February 2008
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This past weekend I had the opportunity to “Be still in the Lord.” As a part of my call to West Emory Church, there are two weekends a year that I am to devote solely to Sabbath Rest and Renewal. This time of healing and wholeness for both the body and the spirit offers me a quiet and uninterrupted time to read and rest, pray and worship. With the Advent and Christmas season not long behind us and Lent and Easter just ahead, I am thankful for this time apart to reflect upon the spiritual discipline of Lent and the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord.
“What does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6.8 The Lenten season gives us the opportunity to enter into a deeper commitment to Christ. I invite you to join me in considering how we might as a community of faith and as individuals mark this time with intentional discipleship. You might want to participate in a fast from particular luxuries, material consumerism or various forms of entertainment, and take each opportunity to refrain as a reminder of Christ’s sacrifice and a call to prayer. You might want to add a spiritual discipline such as morning or evening Bible reading, daily prayer for church/community/world, or actions of service and compassion. Let us together prayerfully commit to keep this Lenten season holy. May we set it apart from other times and make of ourselves and our very lives an offering to our gracious and loving God. Let us take up our crosses and follow Jesus.
O Christ, be born in each of our lives today.
Miki
March 2008
The blessings continue. Since 1823 there has been a continuing community of faithful Presbyterians worshiping in the present location of West Emory Church. After the original church building burnt down, it was replaced by the little red brick church on the hill near our present facility. For generations this little church was a beacon of worship and witness to our neighborhood and beyond.
After the West Emory congregation moved into its current church building in 1983, the little church on the hill slowly slipped into disuse and disrepair. Plagued by water damage to the basement rooms and deterioration of the heating and cooling systems, the little church became a convenient storage space for rummage sale items, seasonal church equipment and playground toys. Families of field mice, web-spinning spiders and occasional lizards all found these accommodations to their liking.
For years the Session pondered what to do with the proud little brick church on the hill but no good solution was forthcoming…until now. What had sadly become “just” a storage building, now has a new life and a new future. Through the providence of God we are embarking on a new and exciting ministry and the key component will be our little brick church building. What was once a beacon of worship will now become a beacon of service and outreach bearing witness to Jesus’ call to discipleship: “…for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me….Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:35,40).
What was once “just” a storage building is now going to become a vital link and the main site for the collection, sorting, storage and distribution of household items and furniture through our partnership with BRIDGE, a ministry providing hope and a new beginning for refugees fleeing their homelands. (See related article) This is truly an exciting opportunity for our church family as we take the hands-on lead in this very important outreach ministry. Working along side other volunteers, including students from Johnson Bible College, we will soon be adding shelving, clothing racks and sorting tables so that donations can be organized and stored until needed. Refugee families are being resettled in our area on a regular basis so the donated furniture and household goods will be rotating in and out of our facility quickly. With the goal of providing whatever is needed for refugee families to set up a household, this ministry will be ongoing and far-reaching.
There are so many aspects of the ministry in which we at West Emory can be involved: collecting and donating furniture, household items and clothing, sorting and organizing these items, sharing the mission and needs of this ministry with others and praying for the well-being of our new residents. God has blessed us with the compassionate caring and dedication of our members Kim Spoon and Steve Abbott who have been involved in BRIDGE for a while and are now helping us as a congregation begin the journey with them. God has truly blessed each and everyone of us. God is calling us to be a blessing to others. What an exhilarating and rewarding time this is in the life of our wonderful congregation.
Peace and Blessings,
Miki
April 2008
Isn’t spring a glorious time!
East Tennessee is spectacular this time of year. Each day seems to bring new surprises, new blossoms bursting forth – a feast for the eyes. This year I have especially enjoyed spring through the eyes of my four-year-old grandson, Nathaniel. He is giggly with delight to see that the funny, brown bulbs he helped “Gamma” plant in the fall are now sunny, yellow-trumpeted daffodils and stately pink or yellow tulips. The pansies that have weathered the freezing winter temperatures continue to lift up their smiley faces in greeting. Ah, the joy of watching children experience God’s creation.
