Walnut Hill Church Weekly Letter

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Greetings to all!

This week we enter into a long church season called "Ordinary Time" stretching

through the summer into the fall, until Advent.  Along the way there will be some 

special days, but for the most part it is "business as usual" in the church's worship 

life. Of course, business as usual need not be mundane or dull, for even ordinary 

days are filled with opportunities for new insights about God, the world, life, and 

self.  Indeed, every Sunday is a "little Easter," an occasion to be reminded of Christ's 

(and our) risen life, even as every morning brings a new day of Creation within and 

around us.  So, whatever "ordinary time" might look like for you, don't forget to keep 

your eyes, mind, and heart open for extraordinary experiences at home, at work,

at play, and in the Sanctuary.

The lectionary texts for Sunday, June 3, the 9th Sunday in Ordinary Time…

1 Samuel 3:1-20

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18

2 Corinthians 4:5-12

Mark 2:23 - 3:6

The Gospel of Thomas, an exploration into the wisdom sayings of Jesus,

continues on Sun, June 3, 10am, in Trinity Hall.  Sunday's session is titled 

Metaphors for the God Within, featuring sayings 24, 70, and 97 .  You might want 

to visit this video presentation by Ron Miller, of which brief segments are being 

used each Sunday.

Nursery Volunteers Needed - Due to the happy occasion of a wedding, our

regular nursery caregivers will be away for the next several Sundays, so we

are looking for a few volunteers to fill in during the 11am hour for Sundays,

June 3, 10, and 17.  Use reply email to volunteer, or contact Lauren Fouts.

The Nathaniel Mission is preparing for its summer program including 5 weeks 

of day camp in various locations during the months of June/July.  Check out their

volunteer sign up for information regarding camp dates and locations.  Walnut 

Hill is gathering craft supplies to be used at the camp including construction 

paper, tape, scissors, glue, paint, crayons, and other items such as these. Bring 

your items to Walnut Hill next Sunday, and we will forward them to the mission.  

If you prefer, make a check payable to Walnut Hill Church (memo - "Nathaniel 

Mission"), and we will purchase the items for you.  The Mission is also receiving 

new and nearly new books for preschool children through "young readers".  

You may bring books to Walnut Hill as well.

Walnut Hill Pastor Review - Watch your email inbox this Thursday for an

invitation to participate in an online survey to offer your thoughts to be used by

the Vestry in an upcoming conversation with Walnut Hill's pastor, Mike Ward. The 

purpose of the survey and the conversation is to help Mike focus his time and

skills toward their greatest advantage for Walnut Hill's life and ministry, as well as 

to help the congregation support Mike in his efforts.  Thank you in advance for 

participating. 

The 7th Annual Walnut Hill Bike Ride will be held on Sat, July 7, at Walnut Hill 

Church.  You can help by providing food for the event, volunteering on the event

day, spreading news of the event via word or poster, offering a sponsorship, or 

simply attending as a participant.  Use reply email for more information.

In the Community: The New York Staff Band of the Salvation Army will be in

concert on Fri, June 1, 7:30pm, at the Lexington Salvation Army Chapel (736

W. Main St).  The event is free and open to the public.  An offering will be

received to support the S.A.'s youth music and summer music camp programs.

Peace to all!

Mike Ward

Sunday at Walnut Hill Church

This Sunday, May 27, at Walnut Hill Church…

TRINITY SUNDAY

The Gospel of Thomas, 10am, Trinity Hall

What Is a Mature Believer?

Our exploration into the wisdom sayings of Jesus,

continues featuring saying 13 .  You might also want 

to visit this video presentation by Ron Miller, of which 

brief segments are being used each Sunday.

Nursery care available for young children.

Morning Worship, 11am, Sanctuary

Sermon - The Trinity Reconsidered

Nursery Care and Faith Formation for Children/Youth

After Worship Gathering, Noon, Trinity Hall

All are invited to gather for fellowship and refreshments.

*****

The Nathaniel Mission is preparing for its summer 

program including 5 weeks of day camps during the 

months of June/July. Walnut Hill is gathering craft 

supplies to be used at the camp including construction 

paper, tape, scissors, glue, paint, crayons, etc. Bring 

your items to Walnut Hill over the next few Sundays. 

If you prefer, make a check payable to Walnut Hill Church 

(memo - "Nathaniel Mission"), and we will purchase the 

items for you.  The Mission is also receiving new and nearly 

new books for preschool children through "young 

readers".  You may bring books to Walnut Hill as well.

Walnut Hill Church Weekly Letter

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Greetings to all!

This Sunday, May 27, is Trinity Sunday, a day for reflection on that most 

distinctive, and sometimes baffling, doctrine of the Christian tradition.  In her 

book, Amazing Grace, Kathleen Norris recalls a conversation with a friend who 

had "given up" belief in the Trinity. Norris recalls…

A few days later I happened across a metaphor for the Trinity [from the early

church theologian, Tertullian]. It's an image of the Trinity as a plant, with the 

Father as a deep root, the Son as the shoot that breaks forth into the world,

the Spirit as that which spreads beauty and fragrance, "fructifying the earth 

with flower and fruit." I sent it to my friend, as she appreciates a good metaphor, 

and knows, deep down, that mystery is as real as the air we breathe, as 

everything that grows from the ground under our feet.

The lectionary texts for May 27, Trinity Sunday…

Isaiah 6:1-8

Psalm 29

Romans 8:12-17

John 3:1-17

The Gospel of Thomas, an exploration into the wisdom sayings of Jesus,

continues on Sun, May 27, 10am, in Trinity Hall.  Sunday's session is titled 

What Is a Mature Believer, featuring saying 13 .  You might want to visit 

this video presentation by Ron Miller, of which brief segments are being used 

each Sunday.

Walking Through Scripture: Several Walnut Hill members and friends have 

been walking through scripture in recent months, reading and reflecting upon 

the Sunday lectionary texts.  A new "walking guide" for the next quarter of the 

year is available in the Sanctuary foyer. You may also subscribe to Mike's 

weekly introduction and commentary on the readings.  Use reply email to 

subscribe.

The Nathaniel Mission is preparing for its summer program including 5 weeks 

of day camp in various locations during the months of June/July.  Check out their

volunteer sign up for information regarding camp dates and locations.  Walnut 

Hill is gathering craft supplies to be used at the camp including construction 

paper, tape, scissors, glue, paint, crayons, and other items such as those. Bring 

your items to Walnut Hill over the next few Sundays, and we will forward them to 

the mission.  If you prefer, make a check payable to Walnut Hill Church (memo - 

"Nathaniel Mission"), and we will purchase the items for you.  The Mission is also 

receiving new and nearly new books for preschool children through "young 

readers".  You may bring books to Walnut Hill as well.

Sandwich Ministry - A new sign up sheet for the Sandwich Ministry has been

posted in the Sanctuary foyer, with opportunities to provide sandwiches to guests

at the Catholic Action Center on 4th Sundays  throughout the summer, including 

this Sunday, May 27.  Use reply email to volunteer for this Sunday, May 27, or visit 

the sign up sheet for a 4th Sunday later in the summer.

The "royal wedding" homily offered by the Most Rev. Michael Curry, Presiding 

Bishop of the Episcopal Church (USA), is available at this link: Wedding Homily.  

Bishop Curry's homily has received wonderful reviews from various quarters.

Thanks to all those who made last Sunday's Confirmation, graduate celebration,

and Spring Potluck a most festive occasion!

Peace to all.

Mike Ward

   

Sunday at Walnut Hill Church

This Sunday, May 20, at Walnut Hill Church…

THE DAY OF PENTECOST

SPRING POTLUCK

The Gospel of Thomas, 10am, Trinity Hall

The Vertical and the Horizontal

Our exploration into the wisdom sayings of Jesus continues

this Sunday featuring sayings 3, 5, and 7.  You might want 

to visit this video presentation by Ron Miller, of which brief 

segments are being used each Sunday.

(Nursery care available for young children.)

Morning Worship, 11am, Sanctuary

Sermon - Volcanic Activity

Text -Romans 8:22-27

The Rite of Confirmation

Celebration of Graduates

Nursery Care and Faith Formation for Children

SPRING POTLUCK, Noon, Trinity Hall

Bring a salad, side dish, or dessert.  Meat, beverage, and 

a special cake celebrating confirmands/graduates will be 

provided.

*****

The Vestry will meet at 10:30am in the upstairs office of

Trinity Hall.

Walnut Hill Church Weekly Letter

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Greetings to all!

This Sunday, May 20, is Pentecost Sunday, a celebration of the Holy Spirit's

outpouring upon the disciples as told in Acts 2.  It is also one day on the

church calendar given to acknowledging and exploring the Spirit's presence 

and work in our lives.  Frederick Buechner offers a few thoughts about the

word "spirit."

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 into other 

lives, become literally inspiring…God also has a spirit - is Spirit … Thus God 

is the power of the power of life itself, has breathed and continues to breathe 

God's self into the 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.

