Stories & Sermons

Dear Haywood Street Community, Before the oil paint dried, Janet McKenzie’s icon, “Jesus of the People,” was immediately controversial.  The artist chose an African American woman as her model- thick eyebrows, generous lips, locked hair- to portray a non-binary Savior.  One covered in the unadorned robes of a peasant, a tangle of barbs encircling her...

This year, in lieu of Giving Tuesday, we are sharing a week’s worth of extra faces, stories, and reflections from Haywood Street friends, companions and staff. These special posts are intended to be a gift for you and others who have described feeling lonely, isolated and disconnected from community due to COVID-19. The links below will...

We do a disservice to the dead when we hallow their memories in stained glass, pretending they were perfect.  Bruce Lee Abshire was anything but perfect, and wonderfully so.  Some of his most memorable imperfections included: doing laps around the sanctuary in a hotwired golf cart clutching a live chicken, bootlegging moonshine across the County line in...

Beginnings of Faith (Romans 14:1-12) Sermon by Father Mike, 9/16/20   There was a time in 2016 when I had just started seminary. Only one year before, I’d received a strange call—I was not a religious person, I didn’t know the stories of scripture, but I felt that God was calling me into church, and...