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Golf for Awareness
Registration Open
We are gearing up for the 11th annual Golf for Awareness and looking forward to another wonderful event. We hope you'll consider joining us. Lots of sponsorship opportunities are available too.
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Welcome Visits
Wednesdays at 9 am and 11am
If you are new to Haywood St. or haven't been in awhile and are curious about Wednesdays, join us at 9am or 11am for a welcome visit. This is a great way to orient yourself to the campus and to learn about Haywood St. ministries and partners, as well as updates on Respite construction. All you have to do is show up at the table outside the sanctuary. (Image shown: Jinnia, Dan, and Phoenix).
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Holy Groundskeepers
Thursdays at 9 am
All are invited to join us on Thursday mornings from 9 - 10 to beautify the campus and surrounding neighborhood as an act of companionship and creation care. We'll supply all the materials needed to safely dispose of trash. (Image shown: Jinnia, Rebecca, Laura, Lora, James, John)
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Lady Gloria Ridge Community
August Newsletter
We invite you to stay informed on news and events related to Lady Gloria Ridge. Check out the link below.
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Haywood Street Congregation has been selected as a participating nonprofit in Biltmore's Birdies for Charity. Check out the link below to learn about this opportunity to support Haywood Street. When you donate, you have the chance to guess the number of birdies in the upcoming Biltmore Championship Asheville to win the Ultimate Biltmore Experience.
Participating charities will receive 100% of every donation collected for their organization, as well as a portion of funds from a bonus pool of $50,000 provided by Biltmore Championship Asheville.
| The Community Clean Up sponsored by the Continuum of Care has been rescheduled and will now take place on Tuesday, August 25, 2026 from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. If you would like to sign up to participate with a group from Haywood St., email Jenny. | |
Prayers for James Strain
As many of you know, beloved Haywood Street staff member James Strain was in a bicycle accident at the beginning of July. Throughout the month, he received care in the Neuro ICU at Mission Hospital. Last week he was moved to a long term care hospital near Charlotte closer to his daughter and other family members. Please pray for James and his healing journey and recovery. His daughter has shared that the love and support of his Haywood St. family means so much.
We are missing James on campus. The way he cares for the church. The way he moves toward those in crisis, knowing their name and their story, making room for empathy and understanding. The way he lovingly holds boundaries for the holy ground of Haywood St. Mostly, we are missing James because he is our friend.
While hospitalized here in Asheville James had a steady flow of visitors. His circle of community is wide. For anyone who would like to write cards or letters of encouragement to James, you are welcome to bring them to the church or mail them to us and we will make sure he receives them. You can drop them off in room 8 at the church between 9am - 1pm, Monday - Thursday. If the office door is closed, you can put it in the drop box on the door. Cards can be mailed to: Haywood Street Congregation, P.O. Box 2982, Asheville NC 28802.
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Haywood Street Highlights | Everything we do on Wednesday is a holy excuse to experience the sacred in the person right beside us - regardless of the path anyone traveled to get here. Here's a glimpse of what that looked like this week. (Images shown: Drew & John, Gail & Melissa, Seth & Kristen, Mia & Bill) | |
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Weekly Ministry Opportunities at Haywood Street:
Tuesday Prayer Group: 12:30 p.m. Gather for a time of contemplative prayer at Respite's Brevard Rd location. Contact Seth for more information.
Tuesday Book Study: Join us at 1:00 p.m. in the Community Room of Lady Gloria Ridge. Contact Laura B. for more information.
Wednesday Welcome Visits: New to Haywood St. or haven't been in awhile? Meet at the host table outside the sanctuary at 9:00 or 11:00 a.m. for a tour and welcome visit.
Wednesday Downtown Welcome Table: Join us for lunch between 10:00-12:00 or help with clean-up from 1:00-3:00. Click here for the DWT sign up.
Art Ministry: Due to construction, Art in the Alley can be found either in Room 4 or outside depending on the weather and other programming.
Haywood Street Salon: Open each Wednesday from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Healing Through Harm Reduction: Wednesday at 12:30 in Room 1
Wednesday Worship: 12:30 p.m. in the sanctuary.
Holy Groundskeepers: Thursdays at 9:00 a.m. Meet in the church parking lot.
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Weekly Sermons
Read the weekly sermons on our website here.
~Preaching Schedule~
August 19
Pastor Jody
August 26
Pastor Brian
September 2
Pastor Seth
September 9
Sheneika Smith preaching
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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.
| This week we bid adieu to our superstar intern Mia. All summer she worked with visiting groups - educating them about the wonderful world of Haywood St by making them feel right at home. We’ll miss her joyful energy and enthusiasm. She promises not to be a stranger, though, as she returns to Warren Wilson for fall semester. | | |
Where the Lost Things Are
Pastor Seth
Luke 15:1-7
Kicking off a trio of parables in response to critique from religious elites, Jesus appeals to the compassion of the humble shepherd. In the wake of miraculous healings, subversive guest lists, and the importance of salt’s saltiness, Jesus tells tale of sheep, coins, and a wayward son on his way to Jerusalem — a trinity of the lost and found. Choosing to draw his audience in with illustration, requiring the gathered crowd and skeptical clergy to participate with their imagination rather than merely take in information, Jesus launches into a few of the most well known stories in the New Testament.
Countering the judgment of his chosen company by the Pharisees and scribes, Jesus sets the stage with a wilderness scene and a sheep that’s lost its way. It’s a seemingly absurd concept: leaving a flock of ninety nine to go and find the one. While a well off homestead might have 15-30 in a flock, a flock of 100 represented significant value — the wealth such a number indicated likely lending the owner social status along with financial security. Why jeopardize one’s substantial livelihood? Why not just write off the one to secure the many? The shepherds in the crowd would have understood why — theologians in their own right with a degree in grazing and tending and the knowledge of the value of life.
As we hear this passage from Luke 15, I raise the question to us all: why does the shepherd leave the many to go and find the one?
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| | A witness to include the most excluded, Haywood Street not only welcomes every child of God–especially beloved siblings 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. | | | | |
