Community Potato Harvest

You are invited to a "Community Potato Harvest"

Saturday, September 11, 10am 

Walnut Hill Church

Bring a shovel or other potato digging implement.

Help for as long or short a time as your schedule allows.  

No rsvp required.

For all ages! 

This is a great learning opportunity for children and youth.

Harvesters may keep as many potatoes as they would like.  

Excess potatoes will be donated to a local charity.

The harvest will take place as planned unless it is 

actually raining on Saturday morning at 10am. 

Use reply email to request additional information.

Help us bring in the final harvest of the 

2010 

Walnut Hill Church Garden!

Walnut Hill Church Weekly Letter

September 8, 2010

Greetings to all!

The 9-11 anniversary approaches on Saturday, and once again we are

reminded of an event that many say changed our lives, and our world,

forever.  Remembering such an event has its place.  There may still be losses

to be mourned and lessons to be learned from it.  Yet, remembering also 

has its risk, the risk of becoming trapped by the past, preventing us from seeing 

the present, including others and ourselves, in new and fresh ways.  In the 

Christian tradition, forgiveness is the practice of not allowing our past to prevent 

our living freely in the present.  By means of forgiveness, offered and received, 

the past loses its grip on us, allowing us and others to move forward with our lives 

in positive and productive ways. Forgiveness is not easy, but the alternative of 

being trapped in anger and bitterness is, in the long run, more difficult. 

Remember 9-11?  How can we not; yet, may the remembering not limit the 

freedom of our present and future. 

The Scripture lesson for Sunday, September 12:

Matthew 18:21-35

Sunday Conversations continue this Sunday, September 12, 10am, in Trinity

Hall.  We continue our conversation around the "Parables of Jesus," particularly

the parable of the "Wedding Feast," with its lesson to always read an invitation 

very carefully. (see Luke 14:15-24 and Matthew 22:1-14)

The 2010- 2011 Sunday School Year officially begins this Sunday with lessons

and activities for children during the worship hour.  Volunteers are needed to lead 

or assist in classes.  You may volunteer for one Sunday (or more) using the 

sign up sheet posted on the Trinity Hall bulletin board.  Contact Lauren Fouts

for more information regarding volunteer opportunities.

The Fall Potluck is coming on Sunday, September 19, after morning worship.

Bring a salad, side dish, or dessert, and your appetite.  We can use some 

help with a few details regarding the meal.  Use reply email to inquire how you

might help with one or another of these details.

A Walnut Hill Youth Gathering is scheduled for Sunday, September 19, 5pm at 

Walnut Hill.  Youth will be treated to all the pizza they can eat as they share 

their interests and ideas for future youth activities.  Contact Nelson Barnes for more 

information.

The 2010 CROP Walk is coming on Sunday, September 26, 3pm.  The CROP

Walk is an ecumenical event to raise awareness and funds for hunger relief

locally and around the world.  You can support the CROP Walk by walking (3 miles)

or by sponsoring a walker.  A sign up sheet for walkers and sponsors is available

in the Sanctuary foyer.  Nell Horman is serving as our team leader.   

Thanks, news, etc...

*Thanks to... the Walnut Hill Choir, both our in house and student members, for

their worship leadership last Sunday; Spencer Horman, Phil Bloomfield, Natalie

and Bob Watt, Barbara and Chris Bohmer for their service during worship; Ruth

and David Sharrard for providing our after worship refreshments.

*Jennifer Boone and John Purviance were married at Walnut Hill Church on 

Saturday, September 4.

*Mason and Coleman Mackiewicz, sons of Alissa and Mark Mackiewicz, 

received the sacrament of Baptism during morning worship on September 5.

Peace to all.

Mike Ward 

Sunday at Walnut Hill Church

Sunday, September 5, at Walnut Hill Church...

Sunday Conversations, 10am, Trinity Hall

"The Workers in the Vineyard:

 Equal Pay for Unequal Work"

(Matthew 20:1-16)

This is the first of our conversations focusing on the parables

of Jesus. "In the parable of the workers in the vineyard, Jesus 

turns the accepted understanding of justice upside down...When 

the workers complain, it is not because an injustice has been done

to them; it is because the employer has been generous to 

others...it is not a matter of justice but of envy." (Albert Nolan)

Enjoy a cup of coffee, join the conversation, or just listen

in.  Nursery care available upon request.  Use reply email to 

request nursery care for an infant or small child.

