You are invited to join us for a FREE yoga class, every Monday at 4:30 pm at Brookmeade UCC (700 Bresslyn Road, 37205). No experience necessary. Please plan to wear a mask (or grab one when you come in our front door) and bring a yoga mat or blanket with you. We will be guided by “Yoga with Adriene” videos on Youtube. Come get your weekly dose of inner peace! Feel free to contact the church office with any questions (brookmeade@comcast.net, 615-352-4702).
As we have for many years, Brookmeade will again have a booth at the annual Nashville Pride Festival this year to distribute information about our church and to be a supportive presence among the LGBTQ community. Instead of being at our usual place at the Metro Courthouse in Nashville Public Square Park, this year’s festival will be on the Bicentennial Mall, adjacent to the Farmer’s Market.
Volunteers are needed to staff our booth during the following timeframes:
Saturday, Sept 18th — 10 AM-12:00 Noon, 12:00-2:00 PM, 2:00-4:00 PM
Sunday, Sept 19th — 12:00 Noon-2:00 PM, 2:00 – 4:00 PM
As for many years in the past, Tony E. will be the Onsite Coordinator for our Brookmeade booth. To volunteer to staff our booth for one of the designated timeframes, contact Tony or the church office. When we are informed of our specific booth location, Tony will give you that information and provide free tickets to the festival for all volunteers. It’s always a joyous experience to interact with Festival-goers to lend support and share about Brookmeade as an Open & Affirming spiritual community in Nashville.
The Nashville Pride Festival will feature live music performances, a family zone with activities for kids, and a Parade on Saturday starting at 10 am. You can find out more info about the festival by visiting www.nashvillepride.org.
This event at Montgomery Bell Academy will include a 45-minute presentation in which Mr. Hinton will share his decades-long journey to exoneration and freedom, followed by a 15-minute question & answer session. General admission to the presentation is open and free to the public.
As a ‘Friends of Freedom’ ticket holder or sponsor, you will receive reserved priority seating for the presentation and a copy of Mr. Hinton’s memoir, The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row. You will then join Mr. Hinton for a book signing and cocktail reception following the event.
Meet the speaker: Anthony Ray Hinton survived for 30 years on Alabama’s death row. His story is a decades-long journey to exoneration and freedom. In 1985, Mr. Hinton was convicted of the unsolved murders of two fast-food restaurant managers based on the testimony of ballistics experts for the State who claimed that the crime bullets came from a dusty revolver found in Mr. Hinton’s mother’s closet. Without the benefit of a competent expert to challenge the State’s theory (Mr. Hinton’s lawyer hired a ballistics expert who was blind in one eye), an all-white jury convicted Mr. Hinton and he was sentenced to death. After years of petitioning to have the revolver re-analyzed, three independent experts concluded that the bullets could not have been fired from his mother’s revolver. With the assistance of the Equal Justice Initiative, led by attorney Bryan Stevenson, Mr. Hinton was freed in 2015. Since his release, Mr. Hinton has traveled the world sharing his story and discussing the changes that need to be made to prevent similar injustices from happening to other people. In 2018, Mr. Hinton published The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row, which was selected for Oprah’s Book Club and is a New York Times bestseller. In 2019, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from St. Bonaventure University.
Parking is available in the parking garage on the East side of the Montgomery Bell Academy Campus at 205 South Wilson Boulevard, in any of the surface lots on campus, or in the Vine Street Christian church parking lot across Montgomery Bell Avenue. This event will take place in the new Burkholder Wellness Center. Please enter through the main rotunda entrance, go through the double doors on the left to enter the Event Center. Montgomery Bell address: 4001 Harding Pike, Nashville TN, 37205. For more information CLICK HERE.
We have a 5th Sunday this month, which means it is Music Sunday! Please suggest or contribute readings, quotes, poems, hymn suggestions, songs etc. If you are not comfortable attending in person yet to share a poem or song, you can also send us a video to be played during the service. You can contact Mike R. from our Worship & Gathering Team or contact the church office at brookmeade@comcast.net. These special Sunday services are always more meaningful when members of the congregation participate with their ideas and talents. The theme this month is “Changes, Transformations and Moving Forward”.
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!
brookmeadeucc.org 