By Amanda Hines “Hello! It’s so good to see you!” We hear and say this greeting often when we’re with other people. In fact, you’ve probably already said this, or something like this, to someone today. The phrase offers a warm welcome and opens the door to the start...
By Timothy Peoples Each morning, I try to read John O’Donohue’s “Blessing for Solitude.” It is a blessing I often share with those who come into my office because I believe we all need words like these spoken over our lives. The word blessing can be a strange one for...
By Katie Murray “Did your pastor push you under the water when you were a little kid?” If you haven’t had a kindergartner sit next to you in church in a while, you may have forgotten the types of questions that are likely to come your way every few minutes from our...
By Terry Wade One aspect of coming to Wilshire is the sense that folks who attend seem very intentional about being present. There is an atmosphere of seeking — members come not out of habit but attend for a purpose, however individual that might be. Many are here...
By Heather Mustain Around here, today is Promotion Sunday. For preschoolers, children and youth moving into new Sunday School classes, that means something very specific. For the rest of us, it may not affect us directly. But it is a useful marker: Summer is winding...
By Jordann McMahan August is a weird month. As many families round out their summer routines, college students head back to school, and the attention turns away from vacationing to the hustle and bustle of schedules, it can be difficult to be present. Our attention is...
By Timothy Peoples She asked, “Do you have nightmares?” I paused before answering. “Not particularly.” “What about dreams?” she asked almost immediately. “Uh ... not very vivid dreams,” I replied. I love my therapist. She’s perceptive enough to ask questions I don’t...
By Darren DeMent As you prepare for worship this morning, I want you to do something that may seem a bit odd at first. I’d like you to think about the end of the service, specifically the benediction. It is likely that most of us think of the benediction as a...
By Ariel Merivil Our songs have the power to shape what we believe and know about God, yet I often wonder how often we think critically about what we’re singing. Today’s anthem text, “Unclouded Day” by Josiah Kelley Alwood, a circuit-rider preacher from Ohio, is like...
By Timothy Peoples Have you ever read Langston Hughes’s poem “Let America Be America Again”? The opening stanzas read: Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain Seeking a home where he himself is free. (America...