A Word from Laura: February 27

Before anything else, I invite you to put Sunday, February 27 on your calendar to worship together in-person. The Worship Ministry Team has identified this last Sunday before Lent for a service and after-worship event with a Mardi Gras theme. We’ll have a Dixieland Jazz band in worship, leading hymns – you won’t want to miss this Sunday! 

As we discern how to do in-person worship again, some of you have mentioned Anglican priest Tish Harrison Warren’s recent NYT article, “Why Churches Should Drop Online Services.” She makes some good points; I believe hers is a better argument for why we need to gather in-person if possible, rather than do away with our online worship.  

As we move forward, we will continue on-line worship. On-line will be primarily for the “Diaspora” – the members of our community who live in a different time zone, who are unable to make the physical journey to Foggy Bottom, or who have a co-morbidity or other health risk factor. It’s also become a great way to share the good news of Western’s ministry with folks who might never set foot in our building. (Remember our friend Anton’s comment this past Sunday?) We’re working to make our on-line worship a shared community of faith. 

AND we want to reclaim the energy and experience of God’s Spirit in-person, together in our sanctuary: the connection when we make the kind of eye contact during joys and concerns that lets us know we are not alone; the spirit that is shared when we can hear the harmony in a hymn and join in singing; the grace of meeting a newcomer and realizing we would never have known each other, were it not for Western Church. 

I want you to know that I miss you, but more importantly, I want you to remember how we miss each other! I hear some of you talking about the difficulty of getting back in the habit of driving to church, and how easy it is to worship in your pj’s. (One person suggested having a pajama Sunday in the sanctuary…) Our shared experience depends on all of us who are able to join together for the sake of our larger community!  

Between now and February 27, I hope you’ll keep joining our on-line worship. Turn on your camera as you feel led, as a sign of “showing up”. This Sunday we’ll talk about grace, identity, and how recognizing God’s grace in us can ground us in the face of potentially divisive topics. Next Sunday I get to have a conversation with David Little about a “Liberal Christian Credo” and we all get to celebrate Western’s first baptism since the pandemic!  

I look forward to seeing you, whether on-line or in-person, and give thanks for the Spirit at work in our community of faith. 

May you be well, my friends in Christ,
Laura