Preparing for Worship - R.G. Huff.   “Safe and secure from all alarms.” For most of us, the only alarms that go off in our neighborhoods are to alert us of approaching bad weather, especially tornadoes. For the people in Kyiv, Mariupol, Odessa and other Ukrainian...

Preparing for Worship - Brianna Childs, pastoral resident.  Throughout my community-practice specialization of my social work education, I loved learning about community development theories and community organizing processes. (Am I a pretty big nerd? The answer is...

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 - Ralph Manuel, handbell coordinator.  Last Sunday we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus. His triumph over death and the world’s sin was made all the more meaningful to us because of our observance of Lent those 40 days previous. It was a...

Preparing for Worship - George Mason, senior pastor.  Easter Sunday culminates a Holy Week of contrasts. On Maundy Thursday, the lights were dimmed, the last candle of Lent having been extinguished and only the Christ candle flickering as it exited the darkened...

Preparing for Worship - John Kelly.   Astronomers have cross-referenced its abstract, celestial patterns against cold, hard data. Psychologists have plumbed the depths of its ethereal swirls and probed its electric hues for deeper insight and meaning. Even now —...

Preparing For Worship - Lindsay Bruehl, intern.  April 3 is the fifth Sunday in Lent. We have been journeying through this Lenten season with inspiration drawn from Vincent van Gogh. This Sunday’s inspiration is called Shoes. An acquaintance of van Gogh’s in Paris...

Preparing For Worship - Jenna Sullivan, pastoral resident Drawing inspiration from French painter Jean-François Millet, Vincent van Gogh began to paint dozens of renderings of a sower, one of which is shown on the cover of our worship folder. He greatly admired...

Preparing for Worship - Ashley Robinson, pastoral resident.   Today we are greeted with van Gogh’s Almond Blossoms, a nod to his love for Japanese artists. Van Gogh was particularly drawn to the way Japanese artists took great care in studying and noticing the...

Preparing for Worship - R. G, Huff.   The Wilshire staff chose to use a Vincent van Gogh-themed Lenten devotional guide long before Putin invaded Ukraine. Little did they know that in the providence of God, one of the paintings highlighted for this second Sunday...