Dear Westwood Church family, I had an incredible experience last week, with young people from our church participating in the Sierra Service Project on the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona. I'm inspired by our Grapplers, who showed commitment and compassion during the experience. On our way home, we stopped...
Dear Westwood Church family, While Pastor Molly is away with our youth, she invited me to write the pastoral note this week. Earlier I had made the list below at the behest of my adult children who have me writing each week for Storyworth. I’ve been...
Dear Westwood Church family, This week, our regional church gathers for our Annual Conference; our theme this year, "Nourish," responds to the vision we've named together: "Ending Spiritual and Physical Hunger." I'm always glad to connect with old friends at Conference, including leaders from churches who helped...
Dear Westwood Church family, This Sunday, in the Church calendar, we begin "Ordinary Time." I've always found the name of this season, which stretches all the way from Trinity Sunday to past Thanksgiving at the first Sunday of Advent, amusing. It amuses me because of the...
Dear Westwood Church family, "Do all in your power to increase their faith, confirm their hope, and perfect them in love." These words are spoken to the gathered community as a part of the baptism liturgy in our United Methodist Church. Last Sunday, they were spoken in...
Dear Westwood Church family, Today's a big day in the Methodist Church calendar: Aldersgate Day. It was on May 24, 1738 that John Wesley, an Anglican Priest in England, attended a gathering of Moravians in Aldersgate, London, England. As they were reading from Martin Luther's preface...
Dear Westwood Church family, Singing and music have long been a foundation part of our worship; next to the Bible, our hymn books have shaped our theology and our community at least since early Methodists printed some of the first English-language hymn books that were designed...
Dear Westwood Church family, One of the reasons I need church most every week is that it helps me stay grounded in hope, and open to possibilities. I know that churches haven't always cultivated open-hearted hope; we have sometimes let fear, grief, and anxiety distort the message...
Dear Westwood Church family, This past Sunday, our Westwood Kids participated in a Toy Swap; they did so after hearing about how early Christians shared all that they had, as described in the book of Acts. I was moved to hear about what happened on Sunday...
Dear Westwood Church family, I was on a call this afternoon with board members of the Foundation that operates my extended family's organic farm in central Nebraska. I found the conversations -- about planting red oak trees, new calves being born, and the need for rain...