Brentwood Baptist News: Station Hill

Station Hill hosts Spring Hill Area City Prayer Gathering

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Last fall, 180 people showed up in the Spring Hill area to come together for the very first Spring Hill Area City Prayer Gathering. That launch was just the beginning. The second event will take place on Thursday, February 2 from 6:30–8:00 p.m., hosted by the Church At Station Hill.

The event is tagged "One Church, Many Congregations," according to Jay Strother, Pastor at Station Hill Church. He said, "The pastors of 12 local congregations will facilitate a time of worship and focused prayer for our families, churches, community, nation, and world."

The area pastors' prayer group focuses on three major areas that they believe will positively affect their community with the gospel:

Authentic Relationships – Area pastors and churches working shoulder-to-shoulder.

Intentional Prayer – The reason why they decided to host a second prayer gathering.

Service to Spring Hill – For example, working with the Parks and Recreation Department, their combined congregations provided the manpower, food, entertainment, inflatable games, and more for City Fest so families could have free, safe entertainment one Saturday a month this past summer.

"A unifying Scripture for us is Psalm 133:1: 'How blessed it is when brothers walk together in unity,'" Jay said. "We're blessed and excited to see churches working together instead of apart."

Brentwood and Station Hill sixth graders escape to Deer Run Retreat

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Sixth graders are unique. Everyone knows that—especially the Brentwood Baptist and Station Hill Student Ministries. That's why they combine groups to create their very own winter retreat every year.

From December 2-3, 60 sixth grade students and leaders—including high school leaders—went in the opposite direction that the students in grades 7-12 did two weeks before. Just 20 miles south of Brentwood Baptist, they stopped to stay at the scenic, wooded hideaway called Deer Run Retreat in Thompson's Station.

Like the rest of the students, they also participated in their own time of worship, small group Bible study, and recreation. According to Amy-Jo Girardier, this is a "transitional" retreat for them from the Children's Ministry to Student Ministry.

"A developmental shift happens after Christmas for sixth graders. They start taking more responsibility," she said. "They're obviously the youngest group and feel a little intimidated around the older kids at the retreat. So we've created a place for them to feel safe, but still experience what student retreat is and ease into what next year will be like."

This year, before they closed out the weekend, the Student Ministry inaugurated the Dole Survivor Competition that put four teams to task with the potassium-packed fruit we all know and love. The two girls teams and two boys teams—Comet, Dasher, Prancer, and Blitzen—participated in four rounds: 1) free throws; 2) relay-style olympics; 3) surgery, which required skilled student surgeons, plastic knives, and duck tape; and 4) banana peel, that highlighted the bare feet of some contestants in a contest to unwrap the fruit from its natural casing.

At the end, the team with the most banana cards was to be named the "Dole Survivor Champion." As it happened, there was a four-way tie. And you know what that meant? Everyone left the retreat a winner.

Students go north for annual Winter Retreat

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Who doesn't love a good, long, relaxing pre-break break before the real break?

The weekend before students took time off for the Thanksgiving holiday, more than 300 Brentwood Baptist and Station Hill seventh through twelfth graders (including leaders) traveled to Jonathan Creek Camp in Hardin, Kentucky—the Land Between the Lakes—for the Student Winter Retreat.

This annual event stands by its namesake. It's a retreat from life for students struggling to stay afloat in the midst of jam-packed semesters, unruly schedules, and overwhelming exams. And this year's theme steered them back toward the basics—"The Message of the Cross"—based on 1 Corinthians 1:18.

According to Linc Taylor, Brentwood Baptist Student Minister, many students who claim to be Christ-followers are still living as though they're condemned, which is why this year's message was crucial to convey.

"I've had countless conversations expressing this," Linc said. "Students feel weighted, bogged down in their forward progress toward embracing life to the fullest. I believe this is one of the reasons they often only celebrate the things they didn't do instead of living in the unimaginable joy that freedom in Christ brings."

Before the retreat, Linc prepped the leaders attending for what was to come, saying, "Many of us know the foundational truths of the gospel, but we may not truly grasp the full measure of an altered nature. When we come to faith in Christ, we have a new identity and literally pass from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive. It's a pretty deep truth for our students—and many of them are more than ready to grasp it."

Surrounding this central theme throughout the weekend, the students participated in activities, games, small group Bible study, and worship. Worship was led by Chris White, former student minister and founder of Mobilizing Students, and Chad Childress, Team Leader for Missionary Mobilization with the North American Missions Board, took the stage as guest speaker.

Chad led the students through principles found in Romans—how to engage sin, respond to grace, and view themselves in light of sin when grace covers it.

He said, "They don't have to be slaves to that any longer. This message is important for students simply because of their stage of life. They have so much potential that's not been called out. Calling them out and raising the standard for them is critical."

Chris White, who's passion is creating authentic worship encounters with God and opportunities for students to take the gospel internationally, led the students in worship all three days—featuring a unique prayer experience on Saturday night.

"My goal was to help students encounter the Lord in a real way—not in a religious way," Chris said. "We've got enough religion in the south. Religion kills. Jesus sets people free. I wanted to take the luster off of what it means to be in the worship moment. It's not about the band. It's not about your favorite song or style. It has everything to do with the presence of God. We have the appearance of an awesome setting, but so many students walk away not having experienced God's presence or power. That only comes when hearts are humbled before Him. I tried to peel all that back and make it as authentic as possible so these students could feel the freedom to let their guards down, be themselves, and really worship."

Small group Bible study broke out all over the camp grounds in scheduled sessions. And leaders didn't just consist of parents and adult volunteers—some former students returned from college to teach and discuss.

Evan Kunz, a freshman at Union University and long-time member of Brentwood Baptist, led a group of seventh graders.

"I came back to lead because I really love what the Brentwood Baptist Student Ministry does every year and I love their passion. I wanted to be able to give back to it, and encourage and uplift students who are here now."

Another former student, David Morris, who's a freshman at Columbia State University, leads a LIFE Group of seventh grade guys during the school year and followed them to camp.

"The LIFE Group has opened my eyes and given me a heart for middle schoolers," he said. "This was a chance for me to experience camp with them—something I always came to as a student."

Clay Huddleston, a freshman at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, graduated in May and didn't get involved in the Student Ministry until the end of his senior year.

"When I finally started going, I realized I'd missed out because it's not every day there's a Student Ministry like this that gears students so much toward worship and God," he said. "I fell in love with the ministry and my friends there. I wanted to come back, not to replay what I'd missed, but to try and help people see what I saw."

Current students like high school senior Derek Cressman came for the community he's developed within the ministry over the last seven years. According to him, God has been teaching him about the importance of biblical community and accountability with his friends at church this year—and camp rounded it out. He said, "You can't live the Christian life by yourself. We're better together."

On Saturday, many of the students formed teams and participated in the traditional boys-versus-boys and girls-versus-girls Brentwood Bowl. The massive event featured junior high and high school teams with names like: Team Lethal, D.O.R.K. (aka Daughters of the Risen King), Sparkly Unicorns, The Flock, and others. In the end, this year's trophies went to The Disciples (the girls) and Team Carol (the guys).

Those who didn't participate in the football mania played sand volleyball and basketball, walked the campgrounds, and huddled inside the Wilderness Cafe for card and board games while enjoying snacks and caffeinated goodness.

The Winter Retreat is like killing two birds with one stone for most students. They get to hang out with their friends and learn about who God is at the same time. For ninth-grader Kirby Bennett, this is her favorite Student Ministry event of the year.

"It's right in the middle of the school year and I can just get away and focus on the important stuff in life," she said. "I can get so caught up in school and friends and stress. This is a weekend for me to bond with my LIFE Group friends and hear from God. This year, He taught me to trust Him with whatever happens. He's Lord of everything in my life anyway, so my future and life is in His hands."

The retreat will remain faithful to do its job for the students year after year—giving them a place to escape, develop new and current friendships, have fun in community, and spend time with God. Linc said, "We take full advantage of this to place the truths of God right in front of their faces—and then challenge them to respond."

Story by Kaylan Christopher, Staff Writer

31 adults and children baptized at church's annual lakeside picnic

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 05:00:00 GMT

For the second year, members of Station Hill migrated to Deer Run Retreat after church on Sunday, August 28 for the annual Picnic & Lake Baptism Service.

From 1:00–5:00 p.m., those who gathered at the lake enjoyed: eating lunch under the "big tent;" participating in open recreation, including a climbing wall, soccer, sand volleyball, Wiffle ball, and more; watching the baptisms of 31 adults and children in the lake; and participating in lake activities on canoes, a zip line, water slides, and a water trampoline.

Brandon Abbott, a Station Hill member, said, "Everyone brought their own food. It was a very relaxed environment. The weather was great and we ate, played, laughed, sang, swam, and baptized. We just got to be around people we don't normally get to talk with."

While the Brentwood Baptist campus hosted their annual Graceworks Food Drive, bringing in more than 30,000 pounds of food and supplies, the Station Hill campus also gathered food The Well in Spring Hill during the combo picnic/baptism festivity.

Brandon said, "So many of the people who are now coming to Station Hill are new, so while this is a good family time for those who are members, it's also a chance to learn about the new folks and realize these are people who have their own stories. It's a great way to do life."

Pictures taken by Leigh Ann Moore
Story by Kaylan Christopher, Staff Writer

Jason Swain, Discipleship and Care Pastor, leaves to start new work in Colorado

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 05:00:00 GMT

In November 2008, Pastor Mike Glenn preached a message from Acts 13 called "A Great Church Runs Members Off." That day, he cast a vision for our church: we would be a church that would multiply and reach more people, starting new works, campuses, and venues.

Fast forward to January 2010. That's exactly what Brentwood Baptist did, running off 51 families to start a new work 30 minutes south in the Spring Hill and Thompson's Station area, a community that's 83 percent unreached. The new work, which is still going strong today, is called The Church At Station Hill.

Jay Strother, Station Hill's Campus and Teaching Pastor, said, "We're excited to say that this young work is thriving and growing, and we're blessing every day to see new people walk through our doors. From the beginning, we knew that one of our dreams would be to be a work that started more new works."

Enter Jason Swain. Years ago, God connected Jason and Jay in friendship. They knew immediately they'd be great partners in ministry, but were unsure how that would play out. As it happened, God provided the much-needed resources so Jason could join the Station Hill team and be a part of the new work.

"Jason came on board as the Discipleship and Care Pastor. He had the opportunity to help for our LIFE Group Ministry and gave us a healthy balance for biblical relationships," Jay said.

For almost two years Jason served the Station Hill Church family in this role. He said, "It was a privilege for me to jump in and be a part of this team and the initial launch of Station Hill."

Since starting new works was built into the DNA of Station Hill, it came as no surprise to the church family to hear that Jason and his family were called to start a new work in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Jay said, "The whole time he was with us, we knew Jason had a gift and that God had wired him to be a lead pastor. So, on June 26, our church body did what Brentwood Baptist had done for us. We ran them off and released them to go start this new work for the kingdom."

"Jay knew, and I knew, that God had called and put a desire in my heart to be a church planter one day," Jason said. "The opportunity came this spring in Fort Collins, a town of more than 100,000 people with less than 15 percent connected to an evangelical church."

With the support of their church family in Tennessee, Jason, Lindsay, and their four children have packed up and headed northwest—but not without leaving with a few invaluable lessons and experiences that were given to them through their time at Station Hill.

"I'm so much more equipped to go and start a church in Fort Collins today than I was two years ago," Jason said. "I'm so grateful, not only for the experience, but, even more than that, the relationships God has given my family here at Station Hill and to be a part of a church culture that gets it, that understands the kingdom is advanced through planting and starting new churches."

Just like their mother church, Station Hill is passing on its legacy to its new daughter church. Generations of church families are still being birthed from a vision and passion for reaching people that was conceived long ago in the hearts, minds, and prayers of Brentwood Baptist charter members.

"We know the best way to reach new people is to start new works," Jay said. "So now, our prayers go with Jason and Lindsay as they go to Fort Collins with many of the things they've learned with us that they'll take with them and implement there. We pray that, as Brentwood Baptist continues to grow, as we continue to find ways to reach people, God will continue to build in us a passion for the lost and planting new works."

Story by Kaylan Christopher, Staff Writer

Vacation Bible School draws biggest crowd of kids and volunteers to date

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Bi-bi-bi-bi-bi-bi Big Apple Adventure.
Bi-bi-bi-bi-bi-bi Big Apple Adventure.
Where faith and life connect, Jesus directs my future.
Bi-bi-bi-bi-bi-bi Big Apple Adventure.

That particular tune could be heard sung by more than 1,300 voices, from toddlers to fifth graders, throughout the Worship Center and halls of Brentwood Baptist during Vacation Bible School last week.

Taxis, bright lights, mini Statue of Liberties, hot dog vendors, and other symbols of The Big Apple were splashed up and down the halls of our church.

If you would've walked through the doors of this building any time from 9:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. during July 11-15, you would've thought you'd stepped into a pseudo-New York City. And we even had the crowds to prove it—boasting our biggest VBS crowd yet and the largest first day ever. Amy Carter, Children's Minister, called it OMC, or "Organized Mass Chaos."

"Everything was just bigger this year," Amy said. "We had at least 200 more kids than we had last year. But all of our volunteers were so excited and positive about it. About two weeks before VBS, we realized our registration was larger that what we'd expected. There wasn't enough time to add new classes, so we told our teachers they were going to have bigger classes. That news could frustrate some people, but our volunteers embraced it. They said, 'Bring it on!'"

At the height of the week, more than 2,000 kids had enrolled while we maintained an average of 1,300-plus and more than 450 adult volunteers each day, shuffling from worship to classrooms to recreation. And that included the kids from The Church At Station Hill, Brentwood Baptist's south campus.

During worship, kids learned a new batch of songs coupled with choreographed moves and sign language. They were also presented with a dramatic interpretation of that day's lesson, followed by a short message by Zach Van Gieson, Children's Minister at The Church At Station Hill.

In their classrooms, they dove deeper into the biblical lessons they learned in worship, taking away a new lesson for life each day:
• Day 1 - Connecting with Faith
• Day 2 - Connecting with Love
• Day 3 - Connecting with Trust
• Day 4 - Connecting with Others
• Day 5 - Connecting with Life

Interspersed throughout the day, various age groups also participated in segment called "Missions Central," hosted by Vinny, the hot dog vendor, and Nikki, the taxi cab driver—characters played by two of our high school students. Kids were introduced to church-supported, international missionaries, Brentwood Baptist teams going out to serve, and ministry partners.

At the end of the week, in the spirit of competition between boys versus girls versus volunteers, offering totals were revealed at the Friday night VBS Celebration Service. VBS participants gave a grand total of $7,585.87 to go toward missions. Amy said, "That was huge! It was more than double what we received last year."

On Thursday, two girls enrolled in VBS were inspired by the missions presentations and set up a lemonade stand in their neighborhood to raise money. After flagging down their neighbors and passersby, the dynamic duo had collected $69 at the end of the day to contribute to the missions offering total.

On Wednesday, Brentwood Baptist members were asked to pray as the gospel was presented during the message, which produced the most exciting results of all. After discussion with their teachers and VBS volunteers, 54 children made decisions to follow Jesus with their lives and many others expressed interest in learning more about what this means.

"We had one teenager volunteering in one of our rooms who started asking the classroom director questions about faith. She wanted to talk about baptism," Amy said. "Linc [Taylor, Student Minister,] wound up talking with her on Friday and she made a decision to become a Christian. The gospel went further than just the kids, so that was a cool story."

To wrap up one of the most intense, exciting weeks in our Preschool and Children's Ministry for 2011, many VBS attenders took the stage on Sunday during worship to lead in the 8:00, 9:30, and 11:00 a.m. services alongside the VBS worship team.

"VBS brings together the whole church," Amy said. "We have all age groups participating—from senior adults to infants. People line up to work together who wouldn't normally cross paths or even serve in the Children's Ministry. They're able to use their gifts and talents for recreation, serving snacks, music, teaching, parking lot, security. It's a beautiful representation of the body of Christ functioning the way its supposed to."

The whole initiative was about connecting. It wasn't just a Lifeway-inspired lesson the kids learned through VBS curriculum every day. It also lined up with who we are as a church: "to connect people to Jesus Christ through worship, discipleship, and service." It was about us connecting with parents and the community, members connecting with other members, parents connecting with their children, and, through their children, parents connecting with God.

