August 29, 2021 — Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 5, 2021 — Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Labor Day)
September 12, 2021 — Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 19, 2021 — Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 26, 2021 — Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
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A Word from the Pastor
Friends,
Recently I shared with you that I have a friend in Hungary, who is a storyteller and spiritual guide. Monika contends that folktales are treasure boxes for children and adults too. Folktales are full of wisdom regarding how to live life well, how to relate to others, how to handle morally, ethically challenging situations. We can benefit from these treasures when we join the various characters of a story on their journey, put ourselves in their shoes, so to speak, because we can discover that these stories teach us how to live as truthful, good, and kind people in a complicated universe.
Folktales are not unlike how scripture stories have functioned for the people of faith. The Bible is the story of how God acts in human history. We often forget, as fellow Presbyterian minister and biblical storyteller Dennis Dewey reminds us, that “the stories of the Scriptures were, for the most part, first experienced as stories—full of sound and fury, red meat and bubbly—not as dead ink on silent paper.”
To delve more deeply into this fascinating and challenging, and at times messy and even disturbing world of scriptures, we’ll begin to explore biblical stories through the Narrative Lectionary from this September. The Narrative Lectionary also follows a 4-year cycle of readings. On the Sundays from September through May each year, the texts follow the sweep of the biblical story, from Creation through the early Christian church.
The texts include the major episodes in Scripture. They are arranged in a narrative sequence to help people see Scripture as a story that has coherence and a dynamic movement:
- From September to mid-December the preaching texts begin with the early chapters of Genesis, move through the stories of Israel’s early history, the exodus, the kings, prophets, exile, and return.
- From Christmas to Easter there is sustained reading of one of the four gospels
- From Easter to Pentecost the texts are chosen from Acts and Paul’s letters.
In all these varied contexts, we find God dealing with the complexities of human life. Stories from the gospels differ each year, avoiding repetition and highlighting what is distinctive about each gospel’s telling of the story of Jesus.
The Narrative Lectionary was initiated by professors from Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN, in partnership with congregations across North America in 2010.
As we immerse ourselves in these stories, we learn about God’s unrelenting love and care present in the midst of creation from the beginning, despite repeated human failure to recognize or appreciate this love fully. We discover that God works through all kinds of people, from the very ordinary, nameless characters to queens and kings with name and fame. In the lives of complicated and complex human beings, most of whom are far from perfect, we find patterns for how to deal with anger, trauma, betrayal or loss in healthy and unhealthy ways. From their examples we learn how to live following God’s ways. We learn how to develop resilience in the face of hardships and hold on to hope, how to challenge unjust powers and build God’s Beloved Community.
Hope that as we journey along and explore the treasures of these texts, we will find ourselves moved and our lives changed. May we find joy and feel empowered to join in the divine mission to create communities of abundance for all.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Enikő
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Please welcome Westminster's new staff members!
We are excited to have Divine Gbagbo and Judy Mowrer join our team.
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Dr. Divine Kwasi Gbagbo -
Minister of Music & Worship Arts
Divine is a consummate musician with varied levels of expertise in scholarship, research, teaching, and performance. As a professional teacher, he has taught at the elementary, high school, college, and university levels in Ghana and the USA. He has been active in church music as a choir director and organist for over 25 years, and prior to his admission in Ohio University, Divine served as the national music director for the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ghana. As a composer of choral art music, he wrote and published several works. His compositional style is a unique blend of indigenous Ghanaian-Ewe compositional skills with the acquired Western conventional composition techniques.
Divine holds a B. Ed. in Music Education and Ewe Language from University of Education, Winneba in Ghana, and MA in Ethnomusicology from Kent State University, OH, and earned his Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Arts (Ethnomusicology/Musicology and African Arts and Literature) from Ohio University, Athens, where he served as the music director for the International Christian Fellowship (ICF).
Divine is married to Antoinette, and they are blessed with three daughters and a son. His pastime activities include walking and admiring nature, listening to world music, and transcribing of traditional songs.
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Judy Mowrer - Office Administrator
Judy has been a resident of Wooster since 1983, joining the community while working at Rubbermaid Incorporated. After over 20 years at Rubbermaid, she continued her career in customer service management through 2012 at which time she started a “once in a lifetime” position as Executive Assistant to Stanley Gault. After his death, Judy chose to stay home as a caretaker for her husband Al until beginning part-time at the Law Office of Lon Vinion in 2019 and then joining us, August 2021.
