Monthly Archives: April 2014

All the City Shook (Sermon) Southeast Kentucky Ministerial Alliance Palm Sunday Service, April 13, 2014

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Sermon – April 13, 2014
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
Southeast Kentucky Ministerial Alliance Joint Service
Grace on the Hill, Corbin, KY
The Sunday of the Passion:  Palm Sunday

And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred…. Matthew 21:10

Please be seated

First of all, I truly believe our gathering must make God happy.  As denominations, we have our different ways to worship and truly, the unity when we come together at times like these, representing the oneness of God, makes for blessed times and times of great honor to God.  And you will have more times to be in such a place as we go through Holy Week with weekday noontime services at churches here in Corbin and a Good Friday evening service in Williamsburg.  Take advantage of this holy time and these holy gatherings.  

Have you ever been in an earthquake?  I remember the first time I truly felt an earthquake.  I was in San Francisco for a conference, staying on the 18th floor of a hotel.  The quake wasn’t even a 2 on the Richter Scale and was not centered in San Francisco, but there was no mistaking what was happening.  AND there was no warning.  By the time I realized the whole building was moving back and forth, the quake was over, so there was no time to even move to the bathroom like you’re told.  And forget running down 18 flights of stairs and out of the building.  That quenched my desire to move to California, I have to tell you!

In 2011, when many of you felt the earthquake centered in Virginia, I was riding in a car, so didn’t feel the movement, but I saw what it could do.  Prior to leaving for Seminary, the Washington National Cathedral was my church and after the 2011 earthquake, seeing the beautiful, vaulted ceiling with netting underneath it, was sad.  

During the summer of 2012, I was a seminary intern at the Cathedral.  Outside my office lay huge pieces of stone that had fallen off the roof during the quake.  On the 1-year anniversary, I was able to celebrate some of the repairs by climbing to the top of one of the towers, where a floor had been constructed for the stone masons doing the repair.  We celebrated the repair of part of the stonework, which had been accomplished by recycling a piece of stone that had fallen during the quake.  Yet, much remained to repair and I have a photo of me standing by one of the pinnacles, where a long piece of stone was still buckled and you could stick your hand through the space created.  

Even a mighty building of strong stone buckled under the shaking of the earth.

In our Gospel today, Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem is like an earthquake.  In fact the Greek Word used in Matthew is seio and we get our English word seismic from that same Greek root.  

And isn’t that how Jesus comes to us in our own lives?  Jesus shakes everything up.  Jesus moves even the strongest of us off the comfortable foundations we’ve built for our lives.  Jesus turns everything upside down.  Because that’s what unconditional love does.  It is so strong.  It breaks down and breaks in everywhere we think we know what’s going on.  It asks us to love stronger and deeper. 

And here we all are in this region of Southeast Kentucky.  We are called by Jesus to love deeper.  We are called to be the body of Christ here in this place.  We are called to be Christ’s hands and feet and heart and arms.  We are called to be the earthquake…the shaking and the stirring in our community.

It’s a tall order.  We all know how Jesus continually taught about justice, freeing people from oppression, caring for the “least of these.”  We are continually challenged by Jesus’ command to the young man, rich young man or ruler, depending upon which Gospel you read, to go sell all of his possessions and give the money to the poor.  Make no mistake, Jesus loved the outcasts and downtrodden of his time…those without voice and without power.  We are called to do the same.

I was looking at some of the statistics for our region.  In our region, there is hunger, poverty, unemployment and lack of housing.  

  • 60% of school age children are eligible for free lunch, which is 25% higher than Kentucky as a whole and 15% higher than the United States as a whole.
  • 27% of the population lives in poverty, which is 40% higher than the Kentucky statistic and 70% higher than the United States as a whole.
  • 54% of renters in our region cannot afford the fair market rent for a 2 bedroom rental unit.

These are just some of the basic essentials for life.  If you don’t have food, you don’t do well in school or you become ill.  Poverty creates extreme stress according to recent studies.  A lack of housing leads to a host of other problems like increases in child abuse and domestic violence.  

Jesus enters and the region shakes.  Stones are thrown down to the ground like little pebbles!

And we have made efforts in addressing the challenges in our region.  We have a backpack program preparing backpacks of food every week so children will have something to eat over the weekend.  We have sites for feeding programs during the summer when the children are out of school.  Many of our churches have food pantries.  Canned food will be collected this week at each of the noonday services, as well as the Good Friday service.  Many of our churches prepare meals for all who are hungry.