What a blessing.
Just as spring heralds change to our environment, it is also a time of change for the Presbytery of East Tennessee (PET). Steve Benz has served as the Executive Presbyter of our presbytery for six years and is now stepping down from this position. We are thankful for the many blessings he has brought to this ministry. The Search Committee for an Interim Executive Presbyter has announced that The Rev. Dr. Carl Schlich (HR) has accepted the call to this position pending presbytery’s approval in May. He recently retired as Executive Presbyter of the Savannah Presbytery of the Synod of South Atlantic. Please keep Steve, Carl and the presbytery in your prayers during this time of change.
As I reported last month, West Emory Church is beginning a new ministry in conjunction with Bridge Refugee Settlement program. Our little church building on the hill is bursting with household goods that will be sorted and distributed to new refugee families making a home in our area. Students from Johnson Bible College, youth groups and other volunteers are on board to help organized the donations. We are looking forward to hearing more about this ministry at our Congregational Dinner on Sunday, April 20. I hope we have a great turn-out for this event. Together we are making a difference!
Peace and Blessings,
Miki
May 2008
From the Pastor’s Pen
By Miki Vanderbilt
We are approaching one of my most favorite days of the church year after Christmas and Easter. On Sunday, May 11 we will celebrate Pentecost—the climax of the Great Fifty Days of Easter. For Christians, Pentecost is a day to celebrate hope, a hope evoked by the knowledge that God through the Holy Spirit is at work among God’s people. It is a celebration of newness, of re-creation, and of calling as God’s people. Pentecost empowers us to proclaim, in word and deed, God’s plan for reconciling all people in the name of Christ (Eph. 1:10).
The predominate color for Pentecost is red symbolizing the flames of fire and the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit on those first believers gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem following Jesus’ resurrection. In the “spirit” of the day, you are invited to wear red on Pentecost Sunday. We will once again have the opportunity to share in the church’s on-going ministry to children-at-risk, youth and young adults through the annual Pentecost offering.
May 11 is also Mother’s Day. Many of you will be spending time with your mother or your children this weekend in some fashion or another. Others may be giving thanks for women who have been like a mother to you. Still others may find this holiday to be especially difficult in light the fact that the experience you have had with your mother or as a mother has not been all that you have wished or needed it to be. For some this day is particularly painful because the hope of being a mother has not been realized. Whatever you situation, how ever you experience this day, please remember that “like a mother who will not forsake her nursing child,” (Isaiah 49:15) God loves you and is faithful still.
Peace and Blessings,
Miki
June 2008
From the Pastor’s Pen
By Miki Vanderbilt
It’s time to go “green.” With a growing awareness for our need to take better care of the environment, “going green” has become the ecological symbol of our time. West Emory Church and our Child Enrichment Center are striving to do our part in becoming more eco-friendly by recycling plastics, aluminum cans and paper goods including Sunday bulletins.
This summer Jeremy Whitehead, in covenant partnership with John Knox Camp and Conference Center and our church, will be participating in a program in which he will be gaining the skills and resources to help our congregation become even better stewards of God’s wonderful creation. More on this unique project later.
“Green” is also the liturgical color for the season of the church year following Pentecost known as Ordinary Time. Green is the color of growth, fertility, abundance, possibility. This season is a time for remembering the possibilities for the blossoming of the kingdom in our midst. Each Sunday this is brought to mind in the green paraments that grace the pulpit and the lectern.
The Christian year is a balance of the extraordinary and the ordinary—a profile with peaks and plains. The peaks of Christmas and Easter are surely extraordinary, as are their preparatory seasons of Advent and Lent and the festive seasons that follow, lasting though Epiphany and the Day of Pentecost. But between these two extraordinary times—these mountains—are the great plains that we call Ordinary Time.
The word “ordinary” as it is used here is not a put down. It means “usual” or “regular.” Nothing can be extraordinary unless something else is ordinary. The term also reminds us of “order” and “The orderly,” as when lectionary readings in Ordinary Time go in an orderly way through the books of the Bible.
