In March 1968, Martin Luther King met with civil rights leaders from across the country to encourage new work to end poverty and create equity for black, brown, and white people living at the bottom of the economic ladder in the United States. He was in the midst of a campaign to support the garbage workers in Nashville. On AprilRead More →
Session had a very special meeting on Tuesday, May 8. Members of the Confirmation class shared their thoughtful, moving statements of faith with elders, deacons, parents and sponsors. They will become Western’s newest members on Pentecost, May 20. Other highlights from the meeting: Western is in the final steps of negotiating its working agreement with Miriam’s Kitchen. The Session willRead More →
Western Church is co-sponsoring James Forman talking about his book Locking Up Our Own next Thursday, May 17, and I could not be prouder. When Sherry Trafford first told me that she might be able to talk him into coming back to D.C., particularly if Forman knew about our connection with the Free Minds Write Night, the idea seemed great. Read More →
Dear Friends, As we enter into the final months of Tom Beveridge’s service as Director of Music here at Western, we have quite a legacy of choral music to celebrate! You will hear more shortly about our celebration on June 17 – I hope you’ll mark your calendar – but in the meantime I want to let you know aboutRead More →
You might have heard about a caravan of folks who are traveling from Central America, through Mexico, seeking asylum in the United States. (And if you haven’t heard about the caravan, check out this great explainer!) Many of those on the caravan are specifically fleeing violence in Honduras. While this caravan has been operating informally since 2010, this year it hasRead More →
Two days ago the Chicago Tribune reported on the early resignation of Bill Hybels, founding pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in the Chicago suburbs. I’ve never been a Willow Creeker, but I appreciate the church’s commitment to reaching people in faith. It turns out Hybels may also have been reaching for women in ways that sound an awful lot like sexual misconduct. ThisRead More →
Western friends, By now you have heard about the scholarship fund in honor of Gaston Paige, for the purpose of educational expenses for Yani and Isaiah Watson. With the understanding that the fund is established independently of Western Church, the following letter from Wayne and Kate Lynn shares the details of how you may participate as together we honor aRead More →
I listened once again to my second favorite Easter story, David Sedaris’s account of trying to learn French as an adult, when an international class tried to explain Easter to a Muslim classmate from Morocco. Alternately the celebration involving the chocolate bell on palm fronds and “the party for the little boy of God who call hisself Jesus and then heRead More →
Kathryn Urban, Sunday School Coordinator, writes: Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to attend the 62nd Annual UN Commission on the Status of Women as part of the PCUSA delegation. Spending the week in New York City with ten amazing women from presbyteries all over the US, I got to hear their personal stories of faith as well asRead More →
