A Word From David
Gratitude and Invitation
There are several bits and pieces to share with you this week, including three expressions of gratitude, one invitation, and three hymns.
The gratitude:
It’s always good to begin with gratitude, so let’s start with a thank you to Elena, Western’s talented and dedicated communications staff person, as she takes her leave from WPC. Elena is heading to Spain in mid-July and will remain abroad through the fall semester. Through her time at Western she has kept the community current through the weekly emails, Sunday bulletins, annual reports, and lots of behind-the-scenes support for session and staff. We’ll miss her cheerful and enthusiastic presence in the office and at staff meetings, and hold her in the light as she begins her next chapter. Her final staff meeting will be July 7, and she’ll be leaving DC at the end of that week.
Sticking with gratitude: thanks to each one of you who has signed up for one-on-ones this summer. As Erin’s note elsewhere in the e-blast reminds: there’s still time to sign up. These conversations are a crucial part of discerning what’s next at Western, so please make time to participate if possible.
Perhaps it’s a stretch, but I’ve got a theme going and I’m sticking with it, so here’s a bit of thanks in advance! For the next couple of months, with lots of support from Nancy and Irene, I will be the main point of contact and editor for the weekly email and the worship bulletins for the Sundays when we worship at Western. The thanks is to Nancy and Irene, but also to everyone who wants news and announcements included in Western’s messaging and who, therefore, commits to getting all of that content to me NO LATER THAN 5:00 P.M. WEDNESDAYS! We’re not going to be circulating drafts for revisions for the next little while, so if you want something announced please get it to me by that deadline. Thanks!
The invitation:
We are departing from the Revised Common Lectionary this summer, and using, instead, a series of stories about God’s callings and human responses. The readings are the suggestions of the combined Pilgrims and Western summer worship planning group, and we will use the texts in both churches through early September. Most of the readings are longer than typical selections from the RCL, and they work better with multiple voices. So please sign up to lead liturgy (even if you see a name or two already signed up). This Sunday we are reading a lot of the Noah story, and we still need voices. Send me a note if you can participate. I’ll send you the text.
Finally, a couple of folks expressed thanks on Sunday for the inclusion in last week’s email of links to hymns for Sunday. I’m aiming to keep to this practice through the summer, and here are links for this Sunday: