The heat is on here in the DMV! Is the area’s first true heat wave since 2016 turning up the temperature on the stress in our lives? Or are we joining other parts of the world living with more dire effects of heat? Is the heat related to climate change (surely?) or forest fires or drought? Does it somehow affect the political unrest in Sri Lanka or need to dial back energy usage in German or effects of drought in Sudan? I’m not sure about the direct effects, but I imagine the heat doesn’t help.

In the heat of the summer, this letter is an invitation to prayer. We liberal Christians have a healthy reticence to throw prayer around – to pray too publicly or loudly or glibly. I’ve also noticed my reticence can keep me from praying at all. And when we don’t pray, we lose access to God’s best way of communicating with us. We need to hear from God, especially when things are hot.

Dear Friends,

“Realignment” remains a buzzword these days, in employment as much as politics. While I’m not sure exactly what it means for Western, our session and personnel ministry team understand that we need a process to respond to church shifts over the last two and a half years. As these groups have met, we have committed to a process that emphasizes equity and transparency. We also want a staffing structure that is financially sustainable.

A little more about contextual factors shaping our process

• Shifts in modes of participation. Organizations in downtown DC have all seen a decrease in people showing up in-person – offices, the arts, restaurants and retail. Western has experienced similar changes, affecting our sense of community and how we connect to each other, and our staff needed to respond

• Change happens fast, and plans often change. All of what we do as a culture requires both increased technical knowledge and the ability to be flexible. A positive test result or supply chain issue or laptop failure can mean quick changes and exponentially more work. How do we make sure our staff are filling realistic positions?

• Deeper understanding of equity and justice within our organization. The Personnel Ministry Team has worked with Dr. Marcia Riggs, ethics professor at Columbia Seminary, to learn about the antiracist work of building organizational trust and developing practices leading to organizational justice.

Western’s worship ministry team met last night. On the agenda was a letter from a group concerned about low in-person participation, with a request to return to familiar patterns of Sunday morning church.

The worship team made a proposal for the session this Tuesday, including worship times, publicity, and opportunities for dialogue. Everyone on the team loved Western church, the community we share, the Spirit that comes alive in our worship. I suspect each of us on the team longs for something about the way church used to be.

We all long for what was familiar. At the same time, as I pay attention both to larger church trends and to many of your comments, no matter what we do, Sunday mornings of the future will look different from Sunday mornings of the past. Fewer people in our larger community join in-person groups – whether for church or work or shopping or meet-ups. As Westerners, some of us have moved out of the area, some of us no longer drive, three of us have found churches closer to home, while four of us have returned to in-person church after being gone for years. Newcomers continue to find us when in Foggy Bottom or surrounding neighborhoods. Conversations around our intercultural and antiracist vision have led to new approaches for our Personnel and Finance Ministry Teams; I anticipate that these kinds of shifts will continue.