News and Updates

March 15, 2024

Thank You, Rhubarb and Patton Allen!

Thank you to our restaurant friends at Rhubarb for showing up on Wednesday and preparing such a wonderful meal!

Another thank you goes out to our friends at Patton Allen for coming out and helping with clean up after the meal.

We're so grateful for all of you!

Fresco Conversation on Tuesday, March 19th

Please join us for the next Fresco Conversation on Tuesday, March 19th at 1:00 p.m. featuring Kristen Tracy, Mark Siler, and Robert Stevenson in conversation about grief and the importance of art, storytelling, and community along the journey. Mary Sullivan of YAWNi will share a song to open our time together.



Kristen Tracy is a longtime congregant, Respite companion, and HSC Board member. Mark Siler is a Fresco model shown in the artwork in the distance, carrying a guitar. He is a social worker and therapist. Robert Stevenson is on staff at Haywood Street as Respite Clinician. In his role he provides support to Respite friends around issues of substance use and mental health. We hope that you will join us in the sanctuary as we share stories around the value of community and art during times of struggle.

Dinner at Respite with Pastor Jody

Pastor Jody is sending out an invitation for folks to join her in Respite on Monday evenings while she prepares dinner for our Respite family.

If you are interested in joining a small group that helps prepare the meal or shares the meal and visits with folks, contact Pastor Jody for more information.

Memorial Service on Wednesday, March 20th

Haywood Street has already felt the loss of so many beloved congregants this year. To create a space for our collective grief and to honor and recognize each person who has passed, we will hold a memorial service each quarter during our Wednesday worship service.

The first service will be this Wednesday, March 20th at 12:30 pm. We hope you'll join us in remembering Jesse, Donny, Stevo, Cadillac, and Ed.

Habitat for Humanity Workday March 21st

The next Habitat for Humanity work day is this Thursday, March 21st. We'll meet at 7:45 in the Haywood Street parking lot to carpool together.

Contact Pastor Seth for more information.

Haywood Street Highlights

This Wednesday was the second week of family-style meals at the Welcome Table. As with any change, we’re working out the kinks. We’re amazed at how eagerly companions have stepped into this challenge and by how intentional everyone has been in embracing a different, more intimate way of having relationship.

Thank you all for the positivity, encouragement, and excitement this transition has received!

One of the changes to the Welcome Table has also been the transition from having coffee available in the dining rooms before the meal to having it in the sanctuary. The unexpected result of this transition that has manifested so naturally is such a delight to experience. Folks first show up for coffee and end up lingering to listen to music, to create art, and to connect with others.

Tom (pictured behind the table) is a little newer to the Haywood Street family but has found a home here nevertheless. On Wednesday, he happily attended to the coffee station, making sure it was available for everyone who wanted some.

Haywood Street shines brightest when each of us is willing to give and prepared to receive, and Tom is a beautiful example of that shine.

Weekly Ministry Opportunities:

Tuesday Haywood Street Holy Ground Keepers: 8:30 a.m. in the parking lot. Walk the grounds of the church campus and our local neighborhood, cleaning up along the way.

Tuesday Prayer Group: 12:30 p.m. in Room 6. Gather for a time of communal prayer.

Wednesday Downtown Welcome Table: Join us for lunch between 10:00-1:00 or help with kitchen and dining room clean-up from 1:00-3:00. Sign up here!

Wednesday Worship: 12:30 p.m. in the sanctuary

Thursday Card Making: Meet at 10:00 a.m. in the Sanctuary to make cards for our friends in prison or the hospital. 

Weekly Sermons

Read the weekly sermons on our website here.

~Preaching Schedule~

March 20th:

Pastor Jody (Memorial Service)

March 27th:

Pastor Brian (Good Friday service)

April 3rd:

Pastor Seth (Easter service)

April 10th:

Pastor Jody

Community Resources

Click below to see a list of places in the community to donate and find clothes, and when recovery meetings are held.

Fresco Viewing Hours:

Monday - Thursday, 10 am - 2 pm (with the exception of during our worship service, which is 12:30 pm every Wednesday).

Contact April if you would like to make an appointment to see the Fresco outside of those hours.

REFLECTION

Mourning is Welcome Here

By April Nance

When preaching the Sermon on the Mount, sometimes I wish Jesus would have said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for their grief will end and their problems will be solved.” But I know, walking around in this earthly body, that’s not the way it works. Sorrow finds me as surely as joy does. Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4) So my faith whispers: lean in to what it means to be comforted.

Over the past two years I’ve experienced devastating loss in my own family as well as in my church family. Gratefully I am reminded over and over that my tears are welcome at Haywood St. My mourning is blessed and comfort is found in a multitude of ways.

I find comfort when morning light streams through the stained glass windows illuminating the campfire scene in the Haywood Street Fresco. (Hello Blue, Thomas, Eric, and Popeye).

I find comfort when Koye has the volume turned way up on the YouTube video of Mahalia Jackson singing “How I Got Over” in the sanctuary on an otherwise quiet Monday morning.

I find comfort when Mary tells me she is going to give the small bouquet of roses and zinnias she wrapped in a paper towel to her bus driver.

I find comfort when I see Joseph sketching in the lobby.

I find comfort in Will’s interpretive dance as Jacob sings and plays guitar to Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”

I find comfort when Chris laughs at the corny joke I memorized to be able to tell him.

I find comfort when new and old friends gather to break bread around the table in the dining room, and the meal before us is a masterpiece.

I find comfort when I hear the rattle of buttons in ball jar prayer shakers.

I find comfort when, at the conclusion of worship, Dee asks me and everyone else in the congregation, “Who’s child are you?”

These strands of comfort and so many others are woven into a blanket that I wrap around myself - my whole self - when I am moved to tears. Moved to tears is an interesting expression - as if crying is a way to move from one place to another. How wonderful to have companionship along the way.

***

On Tuesday at 1:00 in the sanctuary, we will gather for a Fresco Conversation on grief and how art, storytelling, and community accompany us along the journey. Conversation partners will be Kristen Tracy, Mark Siler, and Robert Stevenson. Mary Sullivan of YAWNi will share a song to open our time together.

On Wednesday, please join us at 12:30 in the sanctuary for a memorial service remembering loved ones we have lost in recent months.

A witness to include the most excluded, Haywood Street not only welcomes every child of God–especially sisters and brothers of every mental illness and physical disability, addiction and diagnosis, living condition and employment status, gender identity and sexual orientation, class, color, and creed–but we celebrate your presence, certain that the kingdom of God is coming closer because you are here.