We have shelters for people who are homeless and organizations that build affordable housing.  The Southeast Kentucky Ministerial Alliance, through your offerings at our joint services, including those this week, provides emergency assistance to people needing help with basic needs, as well as other agencies and ministries in town.  The Shaping Our Appalachian Region or SOAR efforts are finding creative ways to energize our region economically.  Creative and innovative people see the strength in the beauty of the region and the beauty of life here and are working to make it sustainable.  

And Jesus continues to shake us…continues the quake…continues the earthquake of love that demands we love our neighbor as ourselves.  Jesus asks us to examine our efforts…to strengthen them.  Failure to do so through complacency and neglect invites God to break our resistance just like those huge stones that toppled in an instant during the earthquake.  

Jesus has entered Jerusalem and the city will never be the same.  Jesus has entered our Southeast Kentucky region, moving us, shaking us, and catapulting us into action.

Amen

 

 

Facing the Inevitable (Sermon) April 13, 2014

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Sermon – April 13, 2014
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY
The Sunday of the Passion:  Palm Sunday

My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want. Matthew 26:39

Please be seated.

One of the most challenging things in my life occurred when my father was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease.  The disease is a neurological disorder that attacks the brain.  Over 10-20 years, the person continues to lose body functions.  It is especially noticeable in the beginning with lack of balance in walking and jerkiness of movement in the arms and legs.  There is no cure.  So, once my father was diagnosed at the age of 68, I knew I would watch the slow decline towards death.

Eight years after his diagnosis, I wrote this poem:

Huntington’s
By Rebecca Myers
4/11/08

It’s in the little things
Now you have called me
Because you cannot remember
Your ATM PIN number

I knew some of what was coming with my father, because his mother had died of the disease also.  I was my father’s daughter and had told him when I was just a child that I would take care of him.  When my father was diagnosed, I prepared myself for the task of caring for him.  Now, I was extremely fortunate, because my father, who was a lawyer and judge, took great care in planning for he and for my mother’s care.  They decided they’d go into a nursing home and chose the place they’d go.  They had the resources to pay for this care and to provide some extra care in addition.  For the most part, my role was making sure everything got paid. 

While a recurrence of kidney cancer ultimately caused his death ten years after his diagnosis in January of 2011, the quality of his life was dramatically altered by the Huntington’s at that time.  I could not have a conversation with him.  Any questions I asked had to require only a yes/no or one-word response.  In some ways, we were blessed by not having to watch the toll of the Huntington’s disease. 

Yet, as I remember all of this, I am acutely aware that somewhere lurking deeply was the prayer that a cure would be found to help my father.  I had to settle for the newer medications that controlled the involuntary movements, so I was spared seeing my father become like his mother, my grandmother, who literally shook to death.

And my involvement with this disease is not over.  My father’s sister had the disease and died last year and my younger brother is dying from the disease now, in a nursing home in Northwest Pennsylvania.  While my youngest brother and I will not get the disease – we’ve been tested – and none of my children or descendants will get the disease, there are a number of people in my family who have not been tested.

How I would have given anything to have this inevitable outcome for my father removed. 

Not only in our Gospel today, but in the passages immediately preceding, Jesus makes it clear he knows what’s coming.  The outcome is inevitable.  In Luke, it says, he set his face to go to Jerusalem…. (Luke 9:51)  There is no turning back…no changing what is to come. 

While I have my particular stories, haven’t there been times in your life when you know something hard, difficult and challenging is coming?  I think Jesus provides us with ways to face the inevitable difficult times.  What does Jesus do?

