Join us on October 5th, Communion Sunday, after 10:45am worship as we "extend the table".  Westminster will provide a main dish and we ask those attending to bring a side or dessert to round out the table. 

The program will be on Immigration in the US presented by the Rev. Dr. Sue Dickson, an ordained Presbyterian Church (USA) pastor.   She has served at the national level in social justice work and written several Adult Bible studies. Short-term missions, world Christianity, culture and gospel, and worship are areas of special interest and expertise. RSVP to Carly in the Church Office or through Sign Up Genius.   

It's so interesting how, although worlds apart, the connection continues between Westminster and those who have gone from us to love and serve others. Most of you will know Devin Johns, 2014 College of Wooster graduate, Westminster choir member, UKirk regular, whom we are sponsoring in her PC(USA) Young Adult Volunteer year in Zambia. Last Sunday, UKirk members led worship in which we read Philippians 2:1-13.  

In it are these words: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Devin's most recent blog entry, made the day before the worship service, could have been part of our worship service right here in Wooster, Ohio. She says: "...I began questioning my position here and who I am called to be. On one hand, I'm called to walk alongside, live into a new cultural context, and adapt to life here in Lusaka. On the other hand, I feel called to be myself - to be the headstrong, speaks-her-mind, independent, women-are-equal-to-men, American young woman."  Click here to read Devin's wrestling with privilege, culture, service, and solidarity.  http://flightofthepapercrane.wordpress.com/2014/09/27/defensive-end/� 

Thank you for your prayers and support as Dries & I gather with his family in South Africa. The next two Sundays promise to be enlightening and spiritually enriching with Rev. Dr. Sue Dickson preaching at Westminster. Looking forward to being with you in worship Sunday, Oct. 19!

Blessings,

Beth

P.S. If you'd like to read the article that was read during worship and the students reflected on, click here.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pippa-biddle/little-white-girls-voluntourism_b_4834574.html 

For the next two weeks our guest preacher is the Rev. Sue Dickson.  Sue teaches primarily in the area of practical theology at Ashland University. She is an ordained Presbyterian minister. After earning her B.A., she lived in El Salvador where she worked as a film producer. When she returned to the states, she served the Presbytery of Winnebago as a hunger action enabler, worked as a translator Spanish/English) and taught English to immigrants. From 1986-1992, Dr. Dickson served as pastor in churches in the Midwest. In 1992, she moved to El Paso, TX where she served as a full time pastor in Presbyterian churches, taught religious studies at the University of Texas, El Paso and performed with semi-professional theater and musical troupes. She has served at the national level in social justice work and written several Adult Bible studies. Short-term missions, world Christianity, culture and gospel, and worship are areas of special interest and expertise.  Read the following blog entry of Sue on the Blog of the Ashland Centre for Non Violence:

The Colors of My School

Daviny sat next to me in the school's cafeteria, her head bent closely to the paper as she bit her bottom lip in concentration. We were in La Aguada, a rural school in the FARC controlled mountains of northwest Colombia. She was showing me that she could write the letters of her name. Her parents do not read or write-but she does. Daviny is nine. She wants to be a teacher. She walks a couple of kilometers on mountain trails to school every day. Violence is part of Daviny's life. Her older brothers have been recruited by the FARC. When a group of FARC militants showed up at the door of the family's hut, they knew: they could either join the guerillas or be killed. As Daviny and I worked, one of the brothers was watching us from the edge of the jungle. In another world, at another time, he would have been a student in the school, too. He is fourteen. Now, he was a militant watching from the margins.

http://ashlandcenterfornonviolence.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-colors-of-my-school.html 

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