Friday, May 31, 2013

Sunday at Walnut Hill Church

This Sunday, June 2, at Walnut Hill Church...

Sunday Conversations, 10am, Trinity Hall

Elijah & the Prophets of Baal

Direct from central casting, Elijah strides on the scene, the
paradigm prophet, "mighty in word and deed."  Join us as we
talk together about this old story (1 Kings 18) and ask what it
might offer to us today.

Morning Worship, 11am, Sanctuary

Sermon - "Not Unworthy, Instead Amazing"
Text -  Luke 7:1-10

The Sacrament of Holy Communion

Nursery Care and Sunday School for Children

After Worship Gathering, Noon, Trinity Hall

All are invited to gather for refreshments and fellowship.




Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Walnut Hill Church Weekly Letter

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Greetings to all!

In this Sunday's Gospel lesson (see below), Jesus encounters a
surprising example of faith from an unexpected person.  This story
offers an opportunity to reflect on what we mean by the word, "faith."
In his book, Seeds of Contemplation, Thomas Merton writes 
several pages describing what faith "is not" before concluding...

   Faith, then, is not just the grim determination to cling to a certain
form of words, no matter what may happen ... But above all, faith
is the opening of an inward eye, the eye of the heart, to be filled
with the presence of Divine light.

   Ultimately faith is the only key to the universe.  The final meaning
of human existence, and the answers to questions on which all
our happiness depends cannot be reached in any other way.

The scripture lessons for Sunday, June 2 ...
1 Kings 18:20-39
Galatians 1:1-12
Luke 7:1-10

Sunday Conversations continue this Sunday, June 2, 10am.   This 
Sunday's conversation focuses around the entertaining, strange,
and somewhat problematic Bible story of "Elijah and the Prophets 
of Baal" (1 Kings 18:20-39).  Come, enjoy a cup of coffee, join the
conversation, or just listen in.

Sunday School continues during the 11am worship hour for children
through elementary age.  Each Sunday's lesson stands alone, so 
do not let your summer travel schedule prevent your children from
attending on those Sundays when your family is in town.

A Congregational Meeting has been called for Sunday, June 9,
immediately after morning worship, for the purpose of electing
two directors for the Walnut Hill Church Cemetery Association. Use 
reply email or call the church office (263-5304) to request more 
information regarding this Congregational Meeting.

Sunday Flowers:  Volunteers are invited to provide Sunday flowers
for the decoration of the Sanctuary for several Sundays in
June (9, 16, 23).  Use reply email or call the church office (263-5304)
for information regarding providing flowers for one of these Sundays.

Tornado Relief THANKS!  Thanks to all who donated toward
Walnut Hill's outreach to those affected by the recent tornadoes in 
Oklahoma and the midwest.  Over $700 was received, which is being
sent to the affected area via Church World Service.

Peace to all.

Mike Ward

Friday, May 24, 2013

Sunday at Walnut Hill Church

This Sunday, May 26, at Walnut Hill Church ...

Sunday Conversations, 10am, Trinity Hall

The Unknown Soldier

This Sunday's conversation will focus on the sermon, "The Unknown Soldier," 
preached by Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick in 1933.  Fosdick was one  of the best 
known liberal preachers of the early 20th century who, having supported the war 
effort in WWI, became an outspoken pacifist.  To view/read the text in advance, 

Morning Worship, 11am, Sanctuary

Sermon:  Human Shields
Text:  John 15:12-13

Nursery Care and Sunday School for children

After Worship Gathering,  Noon, Trinity Hall

All are invited to gather for refreshments and fellowship.

*****

Tornado Relief:  Persons attending Walnut Hill on Sunday will have opportunity 
to support midwest relief efforts via Church World Service.  Checks may be payable 
to Walnut Hill Church, designated "tornado relief."  For information regarding the 
work of Church World Service, visit CWS Emergency Appeal .


Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Walnut Hill Church Weekly Letter

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Greetings to all!

