Last Two4Two of 2011

Here is a sneak peak at the final Two4Two slideshow of the season. Thanks to all of the volunteers who do so much to make our Wednesday nights a time of coming together, eating, playing, learning, and worshiping!

Two4Two Slideshow!

Hot off the presses (if you're reading this on Tuesday, October 25th)! Thanks to Beth Kilgore for taking so many excellent pics.

Two4Two Slides!

Here is this week's slideshow (it's a mishmash of pics from the past two weeks).

Grandview is a great place to be.

I haven't made the time to post these this past week. So, here is a sneak REVIEW of one of the Two4Two's slideshows from over a week ago. ">

Here is this week's Two4Two slideshow. Hope you enjoy.

Our current sermon series is an attempt to look at what Christ-shaped love really is. We talked last week about what it means to love those closest to us. This week we will look at Jesus' definition of "neighbor" within the context of his command to love our neighbors. Next week we will ask ourselves what it means to love our enemies.

September 14th is the beginning of this semester's Two4Two program. We will be looking mainly at two symbols that add depth to our understanding of ourselves, life, the church, and the world: baptism and communion.

If you want to know more about the questions different generations of Christians have asked scripture, this class if for you. Jason Bembry (PhD in Old Testament from Harvard) will teach the first class on Wednesday, September 14th @ 7pm in the Virginia Street Room.

Want to see some old pictures from Two4Two? Catch a sneak preview of tomorrow night's slideshow.

Chasing After

I'll be mentioning Jeb Corliss in the sermon Sunday, but only in passing. If you watch this video you'll a) be amazed, b) have a fuller image in mind when I mention him. If you have extra time, read Ecclesiastes 2 before watching the video (or, shoot, just read the whole book, it isn't long).

Church Picnic on Sunday

The annual church picnic takes place this week at the Appalachian Christian Camp (5-8pm). We will swim, hang out together, and celebrate the ministries of Ruth Davis, Theresa Garbe and Ryan Bader.

Play Group is Back!

Grandview's Tuesday Morning Playgroup is back. The gang meets from 9am-Noon in Grand Central Station. You'll get the chance to meet other parents while your children make new friends.

August is Here (with vengeance!)

I'm determined to get some blogging in. If you're a facebook person, please know you can join the Grandview facebook page and get updates there as well.

Here are the updates.

Youth Minister Search:
We've narrowed the field to 5 at this point. The search team, led by Caroline Neal, has done a wonderful job. We've been overwhelmed by the number of good candidates. We are on target right now to be able to announce a candidate by the end of the month (but we make no promises). Stay tuned.

Worship Service Changes:
This past Sunday was the first Sunday of "the switch." The traditional service has returned to the original sanctuary. The service went well. The spirit was excellent. The singing was wonderful. We have things to tweak still, but I'm pleased with the feel of the service. If I were taller we would have fewer things to tweak!


The Sermon Series:
Now we move into the book of Ecclesiastes. I love this book. Paul Helphinstine, from Harrison Christian Church, and I are working on this series together. It's helpful to have someone struggling through the same texts!


Softball Team:
Lorna Crouch sent me this picture of the softball team. They did pretty well this year. The season is over. We have a trophy (for what place I don't know!), but I wanted you to see the picture.

Taking Shape

Earlier this week the worship ministry team made a first attempt at placing the new chairs in the original sanctuary. I thought you might enjoy a peak at it. The room looked good. This configuration of chairs allowed for 164 seats (plus the choir loft). More could be added if necessary. This is setup allows for generous space between the rows and easy access to the middle seats.

The organ and the piano would be placed at the front of the room.

The cross (a joint venture between Roger Allman and Betty Taber) looks wonderful and the room has a warm feel to it.

This is how it looks from the front. There is more to be done, but we're getting there.

Time to Blog Again

I haven't been blogging at all since the end of Two4Two. I've decided to try to preview the sermons on Saturdays.

We continue tomorrow with our Unthinking Series. This week's sermon is called "The Church Has Lost that New Church Smell" and is designed to help us rethink the importance of the church. In our contemporary world the church is seen by many as just another volunteer organization (one with HUGE flaws). The Apostle Paul saw the church in a very different light.
The sermon notes are done and ready. Here they are, just in case you're interested.

JustOne WeekTen Slideshow

Well ... we're wrapping things up for the Spring session of Two4Two. A big thank you goes out to all of the many, many volunteers who made things run so smoothly. This was, I think, our best attended season of Two4Two.

Special thanks to our staff, Anna Jones kicked it off and then had to tend to newly born Eli and Bethany Lundgren stepped in and kept things rolling smoothly. Thanks, also, to Ryan Bader for his leadership.

JustOne WeekNine Slideshow

This isn't the in-house version that we will be using tonight, but it will have to do for the blog.

JustOne Video Series: Erin Layton

Here is the video from Erin Layton, Emmanuel recruiter and member of Grandview.

Just1 Series - Erin Layton from CrossEyed Productions on Vimeo.

JustOne Video Series: Michael Sweeney

I'm running way behind on these. I really like how Micah Ridley and Alan Stengel have handled these. Here is the president of Emmanuel speaking about his path to the ministry he now stewards.

Just1 Series - Mike Sweeney from CrossEyed Productions on Vimeo.

JustONe WeekSix Slideshow

My photographer was on Spring Break this week, so you'll have to suffer through my photos (but at least you get Tom Root's music).

JustOne Video Series: Adrian Fehl

Here's the video we made with Adrian Fehl, longtime friend and missionary to Ethiopia.

Just1 Series - Adrian Fehl from CrossEyed Productions on Vimeo.

JustOne Video Series: Heather Hoover

I'm finally getting these videos up on the blog. The idea behind this series is to encourage our youth to consider their calling as they imagine their futures. We're looking at a series of ministries within the church and church related institutions.

Last fall our Christian colleges asked us to spend a Sunday asking youth to consider vocations. We decided to spend the Spring semester of Two4Two on it.

Special thanks to Micah Ridley and Alan Stengel at Milligan for making these videos. They've been great to work with. And, of course, special thanks to Heather for being willing to share this way.

Just1 Series - Dr. Heather Hoover from CrossEyed Productions on Vimeo.

Four Wheel Drive?

If you haven't seen this video yet, it's fantastic. Not being from the farm, I haven't seen how it looks when four horses have to work together.

Feel free to leave a title for this video in the comments section. If I were naming this video I would call it "The Four Horsemen of the Snowpocalypse."

JustOne WeekFour Slideshow

I certainly hope you like it.

JustOne WeekThree Slideshow

Enjoy ... this week is in high definition.

The Roots

I just saw this piece in the Johnson City Press. It's a nice glance at the new venture of Tom and Peggy Root as they launch Root Studios.

I've known Tom and Peggy since my Jonesborough days and I have nothing but appreciation for their art, their faith, and their kindness. May they thrive in their new venture as art teachers!

This Week's Slideshow

We have new photographers this week, which means that you aren't having to rely on my limited camera skills. Enjoy!

The Seminary Boom

It must be the dawning of the age of Aquinas!

Time Magazine and CNN are reporting that aging Baby Boomers (what a phrase! it's as though people don't start aging until they retire) are going to seminary now that they've either stalled in their careers or have retired. The reporter speculates that some of them wanted to go to seminary when they were young, but were too saddled with their kids' tuition and their mortgages. Now, in their retirement, they have the freedom to do what they've always wanted to do.

The article's vision of the Boomers doesn't match with my own. I don't remember hearing about the great yearning of Boomers to go seminary when they were young. I seem to remember hearing more about a desire for free love than for free tuition. I remember hearing that a bunch of Boomers put off careers while they tuned in, dropped out, and some other sloganeering.

I hope the article is right, though. I hope Baby Boomers feel free to go to seminary and to serve the church. My suspicion is that the trend may be exaggerated in the article, but that's okay. We'll take all the help we can get.

The article suggests that it may be better to have older ministers than younger ones. The author wonders what a young person really knows about life, grief, deep disappointment and failure. Ironic, isn't it? The same generation that refused to trust anyone over 30 now questions the wisdom of trusting anyone under 30.

