"Dinner For 8" groups forming now

It’s incredible how much the Bible talks about food! It’s almost as if God wants us to share a meal together!

Coming in September, sign up now for “Dinners for 8” at Woodmont! Meet over dinner with some amazing people from our church once a month in September, October, November, & December.

Here’s how it works! Give us your name and contact info and we’ll group you with eight “Woodmonters.” You’ll meet eight new people you may have never met before, with whom you can share your story and get to know better - the kind of people who could very well become your friends for life! You can meet at someone’s home, a favorite restaurant, or a fun location like a park and bring potluck. It's your choice!

Fill out this registration form and we will help you find your "Dinner For 8" group. On Friday, Aug. 30, we’ll let you know the group you’re in with some suggestions for your first meeting!

For more information or questions, email Jay Hutchens jayhutchens@woodmontcc.org

Songwriter Series Aug. 11

The next installment of our Songwriter Series is with Steve Siler on Sunday, August 11, at 1:00 PM in the chapel. Designed for everyone, this is a collaborative event where you join others in a group to write a song that will be sung in future worship services at The Bridge. No experience is needed! Just bring an open heart, a notebook, and a pen.

The writer of nine #1 hits, 45 top ten songs, and three books, Steve is the founder of Music for the Soul, an organization that has brought healing and inspiration to thousands of people. He will share music at The Bridge that morning and then lead our free songwriting workshop in the chapel from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM.

Questions? Contact andra@andramoran.com.

Ministry Fair is Aug. 25

Our next Ministry Fair will be held before and after worship services on Sunday, August 25! Meet our ministry leaders and sign up for several different opportunities to serve our community!

If you would like to have a table representing your ministry at the fair, email Jay Hutchens at jayhutchens@woodmontcc.org

“Those who forget the lessons of history are bound to repeat them.” Winston Churchill is often credited with that quote although when he said it he was quoting the Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana. I was also reminded of that quote... and that truth... when I visited the concentration camp in Dachau, Germany. That camp like all the other concentration camps is preserved today to remind us of the horrible lesson history taught us in the Holocaust. Just like the many Holocaust museums and memorials in Israel, in our country, and in other places, they are intended to remind us of that unbelievably horrible time in history so that we won’t let it happen again. 

But how well have we learned this important lesson about history? Read the following quote and tell me who it is describing:

“Once the citizens were men schooled when young to be industrious and frugal, accustomed in their early days never to regard public office as a chance for private gain, who considered poverty among their fellow citizens as their own disgrace, and measured their well-being not by being able to outdo each other, but by the soberness of their daily life and the absence of want among the whole people. … But now young men no longer trained to hardihood are wasting their youth in soft living; lawlessness is looked upon as liberty, license as happiness. The state has become a means to satisfy selfish desires.”

Sounds like it could be a description of the United States today, doesn’t it? But in actuality, it was a description of fourth-century BC Greek culture after the 27-year Peloponnesian War ended between Athens and Sparta. And that war followed the larger 50-year Persian War. The Athenians were enjoying peace and prosperity and the state was declining in the midst of it.

Sounds like the USA today? 

The Athenian philosopher Isocrates went on to describe the dangers of isolationism and prosperity. “A rich and powerful democracy cannot endure… The only sure foundation for a nation’s prosperity is a religious regard for the rights of others.” (All quotes taken from The Echo of Greece by Edith Hamilton)

In talking about a democracy, Isocrates also pointed out how foreign affairs are always the weak point in a democracy. He went on to raise a warning flag to the Greeks by pointing out there was a time when they focused on their duties and responsibilities as citizens, but now are only concerned with their rights. They are now more concerned with their privileges rather than preserving and protecting their freedoms. And he said, war will never bring about true freedom; only goodwill towards others. 

In debating ideas about democracy, as the Greeks loved to do, Isocrates said the current problem was that they only listened to those who supported their own desires. (Echo chambers?) Again quoting from Hamilton’s book, Isocrates said, “If you truly wished to find out what is best for the country you would listen more to those who oppose you than to those who try to please you. How can men decide wisely without giving an unbiased hearing to both sides? But you – you think those better friends of the people who dole out money to them than those who serve the state disinterestedly.”

Wow! Have we forgotten the lessons of history and so we repeat them? Is this why our country (and world) is in such a precarious and polarized state as we are today? 

Another example of forgetting our history occurred to me last week in our Wednesday morning men’s group. We were talking about the Declaration of Independence and specifically the “pursuit of happiness” … and more specifically the meaning of “happiness.” It was pointed out that Jefferson, Franklin, and other who wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence were greatly influenced by the ancient Greek philosophers. And the Greeks understanding of happiness was not that of wealth and pleasure and comfort as it has come to mean to so many today, but true happiness meant living a moral and virtuous life. Happiness is not an end in itself, but a by-product of doing what is right … especially caring for others and not just yourself.

Those who forget the lessons of history are bound to repeat them … and struggle and suffer accordingly.

This Sunday, Aug.4

"What the World Needs Now Are Some Values We All Share”

Rev. Jay Hutchens

Philippians 2:1-11

"What the World Needs Now..." series

Our schedule this Sunday is:

• 9:30 AM – Traditional service in the sanctuary with livestream
• 9:40 AM – The Bridge service in the chapel with livestream
• 11:00 AM – Traditional service in the sanctuary with livestream

Intro to Woodmont is August 18

If you’re new to Woodmont, then we want to see you at our next Intro to Woodmont luncheon on Sunday, August 18, at noon in the boardroom! This is a chance to meet with Clay and some of our leaders to learn more about Woodmont and if God is calling you to make this your church home. Lunch is served and you are warmly invited! Childcare is available with an RSVP to tammy@woodmontcc.org

RSVP today! Woodmont Kids Water Day is Sunday, Aug. 11

We’re hosting a “goodbye to summer” water day on Sunday, August 11, from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM at Campbell West, the former parsonage house behind the church. We’ll have lots of aquatic inflatables and other water-related activities, plus burgers and hot dogs grilled by our Burnt Offerings group. Click the button below to RSVP for water day!