Judy’s passion is eco-friendly gardening, attracting birds, bees and butterflies to her grass-free yard that holds as many host plants as the space permits. Joining her in the gardens are her three rescue dogs who have their space in amongst the flying visitors. Rounding out the Mowrer gang is an Amazon parrot, a ring-neck dove and about 25 fish, swimming freely in their garden pond.
She is a longtime volunteer for the Wayne County Humane Society and has served on the board of the American Cancer Society and has done volunteer work for Adaptive Sports Ohio.
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Church Office Hours
Tuesday - Friday, 8:30 am - 1:30 pm
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Highlights From This Month's Session Meeting |
The Westminster Session met in the Lounge at Westminster Church House on August 18 2021. The following are highlights from the meeting:
Worship Committee:
This motion was proposed and passed:
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We will continue to follow the College guidelines for masking indoors;
- We will monitor CDC guidelines and make other changes based on these guidelines if necessary;
- We will temporarily take out the passing of the peace;
- We will use a cart to take refreshments outside on the patio, weather permitting.
Education Committee
- Compassion Camp was held successfully August 2-6, 2021, with 16 campers and 10 helpers.
Immigration Justice Ministry
- We are sponsoring an Open Minds, Open Hearts Celebration Benefit for Immigrant Worker Project's Centro San Jose Scholarship Fund – September 25, 2021, Mackey Hall
Benevolence Committee
- Going forward, projects will be identified as local, national and international mission projects.
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International includes CAMO, school supplies for Church World Service;
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Local includes Meals on Wheels, Care and Share (for the furnishing of homes of women coming out of One-Eighty), Headstart, Camp Nuhop (sponsoring a Wayne County child to go to camp).
Treasurer’s Report
- A detailed quarterly report is available upon request.
- Revision of Financial Policy and Protocol is in process.
Building Committee
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A new sign will be put up on August 20th.
Personnel Committee
- Tech Assistant/Event Steward search still ongoing.
- Judy Mowrer has been hired as the new Office Administrator. She will work from 8:30-1:30 from Tuesday to Friday each week. (20 hr/wk position).
- Dr. Divine Gbagbo has been hired as the new Minister of Music and Worship Arts, a 12-month position beginning on Sept. 1.
Respectfully submitted,
Josie Drushal, Clerk of Session
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Open Hearts, Open Minds Celebration Benefit |
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The Centro San Jose Scholarship offers financial assistance to immigrant students who are driven to continue their education, but, as students with DACA; unaccompanied minor status, or pending asylum cases, they have limited opportunities for further education due to lack of financial resources from traditional funding sources. This scholarship fund helps support the dreams of these students, and all donations go directly to the scholarship fund; none to administrative costs.
For those who cannot attend, but care to contribute: Checks made to Immigrant Worker Project with memo line: "CSJ Scholarship: WPC benefit event"
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Now that we are meeting again in person for Sunday services in Mackey Hall, please let the Church House know if you would like transportation to and from the 10:00 service. You may contact the Church House at (330) 263-2398 and we will be happy to make transportation arrangements for you. We look forward to worshipping with you!
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Sunday Morning Hospitality |
Westminster's fellowship time is an important way to build relationships with one another. We invite you to join us after worship for light refreshments and conversation! If you would like to provide refreshments or serve as our Sunday Morning Host, please visit the SignUpGenius link.
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Head Start Program Update |
The Benevolence Committee continues to support the needs of our local Head Start Program. Here is what they need as we move towards summer:
Boy's underwear (new in package) sizes 3–7
Boy's shorts sizes 3–7
Shoes for both boys and girls sizes 10–13 (these do not need to be new and could be gently used)
Donations can be placed in the labeled tote in the Narthex, or you may contact the Church Office to schedule contactless pickup.
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Hartville Migrant Ministry Summer Children's Program |
A heartfelt thank you for all of you who generously donated items for the summer activities program at Hartville Migrant Ministry.
The program benefits the children of the migrant farm laborers working in the Hartville area. WPC volunteers have worked with this summer program in the past.
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Ongoing Volunteer Opportunities |
Click the links below to learn more about Westminster's ongoing volunteering projects.
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Ongoing Fellowship Opportunities |
Click the links below for more information on Westminster's ongoing fellowship opportunities. Please note some of them have paused or moved online due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
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