Moving to Russell Street
A NEW CHAPTER ON RUSSELL STREET
East End is moving to 6th and Russell! As we prepare to begin worshiping in our new sanctuary and ministry space, we're gathering important dates, moving plans, and helpful information in one place. Explore what's ahead, learn what to expect, and find answers to your questions as we get ready for this exciting new chapter together.
Our Moving Plans & Timeline
We are preparing to move into our new sanctuary and ministry space at 6th and Russell! We intend to have our first Sunday onsite on November 29 at 10:15 AM. This will be a short, casual worship gathering with a time of orientation and preparation to follow. On Sunday, December 6, we will have our first full worship service at 10:15 AM.
There will be much to do prior to our first Sunday and more to do afterwards. Below you will find full details about our moving plans and key dates. First find a link to a letter from our pastor about our upcoming worship plans. Next, find a visual timeline of the anticipated steps for moving in and getting settled. Finally, you will find FAQs about this process and what to expect as we move in. This includes a place for you to submit additional questions as well.
Please be aware that while these are our current plans, as is the case with building and moving projects, some dates could shift. We will keep this page updated with the latest information and will also send church communications as needed.
NOVEMBER 22, 10:00 AM
LAST SUNDAY AT WARNER
NOVEMBER 29, 10:15 AM
FIRST SUNDAY IN THE NEW CHURCH BUILDING
DECEMBER 6, 10:15 AM
FIRST FULL WORSHIP IN THE NEW CHURCH BUILDING
MARCH 7, 2027, 10:15 AM
DEDICATION SUNDAY
Next Steps
Week of November 2nd
Begin process of ordering/procuring major furnishings
Sunday, November 8th
10:00 AM at Warner
First of three final worship services preparing us to say goodbye to our temporary worship space at Warner
Week of November 9th
Major furnishings begin to arrive (i.e., choir chairs); Anticipate receiving final occupancy permits this week
Sunday, November 15th
10:00 AM at Warner
Second of three final worship services at Warner when we will celebrate the volunteers and community entities that have helped us thrive over the past six and a half years
Week of November 16th
Anticipate completion of sound and video setup for the Sanctuary
Nov. 16th - 18th
Organ builders on site to clean and repair organ
Tuesday, November 17th
Install of First Aid Kits, AED's, Paper Products, Soap, and Trashcans
Wednesday, Nov. 18th
New Kawai pianos are moved in around this date; On-site meeting with the EEUMC Safety Team
thursday, Nov. 19th
Cabinetry installed in the Children's Ministry area; Music Cabinetry set up in Choir Room
Nov. 20th - 21st
Teams move all office and ministry items from Aldersgate UMC, POD, etc. to the new church building
Sunday, November 22nd
Final worship service at Warner Arts Magnet elementary that will include a goodbye and helping move all items from the school to the church
Monday, November 23rd
Copier connected at the church and the church office becomes operational at the Russell Street location
Sunday, November 29th
10:15 AM at EEUMC
First gathering at East End UMC's sanctuary with a brief time of worship followed by orientation, training, and building prep; Also the first Sunday of Advent, marking the beginning of the Christian New Year
Monday, November 30th
Full church operations commence at location
Sunday, December 6th
10:15 AM at EEUMC
First full worship service in the East End UMC Sanctuary, including consecration liturgy and continuing the Advent season
Details for the remainder of the Advent season are forthcoming on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Other training and orientation sessions are expected to occur in December and into 2027 as our lay leaders and lay volunteers learn about our operations.
FAQ's
To the best of our understanding, we are on track to receive our permits by mid-November. If everything holds as expected, the timeline above should be fairly accurate. Of course, everything is still fluid and subject to change. We will update the congregation and this webpage if there are any changes.
That will partially depend on where you enter.
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If you start in the Sanctuary, you will see a renovated sanctuary from 1893 with vaulted ceilings, massive wooden beams and millwork, the original organ, and the original wood floors and pews newly refinished. You will also see new elements such as an expanded chancel area, some new lighting, new speakers and cameras, and a brand new piano.
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If you enter through the new lobby space that connects the sanctuary with the ministry and office building, you will see a bright new space that includes gorgeous tilework, exposed brick that used to be on the building’s exterior, a new elevator, and beautifully curved steps that allow you to traverse from one building to the other.
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If you enter the ministry and office building, you will find various spaces on each of the three floors. On the third floor (same level as the sanctuary), you will find renovated spaces for children’s and music ministries. If you are on the second floor (which does not connect to the church building), you will find the church offices, our conference room, a multi-use classroom, and rental offices for future partners. On the first floor (which connects to the Community Hall), you will find the youth room, more flex classrooms, storage for our church, missions and Scout Troop 3, and a smaller rental office suite. Finally, as you make your way back across to the church building, underneath the sanctuary is a magnificent Community Hall, complete with an industrial kitchen.
You may get turned around at first or initially overwhelmed by the scale, but once you learn the layout, you will find it has wonderful flow and will be imminently useful and intimately sacred.
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So far, it seems everyone has a different reaction. Some people are overcome with the beauty of the sanctuary or immediately fall in love with some of the new design elements. Others find themselves a little disoriented as they enter a new and unfamiliar place. Still others wonder about design elements, decisions we made regarding the renovation, and how we will use different spaces. These are all valid wonderings, and we may not fully know the answers to all of them. We hope the space will fully meet our needs, but we will have to live into the space for a while before we know what we don’t know! This is a big move and a big change, both from our former church building and from being a scrappy, nomadic community. We certainly hope you feel joy, excitement, and hope as you enter the space. But we also know change might bring feelings of apprehension, worry, or uncertainty. Whatever you feel, know that everyone who has worked on this project has had ALL of those same feelings, and they are all valid. Together, along with the power of the Holy Spirit, we will make the space God’s and ours.
As the Building Committee took on the task of evaluating the Russell Street location for potential purchase, renovation, and relocation, its primary concern was whether the building could be brought up to proper working order. The committee knew it was working on a restricted budget to repair and convert a building from 1893! The primary objectives included installing all new systems (electricity, plumbing, HVAC, new lighting, and other necessities), renewing and refreshing the sanctuary to fully meet our worship needs, improving the community hall and kitchen, and reconfiguring and cleaning up existing office and ministry spaces. The committee always saw this job as primarily a utilitarian project. In other words, get everything in working order while also refreshing and adapting the historic elements as much as possible. The amount of work we have been able to accomplish within the constraints of budget and older facilities is remarkable. And yet, you will probably notice many things that may seem unfinished. You will see unexpected elements of the building itself that we uncovered during renovation that could not be fully addressed yet. You may see uneven, awkward finishes, trims, etc. that were necessitated by adapting this old building for the 21st century. And you will probably be able to quickly identify future projects for our Trustees and church volunteers to address in the coming years. And yet, the building is imperfectly gorgeous and once again fully functional. Much like our old church building on Holly Street, this is a historic space with its own quirks and peculiarities. But that also is what makes it one of a kind and, in the end, will make it uniquely ours. Feel free to ask about the design choices we have made, about things that seem to need more work, and about what projects we anticipate tackling in the coming years. Much like ourselves and our congregation, it is best to think of this new building as an ongoing project. God’s Spirit will come alongside us, continually perfecting us, our congregation, and the building that serves as the visible manifestation of our body of Christ in East Nashville.
As we begin to think about our future ministries on Russell Street, we are aware of several hopes that necessitate shifting our time. First, we are hopeful that within our first year at the new church building, we might begin establishing new Sunday morning spiritual formation opportunities for children, youth, and adults. We anticipate these would happen prior to the 10:15 worship service, with these new opportunities most likely beginning at either 9:00 or 9:15. Furthermore, as we continue to see new life and new visitors to EEUMC, there is a very real possibility that we may eventually need to establish an early worship service. This is not in the plans at this time, but we want to leave space should we ever need to launch another service at 8:00 or 8:15. It is exciting to think about how our ministries may expand, and we are proactively shaping the schedule in anticipation of such expansion. Finally, you may ask, why 10:15 and not 10:30 or later? One reason: parking. Because we do not have a dedicated parking lot of our own, we will be relying on street parking and other options. We will see heavy traffic on Titans game days especially, so we do not want to push our time too late. Another reason: We think people still prefer to be out of worship prior to Noon, so a 10:15 start time will still allow us to finish up in that time frame.