Here's to the new seminarian! I can hear their evangelistic chanting now, "Hell. No! You won't go!"

Get Ready, Grandview!

Two4Two returns on Wednesday night. Here's a preview of the slideshow and the theme.

Night at the Improv

Great turn out for the Night at the Improv. If you want a sample, just watch the video. If you don't want a sample, thanks for coming by anyway!

What an Adorable Little Doll

I opened my email last week to discover that as a graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary I had first dibs on getting a free John Wesley stuffed doll (for at least a $15 donation ... grace is free, dolls cost money).

Not being a Methodist, I don't know how most of them feel about John Wesley dolls. I'm pretty sure, though, that Alexander Campbell dolls wouldn't become terribly popular with people from my own Stone-Campbell churches.

Here are the Top 5 Reasons I wouldn't want an Alexander Campbell doll:

5) It might be too prickly.
4) The "Old-Light, Anti-Burgher, Seceder Presbyterian Dollhouse" would be too cumbersome for my play room
3) I'm afraid that if I pulled the string it would only speak where the Bible speaks.
2) Instead of coming with a birth certificate like Cabbage Patch dolls, it would come with a Last Will and Testament.
1) It wouldn't really get along with my Barton W. Stone doll.


PS: If you "get" any of this, I hope you enjoyed your time in church history classes.

You Still Here?

Blogging Vacation is over. The irony about blogging is that when the most interesting stuff is happening, you have the least time to blog. The holiday season was super busy, but good, around the Wymer household and at Grandview Christian Church.

I hope your entry into 2011 was wonderful. I'll try to be a more faithful blogger for at least a week or two.

Here are the top things I would have blogged about it I had time in the previous months:

1. The Cold!

It has been a cold, cold winter so far in East Tennessee. People used to talk about the weather to pass the time, or as a way of saying "Hello, how are you?" I've noticed that the Global Warming issue has changed that, however. Weather discussions can easily become tense. I've heard people say, "Hey what about this global warming?" as a way of denying the reality of it (this, by the way, is closer to my own jaded, cynical view of anything that gains political momentum). I've also heard people say, "Global warming causes these kinds of cold snaps." In either case, it used to be easier when we just said, "Cold enough for ya?!"

All I know for sure is that I shoveled a lot of snow on Christmas night at my home and at the church. Then I shoveled a bit more on Sunday morning (along with Roger Allman) while we waited upon the the snow plow.

2. The Babies!

We're on a baby run at Grandview. Baby runs warm my heart. On the First Sunday of Christmas I got to use lil' Charlie as part of my sermon on the incarnation (during the 9:30 service). I can't even express what a joy it was to hold him while talking about how God feels about humanity.

But the baby run isn't just at Grandview. Below is a picture of my new niece, Esther, and her adoring cousins and aunt. New life around Christmas time is such a wonderful gift!
3. The Gators
Did you think I wouldn't have mentioned the loss of Coach Meyer? The weird thing about his retiring is that he is well loved by all of the Gator fans I know. But we could all see that his heart wasn't in it the it used to be, so we're not devastated by his leaving. We have high hopes for the next victim ... er ... coach of the University of Florida.

I find myself in a conundrum when it comes to college athletics these days. For a coach to be successful it appears he has to sell his soul (family and all) to the school. I contend that Tim Tebow ruined Coach Meyer. I watched it happen (through the articles I read while he was coach, so my version is 5th hand at best). Because of his interaction with Tebow, Coach Meyer began to take his Catholic faith more seriously. He even went on a short term missions trip with his church (to Costa Rica or Honduras, I can't remember which).

I think his enlivened faith awakened the conflict between family and football for Meyer and led to his retiring to be with family. He may be the first coach to quit during his prime who actually meant it when he said he wanted to spend more time with family.

We Gators wish you all the best, Coach.

4. Tim Tebow
Speaking of the Gators, if you have a few minutes I recommend watching this trailer for an upcoming documentary to air on ESPN about Tim Tebow. If follows him from his final Gator game through the NFL draft. I'm anxious to watch it.

Tim Tebow Documentary from FCTN on Vimeo.