Sunday Night Live for K – 6th grade. Starting this Sunday, Sept. 13, kids in kindergarten through 6th grade are invited to Sunday Night Live at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Sundays each month. The 90-minute in-person gatherings in the north parking lot will include music, missions and Bible skills—programming Wilshire has traditionally offered on Wednesdays. Minister to Children Julie Girards and Children’s Choir Coordinator Candy McComb are leading the effort. Kids will be divided into age-based groups and will rotate through stations staffed by adult volunteers. COVID-19 safety protocols will be followed. Masks must be worn and social distancing will be achieved through markings on the pavement. Kids are asked to bring their own Bible, pen or pencil and water bottle so they won’t need to share supplies. Restrooms in the building will be available for emergencies only. To help with planning, parents are asked to sign up by the Friday before each event. Families have received specific information, including all dates, via email from the children’s ministry. Contact Carol Cabaniss with questions: ccabaniss@wilshirebc.org.
Save the date for in-person Fall Festival, Oct. 10. Join us for a fun afternoon at our Fall Festival Experience, a churchwide social event on Saturday, Oct. 10, in the north parking lot from 2 to 4:30 p.m. As you travel from booth to booth, you’ll experience a variety of sights and sounds in a safe environment for all ages. More details are coming soon, including how to display your own arts and crafts. Want to help plan? Contact Carolyn Murray at cmurray@wilshirebc.org. Social distancing and other protocols will be strictly observed at all in-person events.
Jeff Brummel Organ concert on Youtube, Sept. 24. Features music all ages will enjoy, plus information about Wilshire’s organ. Selections include Bach’s Toccata in D Minor, Beethoven’s Für Elise, Chopin’s Prelude in E Minor, Joplin’s The Entertainer and more.
Take-out meals continue Sept. 16. Koinonia Café To Go had a successful first day, as 147 meals were ordered on Sept. 9. The service, which will help defray the cost of paying Wilshire’s kitchen staff, continues on Wednesdays going forward. Check out the menu for Sept. 16, then place your order and pay via the church website by end of day Tuesday. Instructions for pick up can be found on the website.
Facebook Live Bible Study. A rotation of teachers leads the Facebook Live Bible Study Sundays at 10:15 a.m. on Wilshire’s Facebook page. Alan Wright teaches on Sept. 13.
Wilshire Mental Health Network. Mental health providers are invited to the initial meeting of the Wilshire Mental Health Network. The group will get to know one another and discuss how to better support our community. The meeting will happen via Zoom on Sunday, Sept. 13, at 12:30 p.m. Contact Rachel Murphy (rachel.j.rossiter@gmail.com) to get the link.
Mental health webinar Sept. 14. Baptist News Global is presenting a free webinar to address the mental and emotional impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mark Wingfield will moderate a panel of five mental health professionals, including Wilshire member Kathryn Keller. The event will take place Monday, Sept. 14, at 6 p.m. Learn more and register at BNG’s website.
Anti-Racism Book Club. All are invited to join a new book club focused on anti-racism. Planned dates are Sept. 17, Nov. 19, Jan. 21, March 25 and May 20. The book for Sept. 17 is the New York Times bestseller I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown, an illuminating look at how white, middle-class Evangelicalism has participated in an era of rising racial hostility. Sign up at wilshirebc.org/registration for the Zoom invite. Questions? Contact Abbey Adcox at aadcox@wilshirebc.org.
World religion study. Former pastoral resident Aaron Coyle-Carr is inviting Wilshire members to join in a community Bible study. The McKinney-based group, which Wilshire helped start last year, meets via Zoom on Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. and starts a new survey of world religions this Tuesday, Sept. 15. The topic will be explored through reading and discussing Stephen Prothero’s book, God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World. Aaron will draw on Wilshire’s interfaith connections to enable the group to hear the lived stories of faith leaders from around Dallas. To learn more or sign up, contact Aaron at acoylecarr@wilshirebc.org.
WOW! Virtual Fall Brunch, Sept. 26. Women of Wilshire are invited to a Fall Brunch over Zoom from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. for a casual morning of inspiration and fellowship. The Zoom link will be sent on Sept. 25 to our WOW! members. If you don’t already get the WOW! emails and would like to attend, contact Abbey Adcox at aadcox@wilshirebc.org.
Navigating the Wilderness – Wednesdays through Sept. 23, 6 p.m. on Facebook Live. Led by pastoral residents Jenna Sullivan & Ashley Robinson. Chaos. Disorienting. Lost. Uncertainty. These are words that have swirled through our minds as we have all tried to navigate a year of global pandemic. This sounds a bit like the wilderness experience described in the Old Testament. We are undoubtedly in a new place. Many of us are missing home and wondering what is next. In a weekly reflective gathering on Facebook Live, we will explore an Old Testament wilderness passage and discover a spiritual practice that might help us find our way in this strange land.