"More than half of the children who came aren't connected to our church, and 76 kids said they weren't connected to any church at all," Amy said. "This is one of the most effective ways for our church to reach so many families in our community with the gospel every year. It's not just for us, for our church family! It's because we believe in investing in our community."

Photos by Joe Hendricks
Story by Kaylan Christopher, Staff Writer

Emma's Story: God heals the Miracle Baby

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 05:00:00 GMT

By Amy Hill

Finding out I was pregnant was somewhat of a shock. We hadn’t planned to have another baby. My husband, Nick, was traveling with his job and I had just taken a new position with the church. But, God saw fit to bless us with a third child.

I was classified as pre-term labor in my first trimester. At 20 weeks, we had a routine ultrasound that identified I had a low-lying placenta and a single artery umbilical cord. We were told they would have to follow me closely to make sure our baby girl grew on schedule.

At 23 weeks, after a lot of contractions, I found myself having another ultrasound. The next day, my OB called and told me they had identified a problem with Emma’s heart and we needed to have an echocardiogram.

On September 16, 2010, at 27 weeks, we saw the pediatric cardiologist and had the first of many echocardiograms. The cardiologist told us our baby had a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot. This is a condition of four abnormalities in the heart:
1. A hole in the septum that divides the right and left ventricle,
2. The aorta connects to the heart in the wrong place, not allowing the hole to grow together on its own,
3. The right ventricle wall thickens,
4. And there’s a narrowing in the pulmonary valve.

The cardiologist said Emma would need surgery sometime within the first three months of her life. We asked her if there was any chance this would heal without surgery and she said, “I’m not going to say that it can’t happen because I believe that God can do anything, but in my almost 30 years of practice I’ve never seen a condition like this heal on its own.”

So we started praying. Nick prayed for complete and total healing. I prayed for God to take care of her and for her to be OK. We shared with our family, friends, and church family, and they all joined us in prayer. The amount of faithful prayer that poured out for our sweet Emma was overwhelming!

Three weeks later, at 30 weeks, we had another echo with the same results. Again, we were told she would need surgery very soon after birth. We continued to pray.

A week later, at 31 weeks, I went into labor. They put me in the hospital for a week on magnesium sulfate, a medicine that helps stop labor. My OB decided to have another echo done in the hospital.

A group from the maternal-fetal medicine department came in to do the echo. They had read the reports from our cardiologist and knew they were looking for Tetralogy of Fallot. After a while, the doctor said, “I’m sorry, but I don’t see anything wrong.”

Nick was looking at the screen and he looked at me and shook his head no and mouthed that he didn’t see anything. The doctor said, “This is a beautiful heart.”

The next day another team came in to check again, and again they said, “This is a perfectly healthy heart.” So, we asked for our cardiologist to come check for herself. She looked at the monitor and looked at us and said, “I don’t see anything wrong.”

She started to apologize and said she knew she saw the blood flowing through the hole just a week earlier. Nick stopped her and said, “It's OK if you want to call it a miracle, because that’s what it is.” And tears started flowing down her cheeks.

We were elated! We couldn’t wait to tell everyone who had joined us in prayer that God had given Emma a new heart. The aorta was in a different place, the hole was gone, and the thickening in the ventricle wall was gone. It was a completely different heart. God had performed an unbelievable miracle for our little girl!

Still rejoicing about this wonderful gift, we waited through the next few weeks. I was on total bed rest and we needed a lot of help. But, we knew that God had healed Emma and we just needed to make it five more weeks.

On November 28, 2010, three weeks before my due date, I went into labor. I knew almost immediately that something seemed wrong. The pain was so intense and never subsided between contractions. By the time we got to the hospital, my blood pressure was dangerously elevated due to the pain and they had to get it back down. They gave me an epidural and let me labor through the night.

At 6:00 a.m. the next morning, my OB came in to break my water and saw a lot of blood in the amniotic fluid. They lost Emma’s heartbeat immediately. He started calling for help, saying we’d had an abruption and people started flooding the room.

Nick, who’d just fallen asleep, was awakened by the confusion. Within seconds, they were wheeling my bed out to the OR for an emergency Cesarean Section. There wasn’t any time for them to explain to Nick. I took one last look at him as they wheeled me out of the room.

They put me under general anesthesia for the C-section to get Emma out as soon as possible. Emma and I both started bleeding out immediately when he broke my water, so she wasn’t breathing and had no heartbeat when they got her out.

For 15 minutes they performed CPR on her before her heart started to beat on its own. The doctor later told us they wouldn’t have worked on her any longer. After CPR, they listening one last time when he heard her heart beat.

Due to the lack of oxygen to her brain for such a long time, there was a great danger of swelling in the brain and ultimately severe brain damage. So, within the hour, they transported her within the hour to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital where she was put on head cooling for 72 hours. This treatment, which is fairly new and only works in 20 percent of cases, keeps the body temperature extremely low to keep the brain from swelling.

Later, we found out that most of our doctors expected Emma to either not make it or suffer severe brain damage. In fact, most children who suffer a brain insult like hers either don’t survive the initial trauma or don’t survive past the first week. Of the ones who do, a large percentage suffer debilitating disabilities.

For nine days, Emma was in the NICU before she was able to come home with us. Today, she’s six months old and perfectly normal. God performed another unbelievable miracle for Emma! Every doctor or specialist she sees is shocked and bewildered by her medical history and perfectly normal development. Many of them call her the “Miracle Baby.”

There’s no medical explanation for how she has survived so much in her young life, but we know without a doubt that God is big and there’s nothing He can’t do. He’s in control of every situation and He answers prayers. He’s a God of miracles and healing.

We thank him every day for Emma’s gifts. He gave her life in my womb and a new heart when her heart was broken. And when circumstances beyond our control took her life from us, He gave her life again.

KidLife and Adult Choirs band together to lead in worship

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Kids are a crucial part of the Station Hill Church family-oriented congregation. That's why the ministry to kids is growing at a rapid pace, taking a unique twist to what's already in place on the Brentwood campus.

Zach van Gieson, Children's Minister at Station Hill, said, "We don't have Kid's Praise or Marketplace here, so we decided to do KidLife last fall."

KidLife welcomes children in kindergarten through fifth grade. It takes place each Wednesday night during the school year from 6:30-8:00 p.m., including both discipleship and worship sessions. Zach said, "For the first hour, boys and girls break up into small groups and do Bible study. Then, the last 30 minutes, we do the worship portion."

For music and worship, Jeremy Busler, Music & Worship Minister at Station Hill, and Zach collaborated and asked what they could do differently on the south campus from what they knew was being done on the Brentwood Campus. The brainstorming session yielded a unique solution: Jeremy, who leads the adult choir, would recruit members to step out after practice and teach the kid's choir.

Most of the kids join their parents in the 11:00 a.m. worship service each week. While the adult choir takes the stage every other Sunday, the kids now join them once a month. The preschoolers are learning choruses and participate in the opening and welcome, then take their seats to allow the elementary kids to lead in worship.

"They're singing those songs they've been practicing every month, which gives them a chance to lead as well and not necessarily perform," Jeremy said. "This helps our kids be involved in the body of the church in a way that may not seem normal for a child. And the adults love it because it gives them a chance to pour into the kids and serve."

Story by Kaylan Christopher, Staff Writer

Six teams travel to Rainsville, Alabama this summer to continue disaster relief

Fri, 27 May 2011 05:00:00 GMT

On Wednesday, April 27, tornadoes slammed the South, destroying homes and taking lives across four states. Alabama, our sister state to the south, suffered incredible damage, and cried out for help in the aftermath of the deadly storms.

For the past month, we've been dedicated to helping them pick up the pieces of their lives. Brentwood Baptist members have journeyed south to provide supplies, help in clean-up, remove debris, and give food to those in need.

As a result, we're sending six more teams to the Rainsville area in Dekalb County throughout the summer for weekday and weekend mission journeys:
• June 9-12
• June 23-26*
• July 14-17
• July 18-23 (for college students)
• July 28-31
• August 18-21
*This trip will focus specifically on helping with Freedom Fest, a community festival sponsored by a local church, that will draw close to 10,000 people.

In that county alone, 35 fatalities were reported, 250 homes were completely wiped out, more than 500 homes were destroyed enough to be deemed inhabitable and will soon be demolished, and 1,500 homes, including the local schools, sustained significant damage.

The city of Rainsville has a population of nearly 5,000. The per capita income for the city is just over $14,000 and 14.4% of the population live below the poverty level. Many residents, unwilling to leave, have pitched tents on their property to start from scratch and rebuild their lives. It's an area in desperate need of our help, so our work has just begun.

Each journey's focus will be different as the needs change and progress is made from clean-up to recovery to rebuilding over the summer months. So far, a team has gone with chainsaws in tow to remove debris, and two cargo vans full of tents, cleaning supplies, Gatorade, charcoal grills, and more have been sent.

This summer, Brentwood Baptist team members will join with First Baptist Church in Rainsville to form a task force. Teams will stay at the church where meals will also be provided. The cost to participate (per person) will total $30 plus carpooling and gas expenses to and from the affected area. Ages 10 and older are invited to help.

Amidst the tragedy, the gospel of hope and love through Christ is spreading.

Kim said, "One of the deputy sheriffs, through all of this, has been saved through the response and how he's seen others come to help. … Our opportunity here in Rainsville is that we can impact…a whole community and show them what the love of Christ looks like. They might expect it from their neighbors, but they may not from people in a different state who don't even know them. That's why we're going."

If you'd like to join a mission journey team to Rainsville, Alabama this summer, please click here to find out more information and sign up. An information meeting for the first journey will take place on Sunday, June 5 at 5:00 p.m.

10-year-old Cameron Powell raises money to purchase Portuguese Bibles for summer mission journeys

Mon, 16 May 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Cameron Powell, a 10-year-old in the fourth grade at Lighthouse Christian Academy in Antioch, recently proved you're never too young to be serious about your faith and add action to your belief.

Just this year, he started a Prayer Club at recess with several of his friends. His mom, Brandy, said, "Right after Christmas, they decided to meet once a week under the playground equipment. Everyone has an assigned responsibility: the president, vice president, someone who prays."

Cameron, the president of the fourth grade group, said, "I thought it would be neat to at least try it with my friends. We have a person who reads the Bible and we use a devotion book that we read Scripture from. We usually spend a few minutes praying for each other—like for one of my friend's dad or when I got hurt."

The Powell family—Robert, Brandy, Cameron, and Tate—have been attending Brentwood Baptist for a little more than a year. Each Sunday, Cameron's participates in Sunday school and has attended last summer's Vacation Bible School. And it came as no surprise to his parents, given his recent behavior, that he soon wanted to do something to help in the ministry of missions.

Sharon Fairchild, Mission Journey Coordinator for Brentwood Baptist, received him in the Parlor one Sunday morning. "He asked me what there was that he could do, so I told him we had three teams going to Brazil this summer and we needed help buying Bibles so we could give them out," she said.

With the permission of the administration at his school, Cameron took advantage of his school's "Jean Day Thursday" to raise money. Because they're required to wear the same uniforms every day, this luxury is unique for students. To participate, they're required to pay for the privilege and, in turn, help raise money for something that's important.

"Last year, they used the money from jean days to support the senior class mission trip. They haven't done any jean day fundraisers this year, but they let Cameron collect $2 a person at two different times—once at the end of April and another time at the beginning of May," his mom said.

Two months with no word went by after the first time Sharon met the dedicated 10-year-old who sought her out. You can imagine her surprise when, on Sunday, May 15, he showed up in the Parlor with his family to deliver a plastic bag containing $609.65 for the purchase of Portuguese Bibles.

"Cameron heard about the need and wanted to do something," Sharon said. "A lot of times, people think helping demands too much or it's too much trouble. But here you have a 10-year-old who went out of his way to be obedient. God called him to do something and he responded—he put feet to the calling. That can be an inspiration to all of us."

Station Hill teams up with area churches to provide items for storm victims

Fri, 06 May 2011 05:00:00 GMT

If you've always wanted to get a good picture of what the Church (note: big C) looks like working together under the banner of Christ, then here it is.

After a series storms ripped through much of the southeast recently, leaving destruction behind in the rubble, churches in the Spring Hill and Thompson's Station areas came together and responded to the devastation.

Our own Church At Station Hill was among that group who acted out of love and generosity—being one of the many ways we're united with other churches in the community to make a difference.

Starting last Friday, April 29, trucks containing an array of supplies, including blankets, clothing, diapers, baby food, insulin and other meeds, toys, band-aids, socks, jackets, bottled water, chips, juice, packaged food, fruit cups, paper towels, kleenex, toilet paper, flash lights, and batteries, were shipped off to Alabama to provide relief for families who lost it all.

The trucks and trailers were provided by Conduit Mission, a non-profit organization based out of Franklin. Getting their start in 2007 as a Bible study, their goal was to be a "conduit" of God's power, love, and resources, providing donated items toward initiatives at home and around the world.

Since then, they've partnered with other organizations that feed the hungry, educate children, provide homes for orphans, and shelter for the homeless.

Darren Tyler of Conduit wrote in an e-mail to those involved: "I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart at your response. My back is still sore from your generous response. I'm overwhelmed by your generosity."

Video provided by Conduit Mission.

Station Hill responds to storm and tornado victims in southeast

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 05:00:00 GMT

As of May 6, click here for the latest updates on how you can get involved.

Back in April 1974, a tornado frenzy occurred, touching down throughout 13 states in 16 hours. According to the National Weather Service, it was the worst outbreak in U.S. history. It covered more than 2,500 miles, killing 330 people and injuring more than 5,450.

After assessing damage from storms that tore through the south this past Tuesday and Wednesday, that 37-year-old record may be broken this month.

This week, tornadoes ravaged towns and communities throughout Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, and Virginia, then slowly moved up through the north. There were 39 tornadoes on Tuesday alone that touched down in the southeast.

So far, 280 deaths have been confirmed and that number continues to rise. Two of Alabama's major cities—Tuscaloosa and Birmingham—suffered major damage, tearing down a major nuclear plant and leaving people without power for an expected minimum of three days.

Homes were destroyed. Cars have vanished. Gasoline is no longer readily available. Food is running out. So, what are we doing about it?

Brentwood Baptist is currently partnering with the Tennessee Baptist Convention (TBC) and Westwood Baptist Church outside of Birmingham to aid in relief efforts, providing funds to help them purchase and transport water and non-perishable foods to areas in and around Tuscaloosa.

Westwood Baptist is also working with the Alabama Baptist Convention Disaster Relief Agency to assess the damaged areas and determine a coordinated relief effort—a process that can take hours and sometimes days to complete.

According to Kim Cox, Associate Missions Minister, members should not attempt to travel to the affected areas. Tennessee, Alabama, and other states have enacted their emergency relief plans, which include utilizing the National Guard to secure those particular areas. In addition, several Baptist state conventions are already setting up feeding programs for victims and volunteers.

We're currently accepting donations by check or online to support all relief efforts. As information becomes available, we'll post updated information for volunteering manpower or resources.

The Missions Ministry would like to remind our members: "Please remember to pray for those who were in the storm's path. In the midst of confusion and grief, pray that every individual would turn to the One who provides hope—our Comforter and Savior."

Click here for the latest information on TBC disaster relief.

Click here for up-to-date information on how you can volunteer, give, and pray.

If you have any questions regarding our response to this disaster, please call Kim Cox at 615.324.6150 or e-mail her.

The Place of Peace: Tim and Renee Faith reach out to troubled teens in LIFE Group

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Every other Sunday evening they show up. Some of them come alone; others arrive in small groups. Most of them have been here before, and they quickly head to their favorite spot in the rec room, or the basement, or the porch, or the back deck—but not before stopping in the kitchen for the home-cooked food they know will be waiting for them.

Who are they? They’re teenagers, guys and girls who live in the underworld inhabited by so many modern young people. Their lives are scarred by addictions—to drugs, alcohol, sex, and cutting—but even more, they live with the loneliness of no one to trust and no safe place to go.

But every other Sunday, life is a little different for them now.

Two years ago, Tim and Renee Faith had no idea God would lead them to open their home to dozens of these teens. The Faiths were part of a small church plant in Franklin. One day they realized the congregation included a handful of teenagers, but there was no class available for them.

The pastor agreed to let them start a class, which lasted for a couple months. But then the church had to leave the facility, and Tim and Renee decided to transfer their tiny class to their own living room in Spring Hill.

