Wednesday, July 25, 2007

weekly letter

July 25, 2007
 
Greetings to all!
 
We had the pleasure of celebrating the Sacrament of Baptism last Sunday as it was administered to Amelia Rose Prewitt.  In his recently published book, Tokens of Trust: An Introduction to Christian Belief, Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, reflects on the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and what those sacraments suggest about the church.
 
     The church is the community of those who have been immersed in Jesus' life, overwhelmed by it.  Those who are baptized have disappeared under the surface of Christ's love and reappeared as different people.  The waters close over their heads, and then, like the old world rising out of watery chaos in the first chapter of the Bible, out comes a new world.  So when the church baptizes people, it says what it is and what sort of life its people live.  Baptism is an event in which the "sharing between holy people" (communion of saints) comes to light and we see what the church really is, a community in which  people are constantly being brought into new life by being given a new relationship with God and each other.
     It is also the community of those who are invited to eat with Jesus.  Just as, in his earthly life, Jesus expressed his promise to create a new people of God by sharing meals with unlikely people, and just as, after the resurrection, he shares food with his disciples as he recalls them to their task, so it is with the whole church.  We are in the church because we have been invited, not because we have earned our place.  And when the church gathers to eat and drink with Jesus in Holy Communion, the church once again says who and what it is.  In baptism and Holy Communion, the nature of the church is laid bare for us.  What is the church? It is simply those who have been immersed in, soaked in the life of Jesus, and who have been invited to eat with him and pray to the Father with him...
(as found in The Christian Century)
Preaching in late July and early August includes...
     *the Rev. Dr. John Cavendish, Walnut Hill Church Pastor Emeritus, on Sunday, July 29.
     *the Rev. Dr. David Sharrard, Lexington Theological Seminary and Walnut Hill member, on Sunday, August 5.
     *the Rev. Dr. Lisa Davison, Lexington Theological Seminary, on Sunday, August 12.
Services each Sunday begin at 11am, with refreshments following in Trinity Hall.  The Sacrament of Holy Communion will be administered on Sunday, August 5.
 
Our Sunday Morning Bible Study gatherings will be dismissed for the next three Sundays.  Look for our Sunday morning Bible Study conversations to resume on Sunday, August 19, 10am.
 
The Men's Coffee gathering will be held at its regular day and time on Saturday, August 4, 8am, at Paneras on Richmond Road.  Feel free to stop by for as long or short a time as your schedule allows.  No rsvp required.
 
Tutors Needed - The Athens Chilesburg Elementary School is working with the Carnegie Center to start an after school tutoring program. Program organizers intend to recruit volunteers to provide tutoring services to their students at no cost.  They will be offering tutoring on Tuesday's from 3:00-5:00 pm.  You will be hearing more about this program in August. In the meantime, consider if it might be an opportunity for you to serve as a volunteer tutor. 
 
In the Community - Perhaps you have heard of "the community garden movement", an initiative toward providing fresh, healthy, local, affordable and sustainable food supplies. The Lexington Community Garden Tour, Thursday, August 2will provide an opportunity to get a close up view of the emerging community garden movement in Lexington and learn how to create backyard gardens, school gardens, church gardens, community gardens and more. This enjoyable bus tour will travel around the city and stop at several community gardens. At the conclusion of the tour will be lunch and information on community gardening. Registration begins at 8:30am at La Roca United Methodist Church (1015 N. Limestone).  The tour will begin promptly at 9am, ending at Noon.  Advance reservations are required.  For more information or to make a reservation contact Jim Embry at 859-312-7024, jgembr0@cs.com, or www.sustainlex.org.
 
Thanks, news, etc...
     *Thanks to Angela Hurley, Marie Masters, Clyde Mauldin, Mary Lee Snyder who worked together to provide our refreshments after worship last Sunday.
     *We celebrate with Bill and Stephanie Prewitt on the occasion of the Baptism of their daughter, Amelia Rose Prewitt.
     *The Weekly Letter will be "on holiday" for next couple weeks.  Look for your next weekly letter on or around August 15.
 
