Thursday (9/6) is our weekly meal and open mic night. Come at 6:30 for the meal and 8 for open mic. Sign up to perform at 7:30. All styles of performance welcome. Come out, bring friends, and support local music! Free. Facebook event

This Sunday (9/9) we are beginning a class called Living a Gospel Shaped Life. This group will examine the Gospel’s impact on all aspects of life, touching on issues such as spiritual disciplines, vocation, relationships, finances, justice, and reconciliation. All of this will involve rich engagement with the scriptures, historical Christian writers, and various streams of Christian thought. Two collegiate ministers, Garret Trent (Greek IV) and Evan Hansen (Eunoia) will be facilitating this class. We will meet at 9am on Sunday mornings near The Garden. For details, email evan.hansen@vbmb.org, or meet at The Garden at 8:50.

Monday (9/10) we’re hosting Spark & Echo at 8. Drawing from a classical background, and influenced by the pianism of Rufus Wainwright and Ben Folds, the storytelling of Paul Simon, and the vocal harmonies of classic folk duos, Spark & Echo sings epic tales of love and adventure. Husband-wife duo Jonathon Roberts and Emily Clare Zempel are Wisconsin natives who now find themselves in the South Bronx, living in a converted piano factory. There they craft songs with beautiful harmonies and diverse instrumentation led by Emily’s longtime companion Boris the Bassoon, with piano, accordion, clarinet and ukulele in tow. They bring forgotten poetry and wild stories from the Bible: Visions of sparkling wheels in the sky, hunger and thirst, and legends of love as strong as death weave with memorable melodies and captivating rhythms. $5. Facebook event

Stay tuned for details on a metal show featuring Mercy Screams on September 25th.

This Monday (8/27) we’re hosting Madam Macadam with Erin Lunsford. Based in Brooklyn, Madam Macadam is sick of all their ex-girlfriends, and they intend to tell everyone about it. Angry rock n roll has never been so much fun. Doors at 8. $5. Facebook event

Thursday (8/30) is the first of our weekly Open Mics, and it will be a special one, featuring Tom Conlon. A “modern-day troubadour,” Tom is a frequent guest at The Garden. Open mic begins at 8, Tom goes on at 9. If you’d like to perform, please come at 7:30 to sign up. Facebook event

Friday (8/31) join us at The Garden for “You Have Not Seen: Adaptive Challenges and Perspective on Life at the Edge of Chaos.”
VCU-trained Painter and Printmaker Christa Reuel teams up for the first time with her husband, musician Jonathan Reuel to explore issues of growth and human development. They have combined their talents to create an evening of stunning visual art and songwriting. Drawing from Chaos Theory, Living Systems Theory, and Christian Scriptural Texts, the Reuels explore the potential for growth and transformation resident in unsolvable problems and unstable environments. 7-9, music begins at 8. Facebook event

Come on out to The Garden on Thursday, July 26th for a very special treat. Timbre Cierpke, recently off her Canadian and European Tour is making a stop in Charlottesville. Local favorite and Penny Pistol frontman, James Moore will get us started for the evening. Timbre is bringing a and Cellist and Drummer along, too!   $7.00

This will be a wonderful show, intimate and beautiful. Check out Timbre at:

http://timbre.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/TimbreHarp

This week we have a couple of exciting events planned:

This Thursday night, 4/19, Open Mic will feature a style of music we don’t usually get to enjoy at The Garden. It be headlined by two UVA a capella groups, The Flying V’s & Harmonious Hoos. Open Mic starts at 8, a capella groups will go on at 9. If you’d like to perform in open mic, come at 7:30 to sign up. We’re expecting a great crowd, so come join the fun! Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/events/435544509793046/

The Flying V’s are UVA’s only rock a capella group. Founded in 2009, we have since grown and been invited to perform at a variety of venues, including the Rotunda and Old Cabell Hall. All of our music is arranged by group members, and we have arranged and sung songs by Coldplay, the Goo Goo Dolls, Evanescence, Flyleaf, and many others. Named in 2012 as the University’s “Best CIO in the Arts.” Come rock out with us!

