Church Advent - Church of the Advent Episcopal

Church
of the
Advent
5501 Franklin Pike, Nashville, TN 37220
AdventNashville.org | 615.373.5630
Who We Are
took the time to provide their input.
The Church of the Advent has been engaged in
the search process for a new rector since the
beginning of 2013. The former rector had been in
place for 12 years and received a call to assume the
responsibilities at a much larger corporate church
in Houston, TX. The departure was met with a
sense of gratitude for the former rector; however,
his departure left an amount of uncertainty about
the future of Advent.
With the engagement of the diocese an interim
rector was secured which brought stability to the
worship services and consistency to programs.
The church has been going through a discernment
process and used an assessment instrument to
capture the wants, needs, and aspirations of the
congregation. This process has aided the church
leaders and members of the search committee to be
better equipped to determine not only who we are
but also what we need in the next rector and where
we want to go as a congregation.
The assessment instrument was completed by 146
individuals which represented 104% of the average
Sunday attendance of 140. This would indicate
that those individuals who are most engaged and
involved in the worship and programs of the church
The demographic data from the assessment
showed that of the 146 participants 70% were
55+ in age and 71% drive more than 5 miles to
the church. Female respondents represented
67%. The levels of education represented in the
survey showed 77% of the respondents are college
graduates or higher, while household size with two
or less members was at 72%. The attendance trend
showed 87% of the respondents participated at the
same or greater level of attendance.
The parishioners indicated that the top four
priorities for the future of the Church of the Advent
are 1) Make necessary changes to attract families
with children and youth to our church, 2) Develop
and implement a comprehensive strategy to reach
new people and incorporate them into the life of
the church, 3) Develop ministries that work toward
healing those broken by life circumstances, and 4)
Develop the spiritual generosity of the people to
financially support the ministry of the church.
From the assessment it is very clear that members
of the church realize that change is needed and will
be required to sustain growth in the church in the
future; however, analysis of the assessment shows
that the congregation is adverse to change. The
challenge thus becomes to grow the church through
the change and conflict that will exist during this
transition and transformation. There will be major
changes required to produce new meaning and
purpose for the members. While this represents
a significant shift in thinking for the church, it is
healthy that it is acknowledged by the members
throughout the assessment.
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Who We Are (continued)
as the top priorities. The next rector will need to
be able to lead the church through change, while
at the same time be able to manage the conflicts
that the change will create. This presents a great
opportunity for the right person to revitalize the
church and set the new directions. The assessment
indicates that the support for this change will be
there in that 66% of the responses indicated that
moderate to substantial change would be required.
The assessment reflects the fact that the core
congregation has been very stable over the past
years but also shows that the church rests on the
conservative and settled side. This will make any
change more difficult and
more unsettling.
Looking forward to the next spiritual leader for
Church of the Advent the critical abilities that
were reflected in the analysis of the assessment
showed preaching, strategic leadership, pastoral
care, teaching/training, and change management
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In summary there are a number of so called “fence
sitters” that are waiting to see what the next rector
will bring to Church of the Advent. It is also clear
that many of these individuals are yearning for
opportunities to serve, not only within the church,
but also through outreach. The aging population of
the church and small family units reflect the need
for people to form meaningful relationships and
encourage a nurturing process. The opportunities
are great, not only because of the physical location
of the parish, but the community which surrounds
it. There are many ways to leverage these
advantages and use them to take the Church of
the Advent through its transformation and a new
beginning.
Where We Are
FINANCIALS
Total Income
2012 12 Mo. Actual 2013 6 Mo. Budget 2013 6 Mo. Actual
$350,341
$167,189
$178,501
Total Expense
$355,206
$168,048
$160,917
Net
($4865)
($859)
$17,584
EXPENSES
Category
Commitments
Actual
$17,071
Rector & Staff
$97,400
Operations
$10,018
Music
$4,334
Physical Plant
$29,552
Program Council
$2,542
Total
$160,917
11%
18%
6%
2%
3%
60%
Commitments
Rector & Staff
Music
Commitments
Rector & Staff
Program Council
Operations
Physical Plant
Music
Program Council
EQUITY
JUNE 2013
$481,690
Funds
Categories
Category
Commitments
Rector & Staff
Music
Fixed Assets
$2,158,017
Total
Actual Assets
$2,639,707
$17,071.00
Liabilities
($100,592)
Equity
$2,539,115
Program Council
$4,334.00
$2,542.00
Operations
RECTORY
$97,400.00
$10,018.00
Physical Plant
$29,552.00
Total
$160,917.00
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What
Growing in Faith
Church of the Advent provides adult Christian Education
each Sunday during the school year at 9:15 am between the
morning services. Several different classes and themes are
offered for adults during the year such as contemporary
issues, the Sunday lessons, Bible study and the faith and
history of the Episcopal Church.