Even from a distance, one thing we can do for our neighbors in and 
around Moore, Oklahoma, is pray...

Loving God:
Once again tragedy has struck a community
leaving people injured, grieving, and wondering
where to start in rebuilding their lives.
Grant peace to those who have lost so much.
Strengthen those who rush to help.
Inspire generosity in those who can support their
neighbors in this difficult time.
In the calm after the storm, 
remind us how fragile is the gift of life,
and help us to do for others what we would
hope they might do for us.
In the name of Christ.  Amen.

To our prayers we might add our gifts supporting agencies and 
organizations helping those affected by the storms, including
Church World Service.  Persons attending Walnut Hill this Sunday,
May 26, will have opportunity to contribute, or you may do so online 

The lectionary lessons for Sunday, May 26, Trinity Sunday ...
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
Romans 5:1-5
John 16:12-15

Sunday Conversations continue this Sunday, May 26, 10am, in
Trinity Hall.  Our focus for Sunday's conversation will be the text of
a sermon, "The Unknown Soldier," by the famous preacher, 
Harry Emerson Fosdick.

A Host(s) is needed for our after worship refreshments this Sunday,
May 26.  Use reply email to volunteer for this Sunday, or check the
sign up sheet in the Sanctuary foyer to host a Sunday later in the
summer.

A congregational meeting has been called for Sunday, June 9,
immediately after worship, in the Sanctuary, for the purpose of
electing two directors for the Walnut Hill Church Cemetery Assn.
Use reply email or call the church office (859-263-5304) for more
information regarding this meeting.

Summer Camp Season is upon us! Visit the websites of Camp 
Burnamwood ( www.burnamwood.net) and Cathedral Domain
( www.cathedraldomain.org ) for program and registration information.
Walnut Hill will sponsor 1/2 of the camp fee for any Walnut Hill
child or youth attending a Burnamwood or Domain event.

Peace to all.

Mike Ward








Friday, May 17, 2013

Sunday at Walnut Hill Church

This Sunday, May 19, at Walnut Hill Church ...

THE DAY OF PENTECOST
SPRING POTLUCK

Sunday Conversations, 10am, Trinity Hall

Comparing Notes

We will gather with confirmation candidates and others for
conversation "comparing notes" regarding our faith journeys.
We will be encouraged by both the unique elements and
shared experiences of our various faith journeys.  Come 
enjoy a cup of coffee, join the conversation, or just listen in.

Morning Worship, 11am, Sanctuary

Sermon:  The Unexpected
Text:  Acts 2:1-21

The Confirmation of Baptismal Vows

Nursery Care and Sunday School for children.

SPRING POTLUCK, Noon, Trinity Hall

Bring a salad or side dish and join us for this delicious
Walnut Hill tradition.  Meat, beverage, and dessert will
be provided.  

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Walnut Hill Church Weekly Letter

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Greetings to all!

This Sunday, May 19, fifty days after Easter, is the Day of Pentecost,
an occasion for celebrating the ministry of the Holy Spirit, which has
been poured out upon the community of faith.  Frederick Buechner 
writes about the word, spirit, and its application to the Third Person 
of the Trinity.

   Like its counterparts in Hebrew and Greek, the latin word spiritus
originally meant breath (as in expire, respiratory, and so on), and
breath is what you have when you're alive and don't have when
you're dead.  Thus spirit = breath = life, the aliveness and power of 
your life, and to speak of your spirit (or soul) is to speak of the power
of life that is in you.  When your spirit is unusually strong, the life in 
you unusually alive, you can breathe it out into other lives, become 
literally inspiring.

   God also has a spirit - is Spirit, says the Apostle John.  Thus
God is the power of the power of life itself, has breathed and 
continues to breathe [God's] self into [God's] creation.  In-spires it.  
The spirit of God, Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost, is highly contagious.  When
Peter and his friends were caught up in it at Jerusalem on 
Pentecost, everybody thought they were drunk even though the
sun wasn't yet over the yardarm.  They were.

