Westminster Presbyterian Church, Alexandria VA: Recent Episodes
Westminster Presbyterian Church
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Numbers 20:1-3 and 20:6-13, and Deuteronomy 34:1-6 and 34:9.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Genesis 2:4-10 and Revelation 21:1 and 22:1-5.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Deuteronomy 9:9-11 and selections from Matthew 5.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Deuteronomy 8:3, 6:16, and 6:13, and Matthew 4:1-11.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Exodus 4:19-20 and selections from Matthew 2.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, at the 250th anniversary of our nation's founding. The Scripture passages are selections from Genesis 1, Genesis 3:6-7, and Matthew 5:14-16.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Exodus 32:7-14.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Exodus 4:10-12 and 4:18.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Exodus 3:7-10 and 20:1-17.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Exodus 2:1-10.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on Trinity Sunday. The Scripture passage is selections from Acts 2.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Pentecost. The Scripture passage is Numbers 11:24-30.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Seventh Sunday of Easter. The Scripture passage is Acts 1:6-26.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Sixth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture passages are Exodus 20:12 and Deuteronomy 5:16.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fifth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture passages are selections from John and Revelation.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday of Easter, which this year is also Confirmation Sunday. The Scripture passages are II Timothy 3:16-17 and II Peter 3:15b-18.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Third Sunday of Easter. The Scripture passage is Acts 2:43-47.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on the Second Sunday of Easter. The Scripture passage is Luke 24:13-35.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Easter Sunday, the Resurrection of the Lord! The Scripture passage is Romans 6:9-14.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on Maundy Thursday. The Scripture passage is John 13:1-6, 12-15.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Palm Sunday. The Scripture passage is Romans 6:1-14.
On the Fifth Sunday in Lent, Youth Sunday, Westminster's high school seniors offer homilies centered on the theme "Lift Your Voice." The Scripture passages are selections from Esther and Joel 2:27-29.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday in Lent. The Scripture passage is I Samuel 16:1-13.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Third Sunday in Lent. The Scripture passages are Psalm 95:6-11 and selections from Hebrews 4.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Second Sunday in Lent. The Scripture passages are Genesis 12:1-4 and Psalm 121.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the First Sunday in Lent. The Scripture passages are Genesis 3:6-7 and 3:21.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Transfiguration of the Lord Sunday. The Scripture passage is Matthew 17:1-9.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany. The Scripture passage is Matthew 5:13-20.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany. The Scripture passage is Matthew 5:1-2.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Third Sunday after Epiphany. The Scripture passage is Isaiah 9:1-4.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Second Sunday after Epiphany. The Scripture passage is I Corinthians 1:1-9.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on Epiphany. The Scripture passage is selections from Matthew 2.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Second Sunday after Christmas. The Scripture passage is Ephesians 1:3-14.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the First Sunday after Christmas. The Scripture passage is Matthew 2:13-23.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches at the 8 PM service on Christmas Eve. The Scripture passage is Luke 2:7 (KJV).
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. The Scripture passage is Matthew 1:18-25.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Third Sunday in Advent. The Scripture passage is Luke 1:47-55.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on the First Sunday of Advent. The Scripture passages are Luke 1:5-13 and Matthew 11:1-11.
On Christ the King Sunday, Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches the final sermon in his "Qoheleth" series. The Scripture lesson is Ecclesiastes 12:9-14.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Ecclesiastes 12:1-8.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches at the 8:30am service on Remembrance Sunday. The Scripture lesson is Psalm 98.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on All Saints' Sunday. The Scripture passages are Habakkuk 1:1-4 and 2:3-4 and Luke 19:1-10.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Ecclesiastes 5:4-17.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Luke 18:1-8.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Ecclesiastes 4:9-12.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Ecclesiastes 7:15-20 and 8:16-17.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 and 9:7-10.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:11.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Proverbs 16:31 and Matthew 9:14-17.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Psalm 122.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Mark 6: 30-37.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Matthew 3:2, 4:7, and 6:9-13.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Acts 1:8, Isaiah 43:10, Matthew 28:16-20, and II Corinthians 4:7.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Psalm 8 and Romans 8:28-30.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Psalm 74:9-17 and Luke 3:1-6.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Esther 1.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Genesis 27:12-35.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Genesis 29:16-30.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is I Samuel 19:11-17.Over the next five weeks, your associate pastors will be featuring lesser-known figures in Scripture who exhibit varying forms of leadership. They hope these sermons will help us navigate this season in our life together and inform how we are to love God and neighbor as Christ commands.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Acts 5:33-39.Over the next five weeks, your associate pastors will be featuring lesser-known figures in Scripture who exhibit varying forms of leadership. They hope these sermons will help us navigate this season in our life together and inform how we are to love God and neighbor as Christ commands.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are I John 4:1, John 4:20-24, and Psalm 139:7-8.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Trinity Sunday. The Scripture passages are Colossians 2:9, Acts 2:32, and Revelation 22:20.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Day of Pentecost. The Scripture passages are Isaiah 40:28-29 and Colossians 1:19.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Sixth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is Psalm 67.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fifth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture passages are Genesis 1:1-4 and II Corinthians 4:6.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture passage is Acts 9:36-43.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Third Sunday of Easter. The Scripture passages are Genesis 35:16-20, Jeremiah 31:15-17, Matthew 2:16-18, and I John 4:1.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Second Sunday of Easter, which is also Confirmation Sunday. The Scripture passage is Acts 5:27-32.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Easter Sunday. The Scripture passage is Luke 24:1-12.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on Maundy Thursday. The Scripture passage is Matthew 26:17-30.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Palm Sunday. The Scripture passages are Joshua 4:21-24, Habbakuk 2:9-11, and Luke 19:29-40.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fifth Sunday in Lent. The Scripture passage is Psalm 126.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on the Fourth Sunday in Lent. The Scripture passage is selections from Luke 15
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Third Sunday in Lent. The Scripture passage is Luke 13:1-9.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Second Sunday in Lent. The Scripture passage is Psalm 27.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the First Sunday in Lent. The Scripture passage is Luke 4:1-13.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Transfiguration of the Lord Sunday. The Scripture passage is Luke 9:28-43.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Seventh Sunday after Epiphany. The Scripture passage is Luke 14:1-6.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany. The Scripture passage is Luke 6:17-26.
The High School Seniors of Westminster preach on the theme "Coming Home" on the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, which is Youth Sunday. The Scripture passages are selections from John 13 & 14 and Romans 12:1-3.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany. The Scripture passage is I Corinthians 13:1-13.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on the Third Sunday after Epiphany. The Scripture passages are selections from Nehemiah 8 and I Corinthians 12.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Second Sunday after Epiphany. The Scripture passage is I Corinthians 12:4-11.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Baptism of the Lord Sunday. The Scripture passage is Acts 8:18-24.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Second Sunday after Christmas. The Scripture passages are Luke 2:1-7 and Matthew 2:1-12.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the First Sunday after Christmas. The Scripture passage is Colossians 3:12-17.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Christmas Eve. The Scripture passage is Isaiah 40:5.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on Christmas Eve. The Scripture passage is Luke 2:8-20.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. The Scripture passages are Micah 5:2-5a and Matthew 2:1-6.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Third Sunday of Advent. The Scripture passage is selections from Zephaniah 1.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Second Sunday of Advent. The Scripture passage is Matthew 1:18-25.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the First Sunday of Advent. The Scripture passage is Luke 21:25-33.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Christ the King (Reign of Christ) Sunday, and on the celebration of his 20th anniversary at Westminster. The Scripture lesson is John 18:33-37.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages today are a selection of verses about the Early Church.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, which is All Saints' Day. The Scripture passage is Jeremiah 29:1, 3b-7.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Mark 10:46-52
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Mark 10:35-45.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Mark 10:17-22.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, which is World Communion Sunday. The Scripture passage is Psalm 24:1-7, 10.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Mark 9: 38-50.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Mark 9:30-37.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Mark 8:27-38.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Mark 7:24-37.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Ephesians 3:14-21.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Mark 7:14-15 and 7:21-23.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is I Kings 2:10-12 and 3:3-15.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are John 6:3-15, 25-35 and John 13:21-26.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Ephesians 4:1-16.