Young children have Christian education during the same
period, as well as a Children’s Chapel service that takes place
during the sermon portion of the Sunday 10:30am service.
Children’s chapel provides an opportunity to review readings for the day, sing and pray in a kid-friendly
format. A Bible study for older youth is offered Sundays by our Youth Minister.
Christian Education takes place outside of Sunday worship as well. Occasionally classes are offered for
confirmation and First Communion. There are several Cursillo groups who meet weekly to strengthen
each other. The Chapter of the Holy Spirit, an Advent women’s group, meets one a month for Christian
book discussion.
Among the most active groups in our church is the Advent EYC. Under the guidance of our Youth Minister,
they maintain a weekly meeting schedule during the school year, help out at church functions, and
participate in diocesan-wide programs. For the past several years Advent has sent a group of youth on
mission trips to assist with home repairs in underprivileged communities.
Worshipping Together
Worship brings our community together and is the centerpiece of our church life. Rite I service is held at
8 am and Rite II at 10:30 am on Sundays. In addition, Morning Prayer Services are held at 7 am Tuesday
and Holy Communion at noon on Wednesdays. Additional services are held throughout the year on holy
days.
Many Adventers enjoy participating in the worship
ministry. The Altar Guild and Flower Guild work to
prepare the church for worship each weekend. On
Sundays, lay eucharistic ministers, lectors, acolytes, and
ushers all contribute their time to the worship of the
church.
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Music is also an important component of worship at
Church of the Advent. We have an active adult choir, Bell
Choir, and junior choir which lead traditional music for
the 10:30 am service including hymns, anthems, and
occasionally chanted psalms.
We Do
Living in Fellowship
Adventers truly enjoy spending time with their
church friends! Our church greeters offer a warm
welcome helping us develop these new friends and
encouraging attendance at our fellowship time in
the parish hall following both Sunday services. We
have recently reinstated our First Fridays during
which members and friends can gather for light
hors d’oeuvres and drinks after work on Friday
afternoons.
One long-standing tradition is our annual
intergenerational Parish Retreat to Sewanee, TN.
This weekend retreat offers worship, Christian
Education, and fellowship all in the beautiful and
peaceful setting that is Sewanee.
The Advent Men’s Club leads our church fellowship
with activities such as the Annual Parish
Barbeque. This day of food and fun serves as both
a time of fellowship and outreach to the wider
community. Other activities include monthly
breakfast meetings, golf tournaments, and the
Annual Laymen’s Conference of the Churchmen of
Tennessee at Dubose Conference Center.
The Episcopal Church Women (ECW) hold
several meetings a year and sponsor church-wide
breakfasts and bake sales. The Annual Women’s
Retreat, featuring an outside speaker, is always well
attended.
Stewardship
Ongoing effort is made to be good stewards of the time, talent, and treasure
that God has entrusted to us. To this end the Stewardship Committee
encourages all members of The Advent to prayerfully consider their gifts of
time and talents.
The fall Parish Barbecue and the spring Raffle have provided fellowship
in the community and serve as additional fundraisers. Church members
work two Saturdays per year as Clean Up Days to beatify the grounds and
buildings.
Advent is proud of its beautiful grounds and buildings. The church sits on
7.5 acres and includes a Columbarium. Adjacent to the property there is a
separate four bedroom rectory on a one acre lot. The church has no debt and
owns all the properties and buildings.
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Outreach
Our church is open for use by local groups as a way
of connecting with the community around us. We
presently house a pastoral counseling practice in
our parish hall. One Sunday a month, the local
Armenian community uses our church and parish
hall for worship and fellowship. THe Malayalee
Christian Fellowship Group uses the parish hall on
the third Saturday of every month. We are currently
welcoming a new partner in Ironwood Homeschool
which is renovating some of our classrooms to use
as part of their high school class facilities.
Church of the Advent works in combination with a
number of missions and charities in the Nashville
area as an outreach to the community. We have
a strong participation with Room in the Inn, a
program for area homeless in which churches
provide shelter and meals one night a month
during the winter. More than 50 parishioners
and friends take part either by providing food or
spending the night with the guests.
We have a long tradition of supporting St. Luke’s
Community House which provides 38 programs
to those less fortunate in the West Nashville area.
