Dear Friends, In Christ’s birth, God becomes present among us. The divine and the humble are all wrapped up together. A child is laid in a manger, and heaven and earth erupt into song–singing of hope, and peace on earth. This year, may we have courage...
Dear Friends, I pray this note finds you all doing well during this holiday season. Throughout Advent the Loft community has been wrestling with the question, how does a weary world rejoice. And so, even as I write words of hope and wellness, I recognize that...
Dear Westwood Family, There are three, interconnecting prayers on my mind, today: First, a prayer of gratitude for art that has been deepening my prayer practice this season. The collage posted here, made by Liberty Worth of our congregation, is one of several pieces that hangs in...
Dear Westwood Family, A friend of mine moved to Italy this year. Last week, she noted that although the Thanksgiving holiday was an ocean away, Black Friday found her in Rome. Here, in these days of Advent, we find ourselves pulled by the festive traditions and...
Dear Westwood Family, I hope this note finds you all doing well as we move ever closer to the holiday season. Although I missed worship last week, I have heard that both worship and the Thanksgiving lunch went really well. For those of you who didn't...
Dear Westwood Community, The world needs more justice and love, more love and justice! Over the last few weeks, I’ve written about some of what Jesus means by “abundant life,” and how Westwood UMC is called to share it with the world. First, by being a vibrant,...
Dear Westwood Community, The world needs more compassion! That’s part of what God’s “abundant life” looks like – not hostility, indifference, or patronizing pity, but genuine compassion, the kind of mutual care evoked by Jesus’ call to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Compassion means seeing things from someone...
Dear Westwood Community, As our holy scriptures tell the story, from its very beginning, our earth has been home to life abundant--to creation that lives and thrives in community. Flocks and herds and schools and packs, and groups of human beings, too. Our Westwood United Methodist...
Dear Westwood Community, My heart breaks for so much going on in the world; I have been spending extra time in prayer these days, lifting to God my prayers for peace in Palestine and Israel, prayers for our national government amid chaotic leadership in Congress, prayers...
Dear Westwood Community, Hello! Everest here. As you may or may not know, I am not, in fact, a cradle methodist. I was raised in the Episcopal church, took communion every week, you know the drill. As of last week, I’ve been at Westwood for two...
Greetings Westwood Family, By now, I am sure that most of you have met Everest Harvey, our new Director of Youth and Social Justice. Everest has been hard at work, meeting with many of you and getting the pulse of what social justice issues our community...
Dear Westwood Church Family, Today, October 4, is St. Francis Day - celebrated in many parts of the Christian church for the ways Francis of Assisi shaped our understanding of our relationship to our world and all its inhabitants. Born into wealth in late 12th Century...
Dear Westwood Church Family, I've been pondering this image over the past week, of a seedling and its roots. On the surface, a tiny tree is visible. Beneath the surface, a delicate and extensive web of networked roots connects that visible plant to its home. These...
Dear Westwood Church Family, When we became a Reconciling United Methodist Church, we adopted the following statement: In an address aimed toward the whole United Methodist Church, the President of our Council of Bishops, Tom Bickerton, challenged us to “be the architects of a renewed, revived and...
Dear Westwood Church Family, When we became a Reconciling United Methodist Church, we adopted the following statement: "We, the faith community of Westwood Church, affirm that a God-filled perspective understands and embraces diversity and radical inclusivity; for that reason we embrace and affirm the full inclusion of...
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...