Rev. Scott Planting preaches on the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Philippians 2:1-11.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Mark 6:30-34, 53-56.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Mark 6:14-29 and Ecclesiastes 9:12.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Psalm 48:1-11 and Mark 6:1-6.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is selections from I John 4.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is selections from I Samuel, chapter 17.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Mark 4:26-34.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Mark 3:19-27 and Isaiah 49:24-25.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on Trinity Sunday. The Scripture passage is Romans 8:12-17.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Pentecost Sunday. The Scripture passage is John 16:12-15.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on the Seventh Sunday of Easter, which is also Mother's Day. The Scripture passages are Ruth 1:7-9, 16-18; and John 19:25b-29.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Sixth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture passage is John 15:9-17.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fifth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture passage is John 15:1-8.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture passage is John 10:11-18.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches at a special service to celebrate our Capital Campaign Kick-Off, on the Third Sunday of Easter. The Scripture passage is John 1:35-39.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Second Sunday of Easter. The Scripture passage is Acts 4:32-35.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Easter Sunday. The Scripture passage is John 20:1-18.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Palm Sunday. The Scripture passage is John 12:12-33.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Fifth Sunday in Lent. The Scripture passage is Jeremiah 31:31-34.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday in Lent. The Scripture passages are Numbers 21:4-9 and John 3:14-17.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on the Third Sunday in Lent. The Scripture passage is Psalm 13.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Second Sunday in Lent. The Scripture passage is Mark 8:31-38.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the First Sunday in Lent. The Scripture passage is Genesis 9:8-17.
The youth of Westminster offer reflections on the Parable of the Great Banquet (Luke 14:1-24) on Transfiguration of the Lord Sunday, which was also Youth Sunday 2024. There were five homilies: "Inviting God Back In" by Malin Thomas, "Joy in the Journey" by Kalista Hines, "Easy" by Cooper Jones, "A Wider Welcome" by Rachel Cain, and "Great Expectations" by Jacob Crisler.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany. The Scripture passage is Mark 1:29-39.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany. The Scripture passage is Mark 1:21-28.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Third Sunday after Epiphany. The Scripture passage is Mark 1:16-20.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Second Sunday after Epiphany. The Scripture passage is Mark 1:14-15.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Baptism of the Lord Sunday. The Scripture passage is Mark 1:1, 9-11.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the First Sunday after Christmas. The Scripture passage is 2:22-32.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches at the 8:30 AM and 8:00 PM services on Christmas Eve. The Scripture passage is Luke 2:1-20.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches at the 11:00 AM service on Christmas Eve. The Scripture passage is Luke 2:1-14.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. The Scripture passage is Luke 1:26-38.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the third Sunday of Advent. The Scripture lesson is John 1:6-9.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Second Sunday in Advent. The Scripture passage is Mark 1:1-8.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on the First Sunday of Advent. The Scripture passage is Mark 13:24-31.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Christ the King Sunday. The Scripture lesson is Psalm 72:1-4, 12-17.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Remembrance Sunday. The Scripture passage is Psalm 15.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Joshua 3:7-17.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Reformation Sunday. The Scripture passage is Psalm 48:12-14.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Matthew 22:15-22.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Genesis 29:31-35 and 49:29-33.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Psalm 19:1-4 and Ephesians 2:14-22.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on World Communion Sunday, the twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Matthew 26:26-30.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Genesis 30:22-24 and 35:16-21, Jeremiah 31:15-17, and Matthew 2:16-18.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Genesis 29:15-30.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Matthew 16:13-20.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on the Twenty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Matthew 16:22-26 and Romans 12:14-17, 20-21.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Genesis 28: 10-22.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Genesis 25:19-23.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Genesis 24:15-21, 62-67.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Genesis 32:22-31.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Genesis 22:1-14.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Genesis 21:9-21.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Genesis 18:1-15, 21:1-7.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Matthew 10:26-36.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Philemon 1:1-10.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Matthew 13:54-55.
In June 2022, Westminster member Melynda Dovel Wilcox wrote a report on behalf of our Therefore Project, chronicling Westminster’s history relative to race, which has since been turned into this book.
Dr. Cliff Johnson grew up in Columbus, Georgia, steeped in the racism of the Jim Crow era. But as a young pastor of a new Presbyterian church just outside the nation's capital, he felt called by his faith in the 1950s and 1960s to overcome the legacy of his upbringing. He embarked on a personal journey toward greater racial understanding, and through his deeply personal and honest sermons, invited his congregation to join him.
One member of Cliff's congregation, Connie Ring, would play a key role in fighting back against Virginia's "Massive Resistance" to the Supreme Court's landmark 1954 decision declaring that separate was inherently unequal. Together, Cliff and Connie showed that it was not only possible for individuals to acknowledge and conquer their own prejudices, but also imperative for achieving a society in which everyone has equal standing.
Written by Melynda Dovel Wilcox. Alexandria: Yellow Dot Publishing (2023). Narrated by Donald Gordon and Melynda Dovel Wilcox.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage was Genesis 1:26-31.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Pentecost Sunday. The Scripture passages are Genesis 1:1-5 and John 20:19-23.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Seventh Sunday of Easter. The Scripture passage is Deuteronomy 26:4-11.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Sixth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is selections from Luke 24.
The Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Fifth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is 1 Peter 2:2-10.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on the Fourth Sunday of Easter, which is also Confirmation Sunday. The Scripture passage is Hebrews 12:1-2.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Third Sunday of Easter. The Scripture passage is Luke 24:28-35.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Second Sunday of Easter. The Scripture passage is I Peter 1:3-9.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Easter Sunday. The Scripture passage is Matthew 28:1-10.
Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fifth Sunday in Lent. The Scripture passage is John 11:30-35.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Fourth Sunday in Lent. The Scripture passage is John 9:1-12, 18-25.
Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Third Sunday in Lent. The Scripture passage is John 4:5-21, 28-29, 39.
Dr. Larry Hayward preaches at the 8:30 AM worship service on the Second Sunday in Lent. The Scripture passage is John 3:1-15.
Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the First Sunday in Lent. The Scripture passages are Genesis 3:1-7 and Matthew 4:1-11.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt offers a meditation during the 7:30 PM worship service on Ash Wednesday. The Scripture passage is Psalm 51.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt offers a meditation during the 6PM worship service on Ash Wednesday. The Scripture passage is Psalm 51.
Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Transfiguration of the Lord Sunday. The Scripture passage is Matthew 17:1-9.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany. The Scripture passage is Song of Solomon 3:1-5.
Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany. The Scripture passage is Matthew 5:13-20.
Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany. The Scripture passage is Matthew 5:1-12.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Third Sunday after Epiphany. The Scripture passage is Psalm 84.
Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Second Sunday after Epiphany. The Scripture passage is John 1:29-51.
Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches for her Farewell Celebration at Westminster on Baptism of the Lord Sunday, the first Sunday after Epiphany. The Scripture passages are Matthew 3:13-17 and Isaiah 42:1-9.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on the first Sunday after Christmas Day. The Scripture passage is Matthew 2:1-15.
Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Christmas Eve at the 8 PM service of Lessons and Carols. The Scripture passage is John 1:1-14.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton and the children of Westminster offer reflections on Christmas Eve at the 4PM service. The readings are Scripture passages from Luke and "Christmas in the Barn" by Margaret Wise Brown.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches at the 11AM service on Christmas Eve. The Scripture passage is Luke 2:8-19.
Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. The Scripture passage is Luke 2:1-7.
The Rev. Dr. G. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Third Sunday of Advent. The Scripture passage is Luke 1:46-56.
Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the First Sunday of Advent. The Scripture lesson is Romans 13:11-14.
On this Youth Sunday, our youth lead us in worship with "Lessons from Exile." Our preachers are Kristi Meyers, Laura Neureiter, August Taylor, and Max McCormack.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Luke 8:16-18.
Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is I Corinthians 15:50-52, 58. At this All Saints Service of Remembrance, the Westminster Choir and Monticello Chamber Orchestra led us in worship with John Rutter's "Requiem."
Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches on the thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Reformation Sunday. The Scripture passage is II Corinthians 9:1-15.
Pastor Larry Hayward shares the people and writers who have influenced him in his Christian Formation.
Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches on the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Isaiah 2:1-5 and Revelation 21:22-27.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Psalm 8 and Luke 18:15-17.
Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches on the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Psalm 48.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, which is also World Communion Sunday. The Scripture passage is Exodus 3.
Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches on the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Leviticus 19:17-18.
Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches on the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Deuteronomy 6:1-9.
Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches on the Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Psalm 121.
Rev. Patrick A. Hunnicutt preaches on the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Psalm 139:1-14.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Mark 11:12-25.
Rev. Olivia Patterson preaches on the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Matthew 5:38-42.
Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches on the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Isaiah 5:1-7.
Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches on the Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Isaiah 1:1, 18-20.
Dr. G. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Luke 12: 13-21.
Rev. Patrick A. Hunnicutt preaches on the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Luke 11:1-13.
Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches on the Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time. The Scripture passage is Amos 8:1-12.
Rather than cheering the prophets on, as we do Elijah and Elisha, when we encounter figures like Amos, Hosea, and Micah, we soon come to the uncomfortable realization that the dramatic language and performative deeds of the prophets we are reading are more aimed at us rather than on our behalf. We are more often objects of these prophets’ ire than we are cheerleaders for their speechmaking.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Amos 7:1-17.
"As we move towards Bethlehem this year, not needing to slouch, I pray we will welcome, despite all odds, the Savior born there, welcome, perhaps less alone this year than last, welcome with a glimmer and sparkle in our eyes that reveals a broad and joyful smile that not even our masks can hide."
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Second Sunday of Advent. A reading of “The Second Coming” by William Butler Yeats (1919) is paired with the Scripture lesson, Malachi 3:1-4; 4:2-6.
Reverend Olivia Patterson preaches on the first Sunday of Advent. The scripture lesson is Luke 21:25-36.
Daniel’s vision of a “Son of Man” who comes down from heaven is a vision of a savior whose kingdom takes root in the kingdom of the world – the reign of the “one like a human being” is a reign of God that renders secondary if not illegitimate the reigns and rules we know on earth. Jesus Christ as “Son of Man,” this “one like a human being,” can lift us above the disease that has become endemic in our culture of looking to politics for our identity and filling our identity with our politics. Faith in a transcendent Son of Man – rather than one who simply melds with and blesses our political dreams and demonization – can help us renew our public life without being defined by it.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Christ the King Sunday. The Scripture lesson is Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14.
"Because the power of sin and evil impact the entire created order, “fixing things” involves more than “forgiving an individual’s particular sins” or “saving an individual’s soul.” It involves more than helping us as individuals come to spiritual and psychological peace – in light of what we have done or what has been done to us. It is rectification."
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lessons are Romans 6:3-4; Romans 8:22; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; and Isaiah 54:8.
"I want to share today a few brief texts and stories from the tradition of our faith that affirm the call to service many of us feel. Whether we hear these texts as praise from the pulpit, as a renewal of a call we may be questioning, or as encouragement which even the most committed among us need from time to time, these texts can remind us of what originally led us to vocations of service and why we remain in them."
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches at the 8:30am service on Remembrance Sunday. The Scripture lesson is Hebrews 12:1-4, 12-13.
"The truth is that all of us come to worship – at least in large measure – because we want to feel better: about ourselves, our family, our work, our health, our world, the condition of our souls and psyches. If we are willing to confess and face the reality of Sin, we want to do so only followed by a full-throated assurance of pardon. In this series on the crucifixion of Christ, I want to stress that we can only face the awfulness of the crucifixion if we understand the power of Sin and Evil the cross overcomes."
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Reformation Sunday. The Scripture lesson comes from Genesis 3:1-7; Psalm 51:2, 4, 12-13; Romans 5:12, 14, 15b, 18-19.
"When the unknown writer of the Letter to the Hebrews closes his epistle, he blesses his readers with a benediction: 'Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.'
Along these lines, I want to bless you with a stewardship benediction: May the God of peace continue to make you complete in everything good so that we may do God’s will."
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Hebrews 13:20-21 and 2 Timothy 1:3-7.
"Job is a book that asks really hard questions. It's a long read, but it's worth sitting down and reading start to finish. Today, I'm going to focus on Job and Job's relationship to God, and Job's relationship with the world. The two loudest messages that I received from Job this week: the importance of engaging with God across the whole spectrum of human emotion, and the need to surrender control."
Olivia Patterson preaches on the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is selections from Job 21, 27, 38.
The rich man of Mark chapter 10: many scholars and sermons disparage this man; they treat him as a lost cause. But this man, with all his flaws, was also this: he was someone Jesus loved. And that love, more than anything else, defines who he was, and who he is as a citizen of the commonwealth of heaven.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Mark 10:17-27.
"As we look at the Crucifixion, we will be talking about the shame and degradation it entails, and we will even consider the possibility that the Crucifixion of Christ was godless. Thus, this may be the darkest and most challenging of the sermons in the series, but my hope is that it will prepare us for the larger hope entailed in the death and resurrection of Christ as Father, Son, and Spirit for all the people of the world, all the time, ourselves included."
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture passages are Isaiah 52:14, 53:2b-3; Mark 15:33-34, 37; and Philippians 2:5-11.
"What is unique about the death of Christ – and what makes the Crucifixion so definitional to our faith – is not that another heroic martyr has died. Rather, what makes the Crucifixion of Christ unique is the claim (which I affirm) that on the Cross it is the fullness of God who dies – not just God’s spokesperson or representative or proxy or Spirit or shadow or even simple human Son; rather, it is God’s own self who is put to death by a combination of civil and religious authorities in a way that is brutal, shameful, public, and painful."
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, as part of a sermon series on the Crucifixion. The Scripture lesson is 1 Corinthians 1:18-25.
In Hebrew, the word for widsom is "Chokmâh," or a person with a wealth, and a depth, of spiritual, moral, and relational intelligence. What James alludes to, and what we as Reformers must in fact hold fast to, is that wisdom is not solely a contemplative attainment - it's most faithfully expressed when made manifest in particular actions.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is James 3:13-18.
"Today’s sermon will be different than most, in that its primary aim is to introduce you to the preaching I plan to do over the course of the next several months and perhaps beyond. Why do I think a series on the crucifixion fits now? With the appearance of Delta, with its quick spread, with vaccines for children as yet unannounced, we are not likely to be free of COVID for several months (if we ever fully will be). But with the resurgence, we now more than ever need the spiritual strength and consistency not only to get by, but to flourish as much as possible. By offering a sermon series, on a topic as central as the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I want to provide some consistency from the pulpit that might lead you to a deep dive into the Christian faith."
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Revelation 7:9-17, and is read by Ms. Olivia Patterson.
In Hebrew, the word “generous” literally means “good of eye.” My friends, even though we are a largely white church, there are ways we can develop more goodness of eye, ways we can learn what people of different colors and backgrounds experience in this world, so that we might be part of a new day in our church and in our country.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Ruth 2:1-10.
