Conference News & Views

Greetings in the Name Above All Names, Jesus the Christ!

Our monthly Spiritual Friends Network will meet Monday, Sept. 15, 11:30 am @ Glendale UMC, 900 Glendale Lane 297-6233 (I-65 South Harding Place Exit West, Cross Franklin Road and Turn Right @ Soper Avenue) Reverend Janet Sayler will present a program on Spiritual Direction as it relates to Vocational Discernment. Don't forget to bring handouts to share on our networking table. Invite a friend and join us for table fellowship and networking.

Box lunches from Subway are available for $6.00. Please e-mail spiritualfriends@comcast.net by 8am on Monday for a lunch reservation...You are welcome to bring your own lunch. Drinks will be provided.

We are a network of persons sharing together how the Holy Spirit is moving in traditional and nontraditional, although often ancient, ways in our lives and life-work throughout Christian traditions.

We affirm our commitment to the practice of prayer for one another.
We recognize that we are each on a unique spiritual journey.
We recognize we are all wounded healers whose experiences of a safe space are also unique and varied.
We will be intentional about offering our full presence to the time together offering courtesy, love and grace.
We will listen and share with openness and authenticity about the Holy Spirit's movement in our lives/life-work.
We will honor silence.
We will treat one another with integrity, gentle accountability and trust.
We will respect one another by listening and sharing without pronouncing judgment about understandings different from our own.
We will avoid interruptions, speaking for others, or trying to fix another person's problem.
We will hold in confidence personal information shared within the context of group meetings.

Hope to see you Monday as the Spirit leads! If you've ever thought about joining this group...September is a good time for something new! Blessings all! Sandra Griggs, Pastor Glendale UMC

For the past twenty years, the people of the Antioch United Methodist Church have been waking up before dawn on the first Saturday in October. While their neighbors sleep, members of this Antioch area church to put the finishing touches on the event that has become a yearly highlight on Tusculum Rd.

The Antioch UMC Fall Fair, held this year on Saturday, October 4, is part fundraiser, part community outreach, and part fellowship opportunity for folks in the Antioch area. The event features a yard sale, a farmers market (featuring local produce and homemade jams and jellies, and locally produced honey), a bake sale, a crafts store, a live and silent auction, a barbecue luncheon, and special things for kids, including a dress-up area, inflatables, pony rides, and carnival games. The Fall Fair is open from 8 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., and there is no cost for admission.

“This started as a simple fundraiser twenty years ago,” said Mary Jane Hurt, Fall Fair Coordinator for the church, “but it has evolved over time into a real community event and a way that our church can give back to the community.”

The congregation gives to the community in more ways than hosting the event. For the past five years, this church has given well over half of its proceeds to work outside the immediate church. The Fall Fair allows the church to provide financial assistance for such organizations as The Campus for Human Development, Community Care Fellowship, Feed America First, Second Harvest Food Banks, and the Bethlehem Center’s Camp Dogwood project.

“This is a big deal for us,” said Jay Voorhees, pastor of the Antioch United Methodist Church. “Our Fall Fair gives us an opportunity to show love to our neighbors in real and tangible ways. Given our location it is very easy to become insulated from the world around us. Our Fall Fair is a means by which we invite our community neighbors to come sit awhile and talk.”

More information on the Fall Fair can be obtained by visiting www.fallfair.antiochumc.net or calling (615) 832-6248

The Antioch United Methodist Church is located at 41 Tusculum Rd., just off of Blue Hole Rd.