  1.  Pray.  Time and again, we read how Jesus withdrew to a place to pray.  Here he is, facing betrayal by the ones he loved, and he goes to this beautiful olive grove and prays.  And he pours his heart out to God…maybe even pleading or arguing with God – isn’t there another way?  He tells God exactly how he’s feeling.  We can get hung up on the right way to pray, but Jesus has given us the Lord’s Prayer and also this prayer in the garden – just tell God what is in your heart, no matter what.
  2. Surround yourself with people who love you.  Now, this community Jesus was with certainly had its flaws and especially during this time in his life.  Judas betrayed him, Peter denied him, one of them cut off the ear of the High Priest’s slave.  The three who came with Jesus to the garden couldn’t keep awake! No, they weren’t perfect.  And it was Jesus’ followers who stood at the foot of the cross.  It was Jesus’ followers who took down his body and prepared it for the grave.  It was His followers who came that morning to find him in the tomb.  It was his followers who told the story over and over, even when they faced terrible deaths, so that we today know the story.  Though our friends and family may not be perfect and sometimes feel like they do more damage than good, overall, we need this human community and these relationships, especially during the tough times.
  3. Trust your soul to God.  Jesus ends his plea with, “not what I want, but what you want.” He trusted his soul and his very life to God.  What Jesus went through was awful.  He probably could have fought against the people who tortured him.  Maybe he could have pleaded with Pilate or made a great argument to sway Pilate.  But he did not do that.  He relied upon God.  He kept his calm, even refusing to speak.  “But Jesus was silent,” the Word says.  Jesus knew who he was and whose he was.  Jesus relied on God.  He knew no human could fully understand what was happening.  There were no words that could be heard by humans.  He knew that no human beings could take away his dignity, nor separate him from the love of God.

One thing we know about this life…the hard, difficult times will come.  And sometimes we surely see them coming and can do nothing to stop them.  You may see other things in how Jesus lived during these last days that will help you during those times.  Prayer, community and trusting in God may not stop the inevitable; and prayer, community and trusting in God, do give us a way through. 

Amen. 

 

 

This Sunday (April 13) at St. John’s

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Make your face to shine upon your servant, *
and in your loving-kindness save me.” Psalm 31:16

This Sunday we begin our pilgrimage through the last week of Jesus’ life.  It is a dramatic time as our Lenten journey approaches its end in a deeply disturbing way.  This Sunday starts with Hosannas and in a few minutes turns to the unjust and brutal killing of Jesus on the cross.

Plan how you will enter into this sacred and holy time.  The schedule of services is below.

If you cannot make these times to be with the Christian community, make a special effort to say the Daily Office or Devotions at home or find an online service.  Here is a link to the Book of Common Prayer online:  http://www.bcponline.org/  Mission St. Clare also has the Daily Office online, complete with hymns: http://www.missionstclare.com/english/

We will say a portion of Psalm 31 this Sunday.  The Psalmist clearly was feeling in trouble and attacked.  There are many verses detailing the woes of the Psalmist:  great grief and feeling useless.  Yet, the Psalmist clings to God, asking for God’s face to shine and trusting that God’s loving-kindness will provide saving grace.

Blessings as you finish your week and may you cling to God in times of woe…

Love, Rebecca

Bulletin 04-13-2014

Services and events During Holy Week:

Palm Sunday
10:00am – Adult Forum – Rebecca will show slides of Jesus’ last week in Jerusalem.  NO GODLY PLAY
11:00am – Service with Liturgy of the Palms and the Passion of Christ
12:30-2:00pm – Vestry Meeting
3:00pm – Grace on the Hill Ministerial Alliance service.  Rebecca will preach.

Monday, April 14
10am – Morning Prayer, St. John’s
11:30am – 12:30pm – Lunch at Sacred Heart (We are providing Dessert and assistance)
12:30pm – 12:50pm – Service at Sacred Heart
6:00pm – Evening Prayer, St. John’s

Tuesday, April 15
10:00am – Morning Prayer, St. John’s
11:30am – 12:30pm – Lunch at Corbin Presbyterian
12:30pm – 12:50pm – Service at Corbin Presbyterian
6:00pm – Evening Prayer, St. John’s

Wednesday, April 16
10:00am – Morning Prayer, St. John’s
11:30am – 12:30pm – Lunch at Central Baptist
12:30-12:50pm – Service at Central Baptist
4:30pm – Daughters of the King
5:00pm – David Cooke, GROW Appalachia
6:00pm – Stations of the Cross, St. John’s

Thursday, April 17
10:00am – Morning Prayer, St. John’s
11:30am – 12:30pm – Lunch at Grace on the Hill
12:30-12:50pm – Service at Grace on the Hill
7:00pm – Maundy Thursday Service with Foot Washing
8:00pm – Friday 6:00am – Prayer Garden and Vigil

Friday, April 18
10:00am – Morning Prayer, St. John’s
11:30am – 12:30pm – Lunch at First Baptist
12:30-12:50pm – Service at First Baptist
7:00pm – Good Friday Service with Veneration of the Cross

Saturday, April 19
1:00pm – Holy Saturday Service
1:00-3:00pm – Decorate the Church
8:00pm – Easter Vigil

