers from around the country get together it is like family.” With a smile she added, “And you’ll certainly want to see them perform their number ‘Greased Lightning.”
Scott Frech can share stories about all the 61st Avenue drummers. “William Graham is the ‘Poster Child’ for Sheltered Reality. He epitomizes the four or five goals we have for each participant. He really lives them out.”
“William was born with several medical challenges and faces obstacles in life that most youths will never encounter. When he started in Sheltered Reality William was extremely introverted. It was difficult for him to talk to others. In three years there have been tremendous improvements in self esteem, motor skills, and hand/eye coordination. At the end of practice he genuinely looks forward to the next practice, and it doesn’t make a difference if our national leadership Steve Schlosser or Jordan Fratt are going to be present.”
A while back William asked Steve Schlosser if he could do a Sheltered Reality number in a school talent show – something he would never have asked three years ago. Permission was given and the feedback was that his class came alive when he performed. “This, among other things, gives us reason to believe that all things can be accomplished,” notes Frech.
Scott Frech and wife Sharon are coordinators for the Nashville-based site of Sheltered Reality which has found strong emotional and financial support from Brentwood UMC. Scott Frech has his own personal testimony to power of the Sheltered Reality program: “It’s funny how God’s plan unfolds before you. Several years ago, our Sunday school class began to get more involved in a little church in west Nashville…one that sat very much in an urban setting. About the same time, a motivational percussion group passed through the area. From a selfish standpoint, I saw a perfect opportunity to ramp up a new site of Sheltered Reality that my family could participate in. God’s plan had nothing to do with participation and everything to do with service.”
“I struggle each day with whether my actions are making a difference in the life of another person… Am I making the life of a child better in some way or have I done something to make a difference in a community or neighborhood? I understand that entrance into the Kingdom isn’t done on a merit system, entrance is only because of God’s grace; but it sure would be nice to know that my purpose on earth has been more than to convert oxygen to carbon dioxide. Just like the Bible says in the early parts of Genesis, ‘when God created the heavens and earth…He was well pleased.’ I want my Father to have some level of gratification of my purpose on earth. Sure He loves me unconditionally, just as I love my children. But have I made Him proud? Are my actions pleasing to God? Do my actions reflect the life of a disciple of Christ?”
The church and Sheltered Reality have given me a chance to have purpose in life that is Christian focused. Together, they allow my family to do wonderful things that benefit others. They have strengthen my faith and given my spiritual journey direction and momentum. It’s funny how God’s plan unfolds? I would have thought we were supposed to just play the drums….God’s plan was to touch hearts and transform lives!
Sheltered Reality sponsors mission work in West Nashville
For the past three years, Sheltered Reality has sponsored a week of mission work at 61st Ave UMC in west Nashville. This year all sixteen (+/-) participants stayed in the Frech's home in Murfreesboro for a week...what a fantastic time of Christian fellowship! The purpose of each years mission project was to support the summer youth program at 61st Ave UMC as well as complete a variety of tasks/improvements that were geared toward the skill set of the project team. This year, the church's "teen" room got a face lift. The floor was replaced with industrial grade Vinyl Composite Tile, walls were painted, ceiling fan/light were installed, and a 32 LCD TV and DVD player were installed. Along with this teen room makeover, picnic tables were stained/sealed, church vestibule was painted, and various cleaning projects were completed. Most importantly, the project team invested time in the lives of those youth - - some prepared lunches, while others facilitated activities.
Over 1,200 United Methodist men meet in Nashville
Electrical storm leaves men in dark, but not without power
NASHVILLE, Tenn.––Over 1,200 men met at Belmont University, site of the 2008 Presidential Debate, for the July 10-12 event that included lectures, workshops, seminars, work projects, entertainment and a blown transformer.
A late-night July 11 lighting strike destroyed a city transformer leaving the Tenth National Gathering of United Methodist Men with no air conditioning and only emergency lighting for Saturday morning sessions.
A mobile transformer later restored the electrical power and men from nearly every state were provided with powerful new ways to reach men within and beyond their local congregations.
