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.
A Word from Laura: Unprecedented Peace
Even as I’ve been inspired by the resilience of so many as we enter Advent, I find myself repeating, “This pandemic time is mean!” In so many ways and on so many levels, all God’s children are struggling right now!
Whether you are on the front lines of caring or concerned about those who are, whether you are grieving or loving someone else through their grief, whether your community is bearing an undue burden or you’re working to stand in solidarity with such a community, whether you are facing financial uncertainty or investing in someone at risk – or somewhere in the midst of it all – we are all living with unprecedented stress. (Hope you can stop in the midst of this simply to breathe deeply a few times!)
Western Joins The Returning Citizens Assistance Network (RCAN)
The Returning Citizens Assistance Network (RCAN) is organized by New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in partnership with the DC Public Defender Service (PDS) as a network of 15 DC congregations of various denominations and faiths responding to requests for assistance for individuals returning from incarceration.