Sunday, April 20
10:00am – Godly Play Classes and Easter Brunch
11:00am – Service
Noon – Easter Egg Hunt for the Children

Dessert for Ministerial Alliance Luncheon Monday, April 14.  We have been asked to provide dessert for the lunch at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church on Monday.  They expect to feed 130 people.  You can drop off your dessert on Sunday at St. John’s or Monday after 9am at Sacred Heart.  If you are able to help set up and serve, please be at Sacred Heart at 10:30am (after Morning Prayer at St. John’s)

Rebecca’s Schedule: Next week, Rebecca will be in Corbin all week.  You can reach to Rebecca by calling 859 -429-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Adult Forum: There will be no adult forum next week.  We will resume on April 27, with a 7-week Easter series on Resurrection Living.

David Cooke of Grow Appalachia will come Wednesday, April 16, 5pm

Daughters of the King meets the third Wednesday of each month at 4:30pm.  The next meeting is April 16.

Flowers for the altar:  This Sunday is the last day for donations for Easter Flowers.  Envelopes are available.  Mark whether this is in memoriam or in honor of someone.

Easter Pot Luck Brunch, 10am.  Arrive at 10am and bring a brunch dish to share.

Easter Egg Hunt  There will be an Easter Egg Hunt for the children after the service on Easter.

St. George’s Day, Saturday, April 26, Cathedral Domain.  Mary Swinford will be confirmed at the 3pm service.  Spend the weekend  or come for the day.  Reservations for overnight must be received by April 18.  Meals are included in the overnight stay or can be purchased separately if you are coming for the day.  You are also welcome to bring your own food and have a picnic on the grounds.  http://www.cathedraldomain.org/stgeorge2014.html

Belk Charity Sales Day:  The Belk Charity Sales Day will be Saturday, May 3rd from 6:00am to 10:00am.  Ticket may be purchased for $5 tickets from our ECW, which allow you entrance to the sale and $5 off your purchase.  We are trying to sell 100 tickets, which provides $500 for the church and tremendous savings for you!

We’re buying goats!  The Lazarus at the Gates Adult Forum study has prompted us to purchase goats through Episcopal Relief and Development for families in the Philippines.  Goats provide milk, cheese, and manure for farming.  Donations towards the $80 purchase of each goat can be made through the goat bank in the parish hall or in the offering plate clearly marked ERD goat project.

Palm Sunday Service:  Plan to attend a community-wide Palm Sunday Service, Sunday afternoon, April 13, Grace on the Hill.  The service is sponsored by the Southeast Kentucky Ministerial Alliance and Rebecca will be preaching

Easter Preparations: Assist with preparing the church for Easter on Saturday, April 19, 1:00-3:00pm.

Maundy Thursday/Good Friday Vigil:  Sign up to pray in the church overnight from Maundy Thursday, April 17, 8pm until Good Friday morning, 6am.  Please see Bruce Cory if you would like to participate.

Bring your bells to ring at the Easter Vigil service on Saturday evening.  Also, plan to stay after the service for a reception of chocolate and champagne.

 

 

 

 

Desserts and assistance needed for lunch Monday, April 14, 10:30am – 1:00pm #stjohnscorbin

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Friends,

Sacred Heart would like our assistance with the Holy Week lunch and service on Monday.  They expect 130 people to eat lunch.  They’ve asked us to provide the desserts.  Also, if some of us can go help set up and serve, we should be there at 10:30am.  Lunch begins at 11:30am and goes until 12:30pm.  A short service follows the lunch.  Please let me know if you can make a dessert and/or if you can help serve.  You can bring your desserts to church on Sunday or drop them off at Sacred Heart Church after 9am on Monday.

Thanks
Rebecca

Come out of the tomb (Sermon) April 6, 2014

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Sermon – April 6, 2014
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY
Fifth Sunday in Lent

…he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”  The dead man came out….  John 11:43-44

Please be seated.

I have spoken before about living in Washington, DC.  While there, I spent a lot of time at the Washington National Cathedral.  I mean, on Sundays, I sang at the 8:45 service; often helped at the 11:15 service; went to lunch nearby; and came back for the 4pm Evensong service.  Something was happening to me spiritually when I moved to Washington and I found comfort in the Cathedral’s space.

There is a quiet space in the crypt level, called the Center for Prayer and Pilgrimage.  Often, after the service, I went there to pray.  It is lit with candle light and there is only one small stained glass window to let in the light from outside.  It is known as the quietest space in the Cathedral and was a place of deep prayer for me.

