Here in Nashville, the small fellowship that I’m part of has been doing something for the past 10 years that even the aforementioned Mr. Bobby would find relevant. It began with just a dozen of us when we were still just a humble little bible study group. Now, a bunch of us from The Village Chapel like to go Christmas caroling to the clubs and eateries in our Hillsboro Village neighborhood. We get bundled up and go to locales like Sam’s Place Sports Bar, Bosco’s Micro Brewery, Jackson’s Bistro, Fido’s Coffeehouse, The Villager Tavern, The Sportsman’s Grille, Pizza Perfect, Cuisine of India, and MacDougal’s Chicken Coop among others.

You would think 50 folks piling into the entrance way of a crowded bar would get some strange looks—but they welcome us every yuletide season. As we belt out “Oh Come All Ye Faithful,” “Jingle Bells,” “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” and “Joy to the Word” the places always start jumpin’. Folks sway back and forth with us and often join-in full-on. When we get to some of the softer pieces like “Silent Night” and “Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem,” it’s not odd to hear customers with a catch in their throat, or even wiping away a stray tear or two.

I find that so many people are longing for some type of deeper meaning in life. These lyrics and melodies trigger something very deep in all of us. On several occasions we’ve seen clientele who were sitting alone suddenly break down in deep sobs. It’s allowed us an opportunity to spend a little time with them, invite them to come to our humble little church, and see if they might be able to find a sense of community there that they are missing. Quite a few have ended up attending because of this fun, light-hearted caroling.

In our often cynical society, people are “up to here” with Christianity that is mostly talk, and—when there is movement—it’s mostly embarrassing picket lines, or someone wagging their finger. But when folks see fellow sinners actually trying to meekly act out their faith in simple and heartfelt actions that bitterness starts to dwindle away.

We’ve felt like our faith means nothing if we don’t live it out in practical ways like this, interacting with those in our part of town. We’ve organized large yard sales to raise thousands of dollars and awareness for the local AIDS Hospice; have spent weekends assisting at the Ronald MacDonald House, and have helped build homes for Habitat For Humanity. We’ve lent many hands with after-school outreach at the inner-city Cottage Cove Ministries, knitted hundreds of scarves for women in transition from prison to the outside world at The Next Door, and spent time visiting our elders at south side retirement homes. We have hosted dozens of Room at the Inn nights for Nashville’s homeless over the past decade, including a Super Bowl Party for them the last Sunday of every January. We give of our time and resources at the Domestic Violence Intervention Center.

And our concern for others has spilled out beyond our middle Tennessee: we have sent members on our fellowship on special trips loaded with supplies for orphanages in Rwanda, Uganda, and South Africa. We sponsor over 50 needy children thru Compassion in a poor highland village in central Guatemala and have had the honor to send missions teams of 25 folks there for two week-long stays to assist in building new classrooms. We were privileged to send teams down to the Gulf Coast to help with Hurricane Katrina relief and rebuilding efforts.

Besides the physical outreach, The Village Chapel has also contributed over $500,000 to many causes helping the poor, the afflicted, and the recovering both locally and abroad from our rather small but committed fellowship of around 800 hundred sinners. What’s noteworthy about this is that we have never “taken up an offering” at our church. People can simply leave their donations at a tiny box near the entrance if they wish.

While I was driving back from Pittsburgh after my Mother’s funeral a five years ago, I remember our pastor, Jim, calling me while on the road to see if I had plans once I got back in town (he had been very diligent about calling me several times during my Mom’s sudden stroke and subsequent passing that week). Telling him I didn’t, he asked if I’d like to meet him and his wife Kim for dinner at my favorite Chinese restaurant after I got settled. To my surprise, when I arrived at The Great Wall, there were 14 others from the church there to encourage me, and help me reminisce about my Mom. And for the next 10 days after that, I got dozens more calls and visitors, and never had to cook a single meal because of all the dinners that were brought to my home by my fellow sojourners at our little church.

In fact, that practice is not out of the ordinary at all. Well over a two thousand meals have now been provided in just 9 years for parishioners who are going through mourning, recovering from surgery, getting settled with new-born babies, etc. When any kind of need is brought up, whether helping with the toddlers, or raising money to dig fresh water wells in the Sudan, our Village Chapel family responds above and beyond what anyone would expect. I guess it is borne out of a deep sense of gratitude for what Jesus did for us by coming into our world, walking around in skin and emotions like ours, and making the ultimate sacrifice to show us that God does indeed care so deeply and affectionately for each of us…even though we dare not say we deserve it.

So, if you’d like to join in the sheer joy of singing these familiar strains for complete strangers who will greet us warmly, just let me know and I’ll send you the particulars for this Thursday, Dec. 17 at 6:30 PM. Our group always includes everyone from kindergarteners to grandmas.

We’ll also have a group going to sing for some wonderful friends at some area Retirement Homes on Wednesday, Dec. 16th at 5:15 PM (those old folks go to bed early!) if you would like a bit “easier” pace.

After several hours of caroling from place to place, we celebrate with spiced apple cider, coffee, hot chocolate and Christmas pastries back at our facility located in the 105 year old St. Bernard’s Convent Building on 21st Avenue South—just two blocks from Hillsboro Village.

Yes, little baby Jesus will be celebrated in the bars this week. It’s the kind of Christianity that I think resonates deeply in all of us.

http://thevillagechapel.com