David Adams, top staff executive of the General Commission on United Methodist Men, concluded the three-day event by saying men might have been impacted by the loss of a transformer, but their lives had been “transformed” by the gathering.
A first for Nashville
The Tenth National Gathering marked the first time the quadrennial event had met at a site other than Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. Fewer men attended the Nashville event than preceding Purdue events, but meeting organizers attributed that to the economy and not to the change in venue.
The gathering focused on three relationships, God to man, man to man, and man to boy. Chicago Area Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, Dr. Patrick Morley, chief executive officer of Man in the Mirror ministries, and the Rev. Kevass Harding, pastor of Dellrose United Methodist Church in Wichita, Kan., addressed these relationships under the conference theme of “Focus on the Cross.” Retired Bishop William Morris served as preacher for the concluding Sunday morning worship service.
The event included a Saturday evening concert by Vince Gill, a two-time winner of Country Music Association’s “Entertainer of the Year Award.” Other guest artists included Paul Saik and Steve Hornbeak, Nashville recording artists; Richard Alegria, an organist from Texas; Sheltered reality, a 19-member group of young choreographed drummers, the Mighty Male Chorus from New Jersey, and Brad Stine, a comedian who served as emcee of the event.
Fire Destroys Historic Bethlehem United Methodist Church Building but not the spirit of the people
On Wednesday evening, July15th, into the morning of Thursday, July 16th, historic Bethlehem United Methodist Church burned to the ground after a bolt of lightning hit the church’s steeple and the steeple exploded into flame. Pastor Matt Kelley, who was in Costa Rica on a Volunteer in Mission trip when the incident happened, was notified almost immediately and arranged to fly back quickly to be with his congregation.
For some families the church had been part of the family for generations, and it was fitting that in an outdoor worship service on Sunday, July 19th, the event was treated as the burial of a family member or funeral service for a close friend. “The church is the people,” noted Kelley, “but the building was a beloved family member.” Kelley adapted part of the funeral liturgy from the Book of Worship and combined it with part of the liturgy for taking leave of a building.
Over 150 worshippers participated in the service—a service which reflected grief, spurred historic memories, brought forth the recollection of many sacred and personal events, but primarily resulted in the sharing of hope for a strong future.
Among the worshippers were Dr. Ron Lowery, District Superintendent for the Clarksville District, Rev. Roger Hobson, Executive Assistant to Bishop Richard Wills, and Rev. Jason Brock, representing the Conference Council on Ministries.
A special visual and emotional focus was a “Wailing Wall” created from bricks that had been part of a collapsed chimney. During prayer time persons were urged to write down prayers and these were placed in the cracks of the wall—reminiscent of the use of Jerusalem’s historic “Wailing Wall.”
The serving of Holy Communion focused everyone on Christ’s presence at the church-- as present as he had been for the church’s 110 years, and as present as he would be as the congregation faces the future with hope.
Pastor Kelley reflected on the fire. “There were so many irreplaceable things we lost in the fire that I can't even begin to list them. One small grace is that I didn't have an office in the church, so the only things I personally lost were my vestments. They were nice, but were all replaceable.”
“All of them, that is, except the pectoral cross my wife Jessica purchased for me in England a few years ago. It was of tremendous sentimental value to me and I was heartbroken that I lost it.”
“Even though we technically weren't supposed to, some of us started combing through the rubble. I went over to the area where the closet with my vestments had been located. Digging around I discovered a half burned pile of cloths that I realized had been my robes and stoles. With the burned cloth there was a large hunk of plastic that had been the hangers on which the vestments hung.
“And in the middle of that hunk of melted plastic was the cross. It turned out that the plastic formed a protective casing around the cross, so the damage to it was minimal. I wore it Sunday during the service, stains and all, and then I'll take it to a jewelry shop to get it cleaned up.”
Friends, neighbors, former members of the church may want to contribute to the church’s building fund. Contributions can be sent to the Bethlehem United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 3155, Clarksville, TN 37043, or online through PayPal account on the Bethlehem UMC website www.historicbethlehemumc.org
Bethlehem United Methodist Church --Serving Clarksville since 1836
composed by Charles Waters- Church Historian. Photo by Matt Kelley.
