Support for St. Mary’s Court
This past Tuesday, we at Western had a new opportunity to see God at work at 24th and G Streets, NW. The two-alarm fire across the street at St. Mary’s Court was heartbreaking, chaotic, and tragic for those who were displaced…
A Word from Laura: Communion of the Ancestors
This Sunday we’ll recognize All Saints’ Day at Western. In a strict sense, it comes every November 1, but we’ve begun observing it the first Sunday of November.
No one knows the precise history of All Saints’ in Western (think larger tradition) Christianity. I’ve wondered if an ancient culture observed a remembrance of those who had died, and as with Christmas, Christians appropriated the date as a Christian holy day.
What do we appreciate?
I’ve gone back to the picture a few times this week, just to make sure that I’m getting it right: Woven through all of the responses at some level, a deep sense of spiritual community was a constant theme of appreciation.
Session Invite to a November 6 Conversation
On October 11, 2022, the Session voted to endorse a letter to the President advocating that he issue an executive order creating a federal commission to study the nature and effects of slavery and to develop reparation proposals in response to the injustices done to African Americans. This letter, recommended to the Session for endorsement by Western's Antiracism Interest Group, was written by the Interfaith Sacred Conversation on Race and Diversity and signed by other people of faith. (Full text will be shared soon.)
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A Word from Laura: Seeking God's Will Together
This past Tuesday night, in response to a request from a church member, and endorsed by the antiracism group, the Session discussed a letter urging the President to create a commission to study reparations for slavery.
Before the Session talked about the issue, I invited them to share what they hoped God would be up to in our meeting. One person mentioned “good trouble”; another, that we would be the courageous community we aspire to be. For the record, in our theology “Good Trouble” may be another name for the personage of God we call the Holy Spirit, and “courage” is another word for what Jesus meant when he told the disciples, “Take heart.”
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