Opting for Love

News and Updates

June 23, 2023

Street Dog Coalition on Sunday, June 25th

Street Dog Coalition will be on campus next Sunday, June 25th from 9 am-12 pm, providing free veterinary care for pets of people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

Services Offered:

Physical exams

vaccinations

parasite control

pet supplies

and more...

Precautions: Dogs should be on leashes and cats in carriers.

Thank you, Ally Bank

Thank you, Ally Bank for your continuous support and presence at the Downtown Welcome Table! We're so grateful that you have decided to take the time and invest in our community.

Companion Training

We had a fun and productive dinner and training on Thursday night at the Companion Training!

Thank you to all who made it out to learn more about Harm Reduction, our Community Paramedics, and ways we can all look out for one another.

Remember to Save the Date!

On-going opportunities to participate at the Welcome Table:

Have a meal! - Join us on Sunday or Wednesday to enjoy a meal with our community!

Dining Room Clean Up - As always, clean up is one of the places that we need companion support. We promise to make it fun! On Sundays, we need companions from 10:00-12:00, and on Wednesdays from 12:00-2:00

Kitchen Clean-Up - On Sundays from 10:00-12:00 and Wednesdays from 12:00-2:00, we would love for a couple of companions to help us clean up the kitchen and help serve the folks who come in during that time for a meal. You can sign up for this role on the sign-up sheet below!

Haywood Street in Photos

It's not always very easy to see the Holy in the chaos. Sometimes, it takes stepping back, closing our eyes, taking a breath, and opening them again. Then, the Holy will usually be right in front of us.

Carla and Cherokee have developed a close friendship over their time coming to Haywood Street. Cherokee says, "This lady is special. When I come here for breakfast and see her, I feel like part of the family."

This week, Jeanette shared part of her story and transformation with visitors who came to see the Fresco. True to her reflection in the Fresco, Jeanette is a beacon of hope and light to our Haywood Street community.

Weekly Ministry Opportunities:

Worship:

Sundays at 11:00 and Wednesdays at 12:30 in the sanctuary

Tuesday Prayer Group: 12:00 in Room 6. Gather for a time of communal prayer.

Thursday Card Making:10:00 am in the dining room. Gather together to make cards for our community and friends in prison or in the hospital.

Grief Support Group: Tuesdays from 11 am-12 pm in the community room. We’ll strive towards healing together through relationship with each other.

Weekly Sermons

Read each week's sermon and previous sermons on the stories and sermons page of the website.

Community Resources

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

Click Here

Fresco Viewing Hours:

Sundays 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

Monday-Thursday 10:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m.

By appointment, contact April at april@haywoodstreet.org.

SERMON

Opting for Love

by Pastor Seth

June 21, 2023

It’s no wonder Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. referred to Psalm 118 as, “my own beloved Psalm.” Bringing to a close a collection known as the Hallel Psalms (Hallel meaning “praise” in Hebrew), Psalm 118 concludes a series of hymns recounting and celebrating the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt and freedom from slavery. Considered an anthology of thanksgiving, this passage pulls from other Psalms and hymns of the Hebrew Scriptures all pointing to a praiseworthy God who disrupts oppression and liberates those in the clutches of bondage.

It is an important scripture for Judaism, read aloud during Passover to remember God’s saving action in the world. It is an important scripture for Christianity, referenced in all of the Gospels and in many epistles as a key for early Christians to understand the life and teachings of Jesus. And it is an important scripture for Dr. King, who is said to have had an excerpt of this Psalm pasted on his wall. This hymn has echoed through the centuries as a battlecry of resiliency and liberation, serving as inspiration for Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement as well as for all who have ever felt the weight of oppression’s downward force.

Opening with thanksgiving, Psalm 118 is hopeful and triumphant — a first person account of victory over one’s enemies and fearlessness in the face of attack all thanks to a responsive God whose steadfast love endures forever. And the psalmist makes it clear that this last part is paramount. The phrase, “God’s steadfast love endures forever,” is used to open the Psalm and to conclude the Psalm in verse 29 and is repeated four times in the first four verses alone. There must be something to that.

On June 19, we celebrated Juneteenth — a day commemorating when the enslaved Americans of the last Confederate territory received news that they were free well over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. In light of Juneteenth and the legacy of Black liberationists, I invite us to consider what the psalmist means by God’s steadfast love endures forever and what love has to do with liberation.

What does God’s enduring love have to do with liberation?

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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.