Easter: April 17
Sunrise Service
Wilshire will offer an Easter Sunrise Service at White Rock Lake’s T.P. Hill at 6:30 Easter morning, April 17.
Worship
Join us at 9 or 11 a.m. in the Sanctuary as we celebrate Christ’s victorious defeat of death. The shutters, closed during Lent, will be opened, and George Mason will preach his final Easter sermon as Wilshire’s senior pastor. Sanctuary Choir will sing in both services, and former Choral Scholar Quintin Coleman will be featured soloist.
Columbarium Service of Remembrance
Senior Pastor George Mason and Pastoral Resident Brianna Childs will lead a brief service of remembrance in the Columbarium at 10 a.m. The service is geared toward those with a loved one inurned or memorialized in the Columbarium, which will be open for visits from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Easter.
The Flowering Cross
Stop by anytime Easter morning to place a flower into the mesh-wrapped wooden cross outside the Sanctuary. It’s a great photo opportunity and a beloved Wilshire tradition. Bring your own fresh-cut flowers or take one from a limited supply provided by the church. The cross will be back to its usual location this year — outside the Narthex doors near Abrams Road.
Pastor Search Committee seeks recommendations
Church,
One of the most common questions we have received since we began our search process has been, “When can I share my recommendation with you?” Well, we are excited to announce that the time has finally arrived! A few days ago we released our Pastor Recommendation Form for anyone who would like to share their recommendation/s for Wilshire’s next senior pastor with the committee.
A few notes about the process:
The form can be accessed online at wilshirebc.org/pastor-rec or in hard copy form available through the church office. We will take submissions through Sunday, May 15.
You are welcome to fill out multiple forms if you have more than one name to recommend.
Completed forms will only be visible to the Pastor Search Committee.
We would appreciate you reaching out to the person you recommend and encouraging them to consider applying for the position of senior pastor. The application process will open for candidates on Monday, April 25 through the Wilshire website at wilshirebc.org/pastor-search.
Thank you for your continued prayers and encouragement as we enter into this next phase of our search process. We are so grateful for your input as we continue to discern who to recommend as Wilshire’s next senior pastor.
Pastor Search Committee
CRT, Book Bans & Me
Tuesday, April 19, 6:30 p.m.
Join us Tuesday in Community Hall for a discussion about critical race theory, book bans and how our public schools are being impacted. This event is being co-presented with Faith Commons, and George Mason will moderate. Panelists are:
■ Jeannie Stone, Ed. D., was superintendent of Richardson Independent School District from 2017 to 2021. She was named 2019 Superintendent of the Year by Texas PTA.
■ Rev. Charlie Johnson is the founder and executive director of Pastors for Texas Children, a nonprofit ministry serving public schools through prayer, service and advocacy.
■ Casey Boland, a Wilshire member, teaches history at Lake Highlands High School and was named RISD’s Secondary Teacher of the Year in 2018. She has written opinion columns on the topic of education for the Dallas Morning News.
Vacation Bible School
June 13–17
Passport to Peace is the theme for Wilshire’s Vacation Bible School for preschoolers and children, which will be held Monday – Friday, June 13 –17, from 9 a.m. to noon. Children’s VBS is for children who have completed kindergarten through sixth grade, while Preschool VBS is open to kids 3 and older who have not completed kindergarten. VBS is free, class sizes are limited, and registration ends June 8. Sign up at wilshirebc.org/registration.
Volunteers needed.
We’re excited to be back to our regular in-person VBS, but we need some good volunteers to make it a meaningful and memorable experience. It’s fun, it’s easy, it’s fulfilling, you’ll have support, and you are needed! Some of the ways we need help:
■ Prep work and decorations
■ Registration
■ Preschool teachers and helpers
■ K–Grade 5 group leaders and helpers
■ K–Grade 5 rotation leaders and helpers in recreation, music, Bible story, crafts,
missions and worship
■ Grade 6 field trip chaperones
For general help or to work with K–6th graders, contact Julie Girards at jgirards@wilshirebc.org. Contact Joan Hammons at jhammons@wilshirebc.org to work with preschoolers.
