WELCOME TO HAYWOOD STREET

UPDATES:

Sunday worship service will be returning on October 2nd, at 11:00 am! We hope you can join that first Sunday of October as we have a blessing of the animals.

Click to read the latest in Faces & Stories!

On Thursday, the folks in Respite went on a fishing trip to Lake Julian! We grilled out, went on a pontoon boat ride, kayaked, and caught a couple big fish! Thank you to everyone who came out and spent time with us.

Golf for Awareness was a huge success! We were able to raise over $30,000 for the Downtown Welcome Table and Respite. Thank you to all of our sponsors, players, companions, and friends who came out to support us! Haywood Street’s mission can only be lived out when we work together for the same goal.Haywood Street staff will be walking in the opening procession of Blue Ridge Pride Parade on Saturday 9/24. If you wish to walk with Haywood Street, you can meet staff in the HSC parking lot at 9am. The group will then walk to the procession gathering spot on Grove street by 9:30am. All are welcome! For any questions, contact Bryan at bryan@haywoodstreet.org.

MINISTRIES AND RESOURCES:

**Haywood Street Local Missions Opportunity**

Flood Relief in Cruso, NC
Thursday, October 13 (9am-3pm)

All are welcome as we serve alongside one another to aid ongoing flood relief efforts in Cruso, NC on Thursday, October 13th. We will meet in the Haywood Street parking lot at 7:45am to carpool together to the site and will return to Haywood Street by 4pm. Lunch will be provided by Haywood Street (sandwich makings, chips, and waters), or feel free to bring your own. Please email Pastor Seth at seth@haywoodstreet.org if you plan on joining!

 

Fresco viewing hours
  • Sundays 9-12
  • Monday through Thursday 10-2
  • By appointment, contact April at april@haywoodstreet.org
Weekly ministry opportunities:
  • Sunday Bible Study – 11:00am in the sanctuary
  • Tuesday Prayer Group – 12:00 in the sanctuary – Gather for a time of communal prayer
  • Worship on Wednesdays at 12:30 in the sanctuary
  • 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.

Click here to see the list the places in the community to donate clothes and to find free clothes. If you know of a place not on this list, reach out to Melanee at melanee@haywoodstreet.org.

To read this week’s sermon and to see previous sermons, click here.

COMPANION CORNER:

THIS WEEK:

  • Pride Parade! Haywood Street staff will be walking in the opening procession of Blue Ridge Pride Parade on Saturday 9/24.  If you wish to walk with Haywood Street, you can meet staff in the HSC parking lot at 9am. The group will then walk to the procession gathering spot on Grove street by 9:30am. All are welcome!
  • Companions Needed!!!: Our biggest ongoing need related to the Downtown Welcome Table is clean up! While it’s not the most glamorous job, we promise to make it fun! We need companions here from 10:00-12:00 on Sundays and 12:00-2:00 on Wednesdays who are willing to help serve the Downtown Welcome Table through helping clean after our meals. It also includes spending time with and serving our friends who come in after 12:00. Companions during this time help our staff out tremendously and are just as vital to the overall ministry as anyone else! You can sign up or just show up and we will put you to work!

COMING UP:

  • Companion Cookout & Celebration! – Mark your calendars for Thursday October 6th for a companion fellowship event. We will gather at Carrier Park under the pavilion from 5:00pm-7:00pm. There will be cornhole and other games, dinner provided and fun to be had. Our hope is to celebrate all of you for the ways you commit your time here at Haywood Street.
  • Resources for Resilience Training- An in depth training on how to care for yourself with tools designed to reset the nervous system in the face of stressors and trauma. This is such an invaluable training that you will gain practical tools to use for yourself and others in your life! We have 40 spots free of charge! The training will be November 17 & 18. Read more in the attached document!
  • Companion Orientation is this Monday, October 3rd. We will meet in the sanctuary at 5:00pm. Invite your friends or family to attend! Register here.
  • Companion Care Crew- The Companion Care Crew is made up of Companions at Haywood Street Congregation who have the time, energy, and a sense of call to support Haywood Street’s ministries and Companions. Our next meeting is Tuesday November 1st at 5:00pm in the main dining room. We will discuss ways to care for companions and improve our ministries for all involved! If you haven’t been to a meeting yet or just want to check it out, feel free to join!

SACRED ENCOUNTER

Returning to the Table

by Susan Dobroski

After six weeks away for a total knee replacement, I returned to Haywood Street to simply have a meal with friends and catch up with fellow companions and staff. This is a much different role than I normally take, as I’m usually more like the “energizer bunny!” My experience turned out to be far more extraordinary than “simple,” though. To view the “holy chaos” Sunday Welcome Table from the vantage point of a diner, opened my eyes slowly and deeply, and I was to see more than what I’m used to. Normally, I arrive to float – assisting where needed but primarily in the dishwashing room. (There I have been trained by the best…Popeye. Along the way I’ve met “Mighty Larry” a gentle giant with the strength to do the heavy lifting! Sweating for hours, he merrily goes about the business of “gettin it done”!)

But that day, I had to be vulnerable. As my body is healing, I had to let others serve me. I needed help. So, in complete surrender, I sat quietly at a table with a friend. The conversation was minimal, but we did agree to be grateful for the delicious food presented to us. It felt decadent being served; sometimes I was recognized as a companion, and other times I felt like just another friend in need of a meal.

I saw the ENERGY-HUBBUB of the Welcome Table from a new spot…servers rushing here, there and everywhere to deliver kind, compassionate service. I chuckled at how often I witnessed staff and companions with an agenda only to be thrust into another situation, request, and urgent need. THAT is why “holy chaos” is so fitting. In the end, everyone gets served, the food bins get emptied or taken to storage, and the floors get vacuumed and mopped. I watched as John, the barista, cleaned and prepared his station for another day, as did those manning the desert station that rarely has a leftover!

And I saw my missed station…the dishwashing room. Everyone (including Jinnia, the cook, and Steve, a board member, gave their all to fill in for those who couldn’t help.) That day I was able to do my other favorite task– starting the laundry for Lora! Once Bryan delivered the commercial baskets of soiled rags, aprons, and napkins, I could begin the operation from a sitting position. In the meantime, I listened to the laughter oozing from the art therapy room. Artist friends passed by, and said “hello.” Charles and I got reacquainted. We had both been away since July. A self-taught painter, he shyly shared his works with me. Charles offered me one of his paintings that he painted while away. I was so touched, as it really spoke to me. We have the love of mountains in common. He intuitively knew.

In that moment, as I returned to the Welcome Table, I saw the epitome of what being at Haywood Street is like, of what it looks like to live into the mission: “relationship, above all else.”