WTZQ AND SUNDAY MORNING HYMN TIME PRESENT
THE CHURCH BULLETIN BOARD
Local and out of town announcements for special services and gospel concerts are listed – along with local church and club announcements for regular weekly or monthly events.
If you have something you would like listed on WTZQ’s Church Bulletin Board send it via email to wtzqchurchbulletins@gmail.com
Special Notice: If your church has special services or singings coming up that you would like to promote on the Sunday Morning Hymn Time Page of WTZQ.COM and to have announced on the Sunday Morning Hymn Time Radio Program –please send an e-mail to: wtzqchurchbulletins@gmail.com
Balfour United Methodist – BBQ Dinner
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Friends of Music and the Arts Presents Amber Joy Koeppen – Award Winning Harpist
Amber Joy Koeppen brings her angelic harp playing to St. John in the Wilderness Sunday, September 21 at 4:00 p.m. for a free concert in the spacious Parish Hall at 1905 Greenville Highway across from the church in Flat Rock. Handicapped accessibility and free parking are available. Donations will be gratefully accepted for the Friends of Music and the Arts Series.
From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible has numerous references to harp music which has been said to have healing properties. One of the oldest musical instruments in the world, the harp originated in Mesopotamia more than 2,000 years ago.
Classically trained, Amber Joy Koeppen mastered the modern harp more than 20 years ago, winning First Place in the Rosen-Schaffer Competition for Young and Emerging Artists. She has continued to receive many awards for her solo concert performances while also performing with the New York City Ballet, the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra and the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. Teaching children and Adults in her private music studio enables Amber Joy to share her passion for artistic excellence and creativity with her students who are also award-winning active musicians. In addition to her promotion of arts education, she currently serves as Director for Appalachian State’s Community Music School providing musical education in the North Carolina High Country in partnership with Hayes School of Music.
For more information visit www.stjohnflatrock.org
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Helene Remembrance Eucharist to be Held at Lake Logan with Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe
The Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina will host a Helene Remembrance Eucharist on Saturday, September 27, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at Lake Logan Conference Center, 25 Wormy Chestnut Lane, Canton, NC, 28716. The service will be led by the Rt. Rev. José A. McLoughlin, Bishop of Western North Carolina, alongside the Most Rev. Sean Rowe, Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church.
The Eucharist will honor the lives and communities affected by Hurricane Helene, offering prayers for healing and renewal. The public is invited to attend, with registration available at www.diocesewnc.org/helene.
For more information contact The Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina at 828-225-6656 or visit www.diocesewnc.org.
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Blessing of the Animals
The Episcopal Church of St. John in the Wilderness will offer a “Blessing of the Animals” on Sunday, October 5, at 4:00 pm in the new Wilderness Chapel located behind the Parish Hall at 1905 Greenville Highway in Flat Rock.
Furry and feathered companions are invited to this special annual service to receive a blessing. Cats, dogs, snakes, chickens, horses, birds, goats, in fact all domestic animals, are welcome! As an option, a stuffed animal or pet photo may be presented to receive a blessing. Our outdoor meeting space will create a lively Eucharist for all creatures involved.
“The Blessing of the Animals is a joyful reminder that all of God’s creatures are part of one sacred family. When we gather to bless the animals who share in our lives in Christ, we honor not only their companionship but also our calling to care for creation,” said the Reverend Joshua P. Stephens, Rector of St. John in the Wilderness. “We hope you’ll join us for this time to connect with God’s creation, give thanks for its beauty, and recognize the divine love that flows through all living things.”
The service comes one day after the annual Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, a man with a true spirit of love and peace that could have only come from God. He turned the cerebral, inward-leaning theology and scholasticism of the Middle Ages, on its head by his radical commitment to living a life of poverty and service in the pattern of Jesus of Nazareth.
Those who encountered St. Francis were drawn into the peaceable Kingdom of God to know more fully the Prince of Peace. Even animals, it is said, were attracted to his Christ-like gentleness. In one story he preaches to a flock of birds. In another he makes peace with a wolf that had been terrorizing a village calling the creature “Brother Wolf” and reconciling him to the village.
In the event of rain, the service will be relocated inside the Parish Hall. For more information call the church office at 828-693-9783 or visit www.stjohnflatrock.org.
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Covenant Presbyterian Church Hosts Fall Bible Conference
Friday, October 31st – 7:00 pm
Saturday, November 1st – 9:00 am
Sunday, November 2nd – 9:00 am
Featured speaker: Dr. Michael J. Kruger
The 5 Solas: Foundational principles that distinguish the Protestant Reformation from other Christian denominations.
Covenant Presbyterian Church is located at 2101 Kanuga Road, Hendersonville, NC 28739. The cost for the conference is free. A love offering will be taken.
For more information: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/covenant-pca-fall-bible-conference-friday-sunday-oct-31-nov-2-tickets-1316665605269
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October Hiking Retreat in Valle Crucis
Register Now for Holy Hikes Retreat: “Following Jesus Along Native Paths of Wisdom”
The Episcopal Church of St. John in the Wilderness will host an autumn hiking retreat called “Following Jesus Along Native Paths of Wisdom.” They invite hikers, non-hikers and anyone interested in the great outdoors to attend the retreat at Valle Crucis Conference Center near Boone from Sunday evening, October 26 through Wednesday morning, October 29.
The retreat features discussions by the Reverend Dr. Timothy Ross, pastor, professor, missionary and citizen of the Western Cherokee Nation.
