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Dear Friends in Christ, The Reverend Clay Stauffer, senior pastor of Woodmont Christian Church wrote an interesting article in the Tennessean recently. It was called, "What will Christianity's future in America look like?" In the piece he mentioned Dr. Frank Drowota, founding pastor of WCC. It was Frank's dream that the Church would "interpret truth in terms of the times, but also challenge times in terms of the truth." That's well said. I believe that is the Church's task. Last Sunday, I noticed the silence in the sanctuary as we read through the heart of the sermon on the mount. The text produced a good bit of pew squirming. Prophetic teaching often does! We forget sometimes that Jesus is not only our Savior, but also our Lord! He comes not only to reveal God's love, but also to expose God's truth. Sometimes the truth hurts before it heals. Truth, like iodine, often stings as it cures. The work of a disciple is both pastoral and prophetic; to interpret truth in terms of the times, and challenge the times in terms of the truth. Jesus is both compassionate and challenging. He accepts us as we are, but doesn't leave us where we are. His work in us is ongoing. We call it sanctification - God's ongoing grace, slowly but surely transforming us from the inside-out! As we continue to contemplate the radicality of Jesus' teaching, I am grateful to be a part of a body that is truthful and redemptive. Ours is a community that meets one another at the point of our need. Divorce Care, recovery ministries, A.A., Al-Anon, Cancer Support, Grief Support, Inclusivity Ministry, Domestic Abuse, Memory Loss Caregiver Respite (Sunny Day) Parish Nurse Ministry, are but a few
of the ways that we enact and experience grace and truth. Many thanks to all who participate in these marvelous ministries. You are indeed, the hands and feet of Jesus! We are all wounded healers. It's a privilege to partner with you in the mission! To better reflect our mission and strategy as a community of disciples, we have redesigned our church logo. Our new logo is rich with symbolic meaning: • The arched shape reflects the arched doorway entering our narthex from the outside, symbolic of welcoming all in the name of Christ and sending disciples into the world to serve • The cross in the middle symbolizes our mission, making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, and its three components embody our three-pronged strategy of connect, prepare and send • The colors are liturgical colors and relate to the three strategies: red (Pentecost, the birth of the church and origin of gathering people in Christian fellowship = Connect), purple (Advent & Lent, the seasons of preparation = Prepare), and green (Kingdomtide, the season emphasizing doing God's work in the world = Send).
As you begin to see our new logo in various places - on our website, in printed materials, in our facilities -- let it remind you of our unique DNA as a church - devoted to making disciples of Jesus Christ by connecting, preparing and sending, while remaining rooted in our Wesleyan tradition.
Finally, it was good to welcome new members Margaret Henderson, Bill Dailey, Dalgis Rangel, Jerry and Marti Castellon, Amanda Larkin, Scott Wages, Bob and Claudia Cook, Bob, Claudia, Gabi and Alex Cook, Jerry, Marti, Jaisie and Michael Castellon, Amanda Larkin, Scott Wages, Dalgis Rangel, and Sebastian Peter Theodoro to our Brentwood campus as well as Harriett Thayer to our Trinity Church Spring Hill campus. Welcome to our church community. I look forward to seeing you in worship this weekend.
Davis