Every year, generous members order beautiful poinsettias to dedicate to loved ones and decorate our sanctuary for the holiday season. We are now accepting orders for 6 inch ($10) and 8 inch ($17) poinsettias in red or white. We ask folks to take their poinsettias home after the Christmas Eve service. You can find order forms in the front foyer or just contact the church office to place your order no later than Sunday, October 22nd. Thank you!

Our Learn & Grow class meets on Sunday morning at 9:15 am.
Starting on October 15th, Learn & Grow will begin a series by one of Brookmeade’s favorite teachers, Amy-Jill Levine. The series is Signs and Wonders: A Beginner’s Guide to the Miracles of Jesus. The lessons will include:
October 15: “Take up your pallet and walk”: On the Role of Caregivers (Mark 2:1-12)
October 22: Stilling the Storm: Attending to Nature (Mark 4:35-41)
October 29: The Feeding of the Five Thousand (or More): The Centrality of Bread (Luke 9:10-17)
November 5: A Bleeding Woman and a Dead Girl: The Importance of Women’s Bodies (Matthew 9:18-26)
November 12: A Two-State Miracle: Seeing Again (Mark 8:22-26)
November 19: The Raising of Lazarus: Taking Death Seriously (John 11:1-44)

Every year, Brookmeaders participate in the “Out of the Darkness” Suicide Awareness and Prevention Walk sponsored by the AFSP. To participate you can join the walk, or donate to the cause! The walk will be held at Centennial Park on Sunday, October 29th at 2 pm. To find out more about AFSP, click HERE. To learn more about the walk click HERE. To join Team “All Are Welcome Here” click HERE.

On Friday, October 27th @ 5:30 PM, Brookmeade Congregational Church resumes our first Halloween-Fall Fest Party since the pandemic. Brookmeade has a long history of having a Halloween-Fall Fest celebration, and so we take up again a long tradition! We’re expanding this year’s festival with invitations to Holy Trinity Community Church and Howard Congregational Church, and to the general community as well via Facebook. As the Nat King Cole song said of Christmas, this celebration is for everyone, for “kids from one to ninety-two”! We’ll start the evening off with pizza, including this year a gluten-free pizza crust option. Then proceed with some fun activities: Pumpkin carving, an apple-bobbing contest, a fire pit roast of marshmallows & weiners, and S’Mores making. A great celebration is planned! Costumes welcomed!

Our next trip to the Project CURE Warehouse (2300 Clifton Ave.) is scheduled for Saturday, October 7th from 9:30 am – 12 pm. We will be sorting medical supplies. Newcomers are very welcome! For planning reasons we need a head count for our group prior to volunteering. Please RSVP to the church office ASAP if you plan to attend. Thanks and see you there!

Neighbors in Need (NIN) is a special mission offering of the United Church of Christ that supports ministries of justice and compassion throughout the United States. One-third of NIN funds support the Council for American Indian Ministry (CAIM). Two-thirds of this offering is used by the UCC’s Justice and Witness Ministries (JWM) to support a variety of justice initiatives, advocacy efforts, and direct service projects through grants. Neighbors in Need grants are awarded to UCC churches and organizations doing justice work in their communities. These grants fund projects whose work ranges from direct service to community organizing and advocacy to address systemic injustice.

Brookmeade will be collecting for the NIN offering through Sunday, October 1st. You can give a check to the church (please designate NIN in the memo line) or give online via Tithe.ly (choose NIN offering in the drop-down menu). Thank you for helping support the UCC’s justice ministries! 

First Sundays of the month we collect our COW (“Contribute Our Wealth”) Offering. Monetary donations are split between Second Harvest of Middle TN and Heifer International. You can also bring canned goods on Sunday morning to donate to Second Harvest. Please designate your check for COW Offering or if you give online you can choose COW offering on the drop-down menu on Tithe.ly. Thank you for supporting these important organizations and helping Brookmeade fight hunger!

Our Brookmeade Yoga Class meets weekly on Mondays at 4 pm and is led by instructor Ali Sperry. This Monday, 9/18, the yoga class will be held online only through Zoom. The cost is $20. To receive the zoom link, please contact the church office (brookmeade@comcast.net) by Monday morning. 

You are invited to join the Brookmeade-Howard-Trinity, in short, the Nashville UCC choir, coming together to sing at the Upper Room UCC Fellowship Fall Potluck Brunch on Saturday, September 16^th at Brookmeade.  Since the event’s theme is The Role of Prayer in Renewal of the Church/Self, we will be singing a very simple repetitive prayer together.  Rehearsals are Saturday, September 9^th at Howard Congregational Church, 2802 Buchanan Street, at 10 am (coffee at 9:45), and 10:15 on the 16^th, prior to the brunch.  Please RSVP to your church office, to receive more details and music to prepare ahead of time.  Come, and let’s make some music together!

Local Artist Michele Lambert is returning to teach another art class at Brookmeade this fall! Michele is a very talented painter and sculptor, and has had a long career as an art teacher in Metro Schools and at Watkins. Michele says: “We will use a variety of watercolor techniques as our basis and then offer a botanical printmaking process to use atop the prepared papers for a unique blend of experiences for those interested.” Classes will be held from 6 to 8 pm on Thursday evenings on the following dates: 9/28, 10/5, 10/12, and 10/19. The cost is $80 for all 4 sessions and covers all required supplies. There is a sign up sheet located in the hallway. For more information, please contact the church office (brookmeade@comcast.net).

Michele Lambert, Artist Bio:

Co-owner of Shimai Gallery of Contemporary Craft, Michele Lambert, is a multi-disciplined artist.  Working primarily as a painter and poet, her large canvases combine color, texture and words to convey her deep connection to the natural world.  In addition to painting on canvas, wood and paper, she creates small mixed media collages using paper, natural objects and tools.  The collection of her work provides viewers with her life stories of family, heartbreak, trauma, and redemption.  Although she received a degree in Fine Art from Watkins College of Art and Design, she considers art-making a natural gift and a necessary outpouring of expression that has healing power.

Before opening Shimai in 2005 with dear friend and business partner, Becca Ganick, Michele taught at Watkins, in Metro Nashville Public Schools, the Frist Museum and many other private venues.  Her work is in private and corporate collections across the country.  Community involvement plays a vital role in her professional life, serving on several non-profit boards, volunteering in public schools and offering advisory consultation for businesses creating interiors sensitive to trauma victims.

Michele is interested in helping emerging artists find a foothold in the professional art world.  Her background experience as a professional artist, educator and gallery owner gives her a broad perspective enabling her to connect developing artists with best practices in professional conduct whether it be with craftsmanship or building relationships with gallery owners.  She enjoys interaction with other artists and is always interested in learning about the process and motivation behind work created by others.