Soon the three “charter members” of the class began to bring along a few of their friends from school. For the most part, these guests had never gone to church—but this was different. They felt at home. They began to call it a “place of peace” or a “sane place.”

The Faiths made no effort to entertain them. They simply hung out with the kids, listened to their stories, and cared. They gave them food. And each evening Tim led the group in a short lesson from the Bible.

In October last year, Tim and Renee began to look for a church in their area that might be willing to welcome these students into their congregation. Somehow, God led them to Station Hill.

While most of the kids still aren’t ready for Sunday morning church, a few have begun to attend. The church has provided Bibles, something many of the students never had before and are now proud to own. The Wednesday Women’s Bible Study (of which Renee is a member) is also helping with the meals.

“This is the last group of people Tim and I ever thought we would work with,” Renee said. “We’re laid-back and boring people. We both scored as introverts on the Myers test. But somehow God has given us the ability to have conversations with these kids. It has definitely taken us beyond our normal personalities.”

As the group began to take shape, the Faiths had some concern for their young daughter and son. There have certainly been things they’ve had to explain to their children at an earlier age than they might have wished. But God hasn’t only given the children grace to understand what their parents are doing, He’s also put a love for the teenagers into their own young hearts.

How can Station Hill help with this ministry? The starting point of course is prayer.

Most of the kids who gather at the Faith home still don’t know Christ. Some of them have been put on house arrest or have even been sent to jail. But Renee bakes cookies for those who are confined to their homes, and Tim visits the jail. When one of the girls needs to talk, Renee finds time. Tim sends daily texts to the guys with an encouraging thought or Scripture.

Renee and Tim have come to realize that the kids ideally need individual conversations, and with 30-40 in attendance on Sunday evenings that usually isn’t possible. That’s why they need help from others. It also helps to have extra adults around to keep an eye on things.

“Sometimes it doesn’t seem that much is happening,” she said. “But there are small improvements. Some of the kids aren’t doing drugs quite as much as they were. It keeps driving us back to God. We know He is the answer these kids really need.”

If anyone has a heart for young people and is interested in walking alongside the Faith family, contact Renee at 615-870-7828.

Story written by Diane Woerner

Adoption Angels: First Tariku, now it's time for his best friend

Wed, 05 Jan 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Written by Carol Stuart, this story was the third in a special holiday series recently published on Brentwood Home Page. The Hammon family are members of Brentwood Baptist, attend the Brentwood Baptist Deaf Church, and participate in Brentwood Young Christian School (BYCS). Click here to read the story on Brentwood Home Page.

Family conquers flood of issues to grow from two to four
 To say this has been an eventful year for Brentwood residents Courtney and Kenneth Hammons is an understatement.

Courtney, a wedding and event planner, had 60-something weddings moved or canceled when the Gaylord Opryland Hotel was flooded in May. Kenneth’s job there has also been affected. Then, they adopted their 5-year-old son Tariku from Ethiopia in August. Soon they’re going back—to adopt his best friend Teddy.

“Tariku has the most amazing heart,” said Courtney, who owns A Magical Affair. “The first month he was here I was down in the office and he was upstairs and I heard him moving something. He was moving his toy shelf and I was like ‘What are you doing?’ And he was telling us he was moving them to make room for Teddy's bed.

“Then a couple of weeks later, he had moved all of his clothing onto one rack in his closet, and called me into this bedroom to tell me the other rack was for Teddy's clothes and we needed to go get clothes for Teddy.

“We had been telling him Teddy lives in Africa, Teddy doesn't live here, but to Tariku, Teddy was always coming home and living with him.”

So the Hammons prayed and prayed about making Tariku’s wish come true. For one thing, she had lost at least $20,000 in work when some brides moved their weddings to their hometowns since they couldn’t have the Opryland hotel experience. International adoptions are expensive, costing $24,000-$36,000, including two trips required back and forth to Ethiopia.

“We had been prepared for the first one and then four weeks later, I went to my husband and said ‘OK, can I have another $30,000?’ I know that I've been without work six months, but …. ”

And there were other considerations, too.

“It's one thing to adopt one 5-year-old; it's another thing to go back for a special needs 5-year-old and all of sudden become a family of four.”

Teddy is deaf, losing his hearing at age 3 due to meningitis.

“So we prayed a lot about it,” Courtney said. “We found that there are phenomenal, phenomenal resources in the Williamson County-Brentwood area. We had been looking for a church and last spring we officially joined Brentwood Baptist, not knowing that there was a deaf church there. So, when we look back on it, we're like, ‘OK God, we got the billboard—got it.’ It took a little longer to get there.”

Second adoption for him, too
 To adopt again in Ethiopia in less than a year, the Hammons had to be approved for exceptions and they were because of other unique circumstances.

Teddy was adopted in June 2009 by an American family who had wanted a deaf child, Courtney said. But that family chose not to take him home, “which was part of the reason why we really had to pray we were the right family for him.”

At the time Teddy, whose mother gave him up in hopes to get help for his hearing, had not yet learned sign language skills and was unable to communicate.

“Here was this 3- or 4-year-old little boy, and all of sudden he wakes up one morning and he can't hear, then shortly after that not only can't he hear but he's no longer with his mom, he's with 45 other kids, (and) no one can talk to him,” Courtney said.

“Is he a little wild and angry? Yeah. The family took that to be that he was unteachable and that he would forever be in need of care. That's not the case, he just was so confused.”

Since then, Teddy has been attending a school for the deaf in Ethiopia (Tariku had even offered to go with him when his friend was initially scared to go). The Hammons also all are taking sign language classes with Franklin’s Gate Communications, an organization recommended to them by the deaf church at Brentwood Baptist.

“They have been sharing our fundraising efforts to bring Teddy home with the deaf community,” Courtney said. “I can't say enough wonderful things about either the deaf church or Gate Communications because they're really making it not so scary.”

Courtney and Kenneth weren’t expecting to bring Teddy home until spring since the Ethiopian courts close 45 days during the rainy season. But because of his previous situation, the adoption was moved up and the Hammons went to visit him at Thanksgiving and will get Teddy just after New Year’s.

“It seems like every day is just another change,” said Kenneth, a group reservations manager at Gaylord Opryland. “You never know what's going to happen.

“It's kind of crazy how it all worked out. Our church is all set up for the deaf; they have their own wing. One of our neighbors does sign language, which we didn't know until after the fact. … I mean it's a great change. It's an awesome feeling to be able to help these kids out.”

Faith and flooding 
The Hammons, who both worked for Disney World before moving to Tennessee 3½ years ago, had developed a love for the people and culture of Africa when they were on the team that opened Disney’s Animal Kingdom. After battling infertility for 10 years, they opted to pursue international adoption due to their faith.

“We knew that we weren't going to go the IVF (in vitro fertility) route or any of those knowing that there were over 147 million orphans in the world,” Courtney said. “We felt we would better be served by going for one of those.”

They originally sought a younger child, from birth up to 3 years old, but one day Courtney decided to open an e-mail from their adoption agency America World. She normally didn’t look at this “waiting child list” since it mostly features children who are sibling sets, are older, have special needs or are HIV-positive.

“For whatever reason, last October I opened it, and there was the most adorable little 4-year-old,” Courtney said. “And there were no medical issues or anything with him. I forwarded the whole waiting child list to my husband at work and I said I really think our son is on here, tell me what you think.

But she didn’t say who, and they picked the same child. “We both kinda fell in love with Tariku as soon as we saw him,” Kenneth said.

The process took until this August before the Hammons could bring home Tariku, the boy in the photo. But the holdups now seem a blessing of sorts, too, since May brought major difficulties to their lives.

At 3 a.m.—a morning after Courtney had worked three Opryland weddings—Kenneth received a call to come into work because the hotel was flooding.

“I was like, ‘What? What? I have weddings this weekend, what do you mean the hotel's flooding?’ ” Courtney recalled.

Their lives were chaotic day by day. Courtney, whose company is contracted for all the Opryland weddings, not only had to find new venues but also vendors for cakes, catering and floral since they were done by the hotel.

Hermitage Hotel, as well as Sheraton Music City, made space available and Cakes by Shara came through, too, Courtney said.

“Nashville wedding vendors really stepped up and were phenomenal, when we would say ‘OK and this wedding is in four days,’ ” she said.

The hotel is back open, but Kenneth’s call center is still working out of its second temporary office in the AT&T “Batman” building downtown. After the flood, he had to help out with packing up guests’ left-behind belongings, cleaning rooms and acting as night watchman. Now there are new processes and employees, plus the hotel reopened right before the busy holiday season.

Transition takes time 
Tariku, who could have gone to kindergarten this year, loves attending Brentwood Baptist’s Young Christians School five days a week while he transitions into his new life and learns English, his mom said. He played for the Williamson County Soccer Association in the fall, “and everyone wanted him to be on their team,” Courtney noted.

And he’s got an incredible palate: “He hates kids’ meals. We went to that new restaurant Mack & Kate's, and he ordered Tilapia Fish Tacos with Black Beans and Mango Salsa. What 5-year-old does that? He ate it all.”

But there have been trying times in the transition. While they were told a child usually prefers one parent over the other, Courtney wasn’t quite expecting Tariku’s reactions to her – which have included biting, hitting, kicking and avoiding hugs and kisses.

“We think it's just because all the women in his life have just kind of left,” Kenneth said. After Tariku’s dad died, due to poverty his mom left him and his two sisters with her husband’s sister, who also had children. The aunt kept the girls but left Tariku with the orphanage. There have been nannies in and out of his life, too.

“But he's definitely improving, and Mommy's finally getting some bigger hugs which is wonderful, and he's getting a little bit more touchy, feely,” Kenneth said.

Tariku has really bonded with Dad from the very beginning, though.

“Right now work is just absolutely crazy,” Kenneth said. “The other morning he got up with me at 5 o’clock in the morning, he came in there and tapped me on the shoulder, and he's like, ‘Daddy, no work today.’ “

While the Hammons were waiting to adopt Tariku, they would get monthly updates. “At one point, he was saying how he was learning sign language, and he wanted to keep learning sign language when he came to America,” Courtney said. “When we got there to see him and pick him up, he, of course, right away wanted to introduce us to this other little boy who was his best friend. His best friend was Teddy.”

Tariku wasn’t able to go back and see his buddy when the Hammons made their visit last month because he has a single-entry visa until his re-adoption in the U.S. He spent time with his new grandparents in Wisconsin instead.

“He's very, very excited,” Courtney said. “We called him when we got back in the States, and the first thing he asked was if Teddy was with us. We said, ‘No, Mommy's got to go back’ and he understands that.”

“Little Teddy was mostly Tariku's big push,” Kenneth said. “…I think it's kinda cool to keep two best friends together like that."

Click here to find out more about Brentwood Baptist's OrphanCare Ministry.

More than 800 volunteers provide food for local ministries and 450 families in Middle Tennessee

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 05:00:00 GMT

At least 450 families (and counting) will have a very Merry Christmas this year without worrying about their financial situations and tough economic times.

The annual missions initiative at Brentwood Baptist—better known around here as "Christmas Food Baskets"—was undoubtedly a hit once again this year.

For several weeks in November and December, Brentwood Baptist members purchased the $45 baskets to provide these struggling families with food, a Brentwood Baptist Christmas CD, a Bible, and a personalized invitation to come to our Christmas Eve services.

On Friday, December 10, the Brentwood Baptist Homeschool Group came together to unload the food off the trucks and set up the boxes. The next morning, volunteers poured into the Atrium to form an assembly line and pack the boxes with the goodies. Then a whole new crew showed up to deliver them to homes across Middle Tennessee.

Below are some highlights from the experience:

Members took baskets to families in Fairview, Brentwood, Franklin, Nashville, Murfreesboro, Spring Hill, Eagleville, Thompson's Station, Antioch, Columbia, Madison, Smyrna, Hendersonville, and Cottontown.
A young girl named Savanna made bracelets and sold them to raise money for a basket. In the end, she was able to purchase one food basket with her earnings.
The Children's Ministry made 450 dessert jars to go in the baskets.
One church member purchased 30 baskets in honor of her children for their Christmas gifts.
One volunteer, who called many recipients to confirm the delivery date and time of their basket, also prayed for each person before she called.
Extra food items (provided by Publix) were delivered to The Well, a food pantry in Spring Hill supported by The Church at Station Hill.
One member delivered a food basket and had the opportunity to pray for the recipient and his struggle with diabetes.
Another member delivered her basket to a Sudanese refugee family. The husband/father was killed in a war and the wife/mother and her six children came to the U.S. The family expressed their gratitude for the basket.
One member drove all the way to Cottontown in Sumner County to deliver a basket to a wounded U.S. soldier who had served in Afghanistan.
Kairos members delivered baskets to the homeless and addicted at Set Free Nashville. They were provided with oatmeal, bread, eggs, milk, turkey, ham, rice, potatoes, flour, butter, sugar, bologna, peanut butter, green beans, corn, coffee, and more. Derek Evans, who attends Kairos, said, "They were literally down to bare bones. Some guys pulled their food stamps together to get a few meals rounded up for the weekend. I let them know it was a Christmas gift from Brentwood Baptist. They were very, very thankful. A few guys cried joyfully."
One member is going beyond delivering food baskets to the families she was assigned to and is now also providing gifts for their kids this Christmas.

Pat and Wayne Webber, new members of Brentwood Baptist, experienced Christmas Food Baskets for the first time this year. They said, "The enthusiasm of the staff at Brentwood Baptist about missions is the reason we enjoy the privilege of participating… The excitement and joy in the faces of everyone from the young ones to the older like us was very noticeable."

As usual, Brentwood Baptist members went above and beyond and provided an abundance for hungry families this Christmas. Becky Gross, Community Ministries Minister, said, "My week after the Food Baskets has been spent finding hundreds more people in need that we're going to help. We've helped more people in our Hispanic Ministry, refugees through World Relief, shut-ins, women receiving care at Hope Clinic, and more."

So much came in for this year's effort that Becky immediately went to find gift cards to purchase for hungry families. At the store, an employee noticed her purchasing a large amount of gift cards and commented that it must be for the employees that work at her "organization."

Becky went on to explain that her church was purchasing food to help people in our city this Christmas. She said, "He stared at me and smiled, blown away by the generosity of our congregation. Then he asked, 'How do I become a member of your church?'"

Click here for a look at all the photos from the weekend event.

Photos by Joe Hendricks
Story by Kaylan Christopher

Family of six leave comfort and materialism behind in U.S. to live and serve in South Africa

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 05:00:00 GMT

You may have heard about the Lankford from friends. Maybe you saw them on stage a few months ago in our worship services. Perhaps you, like many, have walked alongside them for many years at Brentwood Baptist through Kairos, Bible studies, service opportunities, and more.

If you don't know them from Adam, you should. Their spiritual story has raced from 0-100 mph in a matter of months—all because of their surrender and obedience to God's call on their lives.

Both Joey and Courtney were fortunate to grow up in Christian homes where they learned about Christ and His love. In high school and college, they followed the same path—wandering away from their faith and searching for their purpose.

"When we got married, we recognized the importance and value of our upbringing and wanted to make that the foundation of our home," Joey said.

Fresh out of college, Joey began working in a family-owned healthcare business at 22 years old. He was extremely successful, later building a home for their family and buying most everything their hearts desired. But it wasn't enough.

"In 2008, the comfort of this began to cause us to ask questions," he said. "I could see myself working in this wonderful environment for 25-30 years. But the thought of it began to plague me. If this were to happen, would I be satisfied that it was all I'd done in my life?"

God does what He does best—He stirred things up in their hearts and lives. Soon, they desperately wanted to "break free from the clutches of the materialistic sewage" they'd been drowning in. The desire to obey His call on their lives began to take control.

"In early 2008, we began discussing adoption and knew God was calling us to walk this journey with Him," Joey said. "As we surrendered to this call, we realized how much God could do with a simple willingness to obey. There were so many questions that surrounded our adoption. And, many days, we would go to God in prayer and confess our lack of faith and ask Him for direction. He began to reveal His faithfulness as we walked the adoption journey, which created in us the desire to seek more desperately His complete will for our lives."

One step after another, the kept walking the path of obedience.

Last year, the growing family prayed about moving to Cape Town, South Africa. They would act as Brentwood Baptist missionaries with Living Hope Community Center, a clinic that treats and offers prevention education to HIV/AIDs patients and is also a Brentwood Baptist Hope for the World Missions Offering partner.

