Wedding shower for Leigh Curl to be held Saturday, April 24 at 10:30 a.m. All are invited to a drive-through wedding shower for Pastoral Resident Leigh Curl and her fiancé, Keith Dove. The shower will be held Saturday, April 24, from 10:30 a.m. to noon in the porte cochere (circular drive) on the south end of the building along Ravendale Lane. Guests are asked to wear a mask and stay in their vehicle. Leigh and Keith are planning a July wedding in Durham, N.C. You can view their gift registry
Church in the Lot. Join us by registering on this sign-up for Sunday, April 25, at 5 p.m. for the next Church in the Lot. This will occur outside in Wilshire’s north parking lot. Masks are required and social distancing will be observed. One spot on the sign-up is equal to up to four people. Bring your own chair or blanket or sign up to view/listen from your vehicle. Free. The date and signup for May 23 is here
In-person Midweek Bible Study is Wed., April 28. All are invited to a new in-person Bible Study that will be held in the Sanctuary at noon every other Wednesday. The 45-minute experience will include Bible Study led by George Mason as well as prayer, Scripture and music — although there will not be congregational singing for now. Complete details can be found in this participant’s guide.
Sign-up required.
Coyle-Carrs headed to Kentucky. Resident Row will soon be without Aaron and Leanna Coyle-Carr for the first time in four years. Aaron, a Wilshire pastoral resident from 2017 to 2019, has been called as senior pastor of the First Baptist Church in Morehead, Kentucky. Their departure comes as Leanna finishes her two years in the Wilshire residency program. On Sunday, May 16, Wilshire’s worship service will include a time of blessing for Leanna. That same day, all are invited to say farewell to the Coyle-Carrs, including daughter Henlee, at a drive-through reception from 4 to 5 p.m. in the porte cochere. Aaron begins work in Morehead in June.
New pastoral residents named. Brianna Childs and John Kelly have been named as the next class of pastoral residents at Wilshire. They begin work August 1, joining Ashley Robinson and Jenna Sullivan to form the 2021-2022 resident cohort. Brianna will graduate in May with a Master of Divinity degree from Baylor University’s Truett Seminary and a Master of Social Work degree from Baylor’s Garland School of Social Work. She also earned her undergraduate degree at Baylor. While in school, she worked in Baylor’s Department of Pastoral Care and Center for Church and Community Impact. She served as a pastoral associate at Waco’s University Baptist Church and interned at a Waco nonprofit agency serving victims of sexual assault. John will graduate in June with a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He learned of the Wilshire residency from pastoral resident alumus John Jay Alvaro, pastor of Pasadena’s First Baptist Church. John has spent the last year as a pastoral apprentice working under John Jay. John earned a diploma in ministerial leadership from Australia’s Hillsong College, and his undergraduate degree is from North Greenville University in South Carolina. He has served churches in South Carolina and Sydney, Australia.
Library announces open hours. Wilshire’s library will be open every Tuesday and Wednesday in conjunction with the re-opening of the church building on those days. Library hours will be 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesdays. Drive-up service is available on other weekdays. Simply email your book requests to librarian Barbara Peterson at bpeterson@wilshire.org; she will contact you when your items are ready for pickup.
Wilshire in the Park, – Churchwide Picnic, Sunday, May 16 • 5–7 p.m., Flag Pole Hill (8015 Doran Cir.) Bring the family and join us for a Wilshire Reunion at our annual churchwide picnic! We’re excited to be able to meet in person for fellowship and live music. We won’t be serving food, but feel free to bring a meal or snack for yourself and your family. Water and an individually-packaged treat from the Wilshire kitchen will be provided. Wear your mask and bring your own chairs or blankets. Social distancing will be observed and sign-up is required.
Church office open Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Beginning Tuesday, April 20, the church building and offices will be officially open every Tuesday and Wednesday during the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. All visitors must wear a mask, sign in and out and enter and exit only through the doors off the south parking lot near the main church office. All other exterior doors will be locked. Staff will be working in the office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays as the church transitions back to a more normal mode of operation.
WOW! Spring Bible Study, Thursday mornings, April 22 – May 27 via Zoom, 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Open to all women. In this wise, entertaining, and educational book, Amy-Jill Levine offers a fresh, timely reinterpretation of Jesus’ narratives. In Short Stories by Jesus, she analyzes these “problems with parables,” taking readers back in time to understand how their original Jewish audience understood them. A different parable will be studied each week.
WOW! Garden Brunch (in person) Saturday, May 1, outside in Wilshire Prayer Garden, come and go from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Masks required. Chairs provided. Sign up by April 23. Open to all women of Wilshire.
Thank-you notes and privacy Wilshire’s deacons and Finance Committee will be sending thank-you notes in the near future to express gratitude for those who have given to the church this year. Rest assured that the amount you have given will always remain private. The note writers will will only know that you have given, not how much.
Book clubs
- The WOW! Brown Bag Book Club meets on Zoom one Thursday a month at noon. On May 6, the group will discuss Ann Patchett’s The Dutch House.. 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 April 13, the group will discuss Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. Contact Debby Burton at dburton@wilshirebc.org to sign up.
- The Anti-Racism Book Club will discuss So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo on Thursday, May 20, at 7 p.m. Register to receive the Zoom link at wilshirebc.org/registration.