The Harmonious Hoos is UVA’s newest co-ed a cappella group, founded in the Fall of 2010. The group aims to promote a love of all genres of music through performances around grounds and is proud to allow each member to perform as lead vocalist in a song of their choice before graduation. We look forward to performing for you and hope you enjoy the show!

Saturday, 4/21, from 5-7 we’re hosting an art show by UVA student Lauren Lukow. She has a passion for media and theatre, and it has inspired her to create her first visual art exhibition, “The Art of Space: Performance Venues in Charlottesville, Virginia.” Through photography, video, and sound, the goal of the project is to vividly demonstrate the prominence of the performing arts and how they are woven into the physical fabric of society, thereby investigating these artistic fields with a fresh spatial, physical sensibility. Ranging from the Paramount Theater and the pedestrian Downtown Mall to UVa’s Student Activities Building and the steps of the Rotunda; Lauren seeks to bring to the public eye a number of these compelling spaces and the unique attributes they each have to offer.

Join us at The Garden this Friday, March 30th for an art gallery opening reception featuring the work of two very talented artists, Dana Castner and Emily Macon.

Dana and Emily, both 3rd years in the Commerce School, are putting together a fantastic show about how their worlds of art and business collide.

Dana is also majoring in Studio Art. Her interests lie in both painting and print-making, and is exploring various styles and techniques in each discipline. Lately, she has been interested in portraying memorable images from children’s literature, trying to emulate the nostalgic and romantic emotions that those stories can create, even as we grow older.

Emily is a talented illustrator, as she provided illustrations and political cartoons for the Virginian-Pilot Newspaper in high school. Her work is often a play between right-brain and left-brain thinking, and in college, she has begun to explore art as an escape from her world of precision.

We have two special Open Mics in store for the month of April. Two of our weekly open mics will feature headlining artists:
Thursday, April 12th: Singer/songwriter Tom Conlon http://www.tomconlonmusic.com/
Thursday, April 19th: A Capella groups Flying V’s & Harmonious Hoos

Facebook event for this week, Thursday, March 29th, 8-10 PM:

http://www.facebook.com/events/421745237839763/

Due to Maundy Thursday, we will not have an Open Mic next week, Thursday, April 5th.

Wednesday (2/1) from 9-10am Evan Hansen will be leading the first of a relaxed yet mind-blowing weekly Bible study covering the Gospel of John. Coffee and snacks will be provided.

This Thursday (2/2) we’re having our weekly meal and open mic night! Come at 6:30 for the meal and 8 for open mic. Sign-up sheet to perform goes out at 7:30. Every week the music is different, but it’s always amazing.

On Friday (2/3) a group is gathering at The Garden at 4:45 to head downtown for First Friday art gallery openings. Join us to walk around, go into art galleries, and then get dinner afterward.

Next Tuesday we’re starting a weekly discussion group called “Searching for Deep Truth to Find Deep Love,” facilitated by Bernard Hankins and Daniel Garner. The most important question of your life is “Who is God to you?” Who God is determines who you are. It’s important to see God clearly. A broken lens always renders a broken image. Should we replace the lens, or God? To love is to move past your ideas of someone toward the person’s true self. In this discussion group we will be seeking Truth-in-Pursuit-of-Love. If you think about Truth, you’ll love it. Join us Tuesdays as we focus on moving closer to God. Free snacks provided.

Welcome back!

Oh man! It’s going to be incredible to see you all again.

This Thursday (1/19) we are hosting our first meal and Open Mic of the semester! We will be having an Open Mic each week this semester. New Charlottesville band “Woe Pony” will be headlining!

Bible Study:  Evan really wants to help guide a bible study. Who’s in? Please let him know at evan.hansen@vbmb.org  if you are interested in a weekly bible study this semester.

Fresh Expressions: What do you get when the Anglican church partners with Virginia Baptists to bring a movement of reinvigoration to America? You get Fresh Expressions USA. Evan has shared about Eunoia’s approach to missional church life at regional launch events and will be travelling to attend the national launch. Bishop Graham Cray, Jo Saxton (from our Fall Gathering), and Reggie McNeal (incredible missiologist who once told Virginia Baptists to “get off their donkey”) will be speaking at this awesome event. Who wants to go? March 16-17, 2012 Alexandria, Virginia, 100.00 + housing unless we can get a place to crash for free in NOVA!