09 May Finding the Words to Say

Greetings Westwood Community,

This past Sunday, I got the joy of serving communion in the Sanctuary, including to our Westwood Kids as well as the grown-ups. As a bonus, I got to serve alongside Oz, one of our high school seniors. Over and over I repeated the words that I prefer to say as I hand a piece of broken bread to each person who comes forward: “This is the body of Christ, given in love for you.”

These are words I repeat so often I sometimes forget how wild of a claim they make. But I do believe them, in so many ways: that Christ is truly present with us in the sacrament, that the broken bread is a reminder of the sacrifice made in love through Jesus’ own death, that this community contributes love, too, as we share that holy bread. There’s more, too: I don’t know that there are words enough to explain all the ways that this worshipful act has meaning for me!

Still, I’m a preacher, and one of the things I have to offer is my words, so thanks for indulging me these paragraphs.

There are so many meaningful things that happen when we share in worship together–in songs, prayers, conversations, sermons, and sacrament. I treasure the diverse ways that our congregation embodies sacred connection every Sunday–in the Loft, the Sanctuary, our Children’s Ministry, and our Grapple Group.

At our Church Council meeting last week, we continued the conversation we have been holding about how we describe our values, mission and vision; we believe that this process of working on how we talk about what we do will have a helpful impact on our community. We think it will help us own and celebrate what we’re doing, that it will help us treasure and focus on the things that matter ot us most, and that it will help us reach others who might be looking for a community with which to belong and to share in our common work.

Which reminds me: I want to make sure you have had a chance to contribute your voice to this process! Just over a month ago, we shared an invitation to take this short survey about our mission and vision; before we compile the results, we want to try to recruit more folks to response to these questions. It’s not a long survey, and I hope you will take a moment to do so, if you haven’t already.

Click here to fill out the survey online.

Thank you for your help in finding the words to talk about the meaningful things that are happening in our community. I’m grateful!

grace and peace,
Pastor Molly