Then, this past summer, they completed the adoption process, welcoming home a baby girl, Bristol, from Africa. She became the catalyst they needed to finalize their decision to move their family around the world. They sold their belongings and packed for a new chapter.

Joey, Courtney, and their children—Briley, Braxton, Barron, and Bristol—are now living out God's calling in Cape Town. Joey said, "We've been adjusting well to our move. We have tough moments when we miss our family, friends, and country, but we have a prevailing peace that only comes from knowing we're where God wants us."

In South Africa, Joey is working with a branch of Living Hope called Living Way, which economically empowers people from poor, under-resourced communities in Cape Town.

Courtney is enrolling their children in school and settling the family in their new home. As a licensed nurse, she'll begin looking for opportunities to minister using her gifts after the new year. Eager to find her place, she'll likely be helping AIDS and HIV patients in some capacity.

"We hope and pray our lives and ministry will bring glory to our Lord," Joey said. "God has put us in an amazing place and has given us an opportunity to minister to the 'least of these'. May He find us faithful as we build relationships and love the people that He brings us to."

How you can pray for the Lankfords:
• Protection
• Health
• Diligence in seeking God with all their hearts
• Faithfulness to respond to His calling in obedience

How you can support the Lankfords:
• Give to the Hope for the World Missions Offering, which supports our missionaries.

Follow the Lankford family's journey in South Africa on their blog.

Members prepare to pack and deliver Christmas Food Baskets next week

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 05:00:00 GMT

In 2009, Brentwood Baptist members purchased, packed, and delivered more than 450 food baskets to needy families in Middle Tennessee. Every year, hundreds of men, women, and children don't just go without presents and the warmth of a home—they go without the basic necessity of food.

"The demand is even greater this holiday season," said Becky Gross, Community Ministries Minister. "One hundred food baskets have been purchased so far, but we've once again committed to 450 families."

This year, food baskets are only $45. On Sunday, December 5, members will have their last chance to purchase a basket at the Missions Center in the Atrium. And, as always, baskets can be purchased online.

On Saturday, December 11, beginning at 9:00 a.m., volunteers will pack and deliver the baskets donated.

"All across Middle Tennessee, there are families who have lost their jobs, whom the economy has hit hard, and are struggling with financial difficulties. There are newly arriving refugees trying to find a place to live and work, and they don't have any extras for Christmas dinner. These people come from all walks of life," Becky said.

The recipients of the boxes come to Brentwood Baptist through Christian Women's Job Corp, Graceworks, Brentwood Baptist Deaf Church, Brentwood Baptist Hispanic Church, Iglesias De Las Americas, Welcome Home Ministries, Youth Encouragement Services, and more.

"People have volunteered to give financially, form assembly lines and pack baskets, deliver baskets, and pray over them," Becky said. "We don't leave any baskets on doorsteps. They are knocking on their doors, meeting them face-to-face, and giving them baskets on behalf of Brentwood Baptist."

The baskets will contain turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, non-perishable items, perishable items, canned foods, fresh fruit, a Brentwood Baptist Christmas CD, a Bible, an invitation to Brentwood Baptist's Christmas Eve services, and a homemade Christmas card made by the Brentwood Baptist homeschooling group.

Last year, after receiving a Christmas Food Basket, one woman named Rose wrote in: "I would like to thank you and all who took part in making my Christmas complete. Without you all, my Christmas dinner wouldn't be as good as Thanksgiving."

Becky said, "I look forward to the stories I'll hear as a result of the volunteer's delivering food baskets this year. It's not just a time for our members to deliver food—but also hope and love. It's a time for our congregation to listen, love, and share. On December 11, the good news of Jesus Christ will be seen and heard across our communities."

Click here to purchase a Christmas Food Basket.

New Habitat home in Station Hill built by Brentwood Baptist and Station Hill women

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 05:00:00 GMT

The Advertiser News recently published a story about several Habitat for Humanity homes in Williamson County that were dedicated last week. Fifteen Brentwood Baptist and Station Hill women helped build Tina's home while multiple LIFE Groups provided meals for the crews. Habitat is one of our many community service partners. Below is the story they published.

There’s no place like home for the holidays, or so goes one popular song of the season. This year, three area women and their families have new places to call home, just in time for the holidays.

Habitat for Humanity of Williamson County handed over keys to three new Spring Hill houses last weekend.

Mount Pleasant native Tina Gilbert is the new resident of 630 Alex Drive, the first Women Build home in Spring Hill—a project that involved the collaborative efforts of more than 60 local women, including Gilbert, who raised $60,000 to help build the home and contributed their own labor.

Gilbert, a Certified Teacher’s Assistant, has two daughters in their 20s.

“I am so looking forward to having a place to invite friends and family over to enjoy special holidays,” Gilbert said. “I haven’t had that opportunity before, and this is a true blessing to see so many women helping me to realize this dream.”

Her new home is ENERGY STAR and N.A.H.B. Green Building Program certified, designed to make the house more environmentally friendly and reduce utility costs.

“Each home currently built by HFHWC meets these specifications,” says Gregg Elliott, director of construction and land development.

Gilbert’s home was dedicated at 1 p.m. on Sunday, November 21.

Andrea Williams and her daughters Ayannah, 6, and Saniyah, 4, also celebrated their new home's dedication this weekend, as well as mother of three Yolanda Johnson and her sons: Quintavious (Quinn), 8, Kani, 4, and Gavin, 2.

It was a big weekend for the new homeowners as well as Habitat For Humanity staff. Resource Development Director Kathi Johnson said, “the best part about Habitat is being able to see the homeowners get their keys at the dedication.”

Click here for more information on how you can help with Habitat for Humanity of Williamson County through Brentwood Baptist.

Story and photo courtesy of The Advertiser News.

Caldwell and Cain Adult Bible Study classes pack stockings for soldiers

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 05:00:00 GMT

On Saturday, November 13, the Caldwell Class—in conjunction with the Cain Class—organized an effort in just two weeks to encourage troops overseas through Stockings for Soldiers.

Captain Wayne Stiles, son-in-law of Dwayne and Floy Omark, who are long-time members of Brentwood Baptist Church and the Caldwell Class, is currently stationed in Afghanistan. The initiative started with him in mind.

"When you're a soldier overseas—and I've been there—it helps a lot to know that the people at home support you and care about you," Jack Risley, a Caldwell Class member, said.

At home at Fort Campbell, the Omark's daughter and wife of Captain Stiles, Jill, awaits with their four children. This past weekend, she temporarily abandoned her post and brought her family to participate in the festivities.

At the end of the day, the group had packed 230 stockings into 27 boxes.

Inside the stockings, which will be delivered between Thanksgiving and December 1, soldiers can expect to find essentials they may need while living in rough terrain: wipes, razors, body wash, Purell, lip balm, and more. Also included were sweet treats and snacks from home.

The classes donated the much-needed items along with CVS Pharmacy and Wal-Mart. In addition, Brentwood Baptist kicked in $250 to help out with the cause and donated Christmas CDs recorded by our Worship Choir and Orchestra.

"We just put a list out to our classes asking for help," Jack said. "When you turn a bunch of good Christian people loose on something like this, you get back buckets full. People dug deep into their pockets to help."

The soldiers don't know what's coming their way. The stockings are an early Christmas surprise. Jack said, "Sometimes just a small token of appreciate shows the soldiers we care about them and we're thinking about them while they're away."

By Kaylan Christopher

My Story: Miranda Robinson

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 05:00:00 GMT

I grew up in a broken home in Franklin with my mom and two older brothers. I was in church from the time I was a week old. My mom became a Christian late in life, but she was the greatest example of a Christian woman I could’ve had. We were in church every time the doors were open.

My mom worked hard to give us the best life she could. We didn't have many extra luxuries in life, but we had everything we needed.

When I was in the fourth grade, she married a man I refer to as my dad. Through much struggle, I came to love him as a father. He's done so much for my family and helped us grow together. But, no matter how much he loved me, there was still a difference there. I still wanted to know my own dad.

I was never able to be the daddy's girl I so wanted to be. As a child, I struggled with my worth and importance in this world. And growing up without my father still permeates some areas of my life today. But, for the most part, I learned long ago to accept my life for what it was and that my worth in Jesus Christ is more important than the worth any earthly father could have given me.

I didn't meet my biological father until February of this year. When I did, it was completely a God thing. One night, I was really struggling with wanting to know my dad. I prayed and asked God that if meeting my father was something in His plan, to make it happen. If not, please take away that desire from my heart.

After a few weeks, I received a completely random e-mail from my biological father. He'd been searching for me and finally found the strength to contact me. We spent a short six months talking, meeting, and getting to know each other at a safe and comfortable distance for me.

Then, on July 4, he was in an accident and died.

Today, I grieve not only for his death, but also for the life I never got to have with him. But I know God brought us together in His time, and I'm so grateful I got to know him an his family before his untimely death.

Back at the age of nine, I walked down the aisle and accepted Christ and said "the prayer." I had gone to several summer youth camps where I rededicated my life to Jesus. But it wasn't until 2009 that I truly began to understand what a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ is.

When I moved out of the house and got married, my life began to go down a long, spiraling path to destruction. I had married a soldier in the Army. Two deployments later, I was completely broken. Through the stress of my own life and life as a military wife, I found myself very far from God and hadn't even realized it until everything was taken from me.

Before, I thought I had to put my husband first in my life in order to be a good wife. And that's exactly what I did.

My husband and I had only been married four months when I found myself taking three pregnancy tests, unbelieving the little positive signs I kept seeing. Our plan had always been to wait about five years before we started a family, so this twist in our path was a complete surprise.

However, once we got past the initial shock, we were very excited. Then two weeks later, I had a miscarriage. Back then, my faith wasn't as strong as it should have been and it was a very hard ordeal.

A month later, we were blessed to be pregnant with our now almost 4-year-old son. He was perfect and healthy, and our son moved in the top spot for me. All the while, I had slowly and steadily moved God back to an insignificant place in the file cabinet of my mind and heart.

Everything came crashing down when my husband and I went through some struggles in our marriage. I was left alone, scared, and crushed when what had been the thought of losing him actually became a reality.

That's when I started attending Kairos. During that time, my husband was halfway around the world in Afghanistan. I had no control over when I got to talk with him, so I found God to be the only constant in my life. I realized when I placed Him at the center of my life it seemed complete. And even when it didn’t seem complete, God took my shattered life and miraculously made it seem whole.

My husband and I both realized our own mistakes in our marriage and decided to try again. With God at the center, instead of each other and ourselves, He gave us a second chance.

Through the love of my Father, that time by myself, the reconciliation process in our marriage, and the teaching of Mike Glenn, I've found myself in such a close relationship with my Creator. My life has a whole new meaning.

That's why I never imagined my newfound faith—something I thought was unshakable—would be tested so soon and so horrifically.

My husband and I had felt it was time for another addition in our family when our son was about 18 months old, but my husband deployed. When he got home, we saw our son talking to himself at the playground one day and knew it was time to give him a sibling.

We got pregnant the first month we tried. We just knew this was what God wanted for us. But, once again, our hearts dropped with another miscarriage. I didn't understand how that could happen again! We had a healthy son. Why in the world would this be happening?

I knew God was sovereign and I had to trust Him—whatever the reason. For five months, I prayed and waited. And for five months I continually got a negative sign. Though I had weak, unsure faith, I knew He would give me the desire of my heart when I delighted in Him.

On December 14, 2009, I received the best Christmas present I could have asked for—a positive pregnancy test. I ran outside to meet my husband, who was halfway down the street headed to work. It didn't take long for the excitement to fade, though, as I realized the grim reality of what this could possibly mean.

For the next 12 weeks, I held onto every breath just praying this baby would live. And even after the 12-week mark, I still had a hard time relaxing. You see, when that innocence of pregnancy is taken away, it's just never the same. I'll never again be able to joyfully announce to the whole world that I'm pregnant. I'll always be cautious at every pain and moment of question.

It wasn't until about 20 weeks when I found out the gender that I was able to connect to my baby. It was a girl. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her on the ultrasound. From that moment on, every doubt, fear, or dreaded thought disappeared.

At 30 weeks, I went in for another ultrasound and we found out we were, in fact, having a boy instead. I'd become so attached to the thought of a little girl that it was hard at first, but it didn't take long for me to become enthused about having another boy. Two brothers! It would be so much fun.

He was a great baby in the womb. He had a personality of his own. He had certain foods I would eat that he loved, and some he didn't love so much. He always let me know.

We decided to name him Kristopher Noble. Kristopher was in memory of one of our family friends in my husband's unit who died in combat in Afghanistan. Noble was my sweet grandfather's name. He passed in September 2007.

At 37 weeks, I went in for my weekly appointment on a Tuesday. I'd noticed his movement had decreased over the last week, but when we heard that sweet little heartbeat on the Doppler, I didn't think to say anything else about it.

By the following Saturday, I'd become keenly aware of my baby's movements, and I had felt nothing that day. I tried to tell myself that everything was OK, that he was just running out of room, but as I laid down to sleep that night I couldn't find any rest.

My husband finally convinced me to go to the hospital to calm my fears. We got there at 1:00 a.m. Within 30 minutes, the nurse informed me of what I'd dreaded and yet somehow already knew. There was no heartbeat. Kristopher was gone. And it was agonizingly confirmed on two following ultrasounds.

I was scheduled to have a Cesarean Section just two weeks later. I gave birth to my precious baby at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, August 1. I got to see his perfect face and hold him all day long.

The next three days in the hospital were the most agonizing of my life. I was shoved into a room on a completely different floor than Labor & Delivery. In a way, it was good because it was like a knife in my stomach every time I heard a newborn baby crying down the hall. At the same time, I was so lonely.

The day we left the hospital was horrific. As I was wheeled down the corridors of the hospital, I should've been beaming with a newborn in my arms. Instead I was a crumpled up mess of tears. And the worst part was nobody from the outside world knew why. I wanted to scream what had happened. I was so mad and frustrated at my situation.

When I got home, as if my child's death wasn't bad enough, I was faced with the many decisions awaiting my approval. Did I want to have a service? If I did, what kind?

We decided to have a small memorial service with close friends and family. As I sat and thought about how I felt, and how I wanted to honor my son, the only answer I could find was worship.

I kept remembering one of Mike's sermons in the Revelation series at Kairos. He talked about how the Book of Revelation began and ended with worship. No matter the situation, we're called to worship God because He's the author and perfector of each of our stories. The Lord gives and He takes away. And whatever He chooses to do with my life, I trust His decision, because I trust that He knows what's best for me.

As I thought about worship, I knew that to just play some music over the sound system wouldn't be personal enough for me. I wanted someone to lead. And I wouldn't want anybody else to lead worship except Michael Boggs (Kairos Worship Leader).

I told my husband and he chuckled. Then, he realized I was serious. I knew it was a long shot, but I had to ask. So I sent him a message on Facebook and God's divine plan was already in motion.

Michael is usually out of town most weekends. He has so many obligations, but this one weekend, the weekend of my son's funeral, he was going to be home. And he was more than willing to come and lead my family and friends in worship.

I can't describe to you the peace that flooded that room after it was all said and done. I can't explain that, even through tragedy in my life, my heart was at rest. It truly was the peace that passes all understanding. In that room, while we worshipped the Father, we stood on holy ground.

The days and weeks and months that have followed that day haven't been easy. I've had horrible days of what feels like unending grief. But, though it all, I'm constantly reminded of the communion that I not only had with God that day, but also with my son.

Kristopher is in heaven, singing sweet praises to our King. And when I worship, it's the one time I'm in fellowship with my sweet little boy.

Every day, I make a choice as to what kind of attitude I'm going to have. Some days, I don't make the right choice. And some days, I don't make a choice at all. But my heart is beginning to heal and God is taking the broken pieces and mending them back together. I get up and start over each morning, and I remember to start it with worship.

My reaction to the situation life has put me in is a direct witness to my faith in the Lord. If I can use this to somehow reach someone for the sake of Christ, I'm honored to be chosen to help others who are hurting the same way I have. There's hope in the Lord. I'm proof of that.

Worship is my response to what I value most. What I value most is God. I was made by Him and for Him. He is awesome beyond comprehension. I exist for the purpose of reflecting back to God His matchless glory. I will exalt Him with my mouth and with my life, for He is my hope, my joy, my strength, and my salvation.
—Worshipper's Creed

To follow Miranda's story, click here to read her blog.

