It was a great day in the nursery this past Sunday with three infants/toddlers in their room and four preschoolers in another room. Wow! It was a busy place! Many thanks to Janelle Messer, Lucie Moore, Truman Joiner, Cheryl Beck, and Terri Bryan who just happened by and asked if she could help! Thank you, Terri, for reading to the children and talking with them.
Next Sunday, June 30th, Judy Henderson and Mary Lou Millwood have charge of the nursery. Thank you!
A variety of books await toddlers, preschoolers, children, and youth in the Children's Library located across from the Gathering Room. If you read five books from the library before school starts, you will receive a prize. Anyone reading more than five books will receive another prize. Please let Cheryl Beck know when you have read five or more books.
Add this email address to your contacts list on your devices so that our staff and Pastoral Care Team can learn of your prayer requests as quickly as possible. And yes, you may still contact the church office directly at 828-586-2095 to share your prayer concerns, as well.
“A need is not a call.” My husband Keith Holmes wrote those words on the bathroom mirror for me recently. I had been having a tough time with ministry-related boundaries, and these wise words were much-needed. This was not the first time I’d needed that reminder. I first heard these wise words from Rick Landon.
Rick and Judy Landon served for many years as “member care” for the CBF Romany Team. “Member care” are professional mental health providers who volunteer to be resources for CBF field personnel. At the time, Rick was co-clinical director of the Interfaith Counseling Center in Lexington, Ky., and taught spiritual formation at The Lexington Theological Seminary. Judy is a warm and thoughtful person. We first met them more than 20 years ago on the steps of the (then) International Baptist Theological Seminary in Prague. We had just arrived for a CBF Romany Team meeting and were not sure who these pleasant people were or why they were there. We soon found out.
Rick and Judy led a session on loss. As part of the workshop, we split into pairs. Judy was my partner. “So,” she said, “tell me about your losses.” I about lost it. A few months earlier we had returned from our first “home assignment” in America. While we were there, we discovered that a dear old friend had died and that we were just in time to make it to her funeral. This was followed by the death of my favorite uncle. A month or so later, Keith’s mother unexpectedly passed. And after we returned to the Netherlands in January, my 16-year-old dog died. Rick and Judy hadn’t known about these losses, but the Spirit had led them to prepare this topic.
In following years, Rick and Judy led retreat days at our team meetings, made home visits, advised, encouraged and even opened their home to us when we passed through Lexington. On another of those team retreats, Rick led us all through lectio divina, a way of listening to and praying Scripture which was new to me. It was something that my spirit needed at that time. For years afterwards, using lectio divina with the lectionary Scripture readings for that week became a vital part of my daily time with God.
And now, Keith is reminding me that “a need is not a call,” just when I need to hear those words again. Rick and Judy have retired, but their legacy continues to minister to us.
Each week we include a recipe in the Church Chimes and we hope that you are enjoying reading and trying them. You can add your favorite recipes to the Chimes by sending them to Cheryl Beck at cabeck@ncsu.edu. This is an ongoing WMU project.
Thanks for participating!
On Tuesday, July 2, Dining for Jackson is supporting the Meals on Wheels program for Jackson County. We hope you will bring a covered dish and join us in the Mission and Fellowship Center of First Baptist Church of Sylva at 11:30. You will be able to hear about their amazing impact in our county. For example, the total number of meals provided to seniors in Jackson County from July 1 of 2023 to June 1 of 2024 totals 28,979!!!
United Christian Ministries is in need of: shampoo (prefer 2-in-1 shampoo & conditioner), body wash, deodorant, toothpaste, child diapers (all sizes), cereal, spaghetti sauce and spaghetti noodles. To donate items, please drop them off at UCM’s building at 191 Skyland Drive. Thank you!
By Dr. Joe Yelton
Interim Pastor
Recently I began the work of unpacking some basic theology that has been within me since childhood. I’m wishing to give greater depth to my oft superficial brush of “I believe.” It began with a quote from the great CS Lewis: “It is Christ Himself, not the Bible, who is the true word of God. The Bible, read in the right spirit and with the guidance of good teachers, will bring us to Him. We must not use the Bible as a sort of encyclopedia out of which texts can be taken for use as weapons.”
Each Sunday as we receive a reading from Holy Scripture we respond, “The Word of God for the people of God “ ... or similar. And it’s true but accentuates our need to understand that JESUS IS THE WORD OF GOD ... and the Bible is the pointer used, along with good instruction.
When we insist that the Bible be received literally, we potentially suffocate what those very words are to provoke within us. Literal readings of the Bible can be used to justify slavery, the subjugation of women, the separation of the races, and the demoralizing of the poor, to name a few. Instead, when we leap forward and allow Jesus to BE the Word of God, we begin living the mind of WWJD ... What would Jesus do? When we sharpen that understanding, we likely become more forgiving, gentle, compassionate and faithful.
Jesus is the Word of God. When we allow Him to guide our interpretation of Holy Writ, we become better agents of His grace and goodness.
Joe
Dear Church Family,
Thank you for your support during these last weeks. Through your prayers, words, hugs, cards, emails, phone calls, visits, flowers, food, and memorials, I have felt the love and comfort of Christ. Thank you to those who were able to travel the many miles to Mom's services in GA/TN as we remembered and honored her. She has left us a mighty legacy of serving others and sharing Jesus.
Thank you for your compassionate and caring ministry to our family You have walked along side us, held us close, and lifted us up as we have traveled this road of both sadness and joy. Sadness that Mom is not physically with us here on earth where we can enjoy her company. Joy in knowing that she is healed and happy in heaven with our Lord, her family, and many friends.
I am, indeed, most humbly grateful. It is well with my soul.
Linda Minor
Dear Friends in Christ,
Thank you so much for the many cards, prayers, food, and for those who took me to my doctor’s visits and helped get my groceries.
I am delighted to be back with you, my extended family!
In Christian love,
Your bionic organist,
Lorie