A Hermitage Congregation Since 1933
Hermitage United Methodist Church has called the community of Hermitage, Tennessee, home since 1933. Ninety-plus years on, the congregation still gathers on Belinda Drive, a short distance from the rolling grounds of The Hermitage, the historic home of President Andrew Jackson, and reaches outward from a second campus on Andrew Jackson Parkway. The motto that runs through everything the church does is short and four-fold: Reach, Connect, Transform, Send.
The mission, in the church's own words, is to build a Christian community where believers and non-believers will become fully devoted disciples of Christ, and to see a transformed community of disciples who are passionate about Jesus. Three values shape the work: HUMC is God-centered, people-focused, and team-based. The welcome reads this way: "Whether you're single, married, single again, with or without kids, young or old, no matter where you've been or what you've done, we invite you to experience freedom, new life, and fulfillment with us at #HermitageUMC."
Worship on Two Campuses and Online
Hermitage UMC offers three different worship services, varying in style while sharing the same purpose of praising Jesus Christ. The Traditional, Modern, and Contemporary services all center on Bible-based teaching and engaging worship.
On the Belinda Campus at 205 Belinda Drive, the in-person service takes place at 10:00 a.m. each Sunday. An Online Campus gathers at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings, and a Contemporary service meets at 5:00 p.m. on Sundays at the Andrew Jackson Campus, 4250 Andrew Jackson Parkway. All three services provide nursery care for children two and under, as well as children's church for PreK 3 through Kindergarten. Older children are invited to participate and serve as acolytes in the services.
The Belinda Campus also hosts a monthly hymn sing on the second Sunday of each month from 2:00 to 2:30 p.m. in the sanctuary, an unhurried half hour set aside for the church to sing together.
What to Wear, What to Expect
There is no dress code at HUMC. Some folks arrive in suits and ties, others in jeans and t-shirts. Wear whatever makes you comfortable.
Sundays are the most eventful day of the week for the kids. Sunday Kids Church is offered for ages 3 through Grade 5, with a separate nursery for infants and toddlers. Children are also invited to fun Wednesday night activities while the adults gather for classes and studies.
Wednesday Nights at Celebrate Recovery
Every Wednesday night at the Belinda Campus, the sanctuary becomes the gathering place for Celebrate Recovery, a Christ-centered 12-step program designed to help people recover from hurts, habits, and hang-ups. The program began in 1991 to help those struggling with addiction or codependency and has since grown into churches all over the country.
The night runs in two parts. Large Group Celebration meets from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the sanctuary, followed by Small Groups from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. The open share groups cover men's mixed issues and women's mixed issues.
Anything that hinders a person's walk with God is fair territory. The list of hurts, habits, and hang-ups includes abandonment, physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, dysfunctional families, adultery, alcohol dependency, anger, anxiety, chemical dependency, codependency, controlling personality, depression, divorce, drug dependency, eating disorders, fear, food addictions, gambling, grief, guilt, insecurity, loss of relationship, nicotine dependency, obsessive-compulsive behavior, overspending, people-pleasing, perfectionism, pornography, rage, rejection, relationship addiction, sadness, sexual addiction, shame, and workaholism.
Celebrate Recovery is for adults 18 and older. Free childcare is provided so parents can attend. Tommy Shelton coordinates the program. Anonymity and confidentiality are foundational. Sharing is limited to three to five minutes, with no cross talk, and what is shared in the group stays in the group.
For those seeking traditional 12-step support, the church is also home to meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Al-Anon, and Sexaholics Anonymous.
GriefShare and Divorce Care
For those walking through loss, GriefShare offers a 13-week facilitated support group held three times a year at the Belinda Campus: a fall session beginning in September, a winter session beginning in January, and a summer session as needed. Meetings run Sunday afternoons from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
DivorceCare groups meet weekly at the Belinda Campus to help people face the challenges of separation and rebuild their lives.
Connect Groups and Congregational Care
HUMC offers a wide selection of connect groups to choose from. Some meet close to where members live, others are tailored by age, gender, or life stage. Most groups meet at people's homes. Each group walks with one another through life, gathering to connect relationally and to dive into a deep discussion of the previous Sunday's sermon.
The Congregational Care team reaches out with the love of Christ to members of the congregation. They visit people, take communion, and check in on those who are home-centered and unable to make it to church regularly. The team organizes and equips other teams to carry out care responsibilities.
The Client Choice Food Pantry
On the first and third Saturday of each month from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., the Andrew Jackson Campus becomes a Client Choice Food Pantry where neighbors in need can shop, grocery-store style, for the foods that best fit their household. The pantry offers meat selections such as chicken, beef, or pork depending on the week, pantry staples like rice, pasta, beans, canned goods, soups, sauces, and baking essentials, fresh produce from local farms and community partners, fresh bread and bakery items, and a variety of snacks.
Volunteers assist with shopping, carryout, and information on additional community resources. The pantry buys food from Second Harvest at reduced prices through monetary donations from church members, and food drives are held a few times each year to help stock the shelves.
Friday volunteers receive deliveries from Second Harvest between 7:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Saturday shifts need nine volunteers to shop with guests in each shift (9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.), plus two volunteers to stock shelves.
