07
Sep 2021
Life is unpredictable. We can not and should not take it for granted. Every day we wake up and we never really know what the day might bring. Last Monday, Aug. 23rd, longtime Anglican pastor of Nashville’s Church of the Redeemer, Father Thomas McKenzie, started a well-earned sabbatical. His first task was to drive his 22-year-old daughter Ella back to New Mexico where she was a student at St. John’s College. Tragically, their car collided with a tractor-trailer on Interstate 40 just west of Nashville and both of them were killed. I......
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19
Aug 2021
This Sunday is Homecoming Sunday at Woodmont! Summer is quickly drawing to a close, school is back, and we are now ready for fall kickoff. I feel renewed and refreshed after a sabbatical and I’m looking forward to seeing all of you. Our children will move up to their next grade level and fall programming will kick off. We have decided to hold off on our children’s moment until after Labor Day because of the rise in Covid cases. Parents will continue to take children straight to their classrooms before worship. I......
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11
Aug 2021
Woodmont family, Our leadership has been very diligent in working to keep our congregation safe during the Covid pandemic while also allowing our ministries and worship services to continue. We are certainly aware of what is now going on with the Delta variant and we are watching the data closely. Masks are strongly encouraged for those who are unvaccinated and those at greater risk of infection. Children ages 3-11 who are still not eligible for the vaccine will continue wearing masks inside the building. This has been somewhat challenging to enforce, but......
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03
Aug 2021
I’m entering the final few weeks of my sabbatical. We will welcome two very special guests to our pulpit. This Sunday, August 8th, my friend and new Belmont president Dr. Greg Jones will preach. Greg is the former dean of Duke Divinity School and a widely recognized leader and theologian in America. On Sunday, August 15th, we will welcome Dr. Lee Camp, ethics professor at Lipscomb University. I look forward to being back for Homecoming Sunday, August 22nd to begin a new fall series called “Questions of Faith” based on specific questions......
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26
Jul 2021
During the first part of my sabbatical, I have been able to rest, reflect, renew, plan, and spend meaningful time with family. We are now in the Outer Banks with Megan’s family. I miss seeing everybody and have enjoyed tuning into to worship online. It occurs to me that one of the great ironies of ministry is that all the important things pastors are called to do – preach, teach, counsel, write, administrate, lead a staff, do weddings, funerals, navigate a pandemic – do not always lead to a spiritually balanced place.......
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12
Jul 2021
Sigmund Freud famously remarked, “Life as we find it is too hard for us; it brings us too many pains, disappointments, and impossible tasks.” Freud says, “We are threatened with suffering from three directions: from our own body, which is doomed to decay; from the external world which may rage against us with overwhelming and merciless forces of destruction including earthquakes, floods, and other natural disasters.” But finally, he says, “we are threatened with suffering from our relationships to other human beings. The suffering that comes to us from this source is......
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24
Jun 2021
This past Sunday, June 20, we voted to approve both our proposed operating budget and our new leadership slate for the upcoming church year. This coming Sunday, June 27, we will install our new leaders at the 10:45 AM service. Our final “Leadership and Character” class will be this Wednesday night, June 23, with Hunter Mobley at 6:30 PM in the chapel. Thank you once again to everybody who made a commitment to support Woodmont’s ministries for another year. On Sunday, I shared with you the words of one of my Princeton......
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17
Jun 2021
Former Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam is a rare breed in American politics. He is a moderate Republican willing to work with the other party to get things done for the common good. He is also a strong Christian who claims that his faith inspired him to first serve as Mayor of Knoxville and later as the Governor of Tennessee. He has just published an insightful new book titled “Faithful Presence: The Promise and Peril of Faith in the Public Square.” Just as Dwight Eisenhower warned of the “Military Industrial Complex” back in......
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25
May 2021
Socrates famously stated the “the unexamined life is not worth living.” If that is true, how often do we stop to ask, “What is the meaning and purpose of it all? What brings us fulfillment, joy, and happiness? So many answers are given to these questions: to love and to be loved; to leave the world better than you found it, to serve others; to know God; to create peace; to be present; to live with gratitude; to help others with their pain; to serve and give back; to forgive and hope......
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14
May 2021
I want to thank everybody who has made a commitment to support Woodmont’s ministries for another year. So far we have received 350 commitments totaling $2,707,169. We are still hoping for additional participation in our “Rising Strong Together” campaign. The pandemic has created significant challenges for churches and faith communities. Clergy and faith leaders have a multitude of questions as we emerge from this unprecedented time, not to mention severe fatigue and exhaustion. Will the church return to where it was pre-pandemic? Are people still afraid of Covid or simply out of......
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