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The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Cearley
Lead Pastor of Congregational Life
Dear Friends,
Our Westminster Commons continues to evolve! When I first came to Montview in October of 1982, the "Commons" was outside! In the mid-eighties we had a vision to connect our wonderful education building and our beautiful "new" Sanctuary and provide a place of fellowship for the gathered congregation. We were doing other renovations at the time, the Vision I Campaign, and though we didn't have all the money needed to finish the project, we extended ourselves, promising to do Vision II to complete the work and retire the debt from Vision I. The Commons was born.
The Westminster Commons has lived up to its purpose. It has provided a place for adults and children to meet, a place for the congregation to be invited into the ministries of Montview, and a reminder to us of our common faith and purpose as a congregation. Renovations were done last year providing new bathrooms, a new kitchen, paint, carpet and a new railing, along with the addition of our informational video screen, a comfortable seating area and the gift of a beautiful mosaic! This year we have new light fixtures, new tables and as of last week a Welcome Center with shelves to display information about Montview. Generous financial gifts, construction design, supervision and work from Montview members has made this possible. Building manager, Bob Cloud, Executive Director, Tilman Adair and our sextons have also worked diligently to bring The Commons to where it is today. We are blessed with the generosity of our members and filled with gratitude for everyone who helped to make The Commons beautiful!
I especially invite all of you to see The Westminster Commons as a place where we put the welcoming work of Montview to the test. If you find yourself at church with a few extra minutes on a Sunday morning, go over to the new Welcome Center and offer to help. This is where our visitors and newest members will come with questions about worship, programming, and where to go (more importantly, how to get there!) in our building. You can have a conversation with a visitor, walk a visitor to where they want to go in the building and be the face of Montview for those who come to worship with us. You can extend Christ's love to a stranger and welcome them into our community.
We count on each of you to help make our community welcoming, warm and faithful.
Easter Blessings,
Cindy
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The Rev. Ian Gregory Cummins
Lead Pastor of Spiritual Life
Hi Everyone,
"When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you.'"
John 20: 19
Within the span of three days (what we now call Good Friday to Easter Sunday) the disciples face both the worst and the best of anything they could imagine. They see their friend and leader die an awful death right before their eyes...and they witness what appears to be that same friend coming back from the dead.
It reminds me of just how much we are asked to hold as we move through our days - such beauty and such brutality side by side. We drive our car and see children laughing on a playground as we learn on the radio of children dying somewhere. We feel so blessed to spend time with an aging parent or friend, even as we grieve that they are slipping away from us. The 10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows of life are waiting for us every time we step outside. I guess that's why the disciples were hiding behind locked doors. I guess that's why the first thing Jesus wanted to give them...was peace.
Grace and goodness,
Ian
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