WOW! Morning Study. Women of Wilshire will offer a six-week study of Danielle Shroyer’s book, Original Blessing: Putting Sin in Its Rightful Place. Associate Pastor Heather Mustain will lead the sessions on Thursdays, Oct. 1 through Nov. 5, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Sign up at wilshirebc.org/registration by Sept. 29 to get the Zoom info. If you’re interested in a Sunday afternoon or evening time for the same study, let Abbey Adcox know at aadcox@wilshirebc.org. About the book: Belief in the doctrine of Original Sin is firmly held by many Christians, but it’s not necessarily biblical. Furthermore, argues Shroyer, it’s bad for people and the church. In Original Blessing, Shroyer shows not only how we got it wrong, but how we can put sin back in its rightful place: in a broader context of redemption and the blessing of humanity’s creation in God’s image.
Women of Wilshire Book Clubs
The WOW! Tuesday Evening Book Club meets on Zoom monthly at 7 p.m. Upcoming dates and titles: Oct. 13, The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote by Elaine Weiss; Nov. 10, The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd; Dec. 8, A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg. Contact Debby Burton at dburton@wilshirebc.org to sign up.
The WOW! Brown Bag Book Club meets on Zoom monthly on Thursdays at noon. On Oct. 1, the group will discuss Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross. Contact Abbey Adcox at aadcox@wilshirebc.org or Carolyn Murray at cmurray@wilshirebc.org to sign up.
WOW! suggests ordering through Bookshop.org to support independent book sellers or ordering through a Black-owned bookstore such as The Dock Bookshop or Pan African Connection.
Flu shots Sept. 19 . You’ve likely heard that it is time to get your flu shots, and some may have wondered if it is really necessary during this time of COVID-19. It is particularly crucial this year since both the flu and COVID-19 are contagious respiratory illnesses. Prevent the flu by getting the flu vaccine. It will be available at Wilshire on Saturday Sept. 19 from 9 a.m. to noon in the north parking lot. You can drive through or park and walk up. Masks and social distancing are required. Flu shots are free for those with Medicare or most Medicare replacement plans. The cost for others without insurance is $69 for the senior shot and $29 for the Quadrivalent Flu shot. You must register in advance at wilshirebc.org/registration. A consent form is available at the registration link; it must be printed, filled out and brought on the 19th. Be sure to also bring your Medicare Insurance Card and ID. Payment by check, cash or credit card (Mastercard, Visa, American Express, Discover) must be made in person on Sept. 19. A portion of each fee will be returned to Wilshire for ministry activities. If you have questions, contact Linda at 214-926-1125 or email lgarner@wilshirebc.org.
Audition for Faith in 3D’s The Living. Before now, there was then. Then is The Plague, 1665, London. Now is Wilshire’s 2021 Faith in 3D readers theatre production of scenes from The Living by Anthony Clarvoe. On Thursday, Feb. 4, and Saturday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m., the drama and a discussion will be presented by livestream. The play, which explores London’s response to the 1665 plague, was first performed in 1993, but, amazingly, it offers an opportunity to explore not only our reaction to the current pandemic but also the underlying problems in society that have been exposed. Auditions will be conducted virtually on Sept. 28 or 29 between 6:45 and 8 p.m. A copy of the audition scenes and other pertinent information will be sent to each registrant. In this time of social distancing, rehearsals will be conducted virtually by special arrangement with the participants. If you have a sense of adventure, high-speed internet, and a willingness to audition for a production that provokes thought about the future for all those who are among “the living,” please register at wilshirebc.org/registration by Sept. 27.
Evolving Faith Live Conference. Several Wilshire members will be virtually attending this year’s Evolving Faith Live Conference, which will be held online Oct. 2 and 3. WOW! will host a virtual follow-up discussion Tuesday, Oct. 6, and all who participate in Evolving Faith are encouraged to join. The conference will feature speakers like Sarah Bessey, Jen Hatmaker, Nadia Bolz-Weber and Barbara Brown Taylor. Registration is $99 and includes access to all sessions through March. Visit evolvingfaith.com to register for the conference, and sign up to get the discussion group Zoom info at wilshirebc.org/registration.
Waging Peace: A conversation with author Diana Oestreich. Wilshire will host Diana Oestreich, author of Waging Peace: One Soldier’s Story of Putting Love First, in a Zoom conversation Thursday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. Oestreich is an activist, veteran and sexual assault nurse who serves as Key Relationships Officer with global missions partner Preemptive Love Coalition. She first heard God’s call to love her enemies on the battlefield of Iraq, and is using her story of solider turned peacemaker to empower us to identify our own rural, urban, political or religious divides, to cross our own “enemy lines” in order to remake the world and heal all that’s tearing us apart. Reading the book is encouraged, but all are welcome to join the conversation. Sign up at wilshirebc.org/registration to receive the Zoom link. Contact Abbey Adcox at aadcox@wilshirebc.org for more info.