It's time to register your children for the upcoming school year!

As we prepare for the next Sunday School year and Promotion Sunday, it's time to register your children for the 2024-25 school year. It is important that all parents register their students every year so we can update rosters for new classes and teachers along with updating our internal system. We so appreciate your help in this! Click the button below today!

Grace and peace to you from the other side of this year’s Chi Rho Summer Camp! As I begin to reflect on the fun, laughter, care, hurt, and real joy of the last week, I am reminded of a certain liturgy that our high school students pass down each year.  

When asked about camp, most of our students will respond with a smile, a brief pause in peaceful contemplation of their memories, and then a lengthy rejoicing (ask me for a video of this awesome sequence — I have a well-edited one). This will almost always include some mention of a term I had never heard before: “a thin spot.” Their liturgy of chronicling camp as “a thin spot” goes far back into Woodmont’s history, from what I understand. Year after year, students are met with the radical reality that spiritual and physical retreat begins to lessen the space between our world, and the Kingdom of God. In response to this, they have begun to regularly describe this experience as “a thin spot”, as if to remind themselves and their audiences that God is near.  

Year after year, they pass this liturgy down. It makes my job much easier when our own students are already so intimately knowledgeable of the nearness of our Lord that they can’t help but share. It is all the more easy-peasy when I have full confidence that year after year, we have student-leaders who are committed to pass down these liturgies, stories, and prayers.  

I invite each of us to begin to ask the question of where our own thin spots are. Where in your life does the nearness of God’s Kingdom become so pervasive that something gives? As our students enter their own thin spots at Bethany Hills, something gives. They are taking the time to retreat from school, work, and the monotony of life addicted to technology to encounter the living God. For some of them, that looks like tears and a brutal honesty that maybe they’re not as ready for high school as they thought. For some of them, that is laughter that cannot be contained, and might even warrant a “shhhh” from me or other counselors. For others, their once-perceived shyness becomes a loud, joyful, and humbling spirit. For most what gives is an ever-quieted mind and quieted spirit that begins to gain new perspectives through genuine friendship. For most what gives is the very real reality that we have to do life together, not allowing culture to change our love of Christ, and in full pursuit of an honest and gentle love. Christian, when something gives, whatever gives big or small, let it be a continued reminder that the Lord is near. Be encouraged that the silent, loud, complicated, simple, still, trembling reminders of nearness are all authentic, truthful worship. This is the Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven, the prayer our hearts have been groaning our whole lives.  

But a brief reminder, Christian — this is not a change in the nearness, but rather a change in our attention to it. This isn’t to say “a thin spot” is a misguided term or based on ignorance. It is simply a reminder that we each have the ability to retreat to our quiet spaces, to worship, and to remind ourselves of Yahweh’s nearness. It is a reminder that retreat can be the catalyst to a life rhythmically aware that Yahweh is near, and His Kingdom will have no end.  

“We rarely think of the air we breathe, yet it is in us and around us all the time. In similar fashion, the presence of God penetrates us, is all around us, is always embracing us.”  —Thomas Keating

New season of "Two In A Pew" podcast

Moriah Domby Pirtle has launched season two of her podcast, Two In A Pew: Conversations on Faith & Creativity. With a new episode every Tuesday, Moriah invites creatives into the pew to talk about how they use their sparks of faith and creativity to impact the community around them. Guests from season one range from recording artists, app developers, outreach directors, radio producers and more, all of which will inspire you to think outside the box in whatever vocation you are in. This second season was filmed live from CMA fest in June with a focus on country artists like Mae Estes and Eric Paslay. Click the button below to tune in!

Church calendar

Sunday, Aug. 4

9:30 AM 21st Century Class, Boardroom

9:30 AM Disciples Class, Room 105

10:45 AM Reflections Class, Room 200

10:45 AM Connection Class, Room 100

11:00 AM Points of View Class, Room 105

3:00 PM Pickleball, Drowota Hall

5:00 PM Woodmont Kids Water Day, Campbell West

Monday, Aug. 5

3:00 PM "Geezers" Group, Boardroom

6:30 PM Leadership Woodmont, Campell West

Tuesday, Aug. 6

6:30 PM Alateen (ages 12-19), South Hall

6:30 PM Parents Al-Anon Group, Room 105

8:00 PM AA Meeting, South Hall 

Wednesday, Aug. 7

6:00 AM Roy Stauffer’s Men’s Group, Room 105

7:00 AM Clay Stauffer’s Men’s Group, Boardroom

8:00 AM Men’s Bible Study, Room 105

6:00 PM DivorceCare, Bay Room

6:15 PM Disciples Women's Bible Study, Room 200

Thursday, Aug. 8

10:00 AM Sit & Stitch, Gathering Hall

1:00 PM Mahjong Group, Gathering Hall

5:30 PM Handbells Rehearsal, Choir Room

6:30 PM Andra Moran Virtual Vespers, Zoom

6:30 PM Nar-Anon, Room 105

8:00 PM AA Meeting, South Hall 

Friday, Aug. 9

3:00 PM Pickleball, Drowota Hall

Saturday, Aug. 10

10:00 AM Al-Anon, Drowota Hall