LifeGroup Feature: Todd and Laura Ramey start class for nearly and newlyweds

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

When fall comes every year, new changes come with it—especially at Brentwood Baptist. In the area of discipleship, there are new young adult LifeGroups for couples that have sprouted up on Sunday mornings. This is the first in a series of feature stories on a few new LifeGroups including who they are, what they're about, and what they're studying:

Every Sunday at 9:30 a.m., Todd and Laura Ramey welcome couples—engaged, newlyweds, and young marrieds—into Room 2006 in the Connection Center at the Brentwood campus to build community and a solid foundation for their marriages.

Laura is very familiar with the Brentwood Baptist family, not only because she and her husband have been members since 2003, but because she previously worked on our staff as the Congregational Care Associate before she left last year to complete her Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy from Trevecca Nazarene University.

Both the Rameys have been involved as decision counselors at Kairos and Laura had taught several semesters of "Building Blocks for Marriage," but since earlier this year they had also been praying about a LifeGroup to attend. Still new to marriage themselves, having said their vows in 2006, they were "hungry for community with other couples starting their lives together and encountering the joys and beautiful confusion of getting married."

That's when Ken Corr, Congregational Care Minister, and Steve Layton, Discipleship minister, approached them.

"[They] identified us as a couple who loves mentoring other young adults and newlyweds," Laura said. "The idea was to provide a group for couples who had just attended the premarital seminar 'Building Blocks for Marriage.' Our group would be a place for them to continue to ask questions and learn more about their marriage."

Laura graduated last year and is now well into her own counseling practice. Both she and her husband are convinced now more than ever that God wants them using their knowledge and passion for this demographic. She said, "It's such an important stage of the marital life cycle to help couples learn how to become one and join as a new family in Christ."

Since they began their new LifeGroup in September, they've welcomed in new couples each week. Currently, they're using a workbook called Before You Say I Do, a study guide that couples can work on together outside of class. And together on Sundays, they highlight key Bible verses and questions from the workbook to discuss, which gets some "honest marriage conversation going."

"God is showing us how, as leaders, we still have the capacity to learn and grow in our own relationship," Laura said. "We made a commitment when we signed up to lead that we wanted to be totally transparent with our group about our struggles, faults, and messiness, and how we rely on God in each of those places. We're learning that 'leader' doesn't mean we're perfect—we're just willing to guide and instruct out of places we ourselves have been led."

Those in the class have bonded quickly—even sharing in some nearly-wed couples showers and wedding days.

Laura said, "One of the most encouraging things we've been able to do in this group is to have a special prayer time for the couple who's getting married the next week. It's so important to surround each couple with love and support as they approach, not only a big day, but a big life together."

Todd and Laura are in the process of adoption right now and have seen the new members of their class rally around and support them on the "long, confusing road." Even in this life-altering situation, they've used it as a way to mentor and encourage the couples about the "surprises" in marriage that can't be foreseen on the wedding day.

"Who knew that four years after we were married, we'd be trying to adopt?" Laura said. "Many of our group members have rallied around us offering love, support, and donations. Our prayer is that we all continue to place our marriages and everything about our lives into God's perfect plan. We pray to see these couples grow even more in love with Christ and, in turn, more in love with each other."

By Kaylan Christopher

Brentwood Baptist Deaf Church member and pastor lead at Deaf Conference in Hong Kong

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

We don't hear much about the Brentwood Baptist Deaf Church (BBDC). But that's not because they're inactive or silent. They do a lot behind the scenes that most of us don't even know about.

Recently, Brian Sims, BBDC pastor, and Brian Kingsbury, a Brentwood Baptist deacon and BBDC member, went to Hong Kong for a unique conference targeting the Deaf Affinity group and Deaf missionaries serving around the world. At the conference, they led workshops and taught the children who attended.

Sims said, "Before, when any deaf person was on the field, they were under the hearing group. Now, the Deaf Affinity group is global. We went to develop a communications strategy for the Deaf. E-mail has always been text-based, but now you can send video e-mail. We went to work on those aspects and how they can develop a system where they can communicate with others serving across the globe."

The average deaf person graduates on a third grade reading level. And, according to Sims, the written language is difficult to learn. "For instance, we'd be able to understand the phrase 'there's nothing my God can't do.' But the average deaf person reads that phrase as 'God can't do anything,'" he said. "Video e-mail would be an easier way for them to communicate."

The International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention has a goal of dispatching 300 missionaries to work specifically with the deaf. Currently, there are 49.

Vesta Sauter (with the IMB) wrote about Brian Sims: "He gave of himself tirelessly. He facilitated communication—ever availing himself to interpret. He gave a challenge, inspiring them to connect with their constituents. He shared his heart and life with many. It was so good to have a pastor with a mission heart among them. We have been so encouraged by Brentwood Baptist—deaf and hearing. The way you have reached out to partner with the Deaf Affinity and have advocated for efforts to reach the Deaf worldwide both blesses and encourages all of us."

Nashville photographers offer free photos shoots to flood families at Brentwood Baptist's main campus

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Recently, we posted a story about Brentwood Baptist member Joe Hendricks, and he could also be seen him on stage in yesterday's services at Brentwood Baptist's main campus. If you missed it, the Nashville-based photographer blessed families affected by the flood, some of whom lost everything, with a complimentary photo shoot.

After his first encounters with devastated flood victims, who are still picking up the pieces of their lives, he found another new way to reach out to them. Last Sunday, Joe, along with four other area photographers, set up in Wilson Hall from 2:00-7:00 p.m., offering free 20-30-minute photo shoots for 25 local families (only one of which goes to Brentwood Baptist).

According to his blog, he wrote: "Some of the e-mails I received made me cry, from people who really needed new pictures or someone who had lost every picture they had in the flood. The strength and the heart of all the people here in Nashville is amazing. They are the very reason that I [was} motivated to give back to my community with this little project."

Other area photographers involved in the process included Kristen Steele Photography, Allan Williams Photography, Bryan Fay Photography, and Justin Wright Photography, along with five extra volunteers who assisted them. On top of all that, Otter's Chicken provided free food for the volunteers and families while Dury's offered to donate more than 500 prints to the cause.

"After I shot the first families, I got to know their stories and see their surroundings and everything that still needed to be done and it just really got to me," Joe said. "I thought, here God has given me this gift and the least I can do is to help out more people. I knew I had to put this kind of day together to help more people out."

However, this initiative was met with some resistance. According to Joe, he received several e-mails from people who didn't support his efforts, which kept him up at night. "They asked, 'How is photography going to help them?' But I knew I needed to reach out to them. It's one of the things I have to offer," he said.

About half of the families who showed up on Sunday lost all their pictures. Joe said, "You can tell the ones who did because they were crying when they left on Sunday. They were so grateful we did this. I can't imagine losing all those pictures—all your mom's wedding photos, your baby photos. That's what these people went through."

Photography is Joe's ministry as well as his full-time job. His unique idea wasn't a waste of time and effort (like some thought). No, it blessed, encouraged, and sparked hope in these families who've lost so much. He said, "We've already gotten e-mails from families who have their walls ready and they can't wait to see the prints and hang them up. We're trying to help them start some new memories."

Brentwood Baptist Flood Update:

29 Brentwood Baptist households helped (volunteer work and/or financially)
50 non-members households helped
7 churches helped: Lockland Baptist, Greater Pleasant View, El Shaddai, Dalewood Baptist, Northwood Baptist, Harmony Fellowship, Mill Creek Baptist
Assisted Red Cross with meals
$3,700 distributed in Kroger cards
$50,000 distributed in Lowe's cards
$5,000 given to Graceworks Ministries
$15,000 given to Southeast Nashville Recovery
More than $6,000 in gift cards given to Y.E.S. (Youth Encouragement Services)
Household, clothing, and food items given to Graceworks Ministries and Christ Church
Hosted nearly 700 volunteers from Kentucky, Alabama, Michigan, Ohio, and more to work on Brentwood Baptist flood-related projects

On Sunday evening, WSMV-TV Channel 4 in Nashville aired a segment about this event. Click here to watch it.

Follow Joe's blog and check out the photos from the family photo shoots.

By Kaylan Christopher

RockBridge Foundation expands, offering more ways to leave a legacy today and tomorrow

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Did you know it may be possible to give generously to the work of God’s kingdom at no cost to yourself? Did you know you may be able to arrange for funds to be donated after you die without any decrease in the amount of your children’s inheritance?

The RockBridge Foundation, created in 1999 and originally called the Brentwood Baptist Missions Foundation, was part of Pastor Bill Wilson’s dream to fund missions efforts through a self-sustaining foundation. It was also designed to help families discover the many ways they could increase their support of the ministries of Brentwood Baptist Church through estate planning and other legal giving channels.

The Rockbridge Foundation now provides a source of income for a number of ministries not covered in the Brentwood Baptist annual budget. Ministry projects that receive funding include:

• Adoption expenses
• Brentwood Baptist Deaf Church needs
• Scholarships for students attending seminary, provided through the Gayle Haywood Educational Fund
• Future church start-ups similar to the Church At Station Hill, our south campus
• Other specific projects as determined by Brentwood Baptist and the RockBridge board of trustees

Jim Jenkins, Stewardship Minister and the Executive Director of the RockBridge Foundation, emphasizes that this kind of giving is not limited to wealthy individuals or families, but instead can play a part in nearly everyone’s personal stewardship program. RockBridge offers assistance in determining the opportunities which best suit each person’s unique financial situation.

For example, one circumstance that would particularly benefit from RockBridge’s services would be a sudden increase in income—through an inheritance, the highly profitable sale of a business or property, or stock market windfalls. Strategic donations in these cases can actually reduce taxation, thereby increasing the total income that can be kept.

Another scenario for giving is the establishment of a life insurance policy, which is owned by the RockBridge Foundation. An individual can pay the premiums for the policy through tax-deductible contributions to Brentwood Baptist, and the Foundation will receive the policy benefits following the insured’s death. This arrangement can greatly multiply a small monthly offering.

The RockBridge Foundation encourages all adults to take the responsible and caring steps of preparing both an adequate will and a living will, along with designating the power of attorney, in order to simplify for their family those life transitions that are either possible or inevitable. While the Foundation personnel do not actually create these documents for you, they can provide wise and helpful counsel in what can be confusing or difficult decisions. They also offer legal or accounting referrals as needed.

But even in the long season of life God grants to most of us, there are important choices to make regarding the wealth with which He entrusts us. Of primary importance is the care of our own families. Often we may not be aware of today’s options for education and retirement funding, investments, and estate management. While God is our ultimate provider and protector, He normally gives us tangible resources as part of those processes. Ideally these resources are to be a blessing to our families, to others in His kingdom, and to the needy who might thereby be drawn into His kingdom.

When financial contributions are channeled through the RockBridge Foundation, the donor is encouraged to designate the specific type of ministry he or she prefers to support. For example, one couple recently requested that their gift, through a surviving trust fund, be used specifically for family-related ministries such as children’s ministry, premarital counseling, and divorce care.

As a 501(c)(3) charity, the RockBridge Foundation is legally separate from Brentwood Baptist Church. It is, however, managed by a board of trustees who are not only nominated and approved by the church, but who are also given strong spiritual oversight and accountability by the Brentwood Baptist trustees.

For more details on this ministry and how you can support God’s kingdom with the wealth He’s given you, click here. Or contact Jim Jenkins by e-mail or phone at 615.324.6116.

Story by Diane Woerner

Members provide largest donation this year to The Well Ministry

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Isaiah 58:10 (NLT) says, “Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.”

The Church At Station Hill, Brentwood Baptist’s south campus, may be a small church, but it’s definitely not small when it comes to giving. The church was recently called to do ministry exactly the way Jesus did.

On Sunday, September 19, Campus Teaching Pastor Jay Strother challenged members to meet the needs of the community in a tangible way through a spontaneous mission project. Members were asked to go to the grocery store, fill up their baskets, and support The Well, a local non-profit food pantry.

That same day, 79 families showed up with 350 bags of groceries to provide the single largest donation this year for this ministry. Located in Spring Hill, this ministry provides food, utilities, and additional assistance to struggling families within the communities of Thompson’s Station and Spring Hill.

The need for food assistance is rapidly rising in the area as ten percent of Spring Hill residents are currently unemployed. In August, The Well assisted 90 families and handed out 594 bags of groceries to those in need. This wasn't the first time Station Hill members fed the hungry in their community through this ministry and it won't be the last.

To find out more about The Well and how you can get involved, click here.

Tennessean covers Brentwood Baptist Missions Ministry outreach

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Last Friday, Harriet Vaughn, writer for The Tennessean, wrote a story on the Missions Ministry at Brentwood Baptist and their recent efforts to reach our community and world. Vaughn touched on flood relief, outreach in Haiti, community service, mission journeys, and more.

In the article, she said, "Whether it is a natural disaster or a smaller-scale request, such as cleaning up the yard of an elderly person, Brentwood Baptist members say they're ready to respond. The church is just as much a house of faith as it is a full-run outreach missions center. The church has an eight-person department focused on outreach in Middle Tennessee, across the country and around the world. It has partnered with more than 10 local outreach resource agencies and groups in the area to maximize help for those in need."

To read the full story online, click here.

Choir members retreat to Station Hill campus

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Members of Brentwood Baptist's Choir and Orchestra don't just come together in the loft on Sundays at the main campus. They retreat together as well. On Saturday, August 21, 80 of them took a short vacation down to Spring Hill to view the new facilities of our sister campus to the south, The Church At Station Hill, and get away.

Jeremy Busler, Station Hill Worship Pastor who also led worship at the retreat, said, "The idea was that the choir would come down because many of them haven't even seen the campus yet. It was a chance for them to take in the multisite facility and see first-hand what we're doing."

The one-day, three-hour retreat began at 9:00 a.m. with a buffet table full of breakfast foods. Until noon, they fellowshipped over the spread, experienced a time of praise led by the Station Hill worship band, Dennis Worley (Brentwood Baptist Music & Worship Minister), and Jim Hammerly (Brentwood Baptist Associate Music & Worship Minister), got a crash course on new music coming up for the fall, and discussed upcoming Christmas program plans.

The brand-new Station Hill Worship Choir begins this fall, so their Brentwood Baptist brothers and sisters were able to encourage them in this new adventure. But these choir members aren't new.

Jeremy said, "One of the reasons why Station Hill has such a strong connection with Brentwood Baptist—besides the campus itself—is that so many of the people who launched this campus (approximately 30) were Brentwood Baptist Choir and Orchestra members. They came down here to see us, and Dennis and the choir led a really neat prayer time over those of us serving at Station Hill and our campus."

In addition to the items on their agenda, the choir members were introduced to the upcoming choir recruitment program that will take place this month. Jay and Alice Conner are heading up the team within the choir to launch and maintain this program through fall 2011.

"It was a wonderful fellowship time and church family time because those in attendance got to experience what it's like to be a part of a multisite campus," Jeremy said. "We're in a separate location, but we're all the same church family so we should always be encouraging each other and praying for one another."

Station Hill hosts first family-style picnic and lakeside baptism celebration

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 05:00:00 GMT

On Sunday, August 22, Station Hill Church hosted their first family picnic—complete with watermelon for dessert—and baptism celebration at Deer Run Retreat from 1:00–5:00 p.m.

The baptism celebration in the lake took place at 3:15 p.m. where they baptized 14 people.

Jason Swain, Station Hill Community and Discipleship Pastor, said, "We had a number of people getting baptized—both children and adults. The reason we planted here was to reach out to this community, so we're thrilled that God is bringing those people from our neighborhoods in. It was a huge celebration."

After that, until 5:00 p.m, families swam in the lake and participated in games of whiffle ball, horseshoes, volleyball, soccer, flag football, and more, and lined up for the climbing wall.

"This was just a great opportunity for us to play together," Jason said. "One of our distinctives is 'fun.' That means we don't apologize for enjoying community and life together. This was exactly that—a chance for our church family to laugh and hang out."

Station Hill Student Ministry takes off in area "full of potential"

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Formerly a Brentwood Baptist Student Ministry intern, Brian Coates has returned to join the Station Hill team after a recent two-year adventure and subsequent graduation from Southeastern Seminary. As of June, he's assumed the role of Station Hill Student Minister.

The message he wants to get across to Station Hill members: "There are so many unconnected people in this area. The student ministry is full of potential to grow—and the students want to connect their friends to Christ."