Rev. Jean Coyle, Westminster Parish Associate, preaches on the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is John 14:15-27.
When we consider the last few hours of Jesus’ life, three people involved in his death stand out in our memories. The third person who plays a role in the last hours of Jesus’ life shows a different kind of character: not the character that comes when we change, but the character required when the situation around us changes.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Luke 23:50-56, and is read by Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton.
Today we encounter Elizabeth, who is a paragon of patience, who listens to God speak through the prenatal movements of her son John the Baptist, and who prepares both her son and Mary the mother of Jesus for the roles they play in the birth and life of Jesus Christ.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Luke 1:39-45.
"Today’s character in our summer sermon series is Uriah the Hittite, Bathsheba’s husband, David’s military officer. Though we might forget about Uriah – or never have noticed him – the Biblical narrator does not forget Uriah. So what about Uriah’s character?"
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is 2 Samuel 11:6-17.
Today in our summer sermon series on Characters with Character, we encounter another strong female from the Old Testament: Abigail. Abigail is a woman described as beautiful but who uses her intelligence to navigate between two powerful and angry men—one of whom is her husband, one of whom is King in waiting—to defuse a situation which could have been the end of all of three of them.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is 1 Samuel 25:23-31.
Today’s character, Lois, is only mentioned in one verse in the Bible. In order to get a feel for the character Lois had, we have to follow the life of her grandson Timothy, whose faith he attributed to her influence. Perhaps it is the length and steadfastness of Timothy’s faith that comes directly from the length and steadfastness of the faith that “lives in” his grandmother Lois. No drama is reported. No conversion experience is evident. No tragedy or crisis giving rise to a turning to God. Just faith. Pure and simple. Living in a woman, then her daughter, then her grandson.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is 2 Timothy 1:3-7.
I start today’s sermon with stories of three women who were tremendous in their financial support of the work of the church; their model, Lydia, was also a woman. Lydia’s generosity grows out of her character, and her character develops because the because the Lord opens her heart and she listens eagerly. Lydia realizes so much of what she has is more beneficial to the growing movement of the church than to what she had thought were needs of her own. She experiences “conversion of the purse.”
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Acts 16:11-15.
The five daughters of Zelophehad –Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah – go to the leadership of the people of Israel to demand the right to inherit their late father’s property since had no sons as heirs. This text is a terrific example of a particular people – the people of God – using words to work together within the culture of their day and time to implement a change which made their society more just and complete. I scheduled this story for today because I want us – on this Fourth of July – to consider how the way we use words impacts the present and future of our nation.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Numbers 27:1-11.
In the overview of Miriam we get from the Books of Exodus and Numbers, we can see that it is her trust in God that leads Miriam to act boldly, quickly, and with great ingenuity. For these character traits, Miriam earns the title of Prophet, the third person and first woman to be so designated in scripture, a title by which she is remembered centuries later.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time as part of a summer sermon series on “Characters with Character.” The Scripture lesson is Exodus 2:5-10, 15:20-21 and Numbers 12:1-16.
Before Jesus says, “Let us go across to the other side,” he had been teaching. Immediately following this story, Jesus starts his work as a healer. There is a clear ministry shift. We, too, find ourselves amidst transition: crossing over to another side, another side of life in whatever we end up calling the season of pandemic.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Mark 4:35-41.
“Psalm 20 is a text of blessing and encouragement; it is a text of faith and trust. It is the wisdom of knowledge, and pride in what deeply matters beneath glimmers of surface-level concerns and attractions. I knew, in reading this Psalm, that I wanted to stand before you, in this pulpit, in this place, to offer you its benediction.”
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Psalm 20.
A sermon by Larry R. Hayward the first Sunday during which the church was fully open after being highly restricted during nearly fifteen months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Memorial Day, we remember many things - that we are a people connected to a greater story, and that story continues to unfold.
The Rev. Evangeline Taylor preaches on Trinity Sunday. The Scripture lesson is Isaiah 6:1-8.
John acknowledges the validity and power of human testimony that bears witness to Christ. But as effective as they are, John says, “the testimony of God is greater.” No human agent can give us the assurance that what we believe is right and what we are doing is right. That assurance can only come from the testimony of God.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Seventh Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is 1 John 5:6-12.
In the passage we have read for today, three times in a sentence-and- a-half the phrase "conquers the world" appears. The promise of this phrase is that the faith we have in Jesus Christ is an essential element to bring us some form of victory in the circumstances in which we find ourselves. To say "faith conquers the world" is to promise that in the end, we exercise some form of control over the situation that is upon us, some form of choice and agency within the condition into which we have been born or transported.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Sixth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is 1 John 5:1-5.
“We love – we love God, we love others, we are even able to love ourselves – because God first loved us.” An infant but a few weeks old cannot possibly have earned God’s love; but that love comes with birth: “We love, because God first loved us.”
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fifth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is 1 John 4:7-21.
When I first heard this verse – “God is greater than our hearts” – I felt reassured. This verse promised me that God still existed, that God still was present in the world and to me, that God still cared for me, even when I wasn’t aware of it. Even when I couldn’t feel God in my heart, I was promised that “God is greater than our hearts.” God is with us, because God is greater than our hearts.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is 1 John 3:16-24.
"Like every other Biblical author, John uses imperfect language to try and describe what a life in union with God is truly like. I have often used this imperfect language myself: to honor and lift up the light, at the expense of the dark. However, today's text provides this preacher the opportunity to try and remedy that. Let us together lean into the dark."
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Third Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is 1 John 1:6—2:2.
We welcome to the pulpit the Rev. Dr. Camille Cook, Senior Pastor at Georgetown Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC. The Scripture lesson is Joel 2:18-27.
If the Gospel of Mark is “the beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ,” Mark may be inviting each of us to “finish the story” of that Good News with our lives. But what if like the women at the tomb, our fear remains? The Longer Ending of Mark serves as an Epilogue that reminds us readers and hearers that no matter how the women felt and no matter where their fleeing took them, God’s presence and providence followed them unabated.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on Easter Sunday, the Resurrection of the Lord. The Scripture lesson is Mark 16:1-8, 12-20.
Today I am going to focus on Palm Sunday – specifically on the crowd who greeted Jesus with cries of “Hosanna!” on Sunday but whose cries morphed into “Crucify him!” by Thursday. In a matter of four days the crowd moved from joy to anger, from welcome to outrage, from celebration to vengeance. And it moved as one mind: intense, emotional, passionate.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on Palm Sunday. The Scripture lesson is Mark 11:1-11.
Now, today may not be your birthday, and it’s not Christmas, either. But for all of us, John 12:25 is our text. The question is: will we see the gift in it for us?
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Fifth Sunday of Lent. The Scripture lesson is John 12:20-27.
When we are aware of pain, most of us need something more than pleasure to move us to praise. In order to worship, in order to recover joy, we have to come to terms with our pain; accept it, incorporate its presence or its memory into our lives, let it become an appropriate part of us, neither oversized nor buried and hidden.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday of Lent, at the 8:30am in-person service. The Scripture lesson is Psalm 107:1-3, 17-21.
It must be noted that today marks the one-year anniversary of the last time that Westminster worshipped in a pre-Covid reality in this space. It has seemed, at least for this preacher, that this last year has been an entire year in the wilderness. This particular season has challenged us all like none other.
Rev. Dr. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Third Sunday in Lent. The Scripture lesson is John 2:13-22.
Sometimes we get to choose the crosses we bear. At other times, our crosses choose us. But either way, we’d best bend down, take our cross up into our arms, place it over our shoulders, and begin our walk with it, because in God’s infinite wisdom, God has designed it to fit us, like a tailor designs a suit or dress and hangs it in our closet, awaiting our donning of it.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Second Sunday in Lent. The Scripture lesson is Mark 8:27-38.