As we move into the seasons of summer and fall, let us remember and rejoice in the wonder of God’s creation. Let us seek to do everything in our power to be good stewards of the earth and all that dwells upon it. Let’s recycle, reuse, and reduce our consumption. Let’s go green.
Peace and Blessings,
Miki
August 2008
From the Pastor’s Pen
By Miki Vanderbilt
When the unthinkable happens…
As I am writing this message Monday afternoon, our community is still reeling from the news that a gunman interrupted yesterday’s Sunday service of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church here in Knoxville killing two persons and injuring seven others. The fact that the children were presenting a program for the congregation at the time makes this horrific act even more unthinkable and tragic.
Violent events such as this touch us all in one way or another. I, like many of you, received frantic calls from family members and friends across the nation fearing for our safety as soon as the news broke that there had been a shooting in a west Knoxville church. In the emerging details of the shooting, all sorts of images and questions come to mind. A heroic pillar of the church uses his own body to shield others from the blast of a shotgun and in this selfless act sacrifices his own life. Parents desperately seek to protect their children running for safety to Second Presbyterian Church next door. Blood splatters the sanctuary and children experience what no one should ever have to experience in their lifetime. In the blink of an eye lives are lost; parishioners and visitors are critically injured; individuals, congregations and our community are plunged into shock and grief.
Why? How could this happen? What explanation can there be for the unleashing of such rage against a people of faith who sought to reach out to others of all persuasions, all circumstances, all beliefs? It seems almost incomprehensible that it is this very inclusiveness and openness that triggered this violent attack.
Being the church is risky business especially if you dare to swim against the riptide of public opinion and personal animosity. Jesus experienced this as did his disciples. Down through the ages believers have been persecuted and killed for their beliefs. Hate breeds violence and violence often leads to death. We have seen it too many times—a bomb kills four little girls in Sunday School at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963; five girls are murdered in their Amish classroom in 2006; a deeply trouble student goes on a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech in 2007 and 33 die; and the list goes on and on.
Senseless, unprovoked, unimaginable. Surely God must be weeping once more over the loss of lives, the loss of innocence, the loss of a sense of safety and sanctuary, the loss for hope that turns one man’s anger into hatred and hatred into a horrible act of violence. Let us pray for this congregation and for all those who have been personally and profoundly impacted by this tragedy. As the Body of Christ, let us continue to be about the risky business of loving one another as God loves us. Let us reach out to all those who need to experience the grace and love and mercy that our Lord and Savior has taught us to share in his holy name.
Peace and Blessings,
Miki
September 2008
From the Pastor’s Pen
By Miki Vanderbilt
I don’t know about you but after the dog days of summer, I am so looking forward to the cool, crisp days of fall. There is just something energizing and refreshing about watching the autumn leaves work their magic, turning bright hues of yellow, orange and crimson. The chevrons of honking geese winging their way south upon a blanket of clear, blue skies signal that the seasons are changing and all of God’s creation is beginning to prepare for its winter slumber.
The start of fall is always a special time for our congregation. New programs, mission projects and fellowship activities are gearing up. Attendance in worship is growing as folks are returning from summer activities and visitors are joining us in hopes of finding a family of faith where they can feel at home. There is truly “a sweet, sweet spirit in this place” we call West Emory Church.
I hope you will read this Newsletter carefully and share it with your friends and neighbors. Whether it is Bible studies or Sunday School classes, service projects, choirs, children and youth activities, suppers or sermon series, there is something for everyone. I look forward to seeing you each Sunday in worship and I hope you will invite others to join us.
