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Dear friends in Christ, Our staff went on retreat yesterday. We spent the day off campus reconnecting with God. It was a meaningful time. One of the things we talked about was how important it is sometimes to disconnect in order to reconnect. We thought about that verse from Luke 5:16 which says, "And Jesus withdrew to a lonely place where he prayed." I gave each person a Scripture text and asked them to spend 20 minutes in solitude and open themselves to God in prayer. When we returned we shared our experiences together. I was amazed at the insights and discoveries that resulted from time alone with God. There is no substitute for this. We must detach in order to reattach. Then we moved from personal connection to communal connection. We talked of our need to be connected through a common vision. When an organization is confused about her mission, confusion results. Our mission is clear. We are called "to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world." But what is our part in this? What does it mean to embody the mission? What does that look like for us, as leaders? What are we risking for the mission of Christ? We then moved from communal connection to kingdom connection. We ended the day with Bishop McAlilly and our superintendent, Harriet Bryan sharing with us the greater vision of the Tennessee Conference and the role they felt Brentwood played in this vision. I felt blessed to be in alignment with these special leaders. It was a memorable day. I want to remind you that on Wednesday night, September 10, at 6:30 pm in the sanctuary, we are going to begin a 6-week Bible-based study called "Embody." We are going to be sharing with you our