Following a submission from Associate Professor of Theology Dr. Steve Guthrie, Belmont University was awarded a $14,300 “Vital Worship” grant last summer from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship with funding provided by the Lilly Endowment. Connected in part to the opening in August of Belmont’s new Chapel, the grant focuses on two broad goals for 2014-15: to inform Belmont’s worship as a campus community and to encourage the community to fully inhabit the new worship space.
The grant funded a number of new initiatives during the fall semester, including a weekday morning prayer session in the Chapel which will continue this spring. (Students, staff and faculty are invited to attend Morning Prayer in the Chapel, each weekday from 7:30 to 7:50 a.m.). The grant also has funded a series of chapel speakers, addressing worship from various perspectives. Dr. Karen Swanson from the Institute for Prison Ministry talked about worship in prison settings; art historian Dr. Daniel Siedell considered worship and modern art; and local pastors Rev. Aaron Bryant, Rev. Joshua Caler and Father Dexter Brewer talked about worship in the Baptist, Episcopal and Catholic traditions, respectively. A number of additional speakers are planned for this spring including sociologist Dr. Gerardo Marti (Worship Across the Racial Divide) and Nigerian-American author and poet Enuma Okoro.
“We want to learn from our neighbors,” Guthrie said. “We’d like to hear about the distinctive practices of the different churches worshiping around us in Nashville. We’ve also made an effort to look at worship through a number of different lenses. For instance, we’ve asked: What can we learn about worship from those who worship in prison? What can worship practices teach us about race in America? And how can modern art and its use in sacred spaces help us to think more deeply about worship?”
James I. Elliott, assistant professor and chair of Belmont’s songwriting major, was a guest Jan. 4 on “The Music Row Show,” which airs on WSM-AM radio and on the web at 
Belmont Professor of Biblical Studies Mark McEntire recently published an article, “From Bound and Gagged to Swimming in the Water of Life: How God Breaks and Heals Ezekiel” in the Review and Expositor. 
Belmont University student-athletes had another successful semester in the classroom as 2014 fall grades were finalized last week.
Belmont junior Andrew Borel was recognized by the American Songwriting Association (ASA) as a nominee in the 2014 American Songwriting Awards Hip Hop category for his song “Randy (A Glimpse of My Reflection).” In addition to his nomination, ASA invited Borel to the annual awards show in Las Vegas, Nevada to be recognized on stage.
Belmont partnered with MDHA, Regions Bank and Aegis Group to host the Edgehill Apartments Christmas event, an afternoon filled with presents for resident children, a goodie basket with holiday snacks, a family photo with Santa and a ham dinner, complete with all the trimmings.
With a University-wide commitment to community safety and preparedness, Belmont’s Office of Risk Management and Compliance spent the last year working alongside the National Weather Service (NWS), Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and the Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management to designate Belmont as a NWS StormReady University.