Dear Westwood Church Family, I've had "Home" from The Wiz stuck in my head all day: "When I think of home, I think of a place where there's love overflowing...
Dear Westwood Church Family, I was recently asked, “Do you believe in a higher power?” Uh. Yes. But then I had to explain it (somewhat). So this is what I wrote: DO YOU BELIEVE IN A HIGHER POWER? Yes. I love the second story of creation in the Book...
Dear Westwood Church Family, This past Saturday, many of our Westwood UMC staff members met up for a day of visioning together. In the busyness of our lives and shared ministry, it's a rare and lovely gift to have time to dream together. It helped me notice...
Dear Westwood Church Family, On vacation in France this month, we stopped in a beautiful hillside village near the Gorges du Verdon, called Moustiers-Sainte-Marie. Above the winding streets of the village, we walked up worn stairs to visit the 12th century church above; since long before...
Dear Westwood family, I am very pleased to welcome Everest Harvey to our church staff, as Director of Youth and Social Justice; Everest officially begins this work tomorrow, and we will have the chance to welcome them on Sunday in worship in The Sanctuary and The...
Dear Westwood family, This coming Sunday August 6th, Pastor Diana and I will be speaking in The Loft about the role and importance of creating a community where all people - including our children - feel like they belong. In my preparation for this Sunday I...
Greetings Westwood Community, I'm getting ready for a family trip to France, which I'm pretty excited about. Vacation planning is one of my favorite hobbies, and I've been working on this one for a while. We have the privilege of traveling as tourists, with the assurance of...
Greetings Westwood Community, Last week, I visited my parents' home in Colorado, and then drove from there to the farm my dad grew up on in central Nebraska. I visited to help host our annual Field Day for the non-proft Grain Place Foundation we started to...
Dear Westwood Church family, Every summer in The Loft - well, every summer since I have been here! - we spend a few months reflecting on one of the four value-pillars that inform the life of our worship community. Those values are Compassion, Conversation, Belonging, and Decolonization, and...
Dear Westwood Church family, While hanging out with my family yesterday, I ended up laying back on a grassy lawn, grateful for the shade from a tree that covered me, and for the breeze blowing by. Plus, the leaves of the tree were lovely as they...