Ash Wednesday service, Feb. 17. Wilshire will begin the season of Lent with an Ash Wednesday service on Feb. 17 on YouTube. Led by our pastoral residents, the service will be available on the Wilshire YouTube channel starting at noon to be watched at your convenience. A small bag of ashes to self-impose during the service is available to pick up outside the Office door in the south parking lot near the black mailbox. Find more activities for Lent at wilshirebc.org/Lent.
Koinonia Cafe To Go is CANCELED for Feb. 17 due to the inclement weather forecast. Will resume on Feb. 24.
Texas Impact event Feb. 15. Former Wilshire member Josh Houston of Texas Impact will be the special guest for a Zoom conversation presented by Wilshire’s Christian Advocacy Committee on Monday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. All are invited for a discussion of the current Texas legislative session — what’s happened so far and what to watch for as the session continues. Texas Impact is a statewide grassroots network established to be a voice of religious social concern to the Texas Legislature. Email Abbey Adcox (aadcox@wilshirebc.org) for the Zoom link.
Texas Redistricting Briefing Feb. 17. All on the Line is hosting an event open to anyone interested in the redistricting process. The event will take place online on Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 1 p.m. Done once every 10 years, redistricting determines how power and resources are distributed, which affects us all. Texas will undergo this process during the current legislative session. Come and find out how you can be involved. All on the Line is a national campaign to restore fairness to our democracy and ensure every American has an equal say in our government. Learn more and sign up here.
Wednesday Advocacy Updates. All are invited to join the Christian Advocacy Committee and guests from our advocacy partners in a series of Zoom talks Wednesdays at noon from Feb.24 to March 17. Each meeting will focus on one of our key priority issues and will include background information, session updates and ways to engage during the current Texas legislative session. These 30- to 45-minute briefings are meant for all who are interested in advocacy, from beginners to experts. Email Abbey Adcox (aadcox@wilshirebc.org) for the Zoom link.
• Feb. 24: Public Education with Pastors for Texas Children
• March 3: Hunger with North Texas Food Bank
• March 10: Payday Lending with United Way of Greater Dallas and the Anti-Poverty Coalition of Dallas
• March 17: Healthcare and Medicaid Expansion, guest TBA
Mental Health Network to meet. All mental health providers are invited to the second quarterly meeting of the Wilshire Mental Health Network. We hope this initiative will help us as Wilshire members and mental health providers to better get to know one another as well as discuss how we can support our community. The meeting will be held via Zoom on Sunday, Feb. 28, at 12:30 p.m. For questions or to get the Zoom link, email Rachel Murphy, LCSW, LCDC, at rachel.j.rossiter@gmail.com.
COVID-19 vaccine news
• Wilshire’s Parish Nurse Linda Garner has a tip for those who have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine: Use your mobile phone to take a photo of your vaccine card. That way, if you forget to take the card when going for your second dose, you’ll have the documentation on your phone.
• UT Southwestern Medical Center and Baylor Scott & White Health are allowing people who are not already their patients to register for notification of available COVID vaccinations. For UTSW, click here. For BSWH, click here.
Mission Oak Cliff needs drivers. Can you spare one hour out of your day to help deliver food to families experiencing food insecurity in Oak Cliff? If so, mission partner Mission Oak Cliff, beneficiary of our recent Souper Bowl of Caring, is looking for volunteer drivers for their Food2Families program on Thursdays at 8 a.m. and Fridays at 12 p.m. This is minimal-contact volunteer opportunity that should be meaningful to both the volunteers and families served. Visit missionoakcliff.org/driver-application to access the link to the volunteer driver application.
Gateway of Grace seeks volunteers. Wilshire mission partner Gateway of Grace is seeking volunteers to teach online one-on-one conversational English classes for one to two hours per week. If you’re interested, email Lauren Cuddihee, Gateway’s director of operations, at lauren@gatewayofgrace.org. In addition, Gateway needs volunteers with a counseling or psychology background to work with refugees dealing with trauma and depression caused by loneliness, struggles to integrate into a new country and separation from family. If you’re qualified and can help, email Executive Director Samira Page at samira@gatewayofgrace.org
Book clubs
• The WOW! Brown Bag Book Club meets on Zoom one Thursday a month at noon. On March 4, the group will discuss Fannie Flagg’s The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop. Contact Abbey Adcox at aadcox@wilshirebc.org or Carolyn Murray at cmurray@wilshirebc.org to sign up.
• The WOW! Tuesday Evening Book Club meets on Zoom monthly at 7 p.m. On March 9, the group will discuss His Truth is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope by Jon Meacham.Contact Debby Burton at dburton@wilshirebc.org to sign up.
• Wilshire’s Anti-Racism Book Club will discuss Valerie Kaur’s See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love on Thursday, March 25, at 7 p.m. Register to receive the Zoom link at wilshirebc.org/registration.
Sign up for Weekly Witness. Weekly Witness, an online presentation from Texas Impact, examines public policy issues through a faith lens and helps viewers discover ways to participate in the public policy process. Weekly Witness is broadcast live on Mondays at noon on Zoom and Facebook during the legislative session. Upcoming topics: Feb. 8: Texas State Budget; Feb. 15: Voting Rights; Feb. 22: Policing Reform. Register for the Zoom link at texasimpact.org. Each episode features a Texas faith leader, an “issue of the week” update by leading policy advocates and a Legislative Update segment and Action Alert. The Weekly Witness podcast features content from the live event and is usually available on Tuesdays. Texas Impact is a statewide grassroots network offering concrete strategies to help people of faith work for justice.