Peace to all.
 
Mike Ward

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

weekly letter

July 18, 2007
 
Greetings to all!
 
Continuing last week's theme of summer vacation, such travel often includes visiting old places that one has not seen for some time.  Kathleen Norris describes the experience of returning to the Dakotas after some time away, including a visit to church.
 
     I received another kind of welcome at a social and hymn-sing held at Hope Church, a country church I love.  It sits in the middle of a pasture, and as the pickup trucks were arriving I was hugging everyone in sight - people I had not seen for many months, ranch men and women in their best jeans and snakeskin cowboy boots, some moving stiffly, seemingly suddenly older, little kids who seemed to have grown about a mile, new babies.  We were also keeping an eye on the sky.  It was overcast, and it didn't seem as if the sunset would amount to much.  Wait a few minutes, one of the old-timers said.  Soon the eastern sky turned pink, bathing our faces in rosy light.  I had my back to the west when I felt the light change, as if I'd been nudged on the shoulder by an unseen hand.  It was as if the light had spoken.  I turned to a horizon ablaze with deep scarlet; the upper sky had turned to fine-spun gold.  When the night settled in and mosquitoes came out, we went inside the church and sang with gusto the hymns of our childhoods: "Amazing Grace," "I Would Be True," "I Love to Tell the Story." Welcome home.
(from The Cloister Walk)
The Scripture lessons for Sunday, July 22, the Sacrament of Baptism:
     Genesis 9:8-17
     Acts 2:37-42
     Luke 18:15-17
 
Men's Coffee - Walnut Hill men are invited to gather for coffee this Saturday, July 21, 8am, at Paneras on Richmond Road.  Feel free to stop in for as long or short a time as your schedule allows.  No rsvp required.
 
Sunday Conversations continue this Sunday, July 22, 10am, with our series Jesus...On Life.  This Sunday we consider Jesus...On Money, Wealth, and Poverty.
 
In the Community:  Transylvania Presbytery is sponsoring a day of worship, learning, and fellowship titled, "Let Your Light Shine", on Saturday, August 25, at the First Presbyterian Church in Prestonsburg.  Dr. Jay Rock (Coordinator of Interfaith Relations for the PCUSA) will offer the keynote address titled, "How Can I Keep From Singing? Faithfulness in a Broken World."  Workshop titles include "Sacred Spaces Within and Without", "The ABCs of Interfaith Relationships", "Wake Up Calls for Church Leaders", and others.  Conference information is posted on the bulletin board in Trinity Hall or may be accessed via the web at www.transypby.org.
 
Thanks, news, etc...
     *Thanks...to Lisa Smith and Cory Sharrard for providing refreshments last Sunday; Nelson Barnes and David Sharrard for their work installing a new hearing assist system in the Sanctuary.
     *Katie Swim attended camp at Cathedral Domain last week.  Be sure to ask her about it.
     *Seventeen persons from Walnut Hill gathered for an evening at Applebee's Park last week to watch the Legends defeat the Grasshoppers in ten innings.  It was a great game!
 
Peace to all.
 
Mike Ward

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

weekly letter

July 11, 2007
 
Greetings to all!
 
We are in the midst of summer now and the high point of the summer travel season.  People often place great expectations on their summer vacation travel.  Yet, the key to enjoying life may be less about exotic destinations and more about paying attention wherever we are.  Anthony DeMello, in his often edgy style, offers a cautionary tale, not only about vacation, but even more about ordinary life.
 
