It is good to be getting back into the swing of things after being sick!  I so much appreciate all the support from people near and far, be it prayers, cards, well wishes, positive thoughts or the most wonderful home cooked meals one can imagine!  Now that we are back to cooking for ourselves Alazar is in a state of mourning, missing all the scrumptious desserts, something we hardly make for ourselves!  I would like to extend a special word of thankfulness to our Parish Associate Jim Collier for stepping in for me at the last minute to lead worship and our beloved Mary Baird's memorial service.  As a community of faith we are blessed by Jim and Janelle's presence and ministry among us!  

 

In this issue of our newsletter we are excited to start talking about summer and we will do our best to keep you informed of all the meaningful worship, deepening spiritual experiences, and social events this summer to cultivate spiritual growth, community, and putting our faith in action. 

 

Talking about hospitality and welcome!  Being "Intentionally Inclusive" is an integral part of who we are as a community of faith, and the welcome we extend to members, sojourners, and visitors on a Sunday morning is important.   Several years ago Westminster's Session identified the need to grow our welcome ministry by putting emphasis on recruiting Greeters for Sunday morning worship as well as growing our usher ministry to reflect our community of faith more fully, grow the group of volunteers, and most importantly, emphasize the spiritual nature of creating a safe environment for people to worship in the midst of a community where all are welcomed and appreciated for who they are!  We are very fortunate that we again have a wonderful diversity of volunteers on a Sunday morning thanks to Ferenc Relle, Bill Weiss, and Caryl Slater who are taking turns recruiting Greeters.  We are also very thankful to our current ushers, Ross Brazee, Bill Weiss, and Caryl Slater, who have served Westminster faithfully for many years; however, due to family obligations, travel, and the need for our church to cultivate new leadership and give opportunities for our newer members to serve and grow spiritually , we are recruiting more ushers.

 

You might wonder what the difference is between being a Greeter and an Usher on a Sunday morning.  Personally, I think the biggest difference is that our Greeters provide the opportunity for anyone who would like to extend a welcome in the Narthex on a Sunday morning and help orient people to the Westminster Church House.  Our Ushers, on the other hand, are a small group of volunteers who are trained to become more mindful in their welcome as they work together with the Pastor to create a safe environment for all to worship and participate on a Sunday morning.  Duties  include the handing out of bulletins, supervising the offering and communion, but also extend to safety of worshipers and being mindful of worshiper's emotional, physical, and spiritual needs on a Sunday morning. 

 

If you feel you have the gift of hospitality and feel drawn to making people feel comfortable, accepted, and welcome, I invite you to prayerfully consider joining Bill Weiss and myself for a conversation in the Lounge after worship on Sunday, May 22nd as you explore your call to be an usher.  As a church we realize that many of you are busy and do a lot for Westminster as is; therefore, we are not expecting you to do this by yourself, but to be part of a team so you are not committed every Sunday. Believe me, as Pastor I try to be very mindful not to overburden our leadership and volunteers, as each one of you is too valuable to the ministry of Westminster.  At this point we have a draft job description and we will train volunteers to make you as confident and comfortable as possible in this very important ministry of our community of faith.  If you would like to be in conversation about this opportunity, please do not hesitate to contact Bill Weiss or myself for more information.    

With holy expectation,