On September 2, 1836, William Dunlap deeded to the trustees "land on which Bethlehem Church is located," making it obvious that the church was here before that date.
The first date recorded in the Tennessee Conference archives is 1842. That year the church was listed on the Asbury Circuit, one of twelve churches supplied by the same circuit rider. The first building was a log structure approximately 20 x 24 feet located just to the left of the present sanctuary.
By 1897 T.W. Noland was pastor of Bethlehem and Forest Street churches, a two-point charge. In 1897 Forest Street was built, and the original sanctuary is still being used. Two years later, in 1899, under Noland's leadership, Bethlehem was built. The likeness of the two sanctuaries attests to the fact that the same plans were used in the buildings, except that Bethlehem has two spires.
Bethlehem survived the Civil War and in the years since its construction has been kept up-to-date, with the addition of Sunday School rooms, a kitchen and bathrooms, electricity, Central heating and cooling, insulation, memorial stained glass windows, and cathedral Lanterns, making it one of the most beautiful small churches in the area.
Bethlehem has grown from a circuit of twelve churches to one of five points in 1906, two points in 1948, to its present designation as a “station.”
One of America’s Great Festivals—“Native Moccasins Rock”—Camp Lake Benson, Bon Aqua, August 14-15-16
Native Moccasins Rock is sponsored by the Committee on Native American Ministries of the Tennessee Annual Conference and is an acclaimed annual gathering which explores Native American culture and spirituality. It is held at Camp Lake Benson, Bon Aqua, Tennessee (just west of Nashville). Registrations are still open. To register or obtain further information contact Mary T Newman at 329-1177 or email mtnewman@tnumc.org
Adults, youth, children are all welcome to participate in this retreat/festival and learn from Native American artists, speakers, performers and leaders.
Warmth in Winter Youth Ministries Event for 2010 to make exciting move to Murfreesboro
Mark your calendars now for January 29-31, 2010. Warmth in Winter 2010 will be kicking off its 28th year in a new location, the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center in Murfreesboro. This beautiful and modern facility was completed in September 2008 and provides opportunity for Warmth in Winter to grow while providing an environment of comfort at affordable prices. The hotel is conveniently connected to its 80,000-square-foot conference center, easily accommodating the largest events and most intimate meetings.
Check out this Embassy Suites facility at www.embassysuitemurfreesboro.com or stop by and see it in person. Coming from Nashville on Interstate 24 take exit 76 for Medical Center Parkway/Manson Pike. Turn left at Manson Pike/Medical Center Parkway. You’ll go about a half mile and make a right at Old Gresham Lane. You’ll be heading directly to the Hotel and Conference Center, 1200 Conference Center Blvd., Murfreesboro, TN 37129.
Warmth and Winter has booked a block of 250 room that you and your group can utilize for the weekend. Youth leaders will want to call as soon as possible and reserve their block. The Embassy rooms are arranged with two queen size beds and a queen sleeper sofa which will allow you to sleep as many as six people per room. Call Kimberly McDaniel at 615-890-4464, ext. 2014, and let her know that you are calling to reserve your block of rooms for Warmth in Winter. At $139 per room per night and a full breakfast for each of your guests, you will want to be sure to stay at the Embassy.
The design team is excited to announce the speaker and the worship band for the weekend. We are blessed to have as our speaker this year Rev. Brenda Salter-McNeil of Chicago, Illinois. The worship band for the weekend is Pocket Full of Rocks. You can find them on the web at www.pocketfullofrocks.com. They were nominated for a Dove Award as a candidate for Praise and Worship Album of the Year. We are excited to have both of these nationally renowned presenters joining us for Warmth In Winter 2010.
The design team will continue to work to prepare for this wonderful worship event but they need your help. Come and join them on Saturday, September 26th at 9 am at the Tennessee Conference office. The youth chairs for the event will be Elizabeth Williams of Hendersonville First and Kyle Guth of Sparta First. Call Brad Fiscus for further information at 615-327-1533.
Brad Fiscus, Conference Director of Young People’s Ministries, is excited about Warmth In Winter 2010. He says, “ Warmth 2010 is going to an exciting time for many reasons. A new venue, a great theme, an exciting speaker, a passionate praise and worship band, and a few thousand youth and adults together worshipping God. We have already begun planning for the event and can’t wait for it to get here. Please join us, you won’t want to miss it!”
