WELCOME FROM HAYWOOD STREET

UPDATES:

Pastoral intern, Grace, shared the message this Wednesday at our worship service. To read the whole sermon and see previous ones, click here.

Thank you to all whole came out on Monday evening for the community screening of Theirs is the Kingdom! It was a fun time to watch it together and celebrate the fresco and what it means to this community.

A time change is coming! Beginning August 15th, the Welcome Table on Wednesdays will begin at 10:00 and go until 11:30. The hope is that this shift will allow companions and staff that want to go to worship at 12:30 to have enough time to clean and transition upstairs.

The new windows are in! Robert and some of his crew worked hard to get the windows installed in the hospitality room. Now we’re able to enjoy more sunlight and see the beautiful mountains that are right next to us!

Looking for Sunday Servers: Summer is a busy season for everyone, even for the Welcome Table! We’re looking for companions willing to serve on Sunday mornings. If you’re interested, contact Katlyn at Katlyn@haywoodstreet.org.

COMPANION CORNER:

  • Servers Needed: The kitchen is in need of additional servers at the Downtown Welcome Table on Wednesdays and Sundays. If you’d like to help, please let Katlyn know or sign up and feel free to bring a friend!
  • Meal Train Meals Needed for Respite:  Every night of the week a wonderful home cooked meal is provided for our friends in Respite. This month there are several open days that we need folks to sign up for. You can do so here: https://mealtrain.com/dm2y6z. Feel free to share this need with your friends, Bible Studies, etc.
  • Haywood Street Hair Cutting Ministry – We are currently in the process of reimagining the Hair Cutting Ministry here that we have had in the past. If you would like to be a part of that process or would like to cut or wash hair when it is open, let Katlyn know!
  • NEW MINISTRY UPDATES – Starting the week of May 1
    • Sunday Bible Study – 11:00am in the sanctuary
    • Tuesday Prayer Group – 12:00 in the sanctuary – Gather for a time of communal prayer
    • Thursday Card Making Group – 10:00am in Room 1 (off the main lobby) – Gather together to make cards for our community and friends in prison or in the hospital

REFLECTION:

Finding My Way
By Kimberly Treadaway

Haywood Street Congregation is the meeting place of different people with a variety of life experiences. It is also the meeting place of different versions of Kimberly and all of those experiences. This is my story, but I thought it would be interesting to use my connections to Haywood Street Congregation as a way to guide the timeline.

I grew up in Boone, NC where I got into heavy substance use and abusive relationships. I fled to Asheville to try and escape my problems but ended up in a cycle of precarious housing, couch hopping, living in my car, and going to treatment. I called my mom and could barely utter the words, “I am so lost.” I came to the welcome table when I had nowhere to go and nothing to eat. I don’t remember the feelings I experienced then, as I tried not to feel them, but I know food and human interaction were basic needs that got me through.

Legal consequences built up, my body started to fail, and my relationships dissolved. Finally, I decided to do whatever it took to find myself. In 2015 I got into recovery and started attending 12 step meetings in the basement of Haywood Street Church. I don’t go to 12 step meetings anymore but the years spent in that basement saved my life. I laughed my first genuine, sober laugh. I cried and said out loud the truth of my darkest moments. I stripped away all the coping mechanisms and walls I hid behind to find my way back to love, to find my way back to me.

After being in a recovery cocoon for 5 years, I started to integrate my wild spirit back into my daily life and spend time in spaces where the need for love is high.  In 2020, not only did I shift, but life as we know it did too.  I started serving coffee at Haywood Street, as part of Asheville Survival Program’s efforts to meet the needs of folks living outside while everything shut down due to COVID. I also started working for organizations that served folks who live outside.

In May of 2021, I began working at Respite. I have been present for the last days of some of the toughest men on the street. This has been a challenge and an honor. Haywood Street has been there for me through one of the toughest conflicts I’ve ever experienced, holding compassion for all involved. This is where we align, this is why I feel that I belong.