With some 30 students who regularly attend, they still team up for big events with Brentwood Baptist's main campus, but are also planning their own schedule for the fall. Brian said, "We have a big crop of sixth graders coming up. Since it's a younger congregation anyway, having that many in middle school is great."

This Wednesday, August 18, the ministry will host an "End of Summer/Fall Kick-Off Party" for junior high and high school students from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the home of David and Diane Carpenter. The cookout and pool party will celebrate a great summer and the start of a new fall semester.

So far, he's spent the last two months getting to know the parents and students and developing a tight-knit community. "We have a lot of students at Station Hill who are coming to worship, but they haven't realized there's a place for them to connect on Sunday mornings," Brian said.

Because of this, he's already implementing changes and adding options for the good of those in this budding ministry. Just this last Sunday he launched an 11:00 a.m. Bible study for high schoolers to match the junior high Bible study at the same time.

And, when "Big Wednesdays" roll around on September 1, all students in grades 6-12 will have a place to also connect in LifeGroups. Five LifeGroup options will be offered: 1) sixth grade girls; 2) seventh and eighth grade girls; 3) middle school guys; 4) high school girls; and 5) high school guys.

"It's been really encouraging to see this many committed students and leaders to start off with," Brian said. "With the students we already have coming, we also have 10 leaders who will be there. There are some really good churches in this area, but most of them aren't doing small groups like we are. This is where students can invite their friends. We have a lot of potential to reach people here."

To sign up for the End of Summer Party or LifeGroups each Wednesday, contact Brian Coates at 324.6287 or click here to e-mail him.

"Big Wednesdays" kick off next week

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 05:00:00 GMT

On August 25, Station Hill will introduce "Big Wednesdays." The mid-week event will introduce KidLife, Student LifeGroups, Adult LifeGroups, and Worship Choir rehearsal—all worship and discipleship opportunities that will take place each Wednesday thereafter.

At 5:45 p.m., the fun, informative night of fellowship will begin with a hot dog fellowship followed by a presentation from Station Hill leadership about opportunities and registration until 7:30 p.m.

Big Wednesday won't meet on September 1 due to the Labor Day holiday, but will instead officially begin with a regular schedule the next week on September 8. Each Wednesday will begin with a bring-your-own-brown-bag-dinner at 5:45 p.m. and continue with activities at 6:30 p.m.

Jason Swain, Station Hill Community and Discipleship Pastor, said, "This is a way for our members and new people to connect to our church. There's a number of options for people to get involved. Stuff is happening both on and off campus."

KidLife, for children three years old to fifth grade, will include four components: music, small group time, large group time, and missions. Student LifeGroups, for junior high and high schoolers, will meet off campus. Adults will be introduced and begin new LifeGroups. And those interested in joining the worship choir can sign up.

Why "Big" Wednesday? Because it's a big night for the church. And because it's Wednesday. Zach Van Gieson, Station Hill Children's Minister, said, "On the kick-off day, everybody will come together to register, see what's going on, and gear up for what we've got in store for the fall."

Church leaders gather for bi-annual Leadership Summit

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 05:00:00 GMT

More than 300 church leaders, including Bible Study teachers, deacons, worship leaders, hospitality team members, and many others gathered last night in Hudson Hall for the second of two annual “Leadership Summits” for 2010. The first Summit takes place in January each year.

The Summit is an opportunity to gather key church leaders to report on some metrics of church life, hear from staff ministers on upcoming strategies and initiatives, and for Pastor Mike Glenn to cast vision for the future.

One of the featured presentations in the meeting was "JourneyOn," the new discipleship strategy unveiled by Steve Layton, Brentwood Baptist Discipleship Minister. Following an 8-minute video overview, Steve and members of the Discipleship Team outlined key features of the new strategy.

"As we thought about JourneyOn, God gave us a very simple and concise statement we could share with others: 'Connect people of all ages to Jesus Christ,'" Layton said. "It's a spiritual formation journey that will help each individual embrace an intentional growth plan where they are inwardly transformed so that the personality and works of jesus Christ will flow out where they live, work, and play."

One of the unique features of the JourneyOn strategy is its alignment throughout all areas of discipleship, from preschool through senior adults. The new plan is undergoing a soft launch this fall in several areas, with the full launch planned for January 2011.

In addition, Pastor Mike Glenn shared updates on church initiatives, including a new bell tower for Baskin Chapel, a church-wide survey to be administered this fall, and a new fall sermon series called Enough, which he'll present beginning in October.

The Summit was concluded with an opportunity for questions and answers and a time of guided prayer.

By Steve Smith

More than 1,200 Brentwood Baptist and Station Hill kids saddled up for Vacation Bible School 2010

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Last week, more than 1,200 children and 500 volunteers saddled up their horses and rode out to Saddle Ridge Ranch at Brentwood Baptist for Vacation Bible School (VBS) 2010.

This year, our six-month-old congregation partnered with the Brentwood Baptist's main campus to conduct VBS.

Zach Van Gieson, our Children's Minister, said, "We again saw the value of being a regional campus. We were able to plug into the existing infrastructure of Brentwood Baptist and allow our people to serve and use their gifts for the Kingdom."

During the week, children from both campuses—four years old to fifth grade—rounded up questions like: Who am I? Does God care about me? What is God's plan for me? How can I be like Jesus? What do I do now? And each day at noon, they road off into the sunset with answers straight from the Bible.

In addition to daily Bible study, the children participated in recreation, worship, arts and crafts, and more. Each day, they learned about missionaries around the world and ultimately gave more than $1,100 in offerings for missions.

School children in kindergarten through fifth grade attended an opening worship rally every day where Van Gieson shared the day's lesson with the whole group. Back in their classrooms, the teachers went in-depth, explaining the Bible story and verse.

Wednesday was "ABC Day" for kindergarten through fifth graders. Van Gieson presented the plan of salvation, explaining how to believe in Jesus, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life with God in heaven. More than 70 children were counseled and 38 kids made the decision to follow Jesus.

The week wrapped up with a Family Celebration Night on Friday with highlights from the week and a time of worship led by the children.

"Several Station Hill members served in key roles during VBS, thereby allowing our Brentwood campus friends to see the ministry potential of their Station Hill brothers and sisters," Van Gieson said. "It's our hope that we can again partner with the Brentwood Campus in 2011 as well as provide a local VBS opportunity in our own community.”

Photos by Joe Hendricks
Story by Kaylan Christopher

Members participate in annual Fourth of July Parade for Children

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Fire trucks, ice cream, snacks, bicycles—what more could a kid ask for?

On the morning of Saturday, July 3, Spring Hill hosted their eighth annual Fourth of July Parade for Children that catered specifically to hundreds of the community's children and benefited the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.

Elizabeth Shipps, a Station Hill Church member, said, "It was actually started by a family who did this in their hometown. They said, 'Why doesn't Spring Hill do something like this?'"

Kids and families are featured in the parade, along with decorated bikes and wagons, fire trucks, and the high school marching band. And, each year, the turnout is high.

Station Hill Church members were also represented at the event as a newer part of the community. Their goal was to have a presence, introduce themselves, and connect with the people where they live and play.

"Almost every year, my husband gets to see people who live in our community that he hardly ever sees any other time," Elizabeth said. "Just the other day, he went and had lunch with a guy he saw at the parade just to connect again."

By Kaylan Christopher

Laura Ramey: Rocking Haiti to a healthy place

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 05:00:00 GMT

In late February, when Laura Ramey and the rest of the Brentwood Baptist team were preparing for a trip to Haiti with Sweet Sleep, Kim Cox, Associate Missions Minister, asked, “What do we want to do for the kids?”

Kim specifically asked Laura, a Brentwood Baptist member and Master of Marriage and Family Therapy, if there was anything therapeutic they could do to help the children who had lived through the tragedy of the earthquake that had just hit Port-au-Prince one month earlier.

“As I was lying in bed one night, I kept thinking what I would want to happen to me if I were that child,” Laura said. “I would want to crawl into my parents lap and be rocked, held, have a place to feel safe. My mind was racing with thoughts about other soothing and comforting techniques that could bring the orphans of Haiti…a sense of peace. I heard God in that moment and I turned to my husband said ‘Rocking chairs—they need rocking chairs!’”

Through her husband’s connection with Cracker Barrel, Laura contacted them and was given two rocking chairs for Haiti. But, then, the difficulties began. How were they supposed get the rocking chairs to Haiti? They’re not easily transported and are well over the luggage weight limit, but they tried anyway.

“I had my moments of thinking this was a terrible idea,” she said. “It was more work that I thought it was going to be. However, after explaining what the rocking chairs were going to be used for, the airline graciously checked them through.”

Once in Haiti, Laura and her team began working with the Orphan Transitional Village in Haiti as part of the Global Orphan Project. The very first day they heard a child continuously crying—the heart wrenching, screaming kind. Laura didn’t know what was going on and couldn’t find anyone to explain it to her.

The next day, she asked one of the orphanage leaders who the child was and if she could see him. She said, “The leader led me to a little boy who hadn’t been talking or interacting with the other children. His name was Wendie (pronounced Win-sie). He didn’t speak. He had no emotion. He was just blank.”

After a little apprehension from the boy and a lot of smiling and reassurance from Laura, Wendie and his brother, Woodie, became comfortable enough to join her in the special room with the rocking chair.

“I began to rock him. I don’t know Creole, so I just kept saying his name over and over again, along with the word ‘jamal,’ which is French for ‘friend,’” she said. “I didn’t do any intense therapy with him. I just rocked him.”

After 30 minutes, Wendie began communicating with Laura and his brother. Eventually, they rejoined the other children where he sang, danced, and interacted with them again. And as the team continued to help in this particular orphanage, Wendie showed his thanks by staying at Laura’s side.

When she returned home, Laura wrote a letter of thanks to Cracker Barrel for their donation and sharing Wendie’s story. After Cracker Barrel received her letter, they sent an e-mail to all their stores relaying the information.

It said: “This incredible story touched all of our heats and we’ve been inspired to share even more with others. Retail Operations has partnered with the Marketing Department for the following addition to the Mother’s Day Rocker Contest…not only will the winning store receive their prize package but will now also receive five rocking chairs to donate to a local charity of their choice.”

Laura’s late night epiphany to taking rocking chairs to Haiti has inspired a national organization to give more. Laura returned again to Haiti in late April, and she and her husband are currently serving there now with Brentwood Baptist.

“We’re going without rocking chairs because of how incredibly difficult it is to get any type of shipment to Haiti,” she said. “We’ll go and teach other comforting techniques for the orphanage leaders to use. However, we continue to hear how rocking children has helped them heal.”

Haiti Update
• Our work in Haiti with Philadelphia Baptist Church in Petit Goave is off to a great start.
• The church has chosen not to reconstruct its own building yet, and instead will focus on rebuilding homes for others.
• This week, a Brentwood Baptist team is finishing construction on rebuilding a second home in Petit Goave.
• Brentwood Baptist’s recent medical team saw more than 540 patients, filled more than 1,300 prescriptions, and witnessed nine people make decisions for Christ.
• From the first team sent to Haiti in February through the last team we’ll send this year in August, more than 40 Brentwood Baptist members will have served on more than half a dozen small teams (small teams are preferable due to housing and transportation challenges).

To find out how you can be on the next team that will serve in Haiti, click here.
To find out more about Laura and her practice, go here.

By Heather Proctor

The Strother family finally welcome home adopted Nepalese son, Liam

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Jay Strother, Teaching Pastor at The Church At Station Hill, has ceased being the only man in the house. Next to his wife, Tanya, and their three girls—Eliza, Lexi, and Ella—they officially welcomed a two-year-old baby boy, Liam, from halfway around the world into their home during the last week of May.

“The process probably started even before we were married,” Jay said. “My wife has always had a heart for kids and for at-risk kids. She was…raised by a single mom, but had always wanted to reach out to kids. Our ministry—even when we were dating (we met at a Big Brothers/Big Sisters event)—has always been centered around kids and family.”

After years of serving in student ministries, both Jay and Tanya thought they play the role of spiritual parents to one teenager or another. “Part of my wife’s testimony is that she was spiritually adopted by a pastor and his family when she was 12 years old—and it had a huge impact on her life. Whereas we’d taken kids in for a weekend or for a night in the past, that never happened.”

Two years ago, they began praying about whether or not they were done having kids or if they were called to have more. But neither of them could find a peace that their family was complete—although they weren’t necessarily convicted to have more biological kids either. This brought them back to conversations they’d had over the years about exploring adoption.

The Strothers began to pray about international adoption. “We’re very interested in what God’s doing around the world,” he said. “My wife has always felt this calling to be a missionary of sorts. Over the years, she has been very interested in cross-cultural enterprises. You always hear that baby girls need to be adopted from China. So we thought we’ve got three girls—we’ve got girl clothes and girl stuff.”

In the summer of 2008, Tanya joined the mission journey to Hong Kong to help with Vacation Bible School. Her motivation was two-fold: 1) to use her skills as a teacher in what they were doing through Vacation Bible School and 2) to find confirmation that God was calling them to adopt from that culture.

While there, the group worked with a group of children who were refugees from Nepal. It was in working with these refugees that God’s confirmation came. Jay said, “That was the one part of the trip that God just would not let go of my wife’s heart about.”

When the group returned home, the Strothers contacted their agency, who said it was a 4-5 year wait to adopt a baby girl from China. “That was a struggle for us,” Jay said. “But they also told us that there are two countries where there is a critical need for adoptions—one is Ethiopia and the other is Nepal. If that’s where the greatest need is, then that’s what we feel called to do.”

In fall 2008, they began the process of adopting a child from Nepal. “In August 2008, the agency called us and said, ‘Oh, one more thing about Nepal—it’s the only country in the world, because you have all girls, that they will only allow
you to adopt a boy.”

Eighty-six percent of Nepal is Hindu, so they believe in kharma and balance in the family. “We joke around saying this kid is going to go from having no mother to four. Our girls are very excited. And our oldest daughter told us she had been praying for a baby brother for a while and we didn’t know that. That was kind of a neat sign that God has—a way of working things out.”

They've clung to James 1:27 through this process. Jay said, "We hope this teaches our girls that this is about giving your life away to others. And this little guy is going to stick out like a sore thumb in our family, so it’s going to give us a lot of opportunities to share Jesus.”

There are 143,000,000 orphans in the world, but it's a task you must be called to. “There have been many moments of feeling frustrated," Jay said. "It’s been an unbelievably drawn-out, difficult, and expensive process, but God has taught us about His provision—the ‘give us this day our daily bread’ (but not more) thing."

Please continue to pray for the Strothers and the transition their family is making and will make in the days ahead. Click here to read the latest updates from their journey through Nepal to get their new son..

45 middle school students give up summer days to serve and encourage Nashvillians

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 05:00:00 GMT

What were 45 of our middle school students doing last week? They certainly weren't playing video games, lounging at the pool, and sleeping in. That's because, from Monday to Wednesday, they spread out around Nashville and got their hands dirty for Missions 615, a unique summer service project designed just for them.

Over the course of three days, they served others at:
• Christian Women's Job Corp, an organization which equips low-income women with necessary life skills;
• Kipp Academy, a college preparatory charter school in East Nashville;
• Room in the Inn, a ministry to the homeless;
• World Relief, a ministry to refugees;
• Mary Queen of Angels, an assisted living community;
• Grace M. Eaton Childcare Center, a childcare and educational development center for children of working parents or parents enrolled in education or job training;
• The Next Door, an organization that helps women re-enter society from incarceration, rehabilitation, or homelessness.

Sprinkled throughout their time together was group Bible study and testimonies from those serving and being served.

Amy-Jo Girardier, Girls Minister and Student Missions Coordinator, said, "We stayed overnight in a downtown church gymnasium, and then would disperse teams of 7-12 students per group to serve across the city doing various ministry assignments ranging from helping set up apartments for refugees, working with the homeless, painting, and working with children."

At the same time the students were out and about, downtown Nashville was buzzing with country music fans, artist, and music executives, here to attend the annual CMA Music Festival.

Steve Layton, Discipleship Minister said, "[The students and leaders] were right in the mix. When they arrived back at Brentwood Baptist on Wednesday, many were covered in paint and could hardly keep their eyes open. Yet they all learned the value of community and service to others."