I realize this is a rather sad and dark portrait of Noah’s lengthy life. His overall story doesn’t ring true with the “Arky, Arky” of the children’s song. But in the grand sweep of God’s relationship with the human race – in which Noah plays a crucial role in God’s starting over – there is a redeeming feature to Noah’s life that comes to him even in his silence.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the First Sunday in Lent. The Scripture lesson is Genesis 9:8-17.
We welcome the Rev. Evangeline Taylor, Director of Seniors Pastoral Care, to the pulpit on the Transfiguration of the Lord. The Scripture lesson is Mark 9:2-9.
In today’s sermon – the final in what has turned out to be an unintentional mini-series – I want to capture the spirit of hope in Mark’s gospel as many who seek Christ are healed of the maladies which lead them to turn to him in the first place and offer hope as well for those among the all who are not healed in the way they had hoped.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany. The Scripture lesson is Mark 1:29-39.
The title of this sermon is “The Most Important Power Jesus Has.” While it is not a memorable title, it is a bold one, because it claims that one power Jesus has is more important than his other powers. My claim is probably more personal than theological. I am not even sure that there needs to be a competition among the different powers we see in Jesus: we don’t need NFL “power rankings” each week. But for some reason I am wanting to argue for a preeminent place – a #1 ranking – for one of Jesus’ powers; and if I am going to make that case, I need to make it well.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany. The Scripture lesson is Mark 1:21-28.
"Since the great and majestic God of the Old Testament pitched his tent among us – was born in a manger, greeted by shepherds keeping watch over their flock by night, angels filling the heavens with glorious music, and magi from the mysterious East bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh – given all this that we are told has happened, why hasn’t the world become more fully redeemed, at least in ways we can see, touch, feel?"
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Third Sunday after the Epiphany. The Scripture lesson is Mark 1:14-20.
The Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Second Sunday after the Epiphany. The Scripture lesson is 1 Samuel 3:1-10.
Rev. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Baptism of the Lord Sunday. The Scripture lesson is Mark 1:4-11 and Acts 19:1-7.
"A few decades after his death and resurrection, as reflected in our Scripture for today, the earliest generation of leaders of the church seek to bear witness to God’s promise to “all the nations of the world” by sharing the good news and grace of Jesus Christ with Gentiles, people who were not part of the Jewish covenant, people who were among the 'nations of the world.' In our passage, the writer of Ephesians marvels at both the power and beauty of God who through Christ is reaching out to and including within his promise the formerly excluded Gentiles."
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Second Sunday after Christmas. The Scripture lesson is Ephesians 3:1-12.
Rev. Jacob Bolton preaches on the first Sunday after Christmas. The Scripture lesson is Luke 2:22-40.
Secondly, the details with which Luke describes Joseph’s journey to his home – And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem – serves as a reminder that as glorious, as spiritual, as salvific as is the event to which Mary and Joseph travel and in which they are direct participants – the birth of Jesus Christ – that birth is rooted to earth. Originating in the beyond, that birth occurs in history. At a particular place and time. Among a particular people. In a land of particular rulers. An event of heavenly origin, it occurs on earth, redeems the earth, transforms the earth, saves the earth. It is in turn welcomed on earth, glorified on earth, lived out on earth, sung to and about on earth by those who are drawn to it, touched by it, and moved to orient our lives toward it and from it. It is a heavenly event that shapes and molds who we are, how we live on the earth we all home.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on Christmas Eve, the Nativity of the Lord. The Scripture lesson is Luke 2:1-7.
The Spirit of God hovering, brooding, sweeping over, overshadowing the watery chaos at Creation. That same Spirit hovering, brooding, sweeping over, overshadowing the watery chaos of Mary’s womb, and creating within it the Holy Child, the redeemer of the world. Is there anything more worthy of our wonder and worship than this?
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. The Scripture lessons are Genesis 1:1-5 and Luke 1:26-38.
The words of the prophet emerge, saying this: “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me.” For God’s blessings to be seen in this world, the world needs those who are willing to claim it for themselves.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Third Sunday of Advent. The Scripture lesson is Isaiah 61:1–3, 10.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the First Sunday of Advent. The Scripture lesson is Mark 13:32-37.
The point of his final discourse in Matthew is that that even as we might await the end of history, when Christ as the Son of Man will return in all his glory, Christ is still present with us, when, without even thinking about what we are doing, we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, take care of the sick, and visit the imprisoned. “In as much as you have done it to the least of these my brothers and sisters,” he says, “you have done it unto me.” Jesus Christ is present.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on Christ the King Sunday. The Scripture lesson is Matthew 25:31-46.
Now I know in a time of pandemic it is risky for a minister to endorse certain types of risk: the risk of defying health warnings, the risk of not wearing a mask, the risk of ignoring social distancing. For me to urge you to that kind of risk would amount to homiletical malpractice.
But what I am inviting you to consider is a different kind of risk: a risk that dares to hope, that dares to believe, that dares to trust that we will not be in this situation for ever, that we will not be sequestered for the rest of our lives, that we will not be unable to greet and hug and hold friends and family and fellow church members for the rest of our days.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Matthew 25:14-30.
I fear that over the last decade or so, we have become a nation whose unresolved anger – often growing out of centuries of real and profound grievance – has led us to slap the faces of even the people with whom we share earth and stars and common dreams. While one interpretation of this week’s election is a rejection on the part of the American people of an unbridled expression of anger, whatever anger we have within our body politic will not likely disappear with the results of an election. We cannot just vote our anger away. We must as a people face, acknowledge, understand and address our anger so that we can channel it toward constructive ends; otherwise, it will continue to consume the institutions of our common life – such as churches and schools and businesses and families – which are not immune from the lasting sting of its slap.
Following a tradition that began in 1982, Westminster celebrates Remembrance Sunday on the Sunday closest to Veterans Day. We do so to remember those who have given their lives in service to our nation and to honor those who serve today. We also add our prayers for continued peace throughout our nation and the world. Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on this Remembrance Sunday, the Sunday following the 2020 Presidential Election.
I continue to be grateful for the celebration you gave me this summer on the fortieth anniversary of my ordination to the ministry. Among the things that means is that I have been involved in exactly forty stewardship campaigns – that process each Fall in which the church asks each member to make a financial pledge for the upcoming year to support the work of the church. But none of these previous forty campaigns has had much in common – at least outwardly – with the one we are beginning today. This one is indeed “Stewardship in a Time of Coronavirus.”
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is 2 Corinthians 8:1-15.
"My hunch is that whenever this season of our lives is over, our beloved community of faith will looks a little different. Yes, we will still be Presbyterians; yes, we will still be Westminster. But we will have changed. We will have reformed."
Rev. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8.
If we allow the words Paul spoke to the early church speak to our day and time, Paul calls us to rejoice. What on earth can he mean? Has he no accurate sense of the appropriate time to issue such a call?
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Philippians 4:1-9.
"However Jesus said it, we can doubt the number he used mattered that much. The point is the interplay: the two-way dynamic between the gathering of God's people and the presence of God's authority and power."
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, in celebration of World Communion Sunday. The Scripture lesson is Matthew 18:15-20.
The Parable of the Sower is thus not simply about our effort, nor simply about any success we might meet. Rather, the parable is about mystery: the mystery of our putting ourselves forward, on this earth, in this life, in this day and time and culture in which we live. Ultimately, the interaction between seed and soil, effort and outcome, is a mystery, residing in the heart and hands mind of God.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Matthew 13:1-9.
My friends, the only way we will survive this fall in our country, our city, our church is if, over the next several months, we strive to see that we are part of a community and strive to see – and even celebrate – the blessing of God as it is bestowed in the lives of other people, many of whom we have not heretofore considered as worthy as we are.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Matthew 20:1-16.