(as found in Wishful Thinking)

The lectionary texts for Sunday, May 20, The Day of Pentecost…

Acts 2:1-21

Psalm 104:24-34, 35b

Romans 8:22-27

John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15

The Gospel of Thomas, an exploration into the wisdom sayings of Jesus,

continues on Sun, May 20, 10am, in Trinity Hall.  Sunday's session is titled 

The Vertical and the Horizontal, featuring sayings 3, 5, and 7.  You might 

want to visit this video presentation by Ron Miller, of which brief segments 

are being used each Sunday.

THE SPRING POTLUCK will be held after worship this Sun, May 20, in Trinity 

Hall. Bring a salad, side dish, or dessert. Fried chicken, a special cake in honor 

of confirmands/graduates, and beverages will be provided. Don't miss this 

delicious Walnut Hill tradition.

Calling All Graduates - Be sure to join us on Sunday, May 20, as we will 

be recognizing and celebrating your accomplishments during worship.

Walking Through Scripture: Several Walnut Hill members and friends have 

been walking through scripture in recent months, reading and reflecting upon 

the Sunday lectionary texts.  A new "walking guide" for the next quarter of the 

year is available in the Sanctuary foyer. You may also subscribe to Mike's 

weekly introduction and commentary on the readings.  Use reply email to 

subscribe.

In the Community: The Nathaniel Mission is gearing up for its summer

program including 5 weeks of day camp in various locations during the months

of June/July.  Check out their volunteer sign up for information regarding 

camp dates and locations.

In the Nation: The Poor People's Campaign 2018, forty days of protests

and demonstrations intended to bring attention to ongoing issues of

poverty in the U.S., began this week.  The "campaign" is intended to echo 

and build upon Dr. Martin Luther King's Poor People's Campaign of 1968. 

For more information, visit Poor People's Campaign 2018 . 

Peace to all.

Mike Ward

 

Sunday at Walnut Hill Church

This Sunday, May 13, at Walnut Hill Church…

ASCENSION SUNDAY

MOTHER'S DAY

The Gospel of Thomas, 10am, Trinity Hall

Levels in Our Father's House

Our exploration of The Gospel of Thomas continues.

You might want to look at sayings 2 and 56 in advance

of our conversation.

Confirmation Class, 10am, Trinity Hall

Confirmation candidates continue their exploration of

Christian tradition and practice.

Children's Choir, 10am, Trinity Hall

Children through elementary age are invited to gather

for music and singing in anticipation of their Mother's

Day presentation.

Morning Worship, 11am, Sanctuary

Sermon - Protect Them

Text - John 17:6-19

Nursery Care and Faith Formation for Children/Youth

After Worship Gathering, Noon, Trinity Hall

All are invited to gather for fellowship and refreshments.

Walnut Hill Church Weekly Letter

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Greetings to all!

Tomorrow, May 10, is the Feast of the Ascension, the final scene of the

Jesus narrative, as Jesus ascends into heaven to take his place at the 

right hand of God. The event is traditionally celebrated forty days after 

Easter per the chronology of Acts 1:1-11.  I have always appreciated the 

late John MacQuarrie's interpretation of this remarkable story…

The ascension is a purely mythical event and reflects a cosmology that

has long been abandoned. Yet as a symbol it has both appropriateness

and truth as the culmination of the story.  Christ's being "lifted up" into a

cloud (symbolizing the divine presence) suggests both that he has

become the exalted Lord in the minds of the disciples, the Christ of faith

and one with the Father; and, less subjectively, that the offering of his

life is received by God…The ascension is the final symbol in the series

of "mysteries" by which the evangelists seek to portray the man Jesus

of Nazareth in depth, so that he becomes the transparent revealer of

God, and so that we see him as the Christ of faith.

(from Principles of Christian Theology)

THY KINGDOM COME ; The Rt. Rev. Mark Van Koevering, Bishop of

the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington, has issued a call to the parishes

of the diocese to participate in Thy Kingdom Come, a "global wave of

prayer" across the Anglican communion, between Ascension Day 

(May 10) and Pentecost (May 20). Visit Thy Kingdom Come for more 

information regarding this global wave of prayer, including a personal 

video message from Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury.

The lectionary texts for May 13, the Seventh Sunday of Easter…

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

Psalm 1

1 John 5:9-13

John 17:6-19

The Gospel of Thomas, an exploration of the wisdom teachings of

Jesus, continues this Sunday, May 13, 10am as we explore Levels

in Our Father's House (sayings 2 & 56 ).  A few copies of the book,

The Gospel of Thomas, remain available on a first request/first receive

basis.  Use reply email to request one of the remaining copies.

Walking Through Scripture: A number of Walnut Hill members and

friends have been walking through scripture in recent months, reading

and reflecting upon the Sunday lectionary texts.  A new "walking guide"

for the next quarter of the year is available in the Sanctuary foyer.  You 

may also subscribe to Mike's weekly introduction and commentary on 

the readings.  Use reply email to subscribe.