According to Amy-Jo, one of her favorite moments of the week was watching a group of 8th grade girls bond and share stories from the site where they served. Assigned to an inner-city daycare library, they helped put a system in place to find the books, grouping them by topic. At the end of the day, they learned a teacher needed dinosaur books because she was beginning a series on that topic with her class, so they put it together for her.

She said, "The students were ecstatic. How cool that God prompted them to do something that they had no idea would give them an opportunity to put that teacher to God. Matthew 5:16 says, 'Let your light so shine before men so that they may see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven.' I loved seeing them make connections to little moments and realizing that God was at work in that moment."

At Mary Queen of Angels, two students were paired with each resident to help with "The Time of My Life" project. Students used a booklet of questions to tap into each resident's memories and document them for the purpose of creating a memory book for their families.

Patti Fusarini, from Mary Queen of Angels, said, "I really hope the students [learned] a lot about the lives of our elders. I really appreciated [them] allowing our residents to talk about their lives. It's so important to allow them to share with us. ... It was definitely a blessing to have such well-behaved youth willing to spend the day with our elders."

Amy-Jo said, "It was intentional for us to have our middle school students awakened to how God is at work in their own city."

To find out more about upcoming summer mission journeys, camps, and activities for students, click here.

By Kaylan Christopher

Seven Brentwood Baptist couples recognized for 50 years of marriage in a time when divorce rate is higher than ever

Mon, 24 May 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Seven couples recognized for 50 years of marriage in a time when divorce rate is higher than ever

On Thursday, June 17, in Wilson Hall, seven couples at will receive special recognition in an evening ceremony called "Captured Moments: 50th Anniversary Celebration" as they celebrate 50 years of marriage this year. This event comes after a May 9 recognition in the services before a congregation of more than 6,000 people.

The evening's festivities will feature a gourmet dinner and Dennis "The Swan" Swanberg, a famed motivational speaker, comedian, teacher, preacher, author, counselor, and TV personality. Swanberg is known for his lengthy list of impersonations including Don Knotts, Muhammad Ali, Ronald Reagan, Billy Graham, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Forrest Gump, John Wayne, and more.

In a day and age when the U.S. has the highest divorce rate out of most countries around the world, leaving more than 50 percent of all marriages to end in divorce, that statistic is sadly higher for Christians than any other religious group. That's why this celebration of 50 years in covenant matrimony is something to be praised.

The seven couples—Larry and Patsy Ferguson, Bill and Elsie Graham, Willie and Dee Proctor, Jim and Anne Sewell, Rodney and Patty Taylor, John and Janice Todd, and Carl and Ann Vaughan—each have very unique stories of how they met and have thrived over the last 50 years. But they all have one common thread in their marital stories—Jesus Christ.

As for these veterans of wedlock, they freely offered wisdom and advice for younger couples who are daily working out their wedded bliss:

• Bill and Elsie Graham, who both agree that a sense of humor is essential to a good marriage, said, "Be kind to each other. Remember what you have is not who you are. Center your hearts in the Lord. Be patient, be honest, be appreciative. Grow on the good experiences and let go of the negative. Take care of each other."

• Larry and Patsy Ferguson encourage young couples to practice patience and understand that your faith in God and love for each other are the things that will carry you through difficult times. They said, "Enjoy being together and realize that you both must be willing to give and take. Also, say, 'I love you,' often."

• Jim and Anne Sewell said their greatest lesson in marriage over the years has been "to be patient, forgiving, and understanding of each other. Step back, take a deep breath, look at the other's point of view, and stay the road."

• John and Janice Todd, who say they're still learning from each other, said, "Remember that vows are made to God and mate. Reach for maturity in faith, responsibility, and commitment to have sure footing in marriage."

• Willie and Delores "Dee" Proctor advise younger couples to compromise, keep an open line of communications, and never go to bed angry. They said, "Strive to maintain a faithful, honest, and truthful relationship. Marriage is a partnership, and you'll only get out of your relationship what you put into it. Always remember that Jesus should be the center of your lives."

• Rodney and Patty Taylor admit the greatest lesson God has taught them is patience—learning to wait and trust that God is in control, even when situations are impossible to fully understand. They said, "Communicate, communicate, communicate. Operate as a unit to withstand storms. Share goals and work together. It's imperative to focus on Jesus and seek counsel before problems get out of hand."

Breaking the cultural statistics of failed marriages, these couples bring a combined 350 years of experience to the table, so they know what they're talking about. Yet, after getting into a routine and doing life for so many years together, they're still willing to place Jesus at the center of their lives, learn from each other, and pass on their legacies to younger generations.

Click here to sign up and attend the 50th wedding anniversary celebration.

By Kaylan Christopher

Unemployed can now find paid jobs through disaster relief efforts

Tue, 18 May 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Life has moved on and flood waters in Nashville have receded, but now a slew of homes, businesses, and roads need to be repaired. One organization and another ministry are offering part-time contract jobs to put thousands of unemployed people back to work in Middle Tennessee by helping in ongoing disaster relief efforts.

Contract Labor Solutions, a temporary staffing company, are currently hiring 2,500 men and women to work in flood cleanup—effective immediately. The jobs will pay $10 an hour, plus overtime, and are expected to last 6-9 months unless cleanup is completed sooner.

Nick Lucarelli, with Contract Labor Solutions, said, "We recruit from the neighborhoods, from the areas affected. We always felt that the disaster was here, the taxes should come back to the city, the people should work. A lot of companies do bring in people from all over, and we've always recruited from the areas, and it's done us well."

In addition, one of Brentwood Baptist's Hope for the World partners, Welcome Home Ministries, is also hiring for flood-related clean-up. Nearly 100 people are needed to work for $9-10 per hour (depending on the shift).

Daryl Murray said, "Welcome Home Works, a division of Welcome Home Ministries, has been contracted to help with the flood clean-up in several locations—Music City Hall of Fame, The Symphony, Opryland, and other places."

To serve with either of these organizations, check out the following instructions:
Contract Labor Solutions
Applicants must have valid ID and Social Security Card. Call 615.506.9375 for more details.

Welcome Home Ministries
Applicants must have a valid Tennessee ID and Social Security Card, and must be 18 years old. If interested, call Mike Kinslow at 499.1816 or John Fouston at 290.9616.

By Kaylan Christopher

Members brave rainy weather on Great Day of Service

Thu, 13 May 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Nearly two weeks ago, Brentwood Baptist members geared up for the Great Day of Service. That Saturday proved to be the start of some of the greatest flooding in Nashville’s history (little did they know at the time). However, several groups braved the weather and went to serve at various ministries, organizations, and groups around Nashville.

Here are some stories of what happened that day:

• Patti Liedtke and 34 other volunteers, including children, went to serve lunch to Spring Hill firefighters. She said, “We had a lot of kids who wanted to come see the fire engines. We had wonderful food…provided by our volunteers…that [they] and the firefighters all ate together… We cleaned up all the mess and left all the leftovers with the firefighters for the next shift. They were seriously thankful.”

• Sixty-five volunteers, including organizers, fed Spring Hill police and EMT personnel and went to serve at The Well, an outreach food pantry in Spring Hill that provides emergency food assistance to families in need.

• One fourth grade class went to serve local firemen. Lisa Stone said, “Folks came in spite of the weather to carry out our mission of making lentil stew for the great firefighters of Wilson Pike. We made more than 24 jars of the recipe, and the men were so appreciative and willing to show us their station hall as well as those massive fire trucks! The kids learned a little about service to others.”

• Another group of ladies provided lunch for the Brentwood Police Department. Ellen Dunn said, “We provided [them] with four large pans of homemade lasagna, green salad, fruit salad, hot garlic bread, chocolate pie, a chocolate cake…and a big THANK YOU. … They greeted us warmly… We gave them a big thank you on behalf of Brentwood Baptist and assured them of our prayers. Reflecting on how the Lord works the big picture, we delivered this right before they were about to have their hands full with life and death and tons of water.”

• The Faith Walk Class put together 120 packs for Graceworks Ministries in Franklin.

If you were involved in the Great Day of Service, we want to hear from you!
Click here to submit your stories and pictures.

A Chair to Spare: The Strothers Adoption Story

Tue, 11 May 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Any day now, Jay Strother, Teaching Pastor at The Church At Station Hill, will cease being the only man in the house. Next to his wife, Tanya, and their three girls—Eliza, Lexi, and Ella—they’ll welcome home a two-year-old baby boy from halfway around the world.

“The process probably started even before we were married,” Jay said. “My wife has always had a heart for kids and for at-risk kids. She was…raised by a single mom, but had always wanted to reach out to kids. Our ministry—even when we were dating (we met at a Big Brothers/Big Sisters event)—has always been centered around kids and family.”

After years of serving in student ministries, both Jay and Tanya thought they play the role of spiritual parents to one teenager or another. “Part of my wife’s testimony is that she was spiritually adopted by a pastor and his family when she was 12 years old—and it had a huge impact on her life. Whereas we’d taken kids in for a weekend or for a night in the past, that never happened.”

Two years ago, they began praying about whether or not they were done having kids or if they were called to have more. But neither of them could find a peace that their family was complete—although they weren’t necessarily convicted to have more biological kids either. This brought them back to conversations they’d had over the years about exploring adoption.

The Strothers began to pray about international adoption. “We’re very interested in what God’s doing around the world,” he said. “My wife has always felt this calling to be a missionary of sorts. Over the years, she has been very interested in cross-cultural enterprises. You always hear that baby girls need to be adopted from China. So we thought we’ve got three girls—we’ve got girl clothes and girl stuff.”

In the summer of 2008, Tanya joined the mission journey to Hong Kong to help with Vacation Bible School. Her motivation was two-fold: 1) to use her skills as a teacher in what they were doing through Vacation Bible School and 2) to find confirmation that God was calling them to adopt from that culture.

While there, the group worked with a group of children who were refugees from Nepal. It was in working with these refugees that God’s confirmation came. Jay said, “That was the one part of the trip that God just would not let go of my wife’s heart about.”

When the group returned home, the Strothers contacted their agency, who said it was a 4-5 year wait to adopt a baby girl from China. “That was a struggle for us,” Jay said. “But they also told us that there are two countries where there is a critical need for adoptions—one is Ethiopia and the other is Nepal. If that’s where the greatest need is, then that’s what we feel called to do.”

In fall 2008, they began the process of adopting a child from Nepal. “In August 2008, the agency called us and said, ‘Oh, one more thing about Nepal—it’s the only country in the world, because you have all girls, that they will only allow
you to adopt a boy.”

Eighty-six percent of Nepal is Hindu, so they believe in kharma and balance in the family. “We joke around saying this kid is going to go from having no mother to four. Our girls are very excited. And our oldest daughter told us she had been praying for a baby brother for a while and we didn’t know that. That was kind of a neat sign that God has—a way of working things out.”

They've clung to James 1:27 through this process. Jay said, "We hope this teaches our girls that this is about giving your life away to others. And this little guy is going to stick out like a sore thumb in our family, so it’s going to give us a lot of opportunities to share Jesus.”

There are 143,000,000 orphans in the world, but it's a task you must be called to. “There have been many moments of feeling frustrated," Jay said. "It’s been an unbelievably drawn-out, difficult, and expensive process, but God has taught us about His provision—the ‘give us this day our daily bread’ (but not more) thing."

Currently, Jay and Tonya are in Nepal to pick up their new son and bring him home. The following was taken from a recent post on Jay's blog:

So a week after leaving home, we're finally adjusting a bit to this very different world that we stumbled into. I'm over the worst of my traveler's revenge and finding a bit of my twisted sense of humor returning. We both are learning that we have to take this process a day at a time and a step at a time.

Last night, we had a last minute invitation to join some American missionary friends for dinner in their home. The two-mile walk felt like a bit of an adventure both ways to those of us used to stable governments and municipal utilities (namely streetlights), and we were glad to have our confident missionary friend to guide the way.

On the way back, we were laughing a bit at ourselves, noting that "you just haven't lived until you've stumbled home in the dark of a third world country." So in honor of our little inside joke, here's a few insights from the past day or so...some serious, some not so...

You just haven't lived until you have...
• Had your spine adjusted riding in the back of a Kathmandu mini-bus.
• Eaten chicken sausages and a steaming pile of Daal Bhat for breakfast.
• Seen the following headline in the English-speaking newspaper: "Prime Minister Cleans Breasts Over Current Political Situation". It was printed twice, and reading the article leads us to think they use this phrase for "getting things off your chest." Close, but...
• Walked past a Communist/Maoist protest taking place just a few feet away.
• Entertained a bunch of orphanage kids for nearly an hour with nothing more than a bottle of .99-cent bubbles (amazing what we take for granted).
• Come halfway across the world into a crazy situation in such a crazy time but felt the prayers and encouragement of so many
• Pondered Acts chapter 17 in a city surrounded by so much natural and creative beauty, but in which every nook and cranny is full of idols, temples, and altars.
• Felt "bonded" with a kid (wearing no diaper) after he's wet (on me) and dirtied (on Tonya). She had just finished telling our guide: "You can't really bond with a child until you've met his basic needs..." Oh well, it's what parents do. (And we discovered the aforementioned bubbles can also substitute as soap and Jersey Mike's napkins as wipes.)
• Held your little boy for the first time through an afternoon nap—looking at him, praying for him and singing "Jesus Loves Me" to him.

Today felt like a breakthrough with our little guy. After waking up from a one hour and 30-minute nap (he sleeps hard like his momma), he played with us for a complete hour without so much of a whimper or complaint. This was a HUGE step, as previously he's only lasted a few minutes without his Didi.

We're learning that he's very strong (26 pounds of Nepalese might and determination), he's very smart (he's a quick learner—stacking and nesting cups after being shown only one time, pointing at body parts in the baby book and then to his own face, etc.), he's very stubborn (he'll only stop a fit...for food), and he's got a reputation for his appetite (his nickname at the orphanage is "goblay," which means "round" in Nepali).

So, despite all going on outside the orphanage walls in the city today, inside those walls we knew were doing what we were called to do—and that you just haven't lived until you've had the sacred opportunity to love a child.

Please continue to pray for the Strothers on this journey and the transition their family will make in the days ahead. Click here to read the latest updates from Jay's blog.

Brentwood Baptist members respond to Nashville floods

Sat, 08 May 2010 05:00:00 GMT

One week ago today, Nashville fell under attack from torrential rains and unexpected floods. Only what can be described as a once in a lifetime event destroyed homes and left many Nashvillians and others living in Middle Tennessee without electricity, food, water, and shelter.

As a result of the catastrophic event, Brentwood Baptist responded throughout the week in various ways serving in Nashville, Madison, Bellevue, Franklin, Glenview, Antioch, and Thompson’s Station.

Along the way, we partnered with area churches including Mill Creek Baptist Church, El Shaddai Church, Thompson’s Station Baptist Church, and Hope Park Church. In addition, we’ve worked in conjunction with the American Red Cross, Tennessee Baptist Convention, and Nashville Baptist Association to assess needs and mobilize more than 400 Brentwood Baptist members to affected areas.

All in all, 55 homes have been touched by our members so far. This weekend, more volunteers were sent to concentrate on going door-to-door in the following neighborhoods: Pennington Bend (Nashville/Madison area), Horseshoe Bend (Franklin), Fieldstone Farms (Franklin), River Plantation (Bellevue), and Lavergne.

According to Scott Harris, Missions Minister at Brentwood Baptist, the Missions Ministry expected to send out at least 600 volunteers from Brentwood Baptist—including their own friends, neighbors, and co-workers—over the course of this weekend.

Many people were sent to shelters in Williamson County, but only stayed one or two nights before moving into homes of family members and friends.

Nine Brentwood Baptist families went so far as to open up their own homes to those whose homes were devastated in the floods. Kara Curry said, “Our family feels extremely fortunate to have suffered virtually no damage from the floods and we [wanted] to be able to help in any way that is needed.”

The parents of Lee Anne Boone, Brentwood Baptist member, suffered considerable damage in the floods and lost much of what they owned.

Stuart, Lee Anne’s husband, said, “The group from the church really gave them some peace as well as the other volunteers. At this point in their lives, minor decisions or disruptions seem overwhelming. They still have a long way to go, but at least they are not having to live in a shelter.”

Bobby and Janet Waters, Brentwood Baptist members, had a duplex in Harpeth Valley Subdivision that flooded. The waters reached the gutters of the one-level home and destroyed all the possessions and cars of the two renters living there.