The Reverend Joshua P. Stephens, Rector of St. John in the Wilderness said, “If you have ever found yourself aware of a Higher Power when taking in the mountain views or standing near a cascading waterfall, I hope you will consider joining us for a fall retreat at the beautiful Valle Crucis Conference Center. We are delighted to spend time with Tim Ross who will share his perceptions of intersections between Christian spirituality and Native American wisdom, such as how a deep connection to the created order leads us to a fuller existence.”
Optional group hikes for various ability levels will be offered by Holy Hikes-WNC on Monday and Tuesday. Participants may also enjoy downtime at the retreat center, a drive through the country filled with autumn colors or a visit to nearby Blowing Rock.
The program is open to all faiths and backgrounds. Accommodations, meals, and talks will be offered at the Valle Crucis Conference Center. There is also an option to commute to campus from other accommodations. To sign up visit https://vcconferences.org/programs#HH
For more information call the church office at 828-693-9783 or visit www.stjohnflatrock.org.
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One of the oldest churches in the mountains, St. John in the Wilderness in Flat Rock, has opened a new trail system called The Trails of St. John located at 1895 Greenville Highway, approximately two miles south of downtown Hendersonville. The Trails of St. John is open to the public from dawn to dusk each day with information posted at kiosks on the property.
The expansive wooded setting in the heart of Flat Rock recently revealed long hidden historical and archaeological secrets. The new trails meander along the west side of Greenville Highway intersecting the nearly disappeared “Old Jerusalem Path” which connected the parsonage with the church in the 1800s.
These discoveries and the proximity to nearby Carl Sandburg National Historic Site suggested a ripe opportunity for a new trail system featuring the “New Jerusalem Path” at the Trails of St. John, now available to church and community members for recreation and contemplation. Reverend Joshua Stephens, church Rector, prays that “our community will find inspiration as well as rest and renewal here on this holy ground.”
Long before the railroad opened up Western North Carolina, Charlestonians endured a week-long carriage ride on rough dirt roads to escape the heat and disease of low country summers. They made Flat Rock their “Little Charleston of the Mountains” each May through September. In 1827, Charles and Susan Baring built their summer home and a chapel which became St. John in the Wilderness, the first Episcopal church in WNC, now on the National Register of Historic Sites. The church witnessed the tribulations of slavery and Civil War as well as the joys and sorrows of the last two centuries while growing and serving Flat Rock and the larger community.
For more information, visit the website: www.stjohnflatrock.org/trails.
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Learn about Flat Rock History: Tours Continue for St. John in the Wilderness
Exploring local history is available this summer on select Saturday mornings with tours of the Episcopal Church of St. John in the Wilderness in Flat Rock.
The guided tours of the church are led by church docents. The historically significant churchyard contains graves of distinguished political figures and local citizens as well as those of unnamed 19th-century enslaved people.
Tours start inside the Carriage Door entrance of the Church promptly at 11 a.m. and last about an hour. They are available on the first and third Saturdays of the month through September. October through December, tours will be held on the third Saturday only. There will be no rain dates and participants are encouraged to wear comfortable shoes.
“One of the joys of attending a beautiful holy place like St. John in the Wilderness is sharing it with our visitors. Our history is intertwined not just with the history of Flat Rock, but with that of coastal South Carolina, the home of our founders and earliest congregants,” said lead docent Polly Morrice.
The tours are free, but reservations must be made online through the church’s website, www.stjohnflatrock.org/tours. Space is limited for each tour.
“As docents, we strive to communicate the sweep of what happened and how it shaped us, the good and the sometimes painful,” Morrice reflected. “We do like to remind visitors that St. John is not a museum, but a vibrant, welcoming church. We’re still moving forward and welcome all who would like to make more history with us.”
The church is located at 1895 Greenville Highway. For more information call the church office at 828-693-9783 or visit www.stjohnflatrock.org.
St. John in the Wilderness History
In 1827, Charles Baring, a member of the Baring banking family of England, built a home in Flat Rock. He and his wife, Susan, wanted a summer place to escape the oppressive heat, humidity, and malaria of the South Carolina Low Country where they lived.
The Barings built a chapel on the property of their newly constructed home. Soon after it was built, the small wooden structure burned down in a woods fire. In 1833, work began on a second church built of handmade brick.
In August 1836, the Barings deeded their chapel to the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, and 20 members of the Flat Rock “summer colony” of Low Country planters and merchants formed an Episcopal parish. In the 1890’s, St. John in the Wilderness became part of the Diocese of Western North Carolina; it is the oldest parish in that diocese.
With almost all its congregation traveling home to the Low Country after the summer season, the church operated mainly during that season for its first 120 years. So rapid was the growth of the Flat Rock summer community during the 1830’s and 1840’s, however, that the parish membership outgrew the small chapel. In the early 1850’s, the decision was made to rebuild the church, doubling its size. The English chapel-style structure that stands today is, with only a few minor modifications, the church that was completed in 1852.
The tours are free but advance reservations must be made online through the church’s website, www.stjohnflatrock.org/tours. Space is limited for each tour.
The historically significant churchyard contains graves of distinguished political figures and local citizens as well as those of unnamed 19th-century enslaved persons. “As docents, we strive to communicate the sweep of what happened and how it shaped us, the good and the sometimes painful,” Morrice reflected. “We do like to remind visitors that St. John is not a museum, but a vibrant, welcoming church. We’re still moving forward, and welcome all who would like to make more history with us.”
The church is located at 1895 Greenville Highway. For more information call the church office at 828-693-9783 or visit www.stjohnflatrock.org.
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