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Changes Coming to the Sunday Downtown Welcome Table
This week, Pastor Brian and staff shared with our community the difficult decision to end the Sunday Downtown Welcome Table and worship service.
We understand that there will be mourning and confusion around this decision. We encourage and invite folks to reach out to us with any questions or for other support.
Pastor Brian's letter to the community and additional information can be found HERE.
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COMPANION SMALL GROUP - Resilience Training Follow-Up
Throughout the year, companions have had the opportunity to participate in the Resources for Resilience Training at Haywood Street. As a way to maintain the skills learned in the training, we offer quarterly small group settings where the skills and tools can be practiced with the same leaders who facilitated the trainings.
The next small group meeting will be Tuesday, January 16th, from 3:00-4:15 in the sanctuary.
Please note, even if you haven't attended the training, you are welcome to come learn more and take advantage of a space to process what's going on in your life, in our community at Haywood Street, and beyond.
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Haywood Street Community Development is Hiring!
As we move forward with permitting and plans to break ground in January/February, we are now ready to hire a full-time Director of Housing.
The Director of Housing provides a critical bridge between Haywood Street Congregation (HSC) and Haywood Street Community Development (HSCD). This person serves as the primary staff liaison for HSCD. They support the HSCD board in performing its core functions and oversee all aspects of the organization’s housing development work. Scope includes providing oversight for current projects while cultivating new opportunities to develop affordable housing designed with dignity and built for belonging.
Learn more and apply HERE.
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Companion Orientation on Monday
Our next Companion Orientation is this Monday, January 8th, at 5:00 in the sanctuary.
Please invite any friends, family members or colleagues that you think would be interested in getting involved at Haywood Street.
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Patio Update and Training
This Thursday, January 11, at 12:00 pm, we will have an in-depth training detailing the flow of the patio incorporated into the Downtown Welcome Table.
We will also announce opening day! Please join whether you are hoping to serve the patio or not, as it will affect the overall flow of the Welcome Table.
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On-going opportunities to participate at the Welcome Table:
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Have a meal! - Join us on Sunday or Wednesday to enjoy a meal with our community!
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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
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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!
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Maggie, also known as the "free hugs lady," has been a consistent presence at Haywood Street for many years. Each week, she shows up with no expectations and with open arms, ready to embrace anyone who needs a little human connection. |
Darshun's talent on the flute has been a welcomed gift to the worship services. We're so grateful that he shares his gift of music with us. |
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Jack came to Asheville about a year ago. Not knowing anyone and with no place to live, he has been going from sleeping in hotels to sleeping in his car. Each week, though, he comes to the Welcome Table and shares a meal, conversation, and a message of encouragement with anyone he encounters.
To our joy, Jack recently told us he has moved into his new apartment in a local senior living community!
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Weekly Ministry Opportunities:
Worship:
Sundays at 11:00 and Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m. in the sanctuary
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 Art Ministry: 8:30 a.m. in the Sanctuary. Join us for a time of fellowship, prayer, and art-making.
Thursday Card Making: 10:00 a.m. in the Sanctuary. Gather together to make cards for our community and friends in prison or in the hospital.
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Weekly Sermons
Read each week's sermon and previous sermons on the sermons page of the website.
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Community Resources
Click below to see a list of places in the community to donate and find clothes, and when recovery meetings are held.
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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 [email protected].
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Prayerful Expectation
By Heather D.
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I can’t say I understand why circumstances have happened the way they have to lead to this pause in Sunday Welcome Table and worship. I understand the multifaceted reasons that Brian shared in his message yesterday and reading the FAQ answers many questions. But my mixed emotions are directed to our Creator who called us into this ministry… Why?!? Why has the need become so great? Why can't we keep growing to keep up with it? Why is this so hard?
As I sit with my grief over the loss of the Sunday meal and ministry, I am reminded of so many experiences where the struggles turned into a glimpse of the
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beautiful, meta-narrative tapestry continually woven by the Spirit. David fearfully hiding in the cave while just a breath away from Saul’s rage; Rachel’s dangerous journey to a foreign land with Naomi after losing all her perceived worldly security; and an extremely pregnant Mary traveling over 30 miles when she least wanted to move at all, just because of an untimely decree. I’m sure they all emotionally wondered why?!? But their vision of divine beauty was delayed and what they experienced was unimaginable.
Instead of asking why… maybe we should be asking what? What’s next? What is Your plan? Often throughout our chaotic narrative, our expectations of what God might do are transformed into a much greater call than we ever imagined. The Israelites were expecting a king to bring back the power and dominion of Israel, but Jesus calls the whole world to the deeply connected, borderless kingdom which joins our hearts in relationships ruled by Love.
During this time, let us move into a prayerful stance of expectation, knowing that our Creator is weaving something that is so much more than we can imagine. We know that respite, housing, Wednesday worship and Downtown Welcome Table remain, along with many faithful congregants and meaningful partnerships. Beyond that, let us seek to be ready for whatever is next in this beautiful, chaotic call to “relationship, above all else.”
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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.
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