(from Wishful Thinking)

The scripture lessons for Sunday, May 19, the Day of Pentecost...
Acts 2:1-21
Romans 8:14-17
John 14:8-17

Sunday Conversations continue this Sunday, May 19, 10am, in 
Trinity Hall.  For our conversation this Sunday, we will be comparing
notes along the paths of our various faith journeys.  Come enjoy a 
cup of coffee, join the conversation, or just listen in.

THE SPRING POTLUCK will be held this Sunday, May 19, 
immediately after morning worship.  Meat and beverage will be
provided.  Bring a salad or side dish, and your appetite.  For dessert 
we will enjoy a Magee's Bakery cake in honor of our Walnut Hill 
graduates and confirmation candidates.

Graduates and Confirmands:  This Sunday, May 19, during the
11am worship service, we will be recognizing Walnut Hill graduates
as well as youth who have recently completed their Confirmation
study.  Be sure to be with us as we recognize the accomplishments
of our Walnut Hill youth.

Summer Camp:  Walnut Hill children and youth can attend the
summer camps at either Burnamwood or Cathedral Domain Camp 
and Conference Centers.  In fact, Walnut Hill will sponsor 1/2 the cost 
of participation for any Walnut Hill child or youth.  For more information 
regarding these two camp programs, visit www.burnamwood.net 

As a community service we are forwarding a message from
the Lexington-Fayette government regarding "Smart 911," an
optional service that allows Fayette County residents to create a 
safety profile of information for use by first responders in the case 
of an emergency call.  For more information, visit the webpage

Peace to all.

Mike Ward

Friday, May 10, 2013

Sunday at Walnut Hill Church

This Sunday, May 12, at Walnut Hill Church ...

Sunday Conversations, 10am, Trinity Hall

Family

We will talk about Family including ... our experience of
family, what's important about family, how our notion of
family is changing, what we can do to encourage and
support the best things about family.

Morning Worship, 11am, Sanctuary

Sermon - Our "Real" Mother
Text - Isaiah 66:13

The Sacrament of Baptism

Nursery Care and Sunday School for Children

After Worship Gathering, Noon, Trinity Hall

All are invited to gather for refreshments and fellowship.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Walnut Hill Church Weekly Letter

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Greetings to all!

Mother's Day provides an opportunity to reflect on our experience
of family, especially those seemingly mundane events that occur
in families every day.  We can likely call any number of them to 
mind from our own recent experience.  Consider this reflection by 
Wendy Wright from her essay, "Sacred Dwelling." 

The moments are at once so terribly mundane and so transparently
sacred;  ordinary moments which, for an instant, connect us to the
depth, width, height and length of love.  Family life is full of them. 
It is also full of thousands of moments when love shows itself and
we fail to notice.  And it is full of thousands of moments in which we
come face to face with love's painful absence.  I turn the ancient 
hymn text over in my mind:
"Where charity and love prevail
 There God is found."
If there ever was a school of love, it is the family; a school not simply
in the sense of an environment where information is passed on, but
an environment that forms us.  There we not only learn our lessons
in the arts of loving, but we may be shaped, molded, converted, de-
and re-constructed by Love itself.
(as found in Family Ministry)

The scripture lessons for Sunday, May 12, Mother's Day ...
Isaiah 66:10-13
2 Timothy 1:3-7
Mark 3:31-35 

Sunday Conversations continue this Sunday, May 12, 10am, in
Trinity Hall.  The topic for this Sunday will be "The Changing 
Shape of Family."  Come enjoy a cup of coffee, join the 
conversation, or just listen in.

The Spring Potluck is coming on Sunday, May 19.  Mark your
calendar, and plan to join us for this delicious Walnut Hill tradition.
We are currently welcoming volunteers to help with some of the
details of this event.  Use reply email to volunteer.

Calling all Graduates!  On Sunday, May 19, we will be recognizing
Walnut Hill youth graduating from high school.  We do not want to
leave anyone out, so please let us know (by reply email) if you have
a young person in your household graduating from high school this
spring.

In the neighborhood: 
*Global Warming: A Climate Wakeup Story will be presented
on May 8, 7pm, at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Lexington.
This event is sponsored by KY Interfaith Power and Light, one of the
organizations present at our recent Earth Day festival.  For more 
information, visit http://kentuckyipl.org/050813.html .
*The Grape Gallop, 5K run/walk, will be held at the Jean Farris
Winery on May 11.  Registration proceeds benefit the Lexington
Cancer Foundation.  For more information, contact Jean Farris
Winery or Body Structure Fitness Facility.
*A Bike and Bike Show (featuring bicycles and motorcycles)
will be held at Gethsemane Lutheran Church on May 18.  Proceeds
benefit Gethsemane Outreach Ministry.  For more information, see
the flyer posted in Trinity Hall or call 859-230-9788.  

Peace to all.

Mike Ward

Friday, May 3, 2013

Sunday at Walnut Hill Church

This Sunday, May 5, at Walnut Hill Church ...

Sunday Conversations, 10am, Trinity Hall

True Self - False Self

We continue our conversation around the notions
of the True Self and the False Self.  How might we
allow the True Self greater expression in the living
of our daily lives?

Morning Worship, 11am, Sanctuary

Sermon:  Adventure Road
Text: Acts 16:9-15

The Sacrament of Holy Communion

Nursery Care and Sunday School for Children

After Worship Gathering, Noon, Trinity Hall

All are invited to gather for refreshments and fellowship.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Walnut Hill Church Weekly Letter

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Greetings to all!

Nelson Mandela has been in the news lately, primarily because
of his failing health.  Watching one news report, which included
some video footage, I thought about all that Mr. Mandela has 
experienced in his life, and the wisdom gained from that from
that experience.  Consider these words from a letter written by
Mr. Mandela during his imprisonment on Robben Island.

In judging our progress as individuals we tend to concentrate on
external factors such as one's social position, influence and
popularity, wealth and standard of education.  These are, of
course, important in measuring one's success in material matters,
and it is perfectly understandable if many people exert themselves
mainly to achieve all these.  But internal factors may be even more
crucial in assessing our development as a human being.  Honesty,
sincerity, simplicity, humility, pure generosity, absence of vanity,
readiness to serve others - qualities which are within easy reach
of every soul - are the foundation of one's spiritual life.
(from Notes to the Future)

The scriptures lessons for Sunday, May 5...
Acts 16:9-15
Revelation 21:10, 21:22 - 22:5
John 5:1-9

Men's Coffee - Walnut Hill men are invited to gather for coffee
on Saturday mornings, 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 Conversations continue this Sunday, May 5, 10am, in
Trinity Hall.  We will continue our conversation prompted by ideas
raised in Richard Rohr's book, The Immortal Diamond. Come enjoy 
a cup of coffee, join the conversation, or just listen in.

The Spring Potluck is coming on Sunday, May 19.  Mark your
calendar, and plan to join us for this delicious Walnut Hill tradition.
We are currently welcoming volunteers to help with some of the
details of this event.  Use reply email to volunteer.

Calling all Graduates!  On Sunday, May 19, we will be recognizing
Walnut Hill youth graduating from high school.  We do not want to
leave anyone out, so please let us know (by reply email) if you have
a young person in your household graduating from high school this
spring.

In the neighborhood: 
*Global Warming: A Climate Wakeup Story will be presented
on May 8, 7pm, at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Lexington.
This event is sponsored by KY Interfaith Power and Light, one of the
organizations present at our recent Earth Day festival.  For more 
information, visit http://kentuckyipl.org/050813.html .
*The Grape Gallop, 5K run/walk, will be held at the Jean Farris
Winery on May 11.  Registration proceeds benefit the Lexington
Cancer Foundation.  For more information, contact Jean Farris
Winery or Body Structure Fitness Facility.

Peace to all.

Mike Ward