     A family is going to take a three-day trip to Switzerland.  They spend months planning their vacation, and when they get there, they spend most of the time planning their trip back.  While they're in Switzerland, instead of enjoying that astonishing scenery, instead of breathing the air, they are busy taking photos to show their friends.  Photos of places they have never been.  They were there physically, but they weren't really there, they were somewhere else.  Unreal vacation, unreal life!  We live in a future culture - the culture of tomorrow.  Tomorrow I'm going to be happy; tomorrow, I'm going to live.  And so, when I get to high school, I'm going to live; when I'm in the university, I'm going to live.  And when you get to the university, you'll say, "When I get married, I'm going to live." After you get married, "Okay, when the children grow up, I'm going to live." When the children grow up, you're not going to know what it means to live!  You're very likely to die without ever having lived...What is the cure for this?...Do some everyday thing, and as you do it, verbalize what you are doing.  This is a very good exercise for entering into the present, for coming to the here and now and to life.
(from Walking on Water)
The Scripture lessons for Sunday, July 15:
     Amos 7:7-17
     Galatians 2:15-21
     Luke 10:25-37
 
Sunday Conversations continue this Sunday, July 15, 10am, with our series Jesus...On Life.  This Sunday we consider Jesus...On Marriage and Family.
 
Opportunities for Hospitality are available for a variety of Sundays during the summer including this Sunday, July 15.  Let us know by reply email if you would like to host/co-host refreshments for this Sunday and/or use the sign up sheet in the sanctuary foyer to schedule for a Sunday later in the summer.  Thanks to Danae & Michael Spencer, Nell and Mark Horman, and Barb and Mike Ward for providing refreshments last Sunday.
 
Walnut Hill on the Web:  Just a reminder that Walnut Hill is now in cyberspace at www.walnuthillchurchky.org. On the website you will find copies of recent weekly letters, podcasts of Sunday sermons, general information, and even some recently posted photos.  Thanks to Nelson Barnes for maintaining the website.
 
Mid-Summer Newsletter - A mid-summer edition of our printed newsletter is soon to be published.  Members and friends are invited to submit news or other items for inclusion in the newsletter.  Send your newsletter submissions to Martha DeReamer.  Our thanks to Martha for her ongoing service as newsletter editor.
 
Peace to all.
 
Mike Ward

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

weekly letter

July 3, 2007
 
Happy 4th To All!
 
While it ended up being the 4th rather than the 2nd, for the most part John Adams had it right.
 
     The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America.  I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.  It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.  It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward for ever more.
(from A Call to America)
The Scripture lessons for Sunday, July 8, reflecting on our life together as a nation:
     Daniel 6:1-28
     Romans 13:1-7
     Matthew 22:15-22
 
Men's Coffee - Walnut Hill men are invited to gather for coffee this Saturday, July 7, 8am, at Paneras on Richmond Road.  Feel free to stop by for as long or short a time as your schedule allows.  No rsvp required.
 
Sunday Morning Conversations continue this Sunday, July 8, 10am, in Trinity Hall with our series of conversations titled, Jesus...on Life. This Sunday our topic will be, Jesus...on Nation and Government.
 
Sunday Hospitality - Opportunities are available to host (or co-host) after worship refreshments for several Sundays in July including this Sunday, July 8.  Remember that after worship refreshments need not be elaborate. Use reply email to indicate your willingness to host this Sunday and/or use the sign up sheet in the sanctuary foyer to sign up for a Sunday later in the month.
 
In the Community:  Temple Adath Israel invites the community to its Sabbath Service this Friday evening, July 6, 7:30pm, for a celebration of American liberty and diversity.  The service will be in the traditional Sabbath service form with assistance in leadership by members of The Interfaith Alliance.  After the service will be a dessert fellowship. 
 
On a Personal Note:  Please accept my deepest thanks to the Vestry and the Congregation for last Sunday's  wonderful observance of the 25th anniversary of my ordination to Ministry of the Word and Sacrament.  As was evident, the occasion was a complete surprise to me and appreciated beyond words.  From the good words and wishes, to the cake and wonderful refreshments, to the abundantly generous gift, I was overwhelmed by your kindness.  Twenty five years of ministry seems like a long time but also a short time.  Thank you for the privilege of continuing that ministry in your midst.
 
Peace,
 
Mike Ward