Just outside of the Center is Resurrection Chapel.  The walls are filled with mosaics representing scenes from the resurrection of Jesus.  The small gold and red pieces dominate and seemingly illumine the space.  This chapel is reserved for quiet prayer and was often a place to go to after being in the Center. 

One Sunday afternoon, I was sitting in Resurrection chapel.  I don’t remember the circumstances of my life just then.  It may have been after my mother died or a relationship didn’t work out.  I sat in that Resurrection Chapel and heard, “I will resurrect your life.”  I left excited and also curious and puzzled.  I wasn’t exactly sure what it all meant.  One thing I knew was that my life was on a path of change.

We hear quite a bit about resurrection today, don’t we?  The lesson from Ezekiel is a familiar one.  The Israelites were in bondage in Babylon.  Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed.  At the time, some believed they would be cut off from God because their temple was gone and they were in a foreign land.  But Ezekiel’s visions of the Glory of God confirm that God is with the people in exile.  And today’s passage is the message that though the Babylonian exile is harsh to the point of them feeling like dried out bones, God will restore them.  God will give them new life.  God will resurrect them.  The dry bones will live again. 

Then there’s the well-known story of Lazarus, Jesus’ good friend.  Jesus is about 24 miles away from Lazarus, Mary and Martha.  He is across the Jordan River, near where he had been baptized.  This is a desert, dry place in modern-day Jordan.  Jesus receives word that Lazarus has died.  Eventually Jesus goes to Bethany where this dramatic resurrection unfolds.  Although dead for three days, Jesus calls Lazarus to wake from death…to come out of that tomb.  And Lazarus does just that!  Mary and Martha are overjoyed and many believe Jesus is the Messiah.  At the same time, the scene is set for Jesus to be crucified.  This astonishing miracle offends the authorities.  Jesus is dangerous. 

Earlier in the week, I was speaking with a 10 year old boy about this very story.  I told him it was the Gospel for the week and asked him what I should preach about.  We agreed that to see Lazarus rise from the dead would have been both amazing and scary.  And we never hear Lazarus’ side of the story, do we?  What was it like for Lazarus to climb out of that tomb and back into life?  What was the rest of his life like? 

The author Colm Toibin explored this somewhat in his fascinating short book, The Testament of Mary, which became a Broadway play last year.  While the book is not a Biblical retelling of the story, it does explore what might have been Lazarus’ experience in being resurrected.  In Toibin’s story, people flocked around Lazarus out of curiosity and at the same time, they were afraid of Lazarus…afraid of what he’d seen and what he knew.  No one could relate to what Lazarus had been through.  Toibin presents Lazarus as dazed by his experience.  AND ultimately, Lazarus would die once again. 

The joy of resurrection, the knitting of the dry bones together once again, comes with some tough challenges. 

And is that not true of our lives?  “I will resurrect your life,” we hear when we are in that dry wilderness place…bone weary, closed in the tomb with no light. Maybe a place of comfort in some sense…a place of protection…a wall between us and the world.  Yet, the stone is rolled away, Jesus cries with a loud voice, and pulls us out into the world. 

The important point to note is that we are not the same.  We cannot resume our lives as they were before.  Everything has changed.  The experience in the exile of the tomb changes us and changes us in ways we cannot always explain to others.  We are old, yet new born.  The bones may be the same, but they are knit together and clothed in new ways.  Hope and astonishment are moderated with the reality of living life in a new way. 

Once again Paul reminds us of the fruits of coming out of the tomb when he writes to the Romans, “To set the mind on flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”  He adds, “But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you.”  Life, peace, and the Spirit of God dwelling within us allow us to come out of the tomb, face the challenges and to live again.

Amen

 

 

 

 

Lawn and Garden Shower

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Lawn and Garden Shower

This will serve as a reminder of the Lawn and Garden Shower for Ann and Jeff Davis’ daughter and son-in-law on Sunday, April 6 following the morning service.  The hostesses will be serving lunch at the shower and will be at the church from noon to 2:00 pm on Saturday to receive gifts if you would like to drop them off before Sunday.  We look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday.

This Sunday (April 6) at St. John’s

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Jesus began to weep. John 11:35

This Sunday our gospel lesson is about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to talk to a 9-year old boy about the Bible.  He tested me to see if I knew the shortest verse in the Bible.  It is this verse as written in the King James Version of the Bible, just two words, “Jesus wept.”

