1. Coming to terms with our History Essentially, this w ill give Hunter, as a w hole, an opportunity

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1 News from Hunter October 2017 Allow me to reintroduce myself: I have been the guy who fairly regularly attends worship and Sunday School with his three kids. I had been one of the preachers from within the congregation who filled the pulpit when we needed someone. Now, my role has changed. Now I am your interim pastor. For the next year or so I will be leading worship, offering pastoral care, and fulfilling the other tasks Hunter needs the pastor to do. However, the main focus during this time will be for me to work with you on some tasks that have proven important for congregations transitioning from one pastor to another. These tasks are: 1. Coming to terms with our History Essentially, this w ill give Hunter, as a w hole, an opportunity to ask who are we? 2. Discovering a New Identity W ho are w e to become, as w e move into the future? W hat ministry will we continue? What have we talked about but not yet done? What opportunities for ministry have we yet to discover? 3. Making room for changes in Leadership After w orking on the previous tw o tasks, w e will seek the right leaders from within the congregation; we will determine who has the vision, the passion, and the drive to guide us in mission and ministry. 4. Reconnecting with the denomination In the midst of a transitional time, it w ill be important to realize the support we have from sister churches, and the presbytery as a whole. 5. Commitment to New Directions in Ministry Once w e have gone through these interim processes, we will be ready to seek a new pastor, and commit to our rediscovered sense of self and purpose. As you can see, there is a lot of work to be done. I will be asking for your help in accomplishing these tasks, and seeking your prayer support. My experience of Hunter is that you are a healthy congregation, and are capable of accomplishing whatever you dream. Furthermore, I have faith that God s Spirit will guide us along the way. I am ready for the journey! J. T. Silence The Peace and Global Witness Offering will be made on World Communion Sunday, October 1. In a time of war we tend to think of PEACE at the international level and often feel helpless about making a difference. The Peace and Global Witness Offering provides ways for Presbyterians to promote peace a the local, national, and international level and to combine our resources. Hunter retains 25 percent of the Offering for peacemaking efforts. Twenty-five percent is directed to the presbytery and synod peacemaking work. The remaining 50 percent supports the Presbyterian Mission Program in working with refugees in countries around the world and in the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations. The portion of the Peace and Global Witness Offering retained by Hunter for 2017 will be contributed to support the work of the Kentucky Ministry, and agency that welcomes refugees who come to Kentucky through a program of the U.S. Department of the State. A check indicating the Peace and Global Witness offering would be welcome October 8 as well as on October 1.

2 More About J. T. In another Hunter Horn article I reintroduced myself, but that was more of a Pastor s note highlighting what to expect during the interim process. I have also been asked to provide a biographical sketch so here it is: I was born in the small town of Paxton, IL where I lived until I graduated from High School. My family and I were members of a Federated Church, which housed a PC(USA) congregation, and a United Church of Christ Congregation. I was unaware of this until I was almost in confirmation class. Confirmands were asked to choose which denomination they wanted to join following the process. My mom was a UCC member and my dad and sister were both Presbyterians. I decided I would join the UCC denomination to bring balance to the family. Mom told me she thought I should be Presbyterian, and I said O.K. Therefore, I am either predestined to be Presbyterian, or it is some sort of random fluke. I became a perennial visitor to Camp Carew, the camp of my home Presbytery, and became a staff member as soon as I became eligible. In between my summers at camp, I would attend Eastern Illinois University. One school year I taught High School Sunday School at a neighboring church, and another year I directed the youth program for another church. I eventually graduated with a B.A. in Political Science, which I chose as a major for the wrong reasons. Through my camp experiences, I perceived a call to ministry, and attended Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. My first Kentucky church experience was as Student Minister at 1 st Pres. in Elizabethown. I served there for 2 years and learned quite a bit. I finished Seminary in absentia, after moving to Charlottesville, VA. There I helped one of the local Presbyterian congregations with their youth program. I was being courted by a PNC from another church, which developed into my first call as an installed Pastor was in Waynesboro, Va. It was a short lived pastorate, but opened the door for me to do some pulpit supply, more youth ministry, and direct Paddy Run, Shenandoah Presbytery s camp. While living in Virginia, I had the amazing experience of an Immersion (not really mission) trip to China with a group of Virginia Baptists. In 2001 I accepted a call as Pastor of Indiana Presbyterian Church in Vincennes, IN. I served there for 3 and a half years, and was fortunate to be involved in a transformative peer study group. It served to reshape my ministry in many ways. A part of that was another Immersive trip to Nicaragua. The group wanted to truly experience what it is like to be a stranger. After moving to Lexington in late 2004, I became involved in Beaumont Presbyterian Church. I started as a part time youth director, and applied to become Associate Pastor when they developed the position. I served Beaumont for seven years. What followed was a 1 year stint as Interim Director of Burnamwood. I then found myself as a pastor without a call from a church. I worked for Speedway for 3 years, then Liquor Barn for 2 years. I would like to think that during my time in retail management, I also provided ministry to my employees, and in some ways, my customers. I am very pleased to have found Hunter when I did. You have been the perfect church for my children and me for most of the past 2 years, and have been extremely hospitable to us as a family. Now, transitioning into the role of your transitional minister, I continue to feel your welcome. I hope to learn more of your life stories over the next year or so, and look forward to this interim time! 50 Year Member Celebration Potluck Sunday, October 8th This year we will be honoring our two newest 50 year members Frankie Daniel and Phyllis Hanna. Please join us at the celebration potluck on October 8th following the 11:00a.m. worship service.

