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Come to the 2019 Westminster Lectureship Series on October 12, 2019. This year we welcome Dr. Gary Dorrien, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary and Professor of Religion at Columbia University. Dr. Dorrien is also the author of 19 books on ethics, social theory, philosophy, and politics.

Dr. Niebuhr will speak in the morning at 11 o’clock on “The New Abolition: W.E.B. DuBois and the Black Social Gospel. After lunch, he’ll discuss “Breaking White Supremacy: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Black Social Gospel.

Everyone is welcome; there are no tickets required. Lunch will be available for purchase between the lectures. Park behind the church, off 17th Street.  Westminster’s address is 400 Rugby Road, Charlottesville, VA 22911.

https://www.westminsterva.org/professor-of-religion-columbia-university/

Mission Endowment Proposals Due Oct. 8

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Westminster Presbyterian Church invites proposals to be supported from its Mission Endowment Fund for Fall 2019.  Proposals are due to be received by the Church office by noon on Tuesday, October 8, 2019. Funding for 2019 is anticipated to be $12,000, to support one or more startup activities or new innovative projects that fulfill our mission to build a more just and peaceful world.  Selected proposals may be eligible for several years of funding as long as suitable progress toward the goals is evident, funds are available, and given recommendations and approvals.

The committee seeks proposals that are transformative for the people served, and invite engagement from members of our worshipping community as well.  We hope our support will be more than monetary, and that projects such as these can become yeast for a mission-driven congregation.

Westminster Presbyterian is a congregation formed in 1938 to minster to the University of Virginia community.  We think of ourselves as a socially progressive Christian community, currently comprised of about 600 members.  We are active locally and internationally in many causes through congregational financial support and volunteerism, but feel a call to serve even more through expanded engagement of our members.

Proposals should describe the project objectives, should include a budget, identify assessment methods and a commitment to report by the next fall.  Proposals should not exceed three pages in length, and should be addressed to

Mission Endowment Committee
Westminster Presbyterian Church
400 Rugby Road
Charlottesville, VA  22903

Funding decisions are anticipated by December 2019 for the Mission Endowment Fund.

Disbursements are subject to Session approval.

Organ Recital by Catalina Vicens

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The Westminster Organ Concert Series begins its 40th season of concerts on Friday, August 30, at 7:30 pm, with a recital by Catalina Vicens, a specialist in performance on historic keyboard instruments.  The program, entitled “A Musical Pilgrimage from the Middle Ages to the Baroque,” includes some of the earliest known written keyboard music, as well as works by Conrad Paumann, William Byrd, and Juan Cabanilles.  Ms. Vicens, originally from Chile, has performed throughout Europe, the USA, and South America, is a guest professor of harpsichord at Oberlin Conservatory and a Ph.D. candidate at Leiden University.

The Westminster Organ Concert Series was begun in 1980 to share the newly installed all-mechanical baroque-style pipe organ with the community.  The organ, built by Taylor & Boody Organbuilders of Staunton, Virginia, has 18 stops and over 1100 pipes.  For more information, call 434-963-4690 or visit www.westminsterorganconcertseries.org

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Autumn at Westminster means many things: the university begins its school year (and we have a new associate pastor for that ministry!), our regular worship schedule returns with Sunday services at 8:30 and 11 a.m., the church school year begins with classes for adults, youth and children at 9:30 a.m. on Sundays, and the full choir gets back to its joyful work of bringing beautiful music to worship. On September 8 at 9:30, we’ll enjoy breakfast, information about many of our ministries; games for kids who will meet their teachers; plus photos and reflections from youth pilgrimage to the Tetons. Join us!

https://www.westminsterva.org/program-year-begins/

Exciting News!

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On July 28, we welcomed Rev. Dorothy Piatt to Westminster as Associate Pastor for University and Social Justice Mission.
Most recently, Dorothy completed a two-year Resident Ministry program at First Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor, Mich. As part of a team at First, she helped re-launch and re-energize that church’s Campus Ministries.
Prior to her residency, Dorothy interned at Second Presbyterian Church in Nashville, while earning her M.Div. from Vanderbilt Divinity School. There she worked with church leadership to deepen the congregation’s commitment to justice and full inclusion for LGBTQIA+ individuals and families, as well as working on intentional anti-racism and intersectional justice through liturgical and educational series, trainings, and purposeful conversations.
In her letter to us, Dorothy wrote of the resonance of our congregation’s needs with the pastoral ministry to which she feels most drawn: “working at the nexus of church, academy, and community to build relationships and welcoming young adults into communal life while helping foster social awareness among them to promote justice.”
Blessings,
Ron Wiley and the members of the Associate Pastor Nominating Committee

“So faith, hope, and love abide, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.”
−1 Corinthians 13:13

Our Mission

Sustained by grace, we are called to serve Christ, share God’s love, and work for justice in a complex world.

Our Values

With faith, hope, and love as bedrock Christian values, we also cherish the following:
  • Thinking and Learning
  • Inclusiveness
  • Fellowship
  • Stewardship
  • Courage

 

Westminster follows the Presbyterian Book of Confession and is a confessional church. You can view/read the Book of Confession at the PC(USA) website by clicking on the following link: http://www.pcusa.org/book-confessions.

Contact

Westminster Presbyterian Church
400 Rugby Road
Charlottesville, Virginia 22903-2474
(434) 293-3133 | Email

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