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...