04 Sep Who We Are and Who We Are Becoming

Posted at 16:33h in Pastoral Notes by

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 to become. May of our ideas came together around two big ideas:

Belonging and Community – WUMC is a community of diverse people who are engaged and invested in our continual formation and growth around shared values of radical love and belonging, and thoughtful, rich worship.

Making a Difference – WUMC is known for living out our commitments to compassion and justice as leaders in LA and as a place of progressive theology in the broader community.

I have been enjoying reflecting on ways that these two ideas still resonate so deeply for me, and how they are visible in our shared life.

I am grateful for our thoughtful, rich worship gatherings, each of which leans in to create gracious community space for engaging the sacred in community. Our worship creates pathways that help us walk through the struggles and joys of life, while claiming the hope and power that come from knowing that God goes with us, and we are not alone. I love the organic community connections that exist in our congregation, and the small groups and classes that become new ways for people to connect.

And I love that our shared life helps give us strength and encouragement as we seek to make a difference for others. Whether through church programs (such PATH Breakfasts, Found Family, and our Good Samaritan Fund) or in our workplaces and volunteer work elsewhere (our church folks serve as physicians and teachers, school volunteers, kind neighbors, leaders of non-profits, and board members of organizations that are doing incredible work, to name just a few of the ways this happens).

I’m curious to know whether these two big ideas resonate with you: Where do you see them lived out in our congregation? Are there other big ideas that you would want to add, when we think about what makes you excited about being a part of our church?

I’m glad to be in this with you.

grace and peace,
Pastor Molly