The new East End United Methodist Church will not have a dedicated parking lot. We will rely on street parking along 6th, Russell, Fatherland, and other streets. We are in the process of finding community and business partners who may also allow us to utilize parking spaces. As we find those, we will communicate that to the congregation. Furthermore, we are in the process of identifying the best place(s) along 6th and Russell to designate as parking for persons with disabilities. Again, this will be communicated clearly as we learn more. While it may seem strange not to have our own parking lot, it is so very East Nashville to park on the street and get a few steps in. It is very much the East Nashville way, and is just one of many ways we are truly a church of the neighborhood. We also encourage any East Enders who live near the church to walk, bike, or use public transit to get to the church.
Yes! The Shelby line, #4, has a stop at 5th and Russell St., less than one block from our front door. Simply get off at that stop and walk up Russell Street toward 6th. You may find full bus schedules, routes, and details at https://www.wegotransit.com/ride/bus-schedules/.
We have been worshipping in a very relaxed environment while we have been in the auditorium at Warner Arts Magnet Elementary School. Some of you may be a bit apprehensive about the move to a more traditional church space. We assure you that we are thinking about the same thing, and we are preparing our Welcome and Greeting Teams to help us continue creating the casual, inviting, yet traditional environment that we have always had. While it will be different in the new space, for a long time our DNA has been the cultivation of a warm and welcoming congregational environment that also appreciates church tradition. For those who never experienced EEUMC’s sanctuary and church building on Holly Street, it too was a traditional space. Yet this congregation managed to create the same inviting environment that was then embodied in new ways during our time of displacement. As we make this next transition, we want everyone to feel comfortable, to experience the welcoming and liberating love of Christ, and to know they can feel at home at EEUMC. That is still our objective as a community of faith, and we will make sure we continue “being us” even as we inhabit a new space.
We have retained many of the original pews, but we have also created some flexible gathering space in the rear of the sanctuary underneath the balcony. The remaining pews are supposed to accommodate around 229 people. The balcony can seat at least several dozen or a bit more. The balcony may be inaccessible to some, as the stairs leading up to it are a narrow spiral. The gathering space under the balcony is designed so that it can accommodate additional movable chairs. We began this renovation project over two years ago, and it is exciting to acknowledge that our worship attendance has grown quite significantly in the past two years, averaging 155 per Sunday this year and often hitting 170-180. We believe we have created a space that can accommodate our entire congregation as it is currently composed, but we will not know for sure until we begin using it. In time, we may find ourselves needing to consider a second worship service (something EEUMC had prior to the tornado of 2020), but for the immediate future we would like to keep to one service for simplicity and congregational cohesion. We have also installed video and sound systems that will allow us to be creative with overflow seating in the Community Hall if necessary. As we grow into the space, we may need to expand our options and our horizons. If that becomes a “problem,” it will be a welcome one! And we trust the creativity and faithfulness of our people to find ways to make room for everyone who chooses to be among us.
We have been worshipping for several years in a very informal environment in the school auditorium. As we move into our new church, we will have various types of spaces, each with its own character and function. The Sanctuary is the most ornate part of the church as well as the sacred space set aside for worship. We want to respect its purpose and function while also taking care of it. While we want to maintain the casual feel of East End UMC on Sunday mornings, we will not be distributing food or beverages in the sanctuary space itself. Whereas at the school we have set up snacks and drinks in the hallway and allowed them into the auditorium, we intend to keep most foods and beverages in other parts of the church building. We do invite people to bring their own water or coffee with them into the sanctuary as long as it is in a covered container. We recognize some parents may need to bring small snacks for their children as well, but we will ask that food items be kept to a minimum within the sanctuary. If the church offers food, coffee, and other refreshments, we will do so in the Community Hall located beneath the Sanctuary. We will ask that those refreshments remain in the Community Hall. Eventually, we will likely have small groups meeting in various locations around the building where coffee and refreshments may also be welcome, but we are still considering how to use these spaces and developing policy accordingly. In general, we hope the rule of thumb for all spaces in the new building will be to treat them as well as you would treat the rooms in your home. Be mindful to use rooms as intended, to put things back where they belong when you move them, and to clean up after yourself. We are a big church family sharing one church home and we will care for it together.