Preparing for Worship - Heather Mustain, associate pastor. Today is fondly known around Wilshire as Deacon Ordination Sunday. Deacons, in our Baptist tradition, are members of the church who have been nominated and identified from within as those who already...
Preparing for worship - Heather Mustain, associate pastor. Today is the third Sunday of Advent, the day we light the pink candle in our Advent wreath. Pink, or rose, is the liturgical color that symbolizes joy, and this Sunday is more formally known as “Gaudate”...
Preparing for Worship - Heather Mustain, associate pastor. Today ends Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, a national campaign to draw attention to the problem and prevalence of hunger and homelessness in America. In partnership with Housing Forward and...
Preparing for worship - Heather Mustain. The late Phyllis Tickle, in her book The Great Emergence, suggests that every 500 years the church has its own rummage sale, cleaning out old forms of spirituality and embarking on the process of finding new ones. Today we...
Preparing for Worship - Heather Mustain, associate pastor. What a special Sunday we lived together one week ago. Maybe, like me, today you come to this place feeling many things — eager yet reserved, excited yet aching, expectant yet hesitant. The memories and...
Preparing for Worship - Heather Mustain. Today we sing a hymn with words written by Ken Medema. Many of you know and love Medema’s work. But for those who don’t know him, his official bio states, “For four decades, Ken Medema has inspired people through...
Preparing for Worship - Heather Mustain, associate pastor. As I walked down the chancel steps last Sunday, my jaw dropped as I wrapped my arms around my friend Patti. The last time I saw Patti, I was 5. She was my caretaker before I was old enough to go to...
COVID-19 and Child Vaccinations. By Heather Mustain, associate pastor. Being parents to a child who is now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, Chad and I have had multiple conversations over the last year about what we would do when this moment arrived. Chad, without...
Preparing for Worship - Heather Mustain. I’ve been feeling pretty down lately; and by lately I mean the last 18 months or so. To be fair, I know I’m not alone in that, and without intentionality it can be hard to find a lot worth celebrating these days. So much...
Preparing for Worship - Heather Mustain, associate pastor This Sunday, April 11, the Second Sunday of Easter, we sing Easter People, Raise Your Voices. A quick scan of the lyrics will remind you of themes from George’s Easter sermon, “Not Here, There.” Just how does...