Jordan-Lake's Novel “Blue Hole Back Home” wins 2009 Christy Award
By Audra Jennings
(Editor’s note: Author Joy Jordan-Lake is a member of Christ United Methodist Church in Franklin)
Publisher David C Cook is pleased to announce that author Joy Jordan-Lake has received 2009 Christy Award for excellence in Christian Fiction. The award was presented on July 11, 2009 at the tenth annual Christy Awards presentation preceding this year's International Christian Retailers Show in Denver, Colorado. Jordan-Lake's Blue Hole Back Home took home honors in the First Novel category.
Blue Hole Back Home tells the story of the summer of 1979 when 15-year-old Turtle hung in a mangy pack with her brother, his friends, a couple of dogs, and the New Girl-the one with the deeply colored skin whose father prayed on a rug facing East. That was the summer hearts and minds-and lives-changed forever in a small Appalachian mountain town. The novel is a burning story of racial hatred, cowardice, faith and redemption. Jordan-Lake explores the innocence of a young friendship and the prejudice that will tear it apart.
Blue Hole Back Home, according to author Joy Jordan-Lake, is based loosely on some actual incidents of racial violence, most of which took place in TN: a cross-burning and threatening of a Sri Lankan family on Signal Mountain outside Chattanooga; the brutal shooting critically injuring five African-American women in downtown Chattanooga in 1980, after which two of the young men involved were completely acquitted by an all-white jury and the third was sentenced to only nine months; the turmoil in Chattanooga that followed; the slaying in Mississippi of Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers by Byron DeLaBeckwith. DeLaBeckwith, in fact, was acquitted in the 1960s by an all-white jury and spent the next three decades living in my own Tennessee hometown, Signal Mountain, until the assassination was brought again to trial.”
“The novel is being picked up by universities, high schools and middle schools as a Common Book, as a classroom text and as summer reading,” notes Jordan-Lake. “Baylor Univ., for instance, is using it as the Common Book for all incoming freshmen this fall, and hopes the book will assist in students being willing to speak openly about diversity issues in our post-Civil Rights era.”
Author Joy Jordan-Lake is also the author of Grit & Grace: Portraits of a Woman's Life (Harold Shaw); Whitewashing Uncle Tom's Cabin (Vanderbilt University Press); Working Families (WaterBrook Press), and Why Jesus Makes Me Nervous (Paraclete Press).
LaVergne First UMC Celebrates First Sunday In New Sanctuary July 19th
By Galen Medlin*
Excitement was high as the congregation of LaVergne First marched in procession from their old sanctuary into a newly constructed sanctuary with seating for over 325. Both early and late services were combined for the celebration with a total 285 people in attendance. Before the carpet had been installed in the new sanctuary the congregation had written their favorite scriptures on the subfloor. A special piece of music entitled “On God’s Word We Stand”, was written by Patrice Villines and Tim Hayden, Music director for LaVergne First, and presented by the church choir to commemorate the event. Under the leadership of Pastor Buddy Royston the LaVergne First continues to experience rapid growth. Five new members chose to join the church on first Sunday in the new sanctuary. A formal consecration service for the new sanctuary is planned for early fall.
*Galen Medlin is Lay Leader, LaVergne First United Methodist Church
Angels: Commentary by the Dr. Ted Hill, M.D.
I chose this title because I thought it would get your attention. I am really not sure about angels. I mean, I really don't consider or think much about the existence of these heavenly or hellish beings for that matter. I know the scriptures mentions them and I certainly believe the scriptures and I need to make it perfectly clear, I do believe in God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I literally confess this each Sunday of my life with the liturgy of my church service. I guess that my personal experience is that I have not encountered these other "beings" in my lifetime enough to recognize their role in the greater scheme of things.
Recently, however, I did have an experience that I hesitate to share because of the risk of seeming irrational or overcome by the emotion of the moment but it certainly was a realistic experience for me at the time and reflecting on it serves a purpose for me to affirm it and perhaps it can inform so maybe the sharing will be worthwhile.