“Bobby had to leave the home yesterday and just drove down the street,” Janet said. “He came across a man trying to pull a dresser out of his home—alone. Bobby got out and helped him [and] said a prayer for them both. The man said no one had ever prayed for him before. This is such a mission field.”

Several days after the flood, Bob Carlton, Brentwood Baptist Church Planting Minister, showed up to the Waters’ rental home with ten men from Set Free Church in Nashville. They got all the furniture and appliances out, pulled up carpets, and took out dry wall.

Janet said, “God answered prayers bigger than we imagined. After a full day’s work, they asked if they could come back and do more!”

Kairos took on a hurting Nashville and sent out teams to clean up areas. Even “Couponing 101,” a Do Work Do Life event, scheduled this weekend decided to donate all the ticket proceeds to the American Red Cross for flood relief.

Katie Czarnik, one Kairos attendee, started looking for ways to help right where she lives, works, and plays. She said, “I found a way to help! I just went door-to-door in our neighborhood. … Victims of these floods are amazed at the outpouring of love. I heard that over and over again. One nice lady named Betty told me, ‘I have seen Jesus. He has been walking these streets for the last three days offering support of any kind.’”

Eliza Wines, a victim of the floods, said, “Twelve members of the Journey Sunday School class were at my house on Monday to help clean out the garage that flooded over the weekend. I want to give them a big heads up because we would still be digging out if it were not for them. … It’s amazing how the Journey members have come to our rescue this week.”

Gene and Lynn Torti went to help their friends Scott and Ashley Fowler. Gene said, “I must say I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. Their neighborhood looked and smelled just like Pearlington after Katrina.”

Scott and Ashley sustained a large amount of damage from the floods. After checking wall board and flooring, it proved to be more than they could handle. A team went over to help repair their home and get them back inside as soon as possible.

Flood relief still continues and Brentwood Baptist members are continuing to run to help their community and put love into action where they live, work, and play.

To find out how you can give or volunteer to the relief efforts, click here.

By Kaylan Christopher

Station Hill campus launches and prepares for Grand Opening Celebration

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:00:00 GMT

After months of planning and pray, The Church At Station Hill has become a reality. On Sunday, February 28, more than 300 men, women, and children gathered at Heritage Middle School to connect with each other and discover the love, hope, and freedom found in Jesus through this newly-launched congregation.

Station Hill volunteer teams arrived at 7:30 a.m. to begin the process of transforming the school cafeteria into a worship center. Chairs were set out, a sound system was set up, and teams gathered to make worship happen that morning.

"The worship team arrived to rehearse," said Jason Swain, Station Hill Care and Discipleship Pastor. "The hospitality team arrived to greet and direct. The parking lot team found their spots. And teachers arrived in their classrooms for our Children's Ministry's open house. Some teachers stayed for 'Worship Care' during the service and loved on over 40 of our youngest worshippers."

Station Hill Campus Pastor Jay Strother preached a powerful message from Luke 4:14-22 that morning saying, "This text is Jesus' purpose statement. Our hearts long to be about what Jesus was all about: preaching good news to the poor, proclaiming liberty to the captives, recovering sight for the blind, releasing the oppressed, and proclaiming the year of the Lord's favor. The Spirit of the Lord is on us. This is what gives us confidence to walk in this calling at Station Hill. It's His ministry. This church is His doing. He is working. And we are so blessed and thankful to be joining Him."

Jeremy Busler, Station Hill Worship Pastor, said, "It's a powerful reality to be a part of the birthing of a new kingdom ministry. It was sacred to us to be present at the first-ever service at Station Hill Church. By God's grace, people will be gathering every Sunday here to worship Jesus until He returns."

What's coming up:
• March 14 - Last Sunday in Heritage Middle School
• March 21 - Transition to new worship center
• March 28 - The Church At Station Hill Grand Opening Celebration; moving to two services at 9:30 and 11:00 a.m.

If you're new to The Church At Station Hill and want to take the next step, then join us on Sunday, March 28 from 12:45-2:00 p.m. for Connect I: A Welcome Reception. This laid back, relational environment will give you the opportunity to hear the history of Station Hill, who we are, and where we're going. Our pastors will be there to meet you and answer your questions. Food will be provided. Please RSVP at ssylvester@stationhillchurch.com.

Photos by Leigh Ann Moore

The Church At Station Hill prepares for February 28 launch

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT

In less than a month, The Church at Station Hill—Brentwood Baptist's first regional campus that will meet in Thompson's Station—will launch its first service.

For several years now, preparations have been made for the launch of this new congregation. Jay Strother, Station Hill campus teaching pastor, said, "This is the long-awaited launch we've been waiting for. We've been in pretty serious research and development since 2006 when the process got rolling."

In January 2008, more than 50 Brentwood Baptist families committed to journeying south to help start the new church. By October 2009, 25 more families decided to join them after Sunday Night Worship at Brentwood Baptist became the visible training ground for the new church family and others became involved in what was to come.

"This is in our DNA," Jay said. "Brentwood Baptist started meeting in the basement of the Tennessee Baptist Children's Home more than 40 years ago with the mission of reaching a growing community of young families with the message and hope of Jesus Christ. We're no different."

Station Hill's mission is simple: To connect people to the freedom, hope, and love of Jesus Christ by believing in the gospel, belonging in relational community, and becoming servants on mission with Jesus where they live, work, and play. Even simpler is their motto: connect, believe, belong, and become.

Jay said, "One question people have had is, 'What is our plan to advertise?' But really our people have done our advertisement. They are already inviting their unconnected neighbors and friends. They've already done a great job for us."

With members already actively inviting people in their communities, the come-as-you-are, family-friendly environment will be inviting to local young families as Station Hill makes its mark in that area.

Jay said, "Nearly everywhere I go, people are stopping and e-mailing me about it. A lady came up to me in a restaurant and said she's so excited about Station Hill and will be there on the Sunday we launch. I didn't know who she was, but someone from our campus invited her."

The new church will focus on encouraging their members to serve in all areas: worship and music ministry, preschool, children, and student ministries, adult ministries, and missions.

"We want to do the basics well in worship, discipleship, and service," Jay said. "That will give people time to build relationships where they live, work, and play in their neighborhoods and it will also give them time to just be a family in a commuter culture. Two of our distinctives are simplicity and relationships."

Station Hill Weekly Schedule:
Sundays (Begins February 28 at Heritage Middle School)
9:30 AM Worship, Preschool, Children, & Middle School Bible Studies
11:00 AM Worship (worship care for birth-4 years)
Children's Marketplace (once a month)
5:00 PM LifeGroup, Option 1 (childcare provided)

Wednesdays (Begins March 3)
6:30 PM Childcare (birth-4 years)
KidLife (4 years-grade 5)
Student LifeGroups (grades 6-12)
LifeGroup, Option 2
7:15 PM Station Hill Choir Rehearsal

By Kaylan Christopher

The Church At Station Hill lands on location in Thompson's Station—an answer to many months of prayer

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT

The members of The Church At Station Hill are praising God for where He's brought them on the journey to the upcoming launch in just a few weeks.

Jay Strother, Station Hill Campus Teaching Pastor, said, "In 2007, we started getting really serious in evaluating our options of where our location would be in the area. The market was booming then, so there was very little available. Nobody wanted to talk to a church."

For three years, Jay researched the area, looked at several options, prayer drove through the communities, and talked with the right people. He looked into everything from pieces of land to school buildings and old Saturn training facilities to empty shopping centers.

"I was constantly trying to find a place to meet our needs and yet not be fiscally overwhelming," he said. "In November 2008, we voted to do this and got serious in 2009. We had enough people commit to Station Hill that we needed a significant amount of space, but not enough to afford a 10 million dollar campus. It didn't seem like there were any good options available to us."

As a core group, Station Hill members came together and prayed that God would give them a foothold in the community. They offered two basic pleas: 1) Space for children and 2) a place to gather for worship.

"At the time we were praying, one of our members started taking her daughter to a new preschool that opened in Thompson's Station called The Academy at Heritage Commons," Jay said. "The other end of the facility next to the preschool was empty and available for lease. We talked about the possibility of a partnership but knew it was a long shot. Getting a first-class preschool that would want a church in there every week would be a difficult sale."

In June 2009, the owner of that preschool met with Jay about possibilities. "I thought I was going to get the blow-off speech," Jay said. "But he said he's a believer and let's work to make this happen."

For a small rental fee, The Church At Station Hill will now be able to utilize a 16,000-square-foot, first-rate preschool facility on one end and have a permanent presence in 8,000 square feet on the other. In the end, the partnership will save Brentwood Baptist easily just over one million dollars in start-up costs.

"This is through the faithfulness of giving from the people at Brentwood Baptist that we'll be able to operate in a 23,000-square-feet facility with no debt," Jay said. "Those dollars will be freed for ministry from the start."

Located at 4619 Thompson's Ridge Road in Thompson's Station, behind the new Kroger Marketplace and directly across the street from Heritage Middle School, the building will feature: a multi-purpose room for worship, meetings, community gatherings, and Bible studies that seats 335; five offices (including an administrative office and work room); Preschool and Children's Ministry check-in stations; and a Welcome Center (including a small cafe and coffee bar).

Jay said, "We prayed for the basics and essentials, and God met that plus some. From our launch, we want people to be in the community. We want them to have a solid foundation—a place to worship, grow, and serve. Our facility gives us the ability to provide an 'equipped center' that's sufficient for our campus, but that also moves us out into the community for opportunities like LifeGroups for adults and service projects. It challenges us to not make the church about the building but the people."

By Kaylan Christopher

Station Hill Celebrates Christmas Eve at Heritage Middle School

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT

On Christmas Eve, 220 people showed up to celebrate the Christmas season as "The Church at Station Hill" on Heritage Middle School's campus. In addition to the Brentwood Baptist families, one-third of those in attendance were first-time guests who also received the Brentwood Baptist Christmas CD and information on Brentwood Baptist's south campus.

Jay Strother, The Church at Station Hill's campus pastor, said, "A year ago, we had our first-ever service in the old Spring Hill High School, and this year we had it at Heritage Middle, which is right across the street. It was a nice progression. There was a time of fellowship afterward where church members provided refreshments and were intentional in getting to know the people who were there."

During the service, the seating was arranged much like a "theater in the round" with the advent wreath and Christ candle stationed in the center of the room.

Jeremy Busler, music minister at The Church at Station Hill, said, "Everyone was looking in toward each other. I thought it would be important for everyone to feel the community in the room. The room was full of families, so there was an exciting energy and buzz in the air."

Victoria Duer and Jill Casada played a harp duet for the offeratory and accompanied the lighting of the candles, and Dennis Mihalek and Carl Wayne Meekins played acoustic guitar.

The multi-generational, multi-talented congregation is just weeks away from launching their first service on February 28. Many families have committed to moving from the main Brentwood Baptist campus to The Church at Station Hill to reach that particular community with the gospel.

"We finished one song during the service and my two-year-old son climbed up on the stage and was standing beside me," Jeremy said. "When the song ended, he started clapping. That was the buzz of the whole service. It was very family oriented. This is just who we are. We are a family."

By Kaylan Christopher

Help Haiti earthquake victims through Brentwood Baptist partnership

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT

On Tuesday, January 12 just before 5:00 p.m., a 7.0 earthquake shook the small, impoverished country of Haiti, causing destruction in mass proportions and killing tens of thousands of people.

The earthquake—claimed to be the largest and most powerful to hit the country in 200 years—was centered near the capital of Port-au-Prince, a city with three million people. After the initial shake, multiple 5.0 aftershocks have continued to rock the country.

With a population of a little more than nine million people, more than 80 percent of the country's residents live in extreme poverty. Since the natural disaster hit, widespread panic and chaos has ripped throughout this and surrounding areas, and the security and safety for survivors have become a serious concern.

In these tragic situations, Brentwood Baptist partners with Baptist Global Response (BGR), a Southern Baptist disaster relief and development organization that responds immediately to catastrophic events of this nature.

Scott Harris, Missions Minister at Brentwood Baptist, said, "In situations like this, people want to help NOW—and understandably so. It's counter-intuitive, but sometimes the best opportunity to help comes later when assessments have been made. We have a relationship with BGR and will be working with them to see what role we can have in the future regarding Haiti. Even so, there are several things people can do right away."

If you'd like to help now, the Missions Ministry at Brentwood Baptist encourages one of the following action steps:

Pray now for Haiti and the victims of the quake. Then, join us to pray during our Missions Prayer Time on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. in Room 1150.

Give to the Haiti relief fund through one of two ways:
1) Make your check payable to "Brentwood Baptist" with "Haiti" on the memo line and drop it off at the church offices.
2) To make an online donation, click here. Through Baptist Global Response, one hundred percent of your donation will go directly to aid the victims of this tragedy.

Sweet Sleep, one of our Hope for the World Missions Offering partners, is collecting blankets, mats, and more for thousands of displaced and newly orphaned children in Haiti. You can drop off your new or like-new donations at one of two locations:
1) Brentwood Baptist, Connection Center
Wednesday, January 20 | 8:00 AM-8:00 PM
2) Cool Springs Galleria (Sears Parking Lot)
Wednesday, January 20 | 10:00 AM–7:00 PM

To give to our Hope for the World Missions Offering, which supports ministries like Baptist Global Response, click here.

Click here to see how Southern Baptists are set up to respond to these types of situations and stay up-to-date on relief team efforts in Haiti.

By Kaylan Christopher

Station Hill to celebrate the season with Christmas Eve Service

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT

As The Church at Station Hill, Brentwood Baptist's southern regional campus, prepares for its launch early in 2010, they are also giving a small preview of what's to come to their current members and guests through a Christmas Eve Service, which will take place at 4:00 p.m. at Heritage Middle School.

The candlelit service will feature a time of worship with a vocal team, a message by the Station Hill Teaching Pastor Jay Strother, and the Lord's Supper.

This will be a perfect chance for current Brentwood Baptist members and those living in and around the Spring Hill and Thompson's Station communities to come out and get a taste of what's to come.

Brandon Abbott, one Station Hill member who is moving his family from the main Brentwood campus to the new South campus, said, "There’s just something about worshipping together with people in your own community. My family is excited to be a part of this launch, and as equally excited to get together on a night as special as Christmas Eve.”

By Kaylan Christopher

Fall Family Fellowship brings Station Hill members and community together

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Recently, Brentwood Baptist members Steven and Stephanie Moore, who will soon relocate to Station Hill when it launches, hosted a casual gathering on their horse farm for Station Hill families. Nearly 135 people came out to participate. Events like the Fall Family Fellowship are just one of the ways they are reaching out to their neighbors in the area.

Jay Strother, Station Hill Teaching Pastor, said, "It was small church fun with big church support. We had a great time of being able to fellowship and build relationships. We had inflatable games, a bonfire, and a hayride."

Many families who have committed to move from Brentwood Baptist's main campus to the south regional campus, which will launch in February 2010, recently graduated from the Station Hill Launch Training and are putting what they've learned into action.

"For example, we did The Well food drive back in September and we're helping out again at Christmas," Jay said. "The Robinson Sunday School Class has adopted us as their Christmas mission project. They're helping us gather food and provide gift cards for needy families here."

Just this past week, the GM plant went dark, leaving many in the area without jobs and giving Station Hill members just another way to reach the people where they live, work, and play. Jay said, "There are going to be a lot of families hurting. We're just trying to be where they are and minister to them."

By Kaylan Christopher

Station Hill members work grounds of Heritage Middle School

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT

In mid-October, members of our new south campus came together to help Heritage Middle School in Spring Hill with a project—which marks the beginning of the ways they plan to impact the Spring Hill and Thompson's Station communities in the future.

"Heritage Middle is right across the street from our new campus location," Jay Strother, Station Hill Teaching Pastor, said. "We knew we needed parking, so we approached them about using their parking lot. They came back and said we could at no charge, but asked if we would mind helping them around the school."

One of the coldest Saturdays recently in October, 45 Station Hill members showed up—including children, teenagers, and adults—along with people they'd never seen before to help out the middle school.

"I went to visit the school to clarify with the Vice Principal what we were going to do," Jay said. "A vendor who was supposed to do their mulch was there and there was a small dispute in pricing. He got mad and drove away. It just so happened that Steve Bennett, one of our members, runs a nursery and said he had a whole warehouse full of mulch we could use."

Station Hill members each took up a task and wound up doing three times more landscaping than the school even needed. In the future, the south campus will continue to minister to this school along with other organizations in the community.

By Kaylan Christopher