A Word from Laura: A Response to Wednesday's Violence
Western Friends,
We have lived through another dark day in our nation’s capital. My friends have used all kinds of words to describe it: “violence… insurrection… white supremacist… terrorism… hate… sedition…” (those are the words I can print in a church email).
We have felt all kinds of things over the last day: anger, grief, trauma, tears, shock, and relief. I’ve noticed a level of sentiment not felt since September 11, 2001.
WPC Anti-Racism Group: Jan 7
On Jan 7 at 7pm, the Western Presbyterian anti-racism group will hold its monthly meeting with special guest speaker Christy Lopez, a professor at Georgetown Law, co-leader of the school’s Innovative Policing Program, and Washington Post contributing columnist. Her bio is here: https://www.law.georgetown.edu/faculty/christy-e-lopez.
A Word from Laura: Strange New Things
I’ve associated many things with Christmas in the past, but rarely have I focused on the chaos. These are chaotic times: an unprecedented (for us, at least) pandemic, racial reckoning, political division, economic hardship and uncertainty.
The Christmas story invites us into chaos, though. Caesar invoked chaos by trying to tax everyone in Judea. Shepherds witnessed the chaos of angels singing across the hills. Surely Mary’s heart and womb – all of her being – were filled with chaos.
A Word from Laura: Hard Won Joy
This Sunday we (thanks to the Boon Carbonell family!) light the Joy Advent candle. In this year when grief and loss blanket our church and world, in this week after Asbury UMC and Metropolitan AME Churches have been targets of racial violence, joy seems a hard-won commodity.
And yet this week has brought joy…
Some in the face of harm that must not be forgotten, as in Rev. William Lamar’s piece in response to the violence his church faced, calling for a new divine narrative of humans thriving together, sharing the abundance of land and labor
The Way Home - Ending Chronic Homelessness in DC
Nobody should live or die without housing. Yet, tragically, far too many of our neighbors died without the dignity of a home this year, including 22 who died from COVID-19. We ask you to join us and support our partner organization, The People for Fairness Coalition, in their 8th annual homeless memorial vigil, to be held this Sunday and Monday.
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.