Advent, through St. Luke’s, is involved in the
Christmas Toy Store, Adopt A Family, and the This
‘N That Thrift Shop. Members donate their time to
work at the Thrift Shop, deliver mobile meals, fill
food boxes and read to the children.
Advent actively supports the Second Harvest Food
Bank emergency food box program by collecting
nonperishable food and cash donations. We also
collect food for Charis Ministries, a Christian food
bank.
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Looking beyond Nashville, Church of the Advent
has sent a mission team to the Pine Ridge
Reservation in South Dakota and collected
blankets and coats for the residents as well. The
EYC has participated in numerous mission trips
and, as a church, we support the United Thank
Offering (UTO), the Episcopal mission program for
worldwide outreach.
Community
Nashville is one of the most dynamically growing regions in the
United States. Since 2000, the area has added more than 238,000
residents, making it the 23rd fastest-growing metro area in the country.
Nashville’s leading economic sectors – health care, tourism, music,
automotive industry and publishing – all are evidence of the creative
talent and diversity of people that make Nashville area business
clusters and world leaders.
Nashville is home to more than 100,000 foreign-born residents and is
home to a significant international population. It has become one of
the most diverse cities in the South. Nashville is increasingly attractive
to young workers, international population, and mobile households.
Annually, Nashville area institutions graduate significant numbers of
students from associates through doctoral levels in critical occupations,
including engineering, business, chemistry, nursing, education and
other fields. The Nashville area graduates as many students each year
in many key fields as the rest of the state combined and provides one
of the highest concentrations of talent in the mid-South. More than 32
percent of Nashville adults have a graduate degree, higher than the
national average. More than 100,000 students are enrolled in higher
education in the Nashville area, the largest concentration in a four-state
region. Nashville has the highest concentration of institutions higher
education of any region its size in the country.
More than 35.4 percent of Nashville-area residents were born in
another state and 6.7 percent were born outside the U.S. The out-ofstate residence share is much greater than the U.S. (27.3 percent),
highlighting Nashville’s attractiveness for newcomers in recent
years. The Nashville area is a net gainer of population from many
key metros, including New York and Los Angeles. Nashville is the
largest metropolitan area in a five-state region - Tennessee, Kentucky,
Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi.
Nashville provides extremely affordable housing, at only 7.4% the
cost of the national average and home prices hold their value well,
down only 4% since the start of the recession. Homes in Nashville
offer a wide array of diversity - nearly one in five Nashville area
homes is less than 10 years old, with many suburban communities
particularly featuring much variety of new housing stock. Williamson
and Rutherford Counties, for example, rank among the nation’s fastestgrowing counties, and housing growth at affordable levels has been
consistent and strong for over two decades.
Church of the Advent is blessed with a picturesque setting on Franklin
Road, in the southern part of Davidson County that borders Williamson
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Community (continued)
County. It is centrally and conveniently located in
the Brentwood area and benefits from the best of
Davidson and Williamson Counties. The welcoming
church property accessed from I-65, Franklin Road,
and Old Hickory Boulevard. The Nashville area
is serviced by an international airport (BNA); a
downtown bus terminal, a local MTA bus service,
and several taxi services.
Auditorium, the Parthenon, Nashville Zoo at
Grassmere, the Adventure Science Center, and the
Hermitage home of President Andrew Jackson.
With Nashville located in the Middle Tennessee
region, the numerous historic sites, state parks,
lakes, and recreational areas are all easily explored.
Church of the Advent is less than five minutes from
Radnor Lake, a preserved area with hiking trails and
a wildlife education facility.
The location of the church provides the excitement
of Nashville’s downtown, the security of the suburbs,
and the beauty of the countryside, all just short
The church and rectory lie within the Metro
drives away. The vital
Davidson County public
downtown business
school’s Overton cluster
area of Nashville is
of K-4th - Grandberry
constantly changing,
Elementary, 5th&6th
Population
bringing new and
- Glendale, 7th&8th Davidson County – 626,681
exciting opportunities.
McMurray, and 9th-12th
37204 – 11,024
The city has seen the
Overton High School.
37211 – 64,753
growth of professional
Metro Davidson County
37215 – 22,122
sports teams, increased
also offers 19 magnet
37220 – 6,163
emphasis on the arts, and
schools ranging from
the continued emphasis
academic to performing
Williamson County – 183,182
on higher education.
arts.
