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Home / University, Mission & Outreach

Advent & Christmas at Westminster!

November 26, 2019 by Kate Brinkley

Join us to prepare the way through Advent — and celebrate Christmas: from the Advent Workshop on the First Sunday of Advent, all the way to Christmas Eve with a child-friendly service at 5 p.m. and a traditional candlelit service at 8:30 p.m.

SUNDAY DECEMBER 1
First Sunday of Advent
Worship at 11 a.m.
Advent Workshop, 9:45 to 10:40 a.m.

Wednesday, December 4
Fellowship on Tap, 5:30 p.m.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8
Second Sunday of Advent Worship, 11 a.m.
Session Meeting, 12:30 p.m.
Christmas Kick-Back, 1 p.m.
Open Study Hours begin, 2 to 10 p.m., and run through December 16

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10
Tuesday Evening Study Group, 7 p.m.

SUNDAY DECEMBER 15
Third Sunday of Advent Worship, 11 a.m.
All-Youth Brunch, 9:30 a.m. Common Grounds
Lessons & Carols, 5 p.m.
Come and enjoy a traditional service of Lessons and Carols led by the Choristers and Singers choirs. Readings and carols retell the story of Christ’s birth, with candlelit singing of Silent Night. Gather for a potluck meal and carol singing in Fellowship Hall afterward.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19
Christmas Eve Choir Rehearsal, 6 p.m.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20
Youth Christmas Party, 6:30 p.m. Common Grounds

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 22
Fourth Sunday of Advent Worship, 11 a.m.
No classes for adults, youth, or children.
Christmas Eve Choir Rehearsal, 9:30 a.m.
Caroling, 3 p.m. All are welcome to join in song and share carols with those in our congregation in need of Christmas cheer. Directions and song sheets available when we gather in fellowship hall.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24
Christmas Eve Worship, 5 p.m. This child-friendly service includes carols and candlelight.
Christmas Eve Worship, 8:30 p.m. Share the joy of the season in a communion service with carols and candlelight on this holiest of nights. Organ prelude begins at 8 p.m.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER, December 29
First Sunday of Christmas Worship, 11 a.m.
Guest preacher, Colleen Earp

SUNDAY, JANUARY 5
Epiphany of the Lord Worship, 11 a.m.
Pick up a star word to guide your spiritual practice this year!

Filed Under: Administration, Adult Choir, Adult Education, Adult Lunch, Advent, Advocacy & Organizing, Baptism, Benevolence, Bible Study, Book Review, Choir, Choristers Children's Choir, Christian Formation, Christmas, Common Grounds, Communion, Flowers, Sound & Ushers, Community Board, Confirmation, Easter, Ending Violence, Facilities, Fall Break, Families & Children, Featured, Fellowship, Fellowship On Tap, Gleanings Monthly Magazine, Graduate Students and Young Adults, Green Team, IMPACT, J2A, Landscape & Gardening, Lectio Divina, Lectureship, Lent, LGBTQ+, Library, Life Long Song, Memorials, Migrants and Refugees, Mission and Outreach, Mission Trips, Montreat, Music Notes, New Acquisitions, New Member Classes, Notes from Jonathan, Notes from Ken, Notes from Lynne, Notes from Megan, Notes from Tracy, Nursery, PACEM, Parent's Night Out, Pastor's Blog, Peace, Justice & Inclusion, Personnel, Prayers For Our Community, Racial Justice, Rite 13, Seasons, Sermons, Session, Silent Auction, Singers Choir, Special Music Sunday, Spring Break, Stewardship, Summer, Summer Musical, Teacher's Notes, UKirk, Presbyterian Student Fellowship, Uncategorized, University, Mission & Outreach, Vacation Bible School, Westminster Organ Concert Series, Winter Break, Women's Retreat, Worship and Music, Worship in the Courtyard, YAC, YAC+, Youth Education, Youth Mission Trip, Youth News

Update on Our Search for an Associcate Pastor for University and Social Justice Mission

November 14, 2018 by Kate Brinkley

Several weeks ago in worship, Gene Locke and Dick Redding spoke movingly about the importance of supporting outreach from our congregation to the community and wider world through benevolence and social justice activism. One of the most important ways Westminster has reached out to our community since our founding more than 75 years ago has been through University mission.

Earlier this year, after a period of discernment extending back to Jim Baker’s retirement and Laura Sugg’s call to Wheat Ridge Presbyterian Church in Colorado, Westminster’s Session concluded our congregation was ready to call two associate pastors, Lynne Clements and a second associate pastor for University ministry and social justice work. With Presbytery’s approval, our congregation elected an associate pastor nominating committee (the “APNC”) on June 10, 2018 to search for that second associate pastor whom God is calling to serve with us.

