All Posts
Sermon: En Route
Rev. Lynette Sparks
ONE service at 10:00a | July 19, 2020 | Livestreaming from the Westminster Sanctuary | En Route | Scripture: Genesis 28:10-19a | Rev. Lynette Sparks
Sermon: The Great Connector
Rev. Lynette Sparks
ONE service at 10:00a | July 12, 2020 | Livestreaming from the Westminster Sanctuary | The Great Connector | Scripture: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 | Rev. Lynette Sparks
Sermon: Give It Up
Rev. Lynette Sparks
ONE service at 10:00a | July 5, 2020 | Livestreaming from the Westminster Sanctuary | Give It Up | Scripture: Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 | Rev. Lynette Sparks
Sermon: The Way Ahead
Rev. Lynette Sparks
ONE service at 10:00a | June 28, 2020 | Livestreaming from the Westminster Sanctuary | The Way Ahead | Scripture: Isaiah 43:16-21 | Rev. Lynette Sparks
Sermon: Chosen
Rev. Laurie Hartzell
Core Mission Sunday: Camp Henry | Chosen | Scripture: 1 Peter 2:1-10 | Jake Jacobs and Rev. Laurie Hartzell | Please click "Read Sermon PDF" below for the bulletin.
Online Contributions
Even before this COVID-19 pandemic struck, Kathy Cisler had been working on expanding ways for people to make donations digitally. We recognize that many are facing new and unforeseen financial implications in the wake of this pandemic and this message is not meant to put any pressure on people. However, we are also aware that many are able to continue, or increase, their offerings to help us pay our bills, our staff, and continue our ministry that brings justice, peace, and hope into a world God loves. Please click here for a document that provides information on new ways you can give digitally to the church. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Kathy through her phone number at the church, (616) 717-5533. She is checking in at the church building daily and will gladly return your call and answer your questions.
Looking for ways to show support for those affected by COVID-19?
Please click here for a letter from our Mission Partnership and Social Justice committees that indicates how we can offer assistance to our Heartside and downtown neighbors.
Please click here to contribute online. We greatly appreciate your financial contributions to Westminster Presbyterian Church.
Sermon: The Art of Leadership and Followership
Rev. Riley Jensen
ONE service at 10:00a | June 14, 2020 | The Art of Leadership & Followership | Scripture: Exodus 17:1-7 | Rev. Riley Jensen | Please click "Read Sermon PDF" below for the bulletin.
Sermon: The Who and the Where
Hannah Nelson
ONE service at 10:00a | June 7, 2020 | The Who and the Where | Scripture: Psalm 100 & Luke 13:29 | Hannah Nelson, PCUSA Young Adult Volunteer to Colombia | Please click "Read Sermon PDF" below for the bulletin.
Anti-Racism Resources
This document is intended to serve as a resource to white people and parents to deepen our anti-racism work. If you haven’t engaged in anti-racism work in the past, start now. Feel free to circulate this document on social media.
Resources for white parents to raise anti-racist children:
Check out these books for children and young adults from the list of Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners
Listen to the Parenting Forward podcast episode ‘Five Pandemic Parenting Lessons with Cindy Wang Brandt’
Listen to the Fare of the Free Child podcast
Read PBS’s Teaching Your Child About Black History Month
Follow The Conscious Kid on Instagram
Articles to read:
“America’s Racial Contract Is Killing Us” by Adam Serwer | Atlantic (May 8, 2020)
Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement (Mentoring a New Generation of Activists
”My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” by Jose Antonio Vargas | NYT Mag (June 22, 2011)
The 1619 Project (all the articles) | The New York Times Magazine
“The Intersectionality Wars” by Jane Coaston | Vox (May 28, 2019)
Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups developed by Craig Elliott PhD
”White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Knapsack Peggy McIntosh
“Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?” by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi | Atlantic (May 12, 2020)
Videos to watch:
Black Feminism & the Movement for Black Lives: Barbara Smith, Reina Gossett, Charlene Carruthers (50:48)
"How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion" | Peggy McIntosh at TEDxTimberlaneSchools (18:26)
Podcasts to subscribe to:
1619 (New York Times)
About Race
Code Switch (NPR)
Intersectionality Matters! hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw
Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast
Pod For The Cause (from The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights)
Pod Save the People (Crooked Media)
The Combahee River Collective Statement
Books to read:
Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins
Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Dr. Brittney Cooper
Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
How To Be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
Redefining Realness by Janet Mock
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century by Grace Lee Boggs
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color by Cherríe Moraga
When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America by Ira Katznelson
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD
Films and TV series to watch:
13th (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix
American Son (Kenny Leon) — Netflix
Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975 — Available to rent
Clemency (Chinonye Chukwu) — Available to rent
Dear White People (Justin Simien) — Netflix
Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler) — Available to rent
I Am Not Your Negro (James Baldwin doc) — Available to rent or on Kanopy
If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins) — Hulu
Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton) — Available to rent
King In The Wilderness — HBO
See You Yesterday (Stefon Bristol) — Netflix
Selma (Ava DuVernay) — Available to rent
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution — Available to rent
The Hate U Give (George Tillman Jr.) — Hulu with Cinemax
When They See Us (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix
Organizations to follow on social media:
Antiracism Center: Twitter
Audre Lorde Project: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Black Women’s Blueprint: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Color Of Change: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Colorlines: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
The Conscious Kid: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Equal Justice Initiative (EJI): Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Families Belong Together: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
MPowerChange: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Muslim Girl: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
NAACP: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
National Domestic Workers Alliance: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
RAICES: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ): Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
SisterSong: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
United We Dream: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
More anti-racism resources to check out:
75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
Anti-Racism Project
Jenna Arnold’s resources (books and people to follow)
Rachel Ricketts’ anti-racism resources
Resources for White People to Learn and Talk About Race and Racism
Showing Up For Racial Justice’s educational toolkits
“Why is this happening?” — an introduction to police brutality from 100 Year Hoodie
Zinn Education Project’s teaching materials
Document compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker, Alyssa Klein in May 2020.
Sermon: A Pentecost Conspiracy
Rev. Laurie Hartzell
ONE service at 10:00 | May 31 | Pentecost Sunday | Rev. Laurie Hartzell | A Pentecost Conspiracy | Scripture: Acts 2:1-14 | Please click "Read Sermon PDF" below for the bulletin.
Sermon: Do you want to be made well?
Rev. Jen Porter
ONE service at 10:00 | May 24 | Sixth Sunday of Easter | Rev. Jen Porter | Living the Questions of Jesus: Do you want to be made well? | Scripture: John 5:1-18 | Please click "Read Sermon PDF" below for the bulletin.
Sermon: What are you discussing with each other as you walk along?
ONE service at 11:00 | May 17 | Sixth Sunday of Easter | Rev. Jeremy Bork | Living the Questions of Jesus: What are you discussing with each other as you walk along? | Scripture: Luke 24:13-35 | Please click "Read Sermon PDF" below for the bulletin.
Sermon: What do you want me to do for you?
Rev. Laurie Hartzell
ONE service at 11:00 | May 10 | Fifth Sunday of Easter | Rev. Laurie Hartzell | Living the Questions of Jesus: What do you want me to do for you? | Scripture: Mark 10:46-52 | Please click "Read Sermon PDF" below for the bulletin.
Core Missions during Quarantine: Westminster Child Development Center
Many of you have been asking about how our Core Missions are holding on amid this COVID-19 crisis. We will begin sending out regular email updates on our Core Missions and what is going on.
Today, we will fill you in on what is happening at the Westminster Child Development Center (WCDC). Under the thoughtful and strong leadership of Executive Director Amber Marz-Momany, and in conjunction with their Board of Directors, the WCDC had to make the difficult decision to close its doors in late March. The employees at the Center continue to be paid through the support of parents who paid tuition through mid-April and are now paying small fees to keep their child's space. Some parents are generously continuing to pay full tuition to support the Center even though it is closed! Because of parent tuition payments, resources from the Payroll Protection Loan from the CARES Act, and because the Center has some reserve funds, we will continue to pay our WCDC employees and cover their benefits into the forseen future. Thanks be to God!
Even though the WCDC has been closed, many of the classes continue to meet with their teachers via ZOOM meetings. The children love to see their friends and connect. Here is a link to a few minutes of a Dinosaurs class led by Patti and Michelle held on May 6! You will thoroughly enjoy catching a glimpse into the life of a preschool ZOOM class!
Also, teachers are posting ideas for families and other fun information on the WCDC Facebook page. You can see that here https://www.facebook.com/wcdckids
Finally, Amber and the center staff are carefully monitoring the Center for Disease Control guidelines and information coming from the State and other entities about reopening and ensuring safety protocols during these days. Please continue to hold the WCDC, the staff and families in your prayers.
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