New around here?
■ Coffee and Conversation with Senior Pastor George Mason will be held Sunday, April 24, at 10 a.m. This informal time in George’s study (Room 2203) gives guests and new members a chance to ask questions about Wilshire.
■ The monthly Wilshire Welcome Class, which helps guests and new members learn what Wilshire is all about, will meet Sunday, May 15, at 10 a.m. in the Prayer Room (1100B).
■ Questions about these events? Contact Carolyn Murray at cmurray@wilshirebc.org.
Ramadan Dinner, April 25
Wilshire will host Dialogue Institute Dallas for an interfaith dinner on Monday, April 25, at 7 p.m. in Community Hall. The event will help us learn from our Muslim neighbors and break bread together in the holy month of Ramadan. Space is limited, and RSVP is required via wilshirebc.org/registration.
Adventurers welcome Jill Rumbley Beam, April 25
The Wilshire Adventurers will enjoy lunch and a program called Is Humor Hereditary? by humorist Jill Rumbley Beam, daughter of Rose-Mary Rumbley, on Monday, April 25, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Community Hall. The cost of lunch is $10 per person. RSVP (required) at wilshirebc.org/registration or contact Barbara Clayton at 214-452-3125 or bclayton@wilshirebc.org. The registration deadline is Wednesday, April 20.
Women of Wilshire book clubs
■ The WOW! Tuesday Evening Book Club meets in the Parlor monthly at 6:30 p.m. On May 10, the group will discuss “Susan, Linda, Nina and Cokie: The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Members of NPR” by Lisa Napoli. Zoom option by request. Contact: Debby Burton (dburton@wilshirebc.org).
■ The WOW! Brown Bag Book Club meets one Thursday a month at noon in Room 1205-L. On May 5, the group will discuss Pearl Buck’s “The Good Earth.” Contact: Abbey Adcox (aadcox@wilshirebc.org).
Marriage Connections is May 13
Friday, May 13, is the date for the next Marriage Connections, and the deadline to register for childcare is Sunday, May 8. In this monthly event, free childcare (infants – grade 6) is provided at Wilshire while couples attend a program and then dine out on their own. This month, couples will drop off kids at the church and then head to the Lathams’ house for “Paul and Patty’s Post-Pandemic Party.”
■ The same childcare is available for Single Parents’ Night Out and Adoption/Foster Care Ministry Night Out. Register at wilshirebc.org/registration.
Remembering Black Dallas tour
You are invited to participate with fellow Wilshire members on a bus tour highlighting local Black history on Saturday, May 14. This chartered bus tour, operated by the nonprofit Remembering Black Dallas, will explore the sites of several Freedman’s towns in the Dallas area, highlighting the importance of these settlements that were created by force during reconstruction. Participants will be led through a journey of how the landscape and racial divide came to be in Dallas County. Sign up to attend at wilshirebc.org/registration.
CBF General Assembly in Dallas
Registration is open for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s 2022 General Assembly, which will be held in Dallas June 28–30. CBF is Wilshire’s primary global partner for missions and ministry, and General Assembly is CBF’s annual gathering for learning, worship, inspiration and fellowship. Sessions will be held at the Hyatt Regency downtown. Learn more and register at cbf.net/general-assembly.
Adventurers trip almost full
The Wilshire Adventurers will travel to Chicago, Grand Rapids and Mackinac Island on Sept. 1–8. The trip will begin with three nights in downtown Chicago, a river cruise, a lake cruise and history and arts tours. The group will then travel to Grand Rapids to see the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum and Meijer Gardens before heading to Mackinac Island for three nights. Find the details at wilshirebc.org/registration or in a brochure available in the main office. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis, with only 50 seats available.