This one sentence forms a theme of the Joseph story and touches nearly all the characters in Genesis: "you intended to do evil…God intended it for good." Only time, faith, wise discernment of events will tell us whether the things which so pain us one day we will another day interpret as God using for good.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, concluding a sermon series on Genesis. The Scripture lesson is Genesis 50:15-21.
"When Judah stepped forward to Joseph, he brought a self, a family, a people, a nation together. The promise of God kept its long and winding road toward fruition." Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, as part of a sermon series on Genesis. The Scripture lesson is Genesis 44:18-34.
"There's a little bit of life left--how are you going to use it?" The Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Matthew 16:21-28.
The Rev. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Exodus 1:8--2:10, and is read by Maggie Chamberlain.
"In this celebration of unity in Psalm 133, we also find the seeds of its critique. Unity isn't always what it's cracked up to be--at least, not for everyone." Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
I think a deeper reason Joseph may appeal to us is that we are attracted to people who suffer misfortune but don’t dwell on it; people who are victims but refuse to draw their identity from what has happened to them. We admire people who focus on the future and rather than the past, who keep their eyes on the prize ahead rather than on the pain of the Pit behind. We want to be like them, act like them, flourish like them. We want the Lord to be with us in prosper all we do.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time as part of a series on Genesis. The Scripture lesson is Genesis 37:23-28; 41:51; and 45:25-28.
What has always attracted my attention about this story is the limp – the fact that in his wrestling with God, Jacob emerges blessed, but limping; limping, but blessed. Limping and blessed! Sometimes when we wrestle with God these things emerge in the course of our wrestling. We are left limping, a holy limp, holy because to be blessed is to incorporate all that has been a part of our lives into our lives, in a way that that even the painful parts – the sources of our limp – can become sources of strength, wisdom, blessing.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time as part of a sermon series on Genesis. The Scripture lesson is Genesis 32:22-32.
In the world to which we are accustomed – in which love leads to marriage rather than marriage to love, in which both parties have choice, and in which marriage is to only one person, the differences with the world of Rachel and Leah and Jacob can make this story seem laughable, offensive, or just too plain ridiculous to speak to us. But if we stick with it, as is the case with most Biblical stories, we can learn something from it, and leave this hour of worship not quite the same person we were when the hour began.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, as part of a sermon series on Genesis. The Scripture lesson is Genesis 29:15-23, 25-28, 30-35.
"Like so many people who marry, in marrying into the family of Abraham and Sarah, Rebekah takes on all the blessings and burdens of that family – particularly as these have shaped and formed Isaac into the person he has become by the time she links her life and destiny with his."
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, as part of a sermon series on Genesis. The Scripture lesson is Genesis 25:19-28.
"Taking Rebekah into his mother’s tent represents for Isaac a healing, a retrieving from and connecting with all the things in his and his family’s past that have hindered his life as well as those things that have given him life. Isaac pieces together the past in a place of pain and beauty, so that healing comes in the present, and joy comes in the morning."
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, as part of a sermon series on Genesis. The Scripture lesson is Genesis 24:62-69.
"I’m here because of the youth. The high school youth of this church have inspired me in ways these days when joy is hard to find. A few of our youth told me they wanted to hear from me. I didn’t want to speak. But then I thought about the people I’ve grown to love during the sleepless nights on church floors, both upstairs and abroad. So here I am, and here we are."
The Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on the fourtheenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Sunday of Independence Day weekend. She is joined by Westminster youth Anna Harrington (Scripture), Michaela McCormack (Children's Sermon), Conrad McIntosh (Reflection and Solo), and Michael Luhman (Prayers). The Scripture lesson is Romans 7:15-25.
We welcome the Rev. Maggie Hayward to preach in celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Rev. Larry Hayward's ordination. The Scripture lesson is Genesis 22:1-14.
As I enter this next and final phase of my own ministry, I stand ready to work with the Session and staff to lead Westminster in doing something we have not yet done during my tenure here: place on the Session Table a significant social and political issue to discern what God is leading us to do as a congregation.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Genesis 37:12-25a.
Now I know this is an Old Testament text today, but the hospitality that Jesus calls us to is what Sarah and Abraham put into practice here in the 18th chapter of Genesis. The meal that Sarah and Abraham provide is a foretaste of the heavenly banquets that we all will experience here at communion.
Rev. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, as part of a sermon series on Genesis. The Scripture lesson is Genesis 18:1-15.
When Abraham and Sarah leave their trifecta of “land, birthplace, and family home,” they leave much of their own known world in their going forth in faith. Their movement is spiritual and existential, in addition to being geographical. We might even call it conversion.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on Trinity Sunday, the second in "Beginnings," a series on Genesis. The Scripture lesson is Genesis 12:1-4.
I have often said that the world as God created it is one of beauty and harmony, but we live “after the Fall,” and it is that fallen state into which Christ has come as God’s own Son to redeem us. As believers in Christ’s ultimate redemption, we await and live toward “a new heaven and a new earth” that Christ alone will bring. In this reading of the first eleven chapters of Genesis, the differences we experience as human beings – which seem so ever more challenging and violent this week – grow out of the Fall and form part of that from which God promises to redeem us.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on Pentecost Sunday. The Scripture lesson is Genesis 1:1-5, 26-31, and 11:1-9.
My study of parables often led me to separate the parable proper from the interpretation that Jesus often gave them in telling them. In a playful mood, I would sometimes reverse the order of events to see if a different outcome might illumine the story as Jesus told it. I would often try to look at a parable from the viewpoint of different characters within it. Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Seventh Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is Luke 10:25-37.
We have something notable to celebrate today. Today we celebrate the sustaining power at the fringes: power moving on the margins of church and community, on the margins of faith and hope, of society and nation. Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Sixth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is Luke 8:43-48.
The Christians in First Peter who heard this call were not living in easy times. They were living a quarter a century after the death and resurrection of Christ. They were living in Rome. They were a minority, subject to persecution, some episodic, some systematic. They suffered for their faith, and knew they might be called upon at any time to given an account of why they believed the way they believed. And they were re-shaping their faith in light of the fact that Christ had not returned as many had expected soon after his death and resurrection. Yet still they are being summoned.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fifth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is 1 Peter 2:2-10.
"Let us remember Jesus as he was, rather than as we want him to be." The intention of this prayer from the Book of Common Worship is to encourage us to remember all of Jesus, hopefully reminding us that we are made in the image of God, not in the image of our idealized Christ.
Rev. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is John 10:1-10.
Despite its glory, or perhaps because of it, the First Letter of Peter also turns its attention to the rough and tumble, weal and woe, of life on earth. Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is 1 Peter 1:3-9, 13-25.
On this the 2nd Sunday of Easter, let us remember that resurrection is not about a certain day of the year but about an orientation to life, death, and life after death. This day, I invite you to remember that we all are witnesses, to remember when the name of God, the name of Jesus, became more than a mere word to you. Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on the Second Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is Acts 2:14a, 22-32.
Perhaps in all those Easters we have anticipated and celebrated – with the size of the congregation, the beauty of the weather, the conviviality of the gathering, the suits and dresses and hats – we have overlooked that the first Easter emerged in darkness for people who like Mary were traumatized: going to a tomb at night, finding its entrance unsealed and presumably invaded by grave-robbers. Easter doesn’t occur in the light. But it brings the light. While it is still dark, Easter brings light.
There are many questions that the continuous sweep of a pandemic has raised for us the past few weeks. For all these questions – theological and human – some will soon have answers, some will have answers in time, and some will never have answers. But there is one thing with which we are left: the witness of our fellow human beings.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on Palm Sunday. The Scripture lesson is Matthew 21:1-11, and is read by Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt.
