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Home / Notes from Ken

Wherever You Go…

August 31, 2018 by Kate Brinkley

Wherever You Go

August 19, 2018 Sermon

Ken Henry

Filed Under: Notes from Ken, Sermons, Uncategorized

How Do We Test For The Gender of the Heart?

July 26, 2018 by Westminster Presbyterian Church

             “The only dependable test for gender is the truth of a person’s life, the lives we live each day.  Surely the best judge of a person’s gender is not a degrading, questionable, examination. The best judge of a person’s gender is what lies within his or her heart. How do we test for the gender of the heart. . . ?”                                                                  Quote by Jennifer Finney Boylan in Becoming Nicole                                                                         

               This morning, before heading off to Westminster Pres., I finished reading Becoming Nicole by Amy Ellis Nutt. A few months ago, this book was recommended to me as an educational resource to understand the growing interest and issues related to transgender people.  Becoming Nicole provides a clinical, sociological and psychological perspective on what it means to be a transgender man or woman growing up in America. And yet, Nutt’s book is so much more than these words imply.

In essence, this is a book about family. It’s about the people who are touched and transformed by a son or daughter’s personal struggle to come to terms with his/her/their identity.

It’s a book about a father who, in the beginning, resisted and reacted poorly to his son’s realization that he could no longer continue to live in the body from his birth. It’s a story about how, despite his own personal struggles, this same father never stopped loving his child.  Indeed, Nicole’s father now travels across the country speaking out on Nicole’s behalf. He has become his daughter’s strongest advocate and admirer. He is, and always will be, Nicole’s dad.

It’s about a mother who fought for her child’s right to be herself in the public schools.  Over the years, while others thought she was somehow mistaken or used poor parenting judgment, Nicole’s mother was convinced that, from an early age, Nicole was unique and deserving of dignity and respect.  To me, her commitment to her daughter demonstrates, once again, that a mother’s unconditional love is stronger than another person’s lack of understanding.

It’s also a story about Nicole’s twin brother, Jonas. It’s about a brother’s steadfast love and support through good times and bad. “I never had a brother,” Jonas once said to Nicole, “You were always a sister to me.”

This book is as informative as it is simply beautiful. In some chapters, the reader will find him/her/themself immersed in pronouns, medical realities, and transgender politics. But in other chapters, a tear will come to the reader’s eye.

As Nicole once said, “Stories move the walls that need to be moved.” I wholeheartedly agree. If this issue has become a “wall” in your family or you want to know more about families facing this particular situation, put Becoming Nicole on your summer reading list.  My prayer for all of us is that such earthy and personal stories will “move the walls that need to be moved” whether they exist in a cultural context or in our hearts.

Blessings, Ken

FYI, Westminster Presbyterian Church will be hosting a pastoral care conference  for pastors, chaplains, and spiritual caregivers, October 21-23. The conference will focus on how churches and pastors care for transgender persons and their families.

https://innovation.sfts.edu/transgender-care/

Filed Under: Advocacy & Organizing, Community Board, Families & Children, J2A, LGBTQ+, Mission and Outreach, Notes from Ken, Peace, Justice & Inclusion, Prayers For Our Community, YAC

March For Our Lives Coming To Westminster

July 25, 2018 by Westminster Presbyterian Church

Last Friday, I was contacted by Rev. Gay Lee Einstein  (Presbyterian Pastor) to see if Westminster Presbyterian Church would be willing to host the high school students from Parkland, Florida as they tour the country registering young people to vote and sharing their first-hand experiences of gun violence.  Yes, this is the same group of students who spoke at the rally in Washington DC on March 24th of this year. And so, I am happy to announce that the Session of Westminster Presbyterian Church has approved the usage of our Fellowship Hall for this event.

On Friday, August 3rd from 6:00-7:30, The March For Our Lives: Road to Change tour will be having a rally at Westminster Presbyterian Church. This event is open to the public and I’m sure there will be a flurry of media exposure.  What an exciting opportunity for us and Charlottesville.  Please check out the link below for more details.

Let us continue to believe and pray that gun violence is not an unsolvable issue.             Ken

 

https://marchforourlives.com/

 

Filed Under: Advocacy & Organizing, Ending Violence, Facilities, Families & Children, J2A, Mission and Outreach, Notes from Ken, Peace, Justice & Inclusion, Prayers For Our Community, YAC, YAC+, Youth News

My Reflections on Saturday, August 12th

August 17, 2017 by Kate Brinkley

Over my Head: What I witnessed in Charlottesville on August 12th, 2017
by Ken Henry, Pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church

             Let’s begin at the First Baptist Church.  At 6:00 am, the church was full of people anticipating the day ahead.  Cornell West spoke and we sang songs.  I think the plan was that some were marching to the Jefferson School and then onto McGuffey Park, and some “trained” people were marching to the other park with the Lee statue to do an act of civil disobedience.  The Spirit was there in the midst of us.  So, after an hour of singing and listening and being together, most of us piled out onto Main Street and began singing, “Over my head, I hear freedom in the air.  Over my head, I hear freedom in the air. Over my head, I hear freedom in the air. There must be a God somewhere.”   We also sang, “Oh freedom over me, over me.  And before I’ll be a slave, I’ll be buried in my grave and go home to my Lord and be free.”

            In my heart, I was calm.  We marched down Main Street with some 250 people, walking together and singing songs.  At the Jefferson School, it was reassuring to see and embrace friends:  Lynne Clements, Gene Locke, Lesley Hadley, Cheryl and Elton Oliver, some of the clergy.  From there, another 100+ joined us and we walked across Preston Avenue, then up High Street to the McGuffey Park.  Ron Wiley walked with me.  Katie Couric also walked with us.  In this very small park, with a few canopies scattered around, we listened to speeches:  An African American pastor from Connecticut spoke. His voice was rich and deep.  Some student leaders from UVA spoke.  I saw Laura and Steve Brown.  After so many speeches, they invited us to stay longer, but there was something terrible going on a few blocks away.  I left.

Lynne and I walked over to the Methodist Church.  Inside, I think people were basically afraid or lost in their thoughts.  It all seemed a little strange to me.  Several clergy went to the basement to drink coffee, me included.  I talked to a few clergy who had driven 3-4 hours to be there.  Brian Mclaren, author, introduced himself to me. Previously, I had read several of his books, and I thought this meeting would mean something to me, but today was not about meeting Brian McLaren.  One pastor asked me, “Is anything else planned?  What are we supposed to do next?”  I told him I thought there was a lecture over at UVA.  I really didn’t know what was next.  We went into the sanctuary and Phil Woodson, one of the pastors at the UMC, announced that we were in a lock down.  Then in a turn about, he announced all the clergy needed to go outside right now.  Then he announced we’re safe and it was okay to move about.  I got a little lost in the church, not physically.  People sat around.  People talked.  I sat out on the UMC steps for a while, looking past a police barrier toward the protesters and counter-protesters.  I spoke with Ashley Hurst about the right response to all of this, the Christian response, what the churches could do next.  It was strange and surreal.  All the police, emergency vehicles, people running around the church, and an outpost of national guardsmen sitting on a roof a few blocks away.  I went back inside and met the Oliver’s.  They had been to the site.  Cheryl was visibly shaken.  Then, I asked them: “Would you walk with me to the site”?   They said they would.  So, we walked out of the church, through the parking lot, and Elton lead me to the scene.  We walked between men and boys dressed in army fatigues, carrying guns and clubs.  We walked within 35 yards of the intersection of Market Street and 2nd.  Lots of shouting.  It looked like a war zone.  A line of Alt-Rights and Supremacists stood at the ready in front of the public library. Ready for what?  Cheryl, Elton, and I stood together.  Cheryl held up a sign and I was wearing two clerical stoles.   We noticed a boy in the line, a helmet strapped to his head. He had a rolled up American flag in one hand, knee pads, a pack on his back.  Looking back, I saw so many clubs in hands, I thought I saw one in his.  I could be wrong.   I hope I am.  Still, that look on the boy’s face.  It was the look of anger and hatred.  He was out there with his dad, I suppose.  Learning what the real world was like.  Suddenly, a group of Alt-Right Militia marched by us.  One looked around the crowd and said out loud, “What a joke!”  Then an old man with a smile approached me.  “I want you to tell your people that they need to stop informing me that I’m number one.”  He smiled and walked slowly away.  He walked into the yelling crowd.  It dawned on me that he was referring to people flipping him off.  Then I turned to Cheryl and Elton:  “I think that was the Alt-Right.”  So weird, right?   Then, someone threw a tear gas canister and the smoke wafted our way.  So, we backed down the street so we wouldn’t choke on the gas.  I was surprised when I took a breath and choked on it, like chalk on my throat.  We watched people hurling bottles of urine (I was told later).  Yelling and screaming.  Then a man came out with a green flag and another man tackled him to the ground and began beating him.  Then a man walked by me, his faced bandaged, blood all over the front of his shirt.  We stood on the corner of 3rd and Market for a long time and witnessed.   I backed up to the brick wall.  I didn’t anyone coming up from behind.  We watched alt-right groups marching in and out of the fray.

