Dear Westwood Community, Advent is a season of endings and beginnings. Christ’s birth brings new ways of living and loving into our world of uncertainties and injustice. In many ways, pregnant Mary was surrounded by endings—large and small, personal and political. But Mary proclaimed hope in...
Dear Westwood Community, For whatever reason, Christmas has snuck up on me this year. This is surprising, given that we have been playing Christmas music at home since November 1st! Gabrielle and Isaiah LOVE popular Christmas music and while can't say that I love it, I...
Dear Westwood Community, Tonight is our annual Church Conference, at which our District Superintendent Rev. Siosaia Tu'itahi will preside, as we give account of our ministries and leadership this past year. It's for sure a church meeting, with required forms and particular requirements about what we...
Dear Westwood Community, I really enjoyed being a part of this past Sunday at church--getting to worship together as a whole congregation was a joy. The music was fabulous, and it's always a gift to have our young people singing in worship. Sharing in baptism and receiving...
Dear Westwood Community, By the time you are reading this, I will (God willing) be out of top surgery, and the aforementioned “something” in the subject line of this email will indeed be off my chest. As I am writing this, I am feeling many things,...
Dear Westwood Family, This past Sunday, I spoke about pausing, resting, and creating spaces for collective healing. We have all been through a lot, and while we cannot predict the future, we know that several of Trump's policies will harm all of us, especially the most...
Dear Westwood Community, It's Election Day as I write this, and I've been having a hard time focusing on the task in front of me. I'm aware of the BIG DECISIONS being made today through our democratic process. I know that they will have significant consequences,...
Dear Westwood Community, When, as infants, we went to sleep the very first time without the sound of our mother’s heartbeat reverberating in our ears, we began to say goodbye. These goodbyes are “little deaths” that we will experience for the rest of our lives as...
Dear Westwood Community, I'm still a little teary this morning, remembering what a sweet gift it was to be with my parents, as a part of the sold-out crowd at the Hollywood Bowl last Sunday night for the Joni Jam. It was Joni Mitchell's return to the...
Dear Westwood Community, My friend Pat Luna taught me this clever trick: when you're with a group and aren't sure whether you've quite reached the status of "insider" yet, one of the easiest ways to solidify your belonging is to invite someone else in. As far as...
Dear Westwood Community, In The Loft, we are currently in the middle of a sermon series titled Better Together. This series explores the impact of loneliness on individuals and communities and the harm it can cause to our spiritual lives. The gospel shows us that social...
Dear Westwood Community, Last week, I saw a new coming-of-age movie that affected me deeply*. There is a sequence where two main characters talk about saying goodbye and growing up. One of them observes what a blessing it is to know that an ending is an...
Dear Westwood Family, Last Sunday morning the Westwood Kids played a game of “Reverse Musical Chairs.” The point of the game wasn’t the typical one: to be the last one sitting on the final chair, with everyone else on the outside, watching. This time, when the...
Dear Westwood Family, A few months back, folks from one of our neighboring United Methodist Churches contacted me, to ask about a gift from our congregation to theirs in 1940: that year, our congregation donated a wood-framed building to what was then the Japanese Community Church at...
Dear Westwood Family, I love being a parent—most of the time. Isaiah is a great kid, and Gabrielle and I having a child is one of the reasons why I believe in miracles. However, being a parent or a child is increasingly challenging. Collectively, the three...
Dear Westwood Community, As I was getting ready for a staff meeting today, I pulled up notes from a retreat that our staff leaders participated in a year ago--where we shared ideas about how we would describe the kind of church we are and are seeking...
Dear Westwood Family, Walking from the church parking structure to our front doors today, I was struck by how beautiful the sunlight seemed as it lit the blossoms of the crape myrtle trees. I stepped back, to enjoy the view of our church spire through the...
Dear Westwood Family, This morning, my read through the LA Times online affirmed something I've been thinking about lately: what a gift intergenerational friendships are. (You can read the Times' take here.) I continue to believe that the relationships we are able to make across diversities are...
Dear Westwood Family, I hope this email finds you all doing well, and a special shout-out to the parents who are (quietly) celebrating the return of the school year! Given the number of graduate degrees I have, it may come as a surprise that I didn't...
Over the summer, I am inviting clergy members connected to our Westwood UMC congregation to serve as guest writers of our Pastoral Notes. This week, we are pleased to share words from Rev. Dr. John Holbert. I am grateful that he is a part of...