The APNC, comprised of Winston Barham, Taylor Beard, Susie Bruce, Kathy Redding, Heather Warren, Ken Young, and Ron Wiley, has been working since then. The committee has met ten times and continues to meet twice monthly. We are pleased to inform the congregation that our Ministry Information Form (MIF) has been posted and we have begun a national search for this position. If you simply click on the links provided in this article, you can read over the MIF and job description.

The APNC anticipates many potential candidates will contact the committee through the Church Leadership Connections system. The committee also will advertise the position in various progressive Presbyterian publications and, probably, through social media. The committee certainly will welcome referrals of interested candidates.

The APNC has great faith (and some trepidation!) many well-qualified candidates will apply and the committee’s difficult mission will be to discern the one God is truly calling to serve with us here at Westminster in reaching out to the University, community, and world. The committee believes this opportunity, as envisioned in the MIF and detailed in the position description, will be very attractive to candidates seeking a called position. The APNC prays we may discern God’s call in a candidate who will help Westminster for many years continue to find its way home to our University and social justice mission. The committee expects that prayerful discernment of whom God is calling to take several months. Keep us in your prayers.

Ron Wiley, Associate Pastor Nominating Committee, Chair

Filed Under: Common Grounds, Graduate Students and Young Adults, UKirk, Presbyterian Student Fellowship, University, Mission & Outreach

With Gladness and Sorrow

January 4, 2017 by Kate Brinkley

As I begin writing this e-News article, it is with a heavy heart. I suppose, with the dawning of a new year, I should be more optimistic and full of vigor in light of the challenges of 2017.  But yesterday, after getting word that Peter Ham had passed away, I felt like a balloon rapidly deflating, losing its air, the hiss of escaping breath.  So, as I enter into 2017, my feelings are a mixture of gladness and sorrow.  After all, in my two pastoral visits to MedStar Georgetown University Hospital to visit with Peter and Karen, I discovered a kindred spirit. Peter and I talked about the places we both visited in Alaska, the movies we loved, and music we listened to in our growing up years.  On my second visit, I brought my guitar and sang a few songs. Peter told me the music helped him forget where he was. I sang some Kenny Loggins tune while doctors, nurses, family, and technicians filled the small room.  We said a prayer together and I left hoping to see Peter again . . .  and some day, I will. As I reflect on my all too brief relationship with Peter Ham, the words of Ecclesiastes 3:1-9 come to mind:

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

As we embark on this new year, crafting our resolutions and plans, let’s not overlook or forget the contributions of people who have touched our lives.  Remember, we are who we are because someone listened, nurtured, and encouraged us to follow our dreams.  We can never underestimate how another person’s actions and words shaped and molded us.  Peter Ham was one of those guiding lights.  But there are others who have also “fought the good fight and finished their race” (see 2 Tim. 4:7).  Certainly, Martin Luther King Jr. left a legacy for us to follow.  Who gave you the strength to carry on?  Who inspired you to love and care for those around you?  Who helped you find God?  As we enter into this new year, give thanks to God for that special person and be glad.  For like the wise words of Ecc. 3 ff. state clearly:  “there is a time to weep and time to laugh; a time to mourn and time to dance.”      Thank you, Peter. Thank you for giving us your time.            Ken

Filed Under: Christian Formation, Fellowship, Mission and Outreach, Pastor's Blog, University, Mission & Outreach, Worship and Music

Student Graffiti in a UVA Study Carrel

December 6, 2016 by Kate Brinkley

Last week, as I was tapping out my sermon, I lifted my head and noticed where I was.  I was in a student study carrel over in Alderman Library.  But when I took note of my environment more carefully, I began reading all the student graffiti scrawled around me.  Several anxiety-ridden UVA students had sat where I now sat.  Writing papers and studying for exams, he or she had written (in pen and pencil and carved into wood and cinder block) existential musings.  So, I composed this student psalm using their words:

Student Graffiti in a UVA Study Carrel

I need drugs.
I want nachos.
Why hast thou forsaken me?
Get busy living or get busy dying that why I’m busy studying.
I’m tired.
God, I love physics.
I just want to graduate.
I’m here more than any other place.
Next year will be better, I hope.
Dear future UVA students who seek hope
Within the premise of this seat-
Good luck.  You are going to need it.

Don’t forget to pray for our college students as they take exams and prepare for life.

Rev. Ken

Filed Under: Christian Formation, Notes from Ken, Pastor's Blog, University, Mission & Outreach, Worship and Music

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Welcome

Lessons & Carols

December 3, 2019 By Kate Brinkley

Come enjoy a traditional service of Lessons & Carols led by the Choristers and Singers choirs. Readings and carols retell the story of Christ’s birth, with candlelit singing of Silent Night. Gather for a potluck meal and carol singing in fellowship hall afterward.

Recent Posts

  • Lessons & Carols
  • Advent & Christmas at Westminster!
  • Letter from the Newly Installed Associate Pastor
  • A Place at the Table – Stewardship Report
  • A Place at the Table: Benevolence Grants
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“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.

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