Session Notes
Your Session sat for its regular monthly meeting this week (by Zoom, of course).
2020 has been, shall we say, a challenging year, but we feel like we’re getting a handle on things.
As is customary for the last meeting of the year, we approved the church budget for 2021. This budget is not substantially different from our previous budgets but for one thing. It is the first budget we’ve produced that reflects our intention to align the activities of the church with appropriate funding sources.
A Word from Laura: Unprecedented Peace
Even as I’ve been inspired by the resilience of so many as we enter Advent, I find myself repeating, “This pandemic time is mean!” In so many ways and on so many levels, all God’s children are struggling right now!
Whether you are on the front lines of caring or concerned about those who are, whether you are grieving or loving someone else through their grief, whether your community is bearing an undue burden or you’re working to stand in solidarity with such a community, whether you are facing financial uncertainty or investing in someone at risk – or somewhere in the midst of it all – we are all living with unprecedented stress. (Hope you can stop in the midst of this simply to breathe deeply a few times!)
Western Joins The Returning Citizens Assistance Network (RCAN)
The Returning Citizens Assistance Network (RCAN) is organized by New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in partnership with the DC Public Defender Service (PDS) as a network of 15 DC congregations of various denominations and faiths responding to requests for assistance for individuals returning from incarceration.
A Word from Laura: Thanksgiving
Friends,
As I get ready for this Thanksgiving, I am working on my own attitude of gratitude. Without wanting to gloat, I give thanks for so much that I continue to take for granted – fresh food, health care, a warm bed at night.
Even more than those things, I give thanks for people – particularly for you, Western Church:
• The ways you as a community are showing up on Zoom and for the ways you continue to support Miriam’s Kitchen, this time of year and always;
• All who are making your annual pledge to Western Church, committing to the ways we continue to live into God’s love and justice;
More Than A Meal
Western Presbyterian members and friends have a special opportunity to make a direct contribution to Miriam’s Kitchen between now and Thanksgiving.
If you donate on the Western Mission Team page for the More Than a Meal Campaign between now and Thanksgiving, your donation will be matched 100%!
A Word from Laura: Celebrating Miriam's Kitchen
Western Friends,
Each year on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we at Western celebrate our longstanding partnership with Miriam’s Kitchen. As we get ready for worship this Sunday, I share with you what I shared with folks on Miriam’s staff last week.
I have always been proud – almost sinfully so - to pastor a church whose building houses Miriam’s Kitchen. This year my pride and gratitude have grown to a new level.
Here at Western Church, we believe the work of Miriam’s Kitchen is the most faithful use of our space we can imagine. MK does holy work at 24th and G Streets throughout the week: feeding hungry people, helping neighbors find housing and services, and creating a welcoming community where lives are changed.