Hebrews boasts that “we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved.” This assurance can only emerge from those who have been met by God not just in their strength, but in their weakness. Not those whom God finds to be puffed up, but those who are shrunken down. Not those who are found and can see, but those who are blind, and lost. That’s what we need. We need to be met where we are, to go where God would have us be.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Fifth Sunday in Lent. The Scripture lesson is Hebrews 4:14-16.
On a small scale, I never thought I could accept that the worship of God could occur – at least for me – without the congregation being gathered, in the Sanctuary, in the Chapel, worshipping as a community. But when I walked into this Sanctuary last Sunday, even though the pews were empty, the place was filled with the Spirit. And this week whenever a familiar face has appeared on the monitor I now have set up in my basement, that even though location changes and media of communication is new, the face or faces on the screen are community, the community with whom I worship, the community I love, the community of Westminster Presbyterian Church.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday in Lent. The Scripture lesson is selected verses from Number 13-14, read by Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy.
I was tearful on Friday when our Session made the final but correct decision – in a conference call in which nearly all thirty-three members participated – to cancel all our activities, to livestream our worship, and to close our facilities. It was clearly the right decision, but I never thought I would see the day when I would say, “I’m sorry, but you cannot enter this house of worship.”
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the the Third Sunday during Lent. The Scripture lesson is Proverbs 6:6-11 (Revised Standard Version), and is read by Rev. Jacob Bolton.
Engage John Calvin’s "Institutes of the Christian Religion," that lengthy and often argumentative exposition of our faith by our tradition’s seminal theologian and leader. Join us as Patrick reflects on his pilgrimage of reading and reflection and shares some of the inspirations and astonishments he encountered along the way. Come to discover how this book, so foundational to our historically held beliefs, can challenge and re-orient our contemporary faith, opening us to a more grounded and wonder-filled living of the gospel today.
During an illness, King Hezekiah, one of the three vaulted kings of Israel, is told by the prophet Isaiah, “Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.” In this sermon, we will see how Hezekiah faces news of his impending death.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Second Sunday in Lent, when the Westminster choir presents the Bach cantata, "God's Time Is the Best of All Times." The Scripture lesson is Isaiah 38:1-8, and is read by Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt.
No matter how bleak or insignificant a human life seems to be, the most important thing is to seek wisdom, to seek a wise heart, to seek a heart that begins with awe, reverence, respect for the Lord as the first principle and animating force for life.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the First Sunday in Lent. The Scripture lesson is Psalm 90.
Engage John Calvin’s "Institutes of the Christian Religion," that lengthy and often argumentative exposition of our faith by our tradition’s seminal theologian and leader. Join us as Patrick reflects on his pilgrimage of reading and reflection and shares some of the inspirations and astonishments he encountered along the way. Come to discover how this book, so foundational to our historically held beliefs, can challenge and re-orient our contemporary faith, opening us to a more grounded and wonder-filled living of the gospel today.
Rev. Frank Wade, former interim dean of the Washington National Cathedral and rector of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, will lead this four-Sunday series. The ancient Jewish practice of ‘midrash’ (to enquire, to seek) is a unique way to explore the common threads of the humanity we share with our biblical ancestors. Christianity has not fully claimed the harvest midrash provides. Frank Wade’s latest book is an attempt to reclaim that part of our religious heritage. Most of us have never met, much less learned from, the wives of Moses and Peter, Paul’s sister, Jesus’ brothers or the man behind the dark story of Judas. This forum series will talk of the practice of midrash and its access to some of the people found on the Bible’s edges.
Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Matthew 5:22-26, and is read by Boy Scout Drew Berlett.
Rev. Frank Wade, former interim dean of the Washington National Cathedral and rector of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, will lead this four-Sunday series. The ancient Jewish practice of ‘midrash’ (to enquire, to seek) is a unique way to explore the common threads of the humanity we share with our biblical ancestors. Christianity has not fully claimed the harvest midrash provides. Frank Wade’s latest book is an attempt to reclaim that part of our religious heritage. Most of us have never met, much less learned from, the wives of Moses and Peter, Paul’s sister, Jesus’ brothers or the man behind the dark story of Judas. This forum series will talk of the practice of midrash and its access to some of the people found on the Bible’s edges.
Rev. Frank Wade, former interim dean of the Washington National Cathedral and rector of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, will lead this four-Sunday series. The ancient Jewish practice of ‘midrash’ (to enquire, to seek) is a unique way to explore the common threads of the humanity we share with our biblical ancestors. Christianity has not fully claimed the harvest midrash provides. Frank Wade’s latest book is an attempt to reclaim that part of our religious heritage. Most of us have never met, much less learned from, the wives of Moses and Peter, Paul’s sister, Jesus’ brothers or the man behind the dark story of Judas. This forum series will talk of the practice of midrash and its access to some of the people found on the Bible’s edges.
His name was George Steiner. He passed away Monday at the age of 90 at his home in Cambridge, England. He had served as the chief literary critic at The New Yorker for over thirty years. Now it may seem odd for so highbrow a figure as a professor of literature to serve as a connection to a sermon given on a hillside by an itinerant first century rabbi, to fishermen and tax collectors and other ordinary people who had gathered around him. But maybe there is more in common between Jesus’ teachings and the obituary of a scholar of literature than at first meets the eye.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Matthew 5:14-15.
WPC member Curt Powell and and his team will be speaking on the Kairos Prison Ministry he chairs for Sussex I State Prison. The session will include an overview of the program, how we at WPC can help, open discussion and powerful testimony from a former inmate whose life was turned around by finding Christ through Kairos.
A few weeks ago, a member of our church told me that the Beatitudes are the most meaningful part of the Bible for her to read. Her comments have led me to think about the Beatitudes over the past few weeks, specifically, what they mean to me, to us; their role in the life and teaching of Jesus; their place in the faith out of which they grow and which they in turn shape and form.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Matthew 5:1-12.
Rev. Frank Wade, former interim dean of the Washington National Cathedral and rector of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, will lead this four-Sunday series. The ancient Jewish practice of ‘midrash’ (to enquire, to seek) is a unique way to explore the common threads of the humanity we share with our biblical ancestors. Christianity has not fully claimed the harvest midrash provides. Frank Wade’s latest book is an attempt to reclaim that part of our religious heritage. Most of us have never met, much less learned from, the wives of Moses and Peter, Paul’s sister, Jesus’ brothers or the man behind the dark story of Judas. This forum series will talk of the practice of midrash and its access to some of the people found on the Bible’s edges.
When we say, “We do,” we don’t just bind ourselves together, we affirm one another’s identity in Christ. When we say, “We do” we are honoring, dignifying, embracing one another as unique, beloved, children of God. When we say, “We do” we commit ourselves to the Beloved community, called, and promising, to live, rejoice, learn, engage, grieve and create together.
Rev. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Matthew 4:12-23.
Ruth Everhart, author, speaker, pastor for more than twenty PC(USA) churches talks about her recent book, The #MeToo Reckoning: Facing the Church’s Complicity in Sexual Abuse & Misconduct. Publisher’s Weekly recently said of Ruth’s book, “Each chapter focuses on a particular issue (patriarchy, purity, culture, and clericalism) that leads to complicity with institutional sexual abuse, and features relevant to contemporary and biblical stories.” Ruth argues that “we must examine the system that allows predators to thrive and hide” and calls “churches to develop formal systems for victims or witnesses of abuse to come forward.” As pastor and survivor, Ruth can shine a light on abuse and tell stories highlighting damage done to individuals, families and communities that gives hope for change and deliverance from more violence.
In some ways I’m not the right one to talk much about a change of name, for I was born into this faith and it has remained with me “Rock-like” for as long as I can remember. I haven’t wrestled directly with an angel, nor heard the voice of God directly call my name. Yet I have seen people changed in ways beautiful and powerful that I cannot help but attribute to God.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is John 1:29-42, and is read by Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy.