It was the occasion of my ordination as a clergy member of the Tennessee Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church.
A stole, officially indicating his status as Deacon, is placed across Dr. Ted Hill’s shoulderI have been involved in the process leading toward this final step for 14 years. It started with a search for a deeper relationship for me with God during the midst of the most trying time of my life. It began with a 2 year journey in the Academy for Spiritual Formation that led to my Certification in Spiritual Formation in the UMC. I was not finished. I began to explore the role of being a Deacon in the UMC which is a clergy position that is ordained to preach and teach and serve in special roles according to the calling of the individual. This led to Seminary and through the process of commissioning, a three year process of study and mentoring, small group experience and meeting standards required by the UMC. I had come to the final step of the process. Ordination, the time when the episcopacy of the church affirms you and your calling from God and lays hands on you in a time honored liturgical ceremony. There are many parts of this final liturgy but I will mention only those pertinent to this story. I was at the kneeling bench with the hands of 3 Bishops and others who had supported me on the way on my head. Some were not just touching; some were tightly gripping my head as if to say, "We really mean this, do you?" The first sentences were said. The next section to be said was a few more sentences and my eyes were closed in respect for what was happening and in prayer but for some reason, I opened my eyes to see an old Bible under my hands. I automatically placed my hands on the Bible but then had an "epiphany,” an enlightening experience.
The Bible now under my hands was my Dad's Bible! Or so I thought at the moment. It was old; it had a cloth cover that had long ago hardened with time. It was almost brittle. The pages were of that old paper type in old Bibles and yellowed from age. It looked JUST LIKE MY DAD'S OLD BIBLE I HAD AT HOME! I could not believe it!
My head (with all the heavy hands) began to turn as I nodded, "No, this can't be true! Someone pulled a fast one on me and brought my Dad's Bible from my study to bring to this most important moment a token of his 60 years of ministry as a minister in the church and to 'launch' my similar ministry as I followed his footsteps. What a great happening!" I was truly touched and overwhelmed. I could not stop saying to the Bishops "Thank You!" for what I thought just happened. What a blessed moment! It was only later as I saw the assistants to the Bishop using the same Bible for all the other candidates that I realized it had not been my Dad's Bible but one that resembled it and belonged to one of the assistants. Regardless of that, it had been an epiphany. I "felt" my Dad's and God's special presence and that does not require a logical explanation for me to report it as a reality.
In contrast to the good above, just yesterday I learned of the tragic death of a former patient of the Salvus Center. She had been referred to us by a local ER. She was sent there after passing out at work. Her blood count was dangerously low and was in part the reason she passed out. She was also extremely hypothyroid. That is, her body was not making enough thyroid hormone, an absolutely necessity that has profound effects on one's metabolism. Later, we were to find out she had a brain tumor that was responsible for the abnormal performance of her thyroid gland which is regulated by the part of the brain involved with the tumor. We worked for months to get her in "shape" for brain surgery to make all the necessary arrangements for a extremely expensive operation.
She came to the office time and again for orders for tests and referrals and we encouraged her to follow through with all the tedious details. She continued to work though she suffered with severe anemia, hypothyroidism, and a brain tumor. All the while she was a single mom trying to provide for a three year old. Finally, the day came and she had her surgery and it was a complete success, thanks be to God! She was better. Meanwhile, she had been qualified for TennCare, and we would no longer see her as a patient but she did not keep in touch. Then we heard the tragic news: her "boyfriend" had literally beaten her to death. There certainly can be no logic to this heinous event. There is evil, individual and systemic. Individual: how could anyone do this to her? Systemic, how can we live in a country of immense resource and not provide for the health needs of someone like her who tried so hard?
Angels perhaps. Evil undeniable.
If there can be any grace in this story is that there were angels in the flesh who were at work in her life, at least for a time. Angels at and associated with Salvus. Thanks be to you who provide for this ministry and God who someday will set all wrongs right and evil will be no more. So be it.
*Dr. Ted Hill, M.D., was ordained a Deacon in the United Methodist Church at the 2009 Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
posted by TN Conference UMC @ 11:32 AM
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