Graduate recognition, May 15
Wilshire’s education office is gathering information on all Wilshire high school seniors and Wilshire members who have received or will receive a bachelor’s degree from June 2021 through May 2022. Wilshire will recognize high school seniors on Sunday, May 15, during the 11 a.m. service. The deadline for inclusion in graduate recognition is Sunday, May 8. Contact Carol Cabaniss at ccabaniss@wilshirebc.org.
Wednesday Night Live
April 20
Family Dinner
5 p.m. • Community Hall. We are once again offering tables in Community Hall for on-site dining on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. Bring your own food or, better yet, order Koinonia Café To Go. Drinks and dessert will be provided by the church.
Music, Missions and More
6 p.m. • Weekly except the first Wednesday of each month. Fun, age-based activities and lessons for 3-year-olds through sixth graders, including music and missions-related topics.
Resident-Led Study: What is a Trauma-Sensitive Congregation?
April 20 & 27, 6 p.m. • Parlor. Trauma is a word you’ve heard frequently, but you might be wondering how to define it or how to apply trauma sensitivity in your spaces, especially at Wilshire. Join Brianna Childs for a two-part series on creating trauma-sensitive congregations. Brianna says, “We’re already doing good work, but I hope this is a discussion we can continue to have in order to be an even more inviting, inclusive and trauma-informed place for every body.”
Childcare is offered, 6–7 p.m., for infants to 2-year-olds whose parents are involved in church activities.
Koinonia Cafe To Go
Takeout meals from Wilshire’s kitchen are available for curbside pickup on Wednesdays, and on-site dining is offered at 5 p.m. in Community Hall. To eat your evening meal at the church, pick it up on the first floor. A microwave is available to heat your entrée.
■ Ordering for April 20 is open now on the church website. Order and pay by end of day Tuesday, April 19, then pick up your food Wednesday.
■ Pickup times: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. & 4:30 – 6 p.m.
■ Email eferguson@wilshirebc.org for information about meatless and allergen-friendly options.
■ Full instructions at ordering link.
One service on May 1 for George’s final sermon as senior pastor
Wilshire will hold one worship service, at 11 a.m., on Sunday, May 1, as George Mason preaches for the final time as senior pastor before retiring from the role. The service will include a special time of recognition for George. George and Kim’s adult children, grandchildren and other family members will be on hand. George will remain senior pastor until Aug. 31, and Sunday, Aug. 28, will bring another chance to recognize him in worship and to celebrate his ministry in special events.
Guest preachers begin May 8
Beginning Sunday, May 8, the Wilshire pulpit will be filled by a diverse lineup of guest preachers along with our pastoral residents. Residents will keep to their normal rhythm of preaching about once a month, including May 29. Here’s a look at our guests for the first few weeks:
May 8: Molly Marshall, a pioneer among Baptist women in ministry, is president of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her nearly 40-year career in theological education began at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where she was the school’s first female theology professor and associate dean. She later served Central Baptist Theological Seminary for 25 years, the last 16 as president. Marshall has been a youth minister, campus minister and pastor.
May 15: Milton Brasher-Cunningham is known to Wilshire as a beloved youth camp pastor and mentor to Associate Pastor Darren DeMent. Brasher-Cunningham has been a pastor, youth minister, chaplain, English teacher, chef, blogger and editor. He is ordained in the United Church of Christ.
May 22: Priscilla Pope-Levison is research professor of practical theology at SMU’s Perkins School of Theology. She and her husband, Jack, have attended Wilshire since 2018. An ordained United Methodist minister, Pope-Levison’s research interests include the history of American Christianity, contextual theology, evangelism and ecumenicism.
June 5: Jonathan Walton became dean of Wake Forest University’s School of Divinity in 2019 and was previously a professor of Christian morals at Harvard. He is a social ethicist whose scholarship focuses on evangelical Christianity and its relationship to media and political culture. Walton’s latest book is The Lens of Love: Reading the Bible in Its World for Our World.