Miri Bernovsky Tibon returns to present how the Bible is taught in secular schools in Israel, and how many secular Jews in Israel view the Old Testament – not only as a religious book, but also as a unique historical and cultural document. We will focus on an event from the “recent” past of the Jewish people: the biblical story of King David and his son Absalom, who tested his father’s hold on power.
By reading and discussing this fascinating story in small groups, we will be able to address current news stories from our own day and age, and ethical and moral questions that were relevant 3000 years ago – and remain just as relevant in our own times. Are there any moral boundaries in the fight for political power? What makes a ruling government legitimate? And should the family of those who hold power be exempt from the rules that apply to others? This discussion will give participants a small taste of how biblical stories are often taught in secular schools in Israel, through a modern-day perspective.
"No, something is not right. This isn't how it is supposed to be. I need to be baptized by you, but you come to me." To this Jesus says, "let it be so now." And so, as Matthew tells us, John consented.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Baptism of the Lord. The Scripture lesson is Matthew 3:11-17, and is read by Rev. Larry Hayward.
What is it like to live your life inside an active war zone? How do people raise families under the constant threat of rockets? And is there any hope for a better future for the millions of people living in Gaza, one of the most troubled areas in the world? Miri and Amir Tibon, our guest speakers from Israel, will return to Westminster for a very personal presentation and discussion about the place they call home: Kibbutz Nahal Oz, the closest place in Israel to the Gaza Strip. They will talk about daily life in the shadow of an ongoing conflict, about the human price paid by people on both sides of the border, and about ways to overcome the current situation. Hear about their life in one of the most beautiful, but also most tense, areas of Israel.
Miri, an “Israel emissary,” is working at the nearby Agudas Achim synagogue and is in charge of all Israel-related programs and education at the synagogue, working on behalf of the Jewish Agency. A clinical social worker before moving to the United States, she worked with foster families in southern Israel, mainly from the Arab-Israeli community. Miri has a B.A. in Social Work, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an M.A., Tel Aviv Univ.
Amir, a Washington correspondent for Haaretz, a leading Israeli newspaper, is in charge of covering the U.S.-Israel relationship and the American Jewish community. His writing on Israel and the Middle East has appeared in leading U.S. publications including The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, The New Yorker and others. He is the co-author of “The Last Palestinian,” a biography of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, published in 2017.
In December of 1984, I had been preaching five or six times a year as an Associate Pastor in a large church in West Texas. Along the way, I had encountered T. S. Eliot’s poem, “The Journey of the Magi,” and decided to use it for an Advent Sermon in early December that year. Incorporating that poem into the sermon was the first time I recall being aware of how powerful a poem can be about a text or event or person in the Bible, especially when the author is able to “get inside the skin” of one of the characters. I have decided to revisit that poem as we follow the journey of the wise men – or Magi – to the place Jesus was born on the day before Epiphany on which their journey is remembered.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Second Sunday of Christmas. The Scripture lesson is Matthew 2:1-12.
In one Gospel, Joseph works with governing authorities; in another, he works against them. It is a choice that transcends Joseph’s time: in every culture, in every decision, in nearly every moment, Christians and churches have to decide whether they support the particular actions of the state (while still honoring civil authority as ordained by God) or oppose state action through some appropriate means. The questions are perennial for people and institutions of faith.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the First Sunday after Christmas. The Scripture lesson is Matthew 2:13-23.
Whatever it is to which the birth of Christ leads, his birth arises from and in the sadness and decay of the world. What God does at Christmas is bring something new, something re-born, something recreated from the destructiveness and decay into which God’s creation has fallen. In light of this recreation of all that has gone wrong, we who inhabit the earth – even as we mourn its fractures and pray over it all that troubles us about it – are renewed to work for its healing and live toward the redemption his birth promises.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on Christmas Eve.
Matthew describes Joseph as a “just” man – a person who is righteous within his religious tradition and faithful to its laws and norms. But Matthew also depicts Joseph as a person whose intentions and character lie on the merciful side of righteousness rather than on its punitive side. Thus, Joseph resolves to divorce Mary as the law requires, but to divorce her quietly, to spare her at least some public humiliation. The word used in King James is “privily.”
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. The Scripture lesson is Matthew 1:18-25, and is read by the Rev. Jacob Bolton.
When it became clear that I was going to be preaching on the third Sunday of Advent, the Sunday on which we light the pink candle of joy, I was thrilled to be presented with this section of New Testament gold, Elizabeth and Mary, two women, both great with child, bonding and caring for one another, and the emotionally stunning Magnificat. It is not that often in our sacred text that we explore encounters between two women, especially encounters between two women with dialogue. It is also not common for us to witness characters in our sacred story burst into song. Yet both of those holy signifiers shine forth from the page like the Advent candles we just lit indicating that something special, something unique, something full of Advent joy is present here.
Rev. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Third Sunday of Advent. The scripture lesson is Luke 1:35-56.
Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on the First Sunday of Advent. The scripture lesson is Matthew 24:36-44, and is read by Rev. Larry Hayward.
Did you know that annually over 300,000 people from around the world complete the journey to Santiago de Compostela in Western Spain? WPC members Dave & Amy Donselar will share their stories about these ancient pathways. Hear about the remarkable people they’ve crossed paths with; the people with whom they’ve shared meals and common experiences that slowly broke down their differences and helped form a global community of pilgrims. Join in for some light-hearted lessons learned on the Way of St. James across France, Spain, and Portugal.
I recently learned that the liturgical holiday we are celebrating today – called Christ the King or Reign of Christ Sunday – is a relatively recent addition to the ancient church calendar known as the lectionary.
Christ the King Sunday was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 – less than a hundred years ago. He instituted the day in response to the growing sentiments toward nationalism and secularism that emerged from the devastation of World War I. In a rare show of ecumenism, Protestants embraced this liturgical designation and added Christ the King to the church calendar every year as the final Sunday in the liturgical year before the new year begins with Advent. Thus, in our country, Christ the King nearly always falls on the Sunday before or after Thanksgiving, a time when we celebrate and give thanks for all the good we have received from our lives in this land.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Christ the King Sunday. The Scripture lesson is selected verses from Jeremiah 23; Colossians 1; Luke 1; and Luke 23.
A common criticism of today’s society is that we live in our own particular bubbles and often fail to understand those who have very different beliefs and aspirations than our own. This 3 week interactive course with WPC member Dr. Jim Muyskens is designed to provide us a better understanding of other major religious traditions as we compare & contrast the basic tenets of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism with those of Christianity. The hope is we’ll gain greater understanding of other traditions as well as gain a deeper appreciation of our own. Where do various traditions align, and where do they differ from our own? We’ll end with a discussion of effective means for confronting inter-faith conflict and for advancing inter-faith dialogue. Part 3 of 3.
A common criticism of today’s society is that we live in our own particular bubbles and often fail to understand those who have very different beliefs and aspirations than our own. This 3 week interactive course with WPC member Dr. Jim Muyskens is designed to provide us a better understanding of other major religious traditions as we compare & contrast the basic tenets of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism with those of Christianity. The hope is we’ll gain greater understanding of other traditions as well as gain a deeper appreciation of our own. Where do various traditions align, and where do they differ from our own? We’ll end with a discussion of effective means for confronting inter-faith conflict and for advancing inter-faith dialogue. Part 2 of 3.
Elder Gordon H. Smith has served as member of Sixth Quorum of the Seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In addition to his two terms in the U.S. Senate from Oregon, he’s practiced law at Covington & Burling, and has served as a stake high councilor, bishop, public affairs director and full time missionary in New Zealand. An hour you won’t likely forget, learn from a life-long Mormon, as