Peace and Blessings,
Miki
October 2008
From the Pastor’s Pen
By Miki Vanderbilt
It is hard to believe that October is here already! The promise of cool mornings and clear blue skies along with hints of color in the trees heralds the changing season and the coming of autumn. Before long the front lawn of the church will be festooned with billions and billions of plump orange pumpkins. Our Third Annual Pumpkin Patch mission project will not only be an eye-catching display inviting our neighbors to come and enjoy stocking up on their fall decorations but it will also give us the opportunity to extend an invitation to them to join us for worship on Sundays. This year we are adding a Pumpkin Festival on the 18th with lots of fun and activities for the children. As the Pumpkin Patch article in this newsletter states, proceeds from this project are designated for the Knox Area Rescue Mission for their Thanksgiving baskets. Any proceeds from the Festival will go to BRIDGE Refugee Resettlement. I hope you will join me in participating in these events by volunteering to unload the truck at 9 am on Saturday, October 11; signing up to staff the patch for a few hours, October 11 – 31; and/or helping with the Pumpkin Festival on the 18th, 10 am to 2 pm.
I also hope you will join me and members of your church family on October 5th as we celebrate World Communion Sunday and receive our Presbyterian Peacemaking Offering. Information about this offering can be found in the brochure in the newsletter. In November we will celebrate and give thanks for the gifts God has given to each and everyone of us and to this faith community. We will have the opportunity to respond to God’s love and grace in worship on Stewardship Sunday, Nov. 2, and Commitment Sunday on Nov. 9. In preparation for Commitment Sunday, when we will be dedicating our pledges to God, I invite all of us to be in prayer seeking to discern what God is calling us to give of our time, talents and treasures for the work of the Lord.
May God continue to bless you and our congregation as we seek to be faithful disciples of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Peace and Blessings,
Miki
November 2008
From the Pastor’s Pen
By Miki Vanderbilt
Could it be? November is here already which means that Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. We have a lot to celebrate and give thanks for this fall. A highlight was certainly our Annual Pumpkin Patch. So many of you shared your time and energy in making this mission project a rousing success once again. We especially thank Coordinator Julie Michel for her outstanding shepherding of this endeavor this year.
This month we will once again have the opportunity to respond with grateful hearts to all of God’s good gifts to us. The Stewardship theme for this year is “Give Thanks to the Lord” On Stewardship Sunday, November 2, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper together and are invited to be in prayer as we seek to discern what God is calling us individually and as a congregation to give of our time, talents and treasures for the Lord’s work in the coming year. Pledges for 2009 will be received and dedicated on Commitment Sunday, November 9.
As the holidays approach, preparations are already underway for the Annual Thanksgiving Luncheon, Angel Tree project, the Hanging of the Greens festivities, Advent and Christmas activities and worship opportunities. In the midst of all of the busyness of the season, I hope you will make it a priority to be in worship with your church family on Sunday mornings and to participate in as many of the events we will be offering as possible. I hope you will also invite family members, friends and acquaintances to join you as we experience God’s love, mercy and peace at West Emory Church.
May God continue to open our eyes and our hearts to the worship, service and fellowship that we are being called to as faithful disciples of our Lord and Savor Jesus Christ.
Blessings and Joy,
Miki
December 2008
O holy child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in,
Be born in us today.
These beautiful words from Phillips Brooks’ beloved carol are my prayer for all of us this Advent and Christmas season. Many of us—in our nation and around the world, in the lives of our families and friends—are experiencing great difficulty and stress during these challenging economical times. It is easy to allow the darkness of despair to over take the light of hope. May we all seek to find a new measure of faith, a new commitment to God’s cause in our world, and a deeper sense of God’s peace than ever before.
These days before Christmas are called ADVENT, which means “coming.” For hundreds of years this has been a time of preparation. But let us be careful of that for which we prepare. Let us prepare not so much for “Christmas” which will come and go, but for “Christ” whose love and grace does not pass with the season.
I hope that you will build into these sometimes hurried and harried days time for prayer and quiet moments of peaceful stillness. Read the Christmas story from Matthew and Luke and the words of prophesy from Isaiah. Pray for peace and good will to come alive in all the troubled parts of our world. Pray for new evidences of God’s love to those who are in difficult circumstances.
I hope you will also take advantage of the many opportunities in your church family for worship and service. Be present on Sunday mornings. Come to one of our Christmas Eve services. Provide a gift for someone on the Angel Tree. You will be blessed, and you will be a blessing.
O Christ, be born in each of our lives today.
Blessings and Joy,
Miki |
