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