We watched groups wearing black and groups wearing army fatigues walking by us.  We couldn’t tell who was who.  Then suddenly, there was some announcement being made near the park, and we could see police in riot gear walking on Jefferson Street and up the mall.  They were coming.  It appeared that no one wanted to be arrested that day. So they came our way and passed by us in packs:  Alt-Rights, White Supremacists, Black Lives Matter, Antifa, protestors, observers, bystanders, flag bearers.  It appeared that everyone was going to another park or going to find a bar.  The place was teaming with negative energy, but it felt like the war was over.  Then we could see a line of helmeted police, and I wondered if we should go, but Elton and Cheryl didn’t move.  We stood on the sidewalk and watched as the line of police officers passed us by.  I suppose this was the most dangerous time.  Everyone going everywhere, mixing.  No line between opposing sides.  People yelled.  A drone hovered above my head.  Then, slowly, the three of us walked back to the church.  I saw a few more friends; Rabbi Tom, Alvin Edwards. Then I gave the Oliver’s a hug and told them I was heading home.  I walked down to Millie’s Coffee.  My wife, Heather, picked me up, and went home to write my sermon for the next day.  An hour later, Heather Heyer, 32, was run down and killed a block from where we stood.  Keep every child in your prayers and spread the word:  Love is stronger than hate.  Ken

Filed Under: Mission and Outreach, Notes from Ken, Racial Justice

Taking a Stand…

June 29, 2017 by Kate Brinkley

Taking a Stand. . .  Moving Forward: July 8th and August 12th

            If you want to find out what churches and religious communities are doing in Charlottesville this summer, I invite you to check out the Charlottesville Clergy Collective (http://www.cvilleclergycollective.org/).  In its vision statement, “the CCC seeks to be a God-centered faith community of prayer, solidarity, and impact within the Charlottesville-Albemarle Region of Central Virginia.”  For last several months, I have been attending breakfast meetings with clergy and lay leaders, both black and white, for purpose of befriending new colleagues in ministry across the religious spectrum as well as learning first-hand about the racial challenges in Charlottesville.

In light of the July 8th KKK rally in Justice Park and another rally scheduled for August 12th, the CCC, in coordination with the city and other groups, has been planning a faith-based response to these events which promote hatred and division in our community.  Here’s what we have planned so far for Saturday, July 8th:

  • 7:00 am to 2:45 pm and 4:15 pm to 5:00 pm
    Presence at Justice Park

  •  Members of the CCC and any who wish to join will take hour-long shifts in Justice Park to pray, sing, anoint, hang folded cranes, educate & dialogue
  •  1:00 pm to 5:00 pm
    Hospitality Safe Space at First United Methodist Church (FUMC)
    FUMC is open for refreshment, but also prayer/music/dialogue/training for those who wish to join witness at Justice Park at 2:45 pm

 I also encourage you to check out events at the Jefferson School http://jeffschoolheritagecenter.org/.

  • 9 to 9:30 am – Outdoor meditation led by Common Grounds

  • 9:30 to 10 am – Outdoor open mic featuring various choirs and youth
  • 10 to 11 am – Charlene Green leads discussion of history of various ethnic groups in Cville and presentations made by leaders of these groups

11 to 12 pm – Two half-hour breakout sessions in various rooms in HC and other areas to answer questions of “Why Should We Care?” Topics include: immigration issues, Black Lives Matter, and how to deal with stress in felt in today’s climate.

As events on July 8th and August 12th develop around town and churches come together to stand against hatred and fear, may we, as God’s precious children, come together and pray for Christ’s unsurpassable peace to fall afresh on Charlottesville and Albemarle County.

Blessings, Ken.

Filed Under: Mission and Outreach, Notes from Ken, Peace, Justice & Inclusion, Racial Justice

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Congregational Annual Meeting Sunday, January 22

January 4, 2023 By Westminster Presbyterian Church

All Westminster members are invited to the the Congregational Annual Meeting on Sunday, January 22. The purpose of the meeting is to nominate and elect trustees, receive the church budget, and vote on the Pastors’ Terms of Call. Everyone is welcome to a sumptuous meal in Fellowship Hall following the meeting. Annual Reports from the […]

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