Session Notes: July 2022
Your Session sat, by Zoom, for its regular monthly meeting this week.
As Pastor Laura said in her note last week, “no matter what we do, Sunday mornings of the future will look different from Sunday mornings of the past.” This meeting was devoted to what we need to do to create, in Laura’s words, a new familiar Sunday experience.
In-person attendance is essential to our health as a vital community of faith, so we’re planning a Sunday morning “Come and See WPC” experience this fall. We will focus on several constituencies that might be drawn to Western – neighbors, GWU students, former members – and tailor a worship experience for them over several weeks.
A Word from Laura: Familiar
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.
A Word from Irene: FREE, BUT …
This weekend we celebrate our freedom as Americans, but ...
When the Athenians developed the idea of a democratic form of government – every person is free to have a voice and a vote – they immediately added its Achilles heel, “but not women, children, or slaves.” In other words, the people were free to rule themselves, but not everyone was free to participate equally. American democracy today still deviates from that original ideal.
A Word from Irene: The State of Christian Faith
I was a young adult when conservatives plotted a course for taking over the Southern Baptist Convention. The church I belonged to needed a new pastor. Concerned that the church not be led into the political fray, I said to a friend in state government, “We need to make sure the right people are on this pastoral search committee.”
Aghast, my friend replied, “You mean the church is as political as state government?”
Session Notes: June 2022
Your Session sat, by Zoom, for its regular monthly meeting this week. The agenda was full and one common theme was the management of change.
As we begin our third summer living with COVID, we note that about half of our congregation regularly worships in person and the half online. These numbers don’t vary much week to week. If there’s growth potential, it’s probably attracting more live in-church attendance. Throughout the pandemic, we’ve invested time and talent improving the online service. We’re focusing now on making the in-person service more energizing and life-giving.
Capital Pride Alliance 2022 Parade
Western Presbyterian Church has teamed up with other Presbyterian Churches in the DC area to participate in the Capital Alliance Pride Parade this Saturday, June 11th. We would like to invite members and friends of the Western community to join us in marching in the parade and celebrating Pride!