Morning Worship, 11am, Sanctuary

Sermon:  Lost and Found

Text:  Luke 15:11-32

The sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper

Nursery care and Sunday School for children.

After Worship Gathering, Noon, Trinity Hall

All are invited to gather for refreshments and fellowship.

Walnut Hill Church Weekly Letter

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Greetings to all!

We will spend some time over the Sundays of September reflecting on the 

parables of Jesus. 

A parable is a small story with a large point.  Most of the ones Jesus

told have a kind of sad fun about them.  The parables of the Crooked 

Judge, the Sleepy Friend, and the Distraught Father are really jokes in 

their way, at least part of whose point seems to be that a silly question

deserves a silly answer.  In the Prodigal Son, the elder brother's pious

pique when the returning prodigal gets the red-carpet treatment is worthy

of Moliere's Tartuffe, as is the outraged legalism of the Laborers in the 

Vineyard when Johnny-Come-Lately gets as big a slice of the worm as 

the Early Bird.  The point of the Unjust Steward is that's its better to be a

resourceful rascal than a saintly schlemiel; and of the Talents that, 

spiritually speaking, playing the market will get you further than playing

it safe...With parables and jokes both, if you've got to have it explained,

don't bother.

(Frederick Buechner as found in Wishful Thinking)

The Scripture lesson for Sunday, September 5, the sacraments of 

Holy Communion and Holy Baptism:

Luke 15:11-32

Sunday Conversations resume this Sunday, September 5, 10am, in 

Trinity Hall.  Our conversation topic for the month of September will be 

the parables of Jesus, this Sunday focusing on the parable of the "Laborers

in the Vineyard" (Matthew 20:1-16), or as it might be subtitled, "Equal Pay

for Unequal Work."  Come and enjoy a cup of coffee, join the conversation, 

or just listen in.

The Fall Potluck, a delicious Walnut Hill tradition, is coming on Sunday,

September 19.  Bring a salad, side dish, or dessert, and your 

appetite.  We are currently seeking volunteers to help with some details of 

the meal.  Use reply email to inquire about volunteering.

Pakistan Flood Relief - Persons wanting to respond to the recent 

devastating floods in Pakistan may do so at Walnut Hill.  Feel free to bring

an extra offering over the next couple Sundays and place your offering

in the collection basket located in the Sanctuary foyer.  Donations

will be sent to the affected area via our ecumenical partner, Church 

World Service.

In the Community - Central Kentucky Radio Eye (CKRE) is a free service

broadcasting the reading of the current newspaper and other everyday

literature to serve the blind, visually impaired and other physically disabled

persons in central Kentucky.  CKRE is currently recruiting a variety of 

volunteers and is offering a volunteer orientation on September 24, 2:30pm.

For more information about CKRE, visit the website www.uky.edu/Libraries/CKRE/

or call 859-422-6390.

Peace to all.

Mike Ward

Sunday at Walnut Hill Church

This Sunday, August 29, at Walnut Hill Church...

Sunday School Information Meeting, 10am, Trinity Hall

Parents and other interested persons are invited to attend

and learn about this year's Sunday School program and 

other activities for children.  Childcare will be provided.

Morning Worship, 11am, Sanctuary

Sermon:  On One Foot

Text:  Luke 6:27-36

Nursery care and Sunday School for children.

Big Blue Barrel Food Drive

This is your last chance to bring non-perishable food 

items to support the work of God's Pantry.  Place your

items in the blue barrel in Trinity Hall.

Walnut Hill Church Weekly Letter

August 25, 2010

Greetings to all!

The current controversy surrounding a proposed Islamic center near the

former site of the of the World Trade Center has not only exposed lingering

hostilities and suspicions, but also highlighted the interfaith and intercultural

challenges of today's world.  Consider these observations and thoughts by

theologian Diana Eck.

     As the 21st century begins, our neighbors here in the United States are of

many religious traditions.  The post-1965 immigration has made American

society religiously diverse as never before.  Los Angeles and Chicago are 

cities with a complex Buddhist life found nowhere in Asia.  At least as many

Muslims as Jews live in the United States.  Huge Hindu temples have risen

in the suburbs of Atlanta, Nashville, Louisville, and Houston...

     Our newfound proximity as neighbors has given us not only new civic

questions that we work on a citizens, but also new theological questions with

which we wrestle as people of faith...[These questions] are for all of us because

they have to do with how we think about God, who is the dimension of depth

that roots and grounds our lives and the one "in whom we live and move and

have our being."  They have to do with how we think of ourselves when we 

are alone in the silence of our hearts.  They have to do with how we think of our

own religious communities in these new times and how we think of our

neighbors of other faiths, not just neighbors around the world, but neighbors

across the street.