Jesus’ actions are a little confusing, because he intentionally waited before going to Bethany, saying his waiting would bring glory to God.  In addition, we assume he knew he was going to ask for Lazarus to be raised from the dead, so why would he weep?  Yet,  in this simple action of weeping, we know Jesus shares our very human nature…that God incarnate knows our grief when a loved one dies.

When our loved ones are very ill, we cling to the hope that they will be cured.  We cling to this story of God’s miracles.  This hope is important, and yet, many times death still comes.  Yet, we can cling to the assurance that God is present with us, weeping with us,  and understands our deep grief and loss.

Blessings as you finish your week!

Love, Rebecca+

Next week, I will be in Lexington through Thursday  and my Sabbath day will be Friday.  You can get a message to me by calling 859 -429-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Adult Forum:  This Sunday and Wednesday at 4pm, we conclude our series on Living Compass Adult Faith and Wellness.  “All Shall be Well” is the topic.

Next Sunday, Rebecca will share photos from the Holy Land, especially the route Jesus took to enter Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the Garden of Gethsemane, and Calvary and the tomb.

Godly Play:  There will be Godly Play classes this Sunday.  If you are interested in assisting with these classes on an occasional basis, please let Anne Day Davis or Dura Anne Price know.  You will observe the classes for 4 sessions and once you have received this training, you may be called upon to assist as you are available.  Let the children deepen your faith!

Please stay after church this Sunday for lunch and a Garden Shower for Sarah and Sam Pollom, who were married in March.  All are welcome to join in the celebration. 

Holy Week at St. John’s

Monday, April 14, 6pm – Evening Prayer
Tuesday, April 15, 6pm – Evening Prayer
Wednesday, April 16, 6pm – Stations of the Cross
Thursday, April 17, 7pm – Maundy Thursday Service and Washing of Feet
Vigil from 8:00pm – 6:00am
Friday, April 18, 7pm – Good Friday Service, Veneration of the Cross
Saturday, April 19, 8pm – Easter Vigil

Maundy Thursday/Good Friday Vigil:  Sign up to pray in the church overnight from Maundy Thursday, April 17, 8pm until Good Friday morning, 6am.  Please see Bruce Cory if you’d like to participate.

Support the Diocesan Ministries online on April 9, as part of Kentucky Gives Day.  Reading Camp, Cathedral Domain and St. Agnes’ House are participating in the Commonwealth-wide online giving day, Kentucky Gives.  Go to http://kygives.razoo.com/story/Episcopal-Diocese-Of-Lexington and give to one or to all three ministries.  Let your friends and family know about this great giving day!

First Baptist London presents their annual Passion Play, April 13 (10am), 14, 15, 17 (7pm).  Call 606-864-4194 for free tickets.  Billy Hibbitts and Amber Pearce are singing in this production.

 Plan to attend a community-wide Palm Sunday Service, Sunday afternoon, April 13, Grace on the Hill.  The service is sponsored by the Southeast Kentucky Ministerial Alliance and Rebecca will preach.

Donations are being accepted for Easter Flowers.  Envelopes are available.  Mark whether this is in memoriam or in honor of someone.

Assist with preparing the church for Easter on Saturday, April 19, noon –  2:00pm. 

 Each day during Holy Week, the Southeast Kentucky Ministerial Alliance invites you to attend lunch and worship at neighboring churches.  Canned Food will also be collected for area food pantries.  Lunch is served 11:30-12:30, with a short service from 12:30-12:55.  Offering collected is used for the Alliance to meet the needs of people in our region who need assistance.  The following is the schedule of services:

Monday, April 14 – Sacred Heart
Tuesday, April 15 – Corbin Presbyterian
Wednesday, April 16 – Central Baptist
Thursday, April 17 – Grace on the Hill
Friday, April 18 – First Baptist

Belk Charity Sales Day, Saturday, May 3, 6:00-10:00am.  Purchase $5 tickets from our ECW, which allow you entrance to the sale and $5 off your purchase.   We are trying to sell 100 tickets, which provides $500 for the church and tremendous savings for you!

We’re buying goats!  The Lazarus at the Gates Adult Forum study has prompted us to purchase goats through Episcopal Relief and Development for families in the Philippines.  Goats provide milk, cheese, and manure for farming.  Donations towards the $80 purchase of each goat can be made through the goat bank in the parish hall or in the offering plate clearly marked ERD goat project.  To date, we’ve raised $121.  Another $59 is needed to purchase a second goat!