HUM School: A Weekday Preschool for Young Children
Operating alongside the church is HUM School, a Parents Day Out and Preschool Ministry for children ages 12 months to five years. Hours run from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Toddlers and 2-year-olds may attend on Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday. Three-, four-, and five-year-olds may attend either Tuesday and Thursday or Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Tuition is paid in ten equal monthly installments: two-day tuition is $180 a month, three-day tuition is $275, and five-day tuition is $445. A registration fee of $75 for the first child and $25 for each additional child is due at registration. Supply fees range from $100 to $245 a year depending on the schedule. Late fees apply after the tenth of the month.
Registration for the following school year opens in early March with staggered days reserved for current families and church members before opening to the public. A Parent Handbook, Personal Safety Notification Form, Emergency Preparedness Plan, and Parking Lot Traffic Flow plan are available to families.
HUM School also operates Dodson Chapel Childcare at HUMC. Sharon Gregory and Brenda Rizor Dye serve as HUM School Directors, with Pam Robinson directing Dodson Childcare and Dawn Woodall coordinating the childcare program.
Reaching the Community Across Hermitage and Nashville
HUMC's local ministry is broad and hands-on.
The congregation partners with Tulip Grove Elementary School, providing school supplies and uniforms, Thanksgiving meals and Christmas help for school families, a teacher and staff sponsorship program, a Bible study for teachers and staff, and volunteers to serve as greeters, test proctors, and PTO event helpers.
F.U.E.L. was adopted to feed school children who have little or no food on weekends. Children are selected by the schools based on signs of hunger, with names kept anonymous. Volunteers gather specific foods that meet nutrition requirements for growing children and pack them in grocery-style bags. On Tuesdays, volunteers pack the bags and on Fridays the bags are delivered to participating schools, who place them directly in the backpacks of the children chosen. The program continues every week during the school year.
H.E.L.P., the Hermitage English Learners Program, is an ESL ministry that helps students learn or improve their English language skills.
Through Room in the Inn, a Nashville non-profit that works with more than 160 local congregations to provide winter shelter for about 1,300 homeless individuals between November 1 and March 31, Hermitage UMC provides shelter and meals to about 14 men, women, and children on Tuesday nights during the season. Volunteers pick up guests in the church bus, offer a hot meal, a warm place to stay, showers, and new undergarments, then wake them early Wednesday morning for a hearty breakfast and a sack lunch before returning them to the Room in the Inn campus at 6:00 a.m.
Members regularly volunteer at Community Care Fellowship (CCF), a Nashville day shelter for the poor and homeless offering meals, showers, cleaning facilities, phone privileges, a mailing address, diapers and supplies, gasoline vouchers, counseling, job referral, and financial assistance for rent and electric bills. Several HUMC members serve on the CCF board. Each January, the church collects new underwear to provide for CCF for a whole year.
Habitat for Humanity draws HUMC volunteers to the local Nashville build each fall. All skill levels over the age of 18 are welcome.
Project Transformation Tennessee, a summer reading program, finds HUMC financially sponsoring an intern, delivering meals to college students, collecting school supplies, and providing ten to twelve volunteers per day for a week of reading one-on-one with children at a host site.
Mission Partners Around the World
Through partnerships with other United Methodist churches, HUMC assists with providing wells and building childcare facilities in Malawi, Africa. The church sends teams and funds across the ocean and welcomes travelers to journey with them.
Mission teams also travel through the Appalachia Service Project and UMCOR, spending six to seven days on home rehabilitation and disaster recovery in areas of the country that need assistance. All skill levels are useful in mission work.
Project CURE identifies, solicits, collects, and distributes medical supplies and services according to the imperative needs of the world. The Nashville warehouse, the largest of Project CURE's centers, services the Eastern United States to prepare supplies for shipping.
Next Steps in Faith
Hermitage UMC offers a clear path for anyone ready to take a step closer to Jesus or to the church.
Saying Yes is for anyone considering following Jesus. The church teaches that following Jesus is not just about getting to heaven one day or avoiding hell, but about experiencing abundant life today by handing control of one's life over to God.
The church practices both infant baptism and adult believer baptism as expressions of God's grace. For people who have recommitted their lives to Christ and have already been baptized, the church celebrates a renewal of baptism rather than re-baptizing, since God's promise remains valid.
Covenant Membership is the formal step of partnering with the church community in prayer, presence, gifts, service, and witness. Membership is not required to participate or serve. Children baptized at HUMC are "preparatory members" and become full members upon completing the "Discovery" confirmation class in seventh grade. A membership class is offered several times a year.
The Spiritual Gifts Assessment helps individuals identify God-given gifts for living faithfully as Christian disciples. The twenty gifts explored come from the Pauline epistles to Rome, Ephesus, and Corinth (Romans 12, Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 12-13).
Newcomers can also join a connect group, join a serving team, or begin engaging deeper through the Engage track. Julie Anna Johnson serves as Director of Discipleship and Youth Ministries, walking alongside those taking their first steps.
Leadership
Jimmy Hendricks serves as Lead Pastor of Hermitage United Methodist Church. Joey Parker is the Executive Director. Julie Anna Johnson is Director of Discipleship and Youth Ministries.
Sharon Golden is Director of Children's and Service Ministries. Sharon Gregory and Brenda Rizor Dye serve as HUM School Directors. Pam Robinson directs Dodson Childcare at HUMC, with Dawn Woodall coordinating the childcare program.
Regan Love is Worship Coordinator, and Paul Gaehring serves as Creative Director and Worship Coordinator. Tommy Shelton is Celebrate Recovery Coordinator.
The main church number is 615-883-3918, with general questions handled at info@humc.org. Giving is available online through the church's Realm portal, and sermons can be watched on demand through the online campus and Vimeo archive.