Friday September 23, 2016

An eNote from Rodney

Dear Trinity Congregation,

One way to tell that Christmas is around the corner is when the flyers from Operation Christmas Child show up in the mail. Andrew has placed the flyers on the table beside the second floor elevator door.  These will guide you in selecting the items you will put in your box. Have fun putting the boxes together.

Here is some information concerning our Fall Festival this year. We are going to start it at 2:00 pm. and go to 5:00 pm. We will still have the chili cook off and the organizers are looking forward to that. One big change is that where in the past we have also had a giant pot of chili for supper, this year the church is going to provide fried chicken and drinks. We are asking you to bring sides and, yes, there will be an opportunity to sign up to bring a cake for the cake walk.

Also remember that on Sunday the 16th of October, Trinity will be hosting Bishop Paul Leeland, the new Bishop of the Western North Carolina Conference, as he introduces himself to our part of the state. That service will be at 3:00 pm. with a reception to follow.

The Old Testament lectionary lesson for Sunday is Jeremiah 32:1­-3, 6-­15. In the lesson Jeremiah holds out a word of hope to the citizens of Jerusalem while the city is under siege by the Babylonian army.  I am going to look for a word of hope in this passage for us.

Will you pray for Charlotte? When it comes to the things that interest me, i.e. food and restaurants, Asheville has Charlotte beat hands down. But I have always had a fondness in my heart for Charlotte.  Charlotte is a big small town. It has banking and elegance and pro sports and it is a jewel of the new south. It also has bass fishing and stock car racing and lots and lots of churches so it’s a jewel of the best of the old south also. Charlotte has generally had good race relations; a predominantly white city has elected black mayors and the city is not dominated by one political party. It’s in a little trouble this week and so will you pray for it, for those who have suffered loss this week and for those who provide protection? Pray for those things for our city also.  If you read Jeremiah 29:1­-9 you will see that Jeremiah encourages us to pray for the place we find ourselves.

If you would like to begin the process of becoming a Certified Lay Speaker, a class is going to be offered on Saturday, October 1 & 8 at Black Mountain United Methodist from 10:00 am till 3:30 pm. The cost is $35.00. Talk to Rodney for more information.

Yesterday it was officially Fall, so hooray! I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

Sincerely,

Rodney