(from God At 2000)

In Memory:  Walnut Hill Church friend George Joseph Matthew Ruschell departed 

this life on Monday, August 23.  Services for Mr. Ruschell will be held at Walnut Hill

Church on Friday, August 27, 11am.  

The Scripture lessons for Sunday, August 29:

Leviticus 19:33-34

Acts 17:16-34

Luke 6:27-36

Sunday School Orientation - Parents and other interested persons are

invited to gather in Trinity Hall on Sunday, August 29, 10am, for information

about Sunday School and other activities for children.  Childcare will be 

provided during this information meeting.

Host Needed - A host (s) is needed for our after worship refreshments this 

Sunday, August 29.  Use reply email to volunteer for this Sunday or use the

sign up sheet in the Sanctuary foyer to host a Sunday later in the fall.

The Big Blue Barrel - It turns out that the Big Blue "Food" Barrel will be with us 

one more Sunday before the folks from God's Pantry pick it up next week, so you

have one more Sunday to bring non-perishable food items.  Simply place your

items in the blue barrel in Trinity Hall.  God's Pantry will distribute the items

to neighbors throughout central and eastern Kentucky.

"Charge Syndrome" is the name given to a pattern of genetic birth defects

affecting about 1 in every 10,000 births worldwide, including the granddaughter

of Walnut Hill's custodian Tony (and Connie) Martin.  Walnut Hill will be the

site of a fundraising "Corn Hole Tournament" benefitting the Charge Syndrome 

Foundation this Sunday afternoon, August 29, 2:30pm.  For more information

regarding this event, contact ( chargesyndrome.ky@hotmail.com ).

Bluegrass Domestic Violence Program (BDVP) - Ms. Diane Fleet, Assistant Director

of BDVP, visited Walnut Hill Church this past Sunday, August 22, to receive a grant

($1,500) from the 2010 Community Fund.  For more information regarding 

BDVP, check out  www.beyondtheviolence.org .

Peace to all.

Mike Ward

  

 

Walnut Hill Church Weekly Letter

August 18, 2010

Greetings to all!

Being just back from vacation, I am reminded of the value of a healthy

balance between work and rest.  In the Jewish and Christian traditions,

such balance was ritualized in the practice of "Sabbath observance."  While

certainly different today than in generations past, Sabbath observance 

might still have some gifts to offer.  Consider the following thoughts 

from Dorothy Bass.

The practice of keeping Sabbath bears much wisdom for people

seeking ways through the crises of these times and the stresses of 

contemporary life.  "The solution of mankind's most vexing problems will

not be found in renouncing technical civilization, but in attaining some 

degree of independence from it," writes Abraham Heschel.  Sabbath

keeping teaches that independence.  Refraining from work on a regular

basis is a way of setting limits on behavior that is perilous for both human

welfare and the welfare of the earth itself.  Overworked Americans need

rest, and they need to be reminded that they do not cause the grain to 

grow and that their greatest fulfillment does not come through the 

acquisition of material things.  Moreover, the planet needs a rest from 

human plucking and burning and buying and selling.  Perhaps, as 

Sabbath keepers, we will come to live and know these truths more fully,

and thus to bring their wisdom to the common solution of humanity's 

problems.

(from Practicing Our Faith)

The Scripture lessons for Sunday, August 22:

Exodus 20:8-11

Hebrews 12:18-29

Luke 13:10-17

Men's Coffee - Walnut Hill men are invited to gather for coffee this 

Saturday, August 21, 8am, at Paneras on Richmond Road.  Feel free

to drop in for as long or short a time as your schedule permits.  No rsvp

required.

Host(s) Needed - A host (s) is needed for our after worship refreshments

this Sunday, August 22.  Use reply email to volunteer for this Sunday, or

check the sign up sheet in the Sanctuary foyer for a Sunday later in the

summer or fall.  Thanks to all our refreshment hosts!

Last Call! This Sunday, August 22, is the last call for our big blue barrel

summer food drive.  Bring your non-perishable food items and help us top

off the barrel before it is returned to God's Pantry next week.  

Thanks to all those who helped in so many ways during our family's 

recent vacation to maintain Walnut Hill's worship, fellowship, and ministry.

In ways seen and unseen, planned and unplanned, the community of faith

is alive and well at Walnut Hill.

Peace to all.

Mike Ward