Brentwood (37027) – 37,163
Franklin (37069) – 16,243
The Tennessee Titans
There are over 2,000
of the NFL reside at
physicians providing
Wealthiest Zip Codes
LP Field, the Nashville
outstanding healthcare
Zip
Mean Income
Predators NHL Hockey
in 30 hospitals. These
#1 – 37027 (Brentwood)
$118,958
team call the Bridgestone
facilities include a level
#2 – 37069 (Franklin)
$117,070
Arena their home and
one trauma center at
#3 – 37067 (Franklin)
$105,674
the Nashville Sounds
Vanderbilt Medical
#4 – 37215 (Nashville)
$ 88,110
Baseball Club, which
Center, the Monroe
#5 – 37220 (Nashville)
$ 85,261
is a Triple A farm club,
Carrell, Jr. Children’s
currently use Greer
Hospital at Vanderbilt,
Stadium for home games.
a nationally recognized
heart center at St. Thomas Hospitals and several
The emphasis on Nashville’s creative diversity in the HCA facilities including The Sarah Cannon Cancer
arts includes The Performing Arts Center (TPAC),
Center at Centennial Medical Center.
Nashville Ballet, Nashville Children’s Theatre,
Nashville Opera, Nashville Symphony, the Frist
The shopping experience is widely varied to fit
Center for the Visual Arts, and Cheekwood Botanical everyone’s needs. Everything from small town
Garden and Museum of Art.
owner-operated shops and businesses to several
large malls with nationwide retail chains; from
Other attractions and historical sites within the
upscale boutiques and specialty shops to large
city include the Country Music Hall of Fame and
discount superstores and outlet malls. Also
Museum, the Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman
available are the traditional U.S. style grocery stores,
roadside produce stands, specialty markets, and a
wonderful farmer’s market.
Quick Facts
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History
it was finally completed and consecrated in 1887.
Advent remained at this location downtown (near
the Ryman Auditorium) until 1911, when the
next church building on 17th and Edgehill was
consecrated. Advent flourished there under several
rectors, including Dr. Prentice Pugh who served from
1916 to 1955.
When Rev. James Otey, the future Bishop of
Tennessee, established Christ Church as the first
Episcopal parish in Nashville in 1829, the practice
of pew rental was commonplace. However by
1857, when then rector, Rev. Charles Tomes,
sought to change the policy to address the growing
congregation, a rift developed. A decision was made
by some members to split from Christ Church and
thus Church of the Advent was born. Rev. Tomes
accepted the call to be Advent’s first rector although
he died before preaching his first sermon. Dr.
Charles Quintard, a man of great reputation, was
approached and accepted the call to become the
next rector for Advent in 1857. Quintard went on to
become Bishop of Tennessee.
Problems during and following the Civil War,
postponed the building of the first home for Advent;
In the late 1950s, the idea of relocating began
to grow as the neighborhood where Advent was
located changed and the migration to the suburbs
by the population of Nashville began. For 15 years,
debate simmered; and, after several false starts
at acquiring a new site, the current property was
purchased. In the early 1970s new and wonderful
things happened from the election of the first
women to the Vestry to the consecration of the new
building on Advent Sunday, 1973. Our stained glass
windows between the narthex and the nave, which
were used at the original building and the Edgehill
location, and the columbarium cross, which sat atop
both previous buildings, are beautiful reminders of
our church history.
The Church of the Advent takes pride in the special
circumstances of its founding and in the long
history that has lead it through several building
and locations. While Advent joyfully celebrated its
150th Anniversary in 2007, we are a church that has
shown itself adaptable to changes and which looks
forward to a bright future.
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Church of the Advent
OUR VISION IS…
To foster a thriving multi-generational Christian family in the Anglican tradition in which all members participate in the ministries of
the church and where an enthusiasm for the Word of God and love of
Jesus Christ ignite a passion for service and changed lives.
VESTRY MEMBERS
Frank Field (2013), Senior Warden
George Kelly (2015), Junior Warden
Gregg Conroy, Treasurer
Andrea Parsons (2015)
Anne Williams (2013)
Barbara Jones (2013)
Bill Ballard (2014)
Joe Collins (2014)
Oliver McIntyre (2014)
Robert McMillan (2014)
Shane Hamill (2015)
Stuart Nicholson (2013)
Vicki Markham (2015)
STAFF
Rev. Carola Van Wrangel, Interim Rector
Lynne Walker, Lay Assistant for Youth & Young Adults
Waldemar O. Wensell, Director of Music Ministries
Lisa Gaines, Bookkeeper
Tina M. Cozby, Office Administrator
Levi Gant, Sexton (Part Time)
SERVICE SCHEDULE
8:00 a.m. – Rite I
9:15 a.m. – Sunday School
10:30 a.m. – Rite II