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4 Unity Garden Update Football parking is off to a great start and has fully filled the grass around the Unity Garden two times now. The accessible bed garden that is not Charlie's portion currently has lots of tomatoes growing which are being given away to the needy now that they are starting to ripen. Apparently the squirrels that planted the accessible beds ended up doing so with several varieties of tomatoes. If anyone has extra lawn bag coupons that they would like to utilize to get free lawn bags for the garden there is a bin by the kitchen for the donated bags. Thanks for any help with this! Christian Stewardship: everything we do after we say: I believe. So, here we are. It s fall and now we arrive at the time of the year when we typically conduct our annual stewardship campaign. For most of us, when we hear the word stewardship, we think about money and financial giving, but stewardship is about much more than our gifts of money. The core of stewardship is gratitude gratitude that overflows into giving as a way of saying thank you to God for all that God has given us. Writing in a recent issue of The Presbyterian Outlook, Deborah Rexrode says it this way: Stewardship should be a part of everything we do throughout all the seasons of the year and all the seasons and years of our ministries. Stewardship is not a six or eight week program that helps us put together a working budget for the coming year. It is a spiritual discipline and a way of living that helps us manage what God has entrusted to each one of us and to teach us the true joy of giving as a response to God s generosity. We are called to be good stewards of all that we have: stewards of time, stewards of gifts, stewards of resources, stewards of relationships, stewards of ministry, stewards of the knowledge of God, stewards of the people in our community of faith and stewards of the mysteries and love of God. This year s Stewardship Sunday will be on Sunday November 5. During the 11:00 worship service that morning we will present and dedicate our financial stewardship commitments to God and Hunter s mission and ministry in our community and beyond. Thanks in advance for your enthusiastic participation in Stewardship Sunday and your rededication to your God and God s work. Your Stewardship Committee Harry Lockhart, Chair Dick Covert, David Hulse, Howard Moffett And the Lord will answer them, Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. Matthew 25:40

5 Gatherings Lunch Bunch, October 17, 11:30a.m. (All are welcome!) Stitch n Listen, October 19, 10:00a.m., UC (stuffs and sews pillows for Hospice. Lunch is provided. All welcome!) Charlie Allen Charlie (and everyone else) is currently learning how to take the Wheels Bus to and from church. There was a recent Sunday that for some reason the bus was not scheduled and Charlie expressed to me to let everyone know that he is sorry for the commotion that he caused that day. He is truly learning how to trust that the bus really will come and the more frequently this occurs and a more rhythmic way this occurs the easier this will be on everyone. Right now we are still working out what the rhythm will become and Ann appreciates all the patience that can be had for this transition time period. Currently Charlie might get to church early due to how the Wheels bus runs and he is being told to stay in the Fellowship Hall until others start coming in and then he can go up to the sanctuary for the early 8:45 am service. After the 11 am service is done then Charlie will wait outside with or without a chair since the bus might not get to the church until 1 pm due to the way the Wheels bus works. Ann plans to take Phyllis home after church then come back and see how Charlie is doing due to the way the Wheels bus runs. We are all learning that the Wheels bus is a service but that it is not always customer friendly. Meaning the Wheels bus needs a half hour time window to pick Charlie up, but that Charlie only has a 5 minute window to actually get on the bus once it comes. If the Wheels bus comes to the church early please feel free to tell the driver that Charlie is on his way. Ann hopes to get the rhythm going better by the end of October. Thanks for any patience and help with this!!!

6 109 Rosemont Garden Lexington KY (859) Hunter is an Earth Care Congregation Please Recycle A digital copy of this newsletter is available on Contact the office if you would like to change your subscription to online-only. l.davis@hunterlex.org thanks! Lynn 1 Paula Hudson 5 SongHwa Chae 9 Kriis Zeps 13 Marianne Griffith 15 Carol Hulse 26 Debby Eddy 28 Genevieve Patterson October Birthdays Upcoming Committee Meetings 10/11 Stewardship 5:30p.m. 10/12 Outreach 6:30p.m. 10/15 Session 1:30p.m.