Please plan to attend an important Informational Meeting next Sunday, August 15th. We will be meeting in-person after church at 12:15 pm. For full details about the topics being discussed and information for how to attend virtually on Zoom, see your weekly email!
Learn & Grow is a time of study and reflection on the Bible, theology, and the issues of today. We meet on Zoom each Thursday at 7:30 pm for about an hour or so. Today is our final Learn & Grow session on the Theology of Hymns. Our next study topic is three of Jesus’ parables. We will use Amy-Jill Levine’s book, “Short Stories by Jesus,” and an accompanying video to study the following:
August 12 The Mustard Seed
August 19 The Laborers in the Vineyard
August 26 The Widow and the Judge
Starting on September 2, we will take a look at climate change using the book “The Future We Choose: The Stubborn Optimist’s Guide to the Climate Crisis” by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac.
Find the link and password to join in your weekly email or reach out to the church office if you’re interested in finding out more!
Our next trip to the Project CURE Warehouse (2300 Clifton Ave.) is scheduled for Saturday, August 7th, 9:30 am – 12 pm. We will be sorting medical supplies. Newcomers are very welcome but please wear a mask! For planning reasons and to make sure we are COVID safe we need a head count for our group prior to volunteering. Please RSVP to Cindy D. ASAP if you plan to attend. You can also RSVP to the church office (615-352-4702, brookmeade@comcast.net). Thanks and see you there!
Last month we welcomed two new Pastors to our Bridge Pastoral Team. This team will be helping guide Brookmeade as we search for a long-term Pastor. We are excited to welcome Laura Hodges, who previously served as a student pastor under our Vanderbilt Student Pastoral model, and Rev. Anne-Marie Zanzal to Brookmeade. Our pastoral team now consists of Rev. Beverly Ross (Lead Pastor), Rev. Anne-Marie Zanzal (Associate Pastor) and Laura Hodges (Assisting Pastor). Each one of these team members brings unique strengths, skills and insight to Brookmeade during this time of transition. To learn more about our Pastoral Team, visit the “Our Story as a Congregation” page by clicking HERE.
After live streaming services from our sanctuary for the month of June, we have determined that to have the best quality possible for our online services, the best practice for now is to upload our Worship videos to our Youtube channel (and the front page of our website) on Mondays, rather than live streaming on Facebook the day of the service. This allows us to improve the sound quality of our worship videos and to add easily readable responsive texts and hymn lyrics for those watching at home. We want to create the best possible viewing experience for both those attending in-person and those watching virtually. This change begins Sunday, July 4th.
Full details about in-person worship including safety protocols are available on our website at the COVID-19 tab.
Following worship, we will have our renowned Coffee Fellowship outdoors whenever weather permits. We had a wonderful fellowship time last Sunday, visiting and catching up under the shade our trees outside! Many thanks to Tony for making such a welcoming atmosphere.
Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns. Your leaders and staff are excited to be worshiping with all of you in-person again!
On Saturday, July 10th @ 11:00 AM, there will be a gathering of the faithful, neighbors & friends to recognize and celebrate Brookmeade’s 68th anniversary as a church with a Brunch/Lunch Picnic on our beautiful, historic church grounds, originally pasture for dairy cows in a yet undeveloped West Meade at the time! Founded on July 10, 1953, Brookmeade Congregational Church has been a proud progressive presence in Nashville, seeking both personal spiritual growth and social justice & inclusion for all!
Food provided by the Brookmeade Fellowship Team, but additional dishes from anyone welcomed. Special music provided by Nashville singer/songwriter & accomplished guitarist Brent Moyer! Along with his usual musical offerings, Brent will be presenting an especially composed original song for the occasion, celebrating the life & ministries of Brookmeade Congregational Church! SAVE THE DATE!
Please RSVP by phone or e-mail to the church. Rain or shine, for we will celebrate July 10th under a rented tent with cooling fans, gifted by a member of the church for this special occasion!
On Sunday, July 4th we will have our reguarly scheduled “COW” Offering that collects monetary donations for Second Harvest and Heifer International. You have two ways to donate: 1) Bring or send a check to the church office with the memo “COW Offering”; 2) When you donate online with Tithe.ly, choose COW Offering on the drop-down menu. Thank you for helping us support these very important organizations!
Our next trip to the Project CURE Warehouse (2300 Clifton Ave.) is scheduled for Saturday, July 3rd, 9:30 am – 12 pm. We will be sorting medical supplies. Newcomers are very welcome but please wear a mask! For planning reasons and to make sure we are COVID safe we need a head count for our group prior to volunteering. Please RSVP to Cindy D. ASAP if you plan to attend. You can also RSVP to the church office (615-352-4702, brookmeade@comcast.net). Thanks and see you there!
We are excited that we now have basic technology for live-streaming our services on Sunday so that, beginning on June 6th, we can integrate in-person worship in our sanctuary and virtual worship for those who can’t join us there safely or practically. It’s the best of both worlds!
After careful consideration of the new CDC guidelines Brookmeade church leaders want to start our in-person worship requiring all persons to use masks while indoors. This will allow us to sing together as a congregation once more. We will hold our reknowned Coffee Fellowship outside, weather permitting. Full details and safety protocols are now available and will be updated as necessary on our website at the Hybrid Worship tab on the main menu (Hybrid Worship at Brookmeade (brookmeadeucc.org).
For those who are unable or not ready to attend in-person, Sunday services will be live streamed from our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/brookmeadeucc). You do not need a Facebook account to watch the live stream. Just visit our Facebook page and scroll down to find the livestream. If prompted to login, click “Not Now”. Services will later be uploaded to our Youtube channel, where our all-virtual services have appeared this last year.
In addition to holding Coffee Fellowship outdoors whenever weather permits, we will limit our fare to beverages and for now, pre-packaged finger foods. Any contributions of pre-packaged finger foods are very welcome.
This is a work in progress. After worship on June 6th we will have an open conversation with everyone present about these protocols for safe worship. This will also be a time for discussing any of your anxieties and questions about meeting in-person again.
Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns. Your leaders and staff are looking forward to worshiping with all of you again in-person!
We took a fun Kayaking trip on the Harpeth River on Saturday, May 22nd! Thanks to everyone who participated and to Becca and Allison who organized the event. We can’t wait to go on another adventure!
brookmeadeucc.org 