Spring Potluck - The Spring Potluck is coming on Sunday, May 20,

immediately after morning worship.  Bring a salad, side dish, or

dessert, and join us for this delicious Walnut Hill tradition.

Sandwich Ministry: A new sign up sheet has been posted in the

Sanctuary foyer with 4th Sunday Sandwich Ministry opportunities during 

May - Aug. Sandwiches are provided to the Catholic Action Center as an 

evening snack for their overnight guests.

Celebrating Graduates:  As is our custom, we would like to celebrate 

Walnut Hill high school and college graduates on Sun, May 20. Use reply 

email to make sure we are aware of students in your household who are 

graduating from high school or college this spring.  We do not want to 

miss anyone.

Peace to all.

Mike Ward

Sunday at Walnut Hill Church

This Sunday, May 6, at Walnut Hill Church…

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

The Gospel of Thomas, 10am, Trinity Hall

Stages of Repentance

We begin our exploration of the Gospel of Thomas with

saying (logion) 3 . Complimentary copies of the book, 

The Gospel of Thomas (annotated and explained), by 

Stevan Davies, will be available while supplies last.

Nursery care available for young children.

Confirmation Class, 10am, Trinity Hall

Confirmation candidates continue their exploration of

Christian tradition and practice.

Children's Choir, 10am, Trinity Hall

Children through elementary age are invited to gather

for music and singing.

Morning Worship, 11am, Sanctuary

Sermon - Friends

Text -  John 15:9-17

The Sacrament of Holy Communion

Nursery Care and Faith Formation for Children/Youth

After Worship Gathering, Noon, Trinity Hall

All are invited to gather for fellowship and refreshments.

Walnut Hill Church Weekly Letter

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Greetings to all!

Dr. James Cone, a theologian regarded as the founder of black liberation 

theology, died on April 28.  As one of my colleagues commented, for many

years it has been expected that candidates for ministry in the African Methodist 

Episcopal Church (as well as other historically black denominations) be well-

acquainted with Dr. Cone's thoughts.  Here is a sample…

The Christian community is that community that freely becomes oppressed,

because they know that Jesus himself has defined humanity's liberation in

the context of what happens to the little ones.  Christians join in the cause

of the oppressed in the fight for justice not because of some philosophical

principle of "the Good" or because of a religious feeling of sympathy for

people in prison.  Sympathy does not change the structures of injustice.

The authentic identity of Christians with the poor is found in the claim which

the Jesus-encounter lays upon their own life-style, a claim that connects

the word "Christian" with the liberation of the poor.  Christians fight not for

humanity in general but for themselves and out of their love for concrete

human beings.

(from God of the Oppressed)

The lectionary texts for May 6, the Sixth Sunday of Easter…

Acts 10:44-48

Psalm 98

1 John 5:1-6

John 15:9-17

The Gospel of Thomas, a six week exploration of the wisdom teachings

of Jesus, begins this Sunday, May 6, 10am, in Trinity Hall.  Join us for

this alternative view of Jesus and his teachings.  Complimentary copies

of the book, The Gospel of Thomas (annotated and explained) by Stevan

Davies, will be available while they last.

Continuing the Conversation - We have recently shared two Sunday

conversations around issues related to and springing from the current 

opioid crisis. Last Sunday (04/29) we welcomed Ms. Polly Ruddick, from the

LFUCG Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention, who shared 

information regarding homelessness in Lexington, an issue affected by and 

affecting addiction and recovery.  For many of us, our engagement with the 

opioid crisis begins with basic information regarding its origins and nature. 

Visit this video link ( Opioids 101 ) to begin your education.

The Spring Potluck is coming on Sunday, May 20, immediately following

morning worship.  Mark the date on your calendar and join us for this delicious 

Walnut Hill tradition. 

Celebrating Graduates:  As is our custom, we would like to celebrate 

Walnut Hill high school and college graduates on Sun, May 20. Use reply 

email to make sure we are aware of students in your household who are 

graduating from high school or college this spring.  We do not want to miss 

anyone.

Thinking About Summer…Camp - It is not too early to think about summer 

camp for children/youth. Walnut Hill is privileged to have access to two excellent 

camp programs, Cathedral Domain and Camp Burnamwood.  Don't forget that 

Walnut Hill will sponsor one half the cost of attending camp for any Walnut Hill 

child or youth.  Visit Domain or Burnamwood for schedule and program 

information.

The Walnut Hill Bike Ride, an annual event blending hospitality and outreach,

is scheduled for Saturday, July 7.  Mark the date on your calendar.  Use reply

email to volunteer for the planning team and/or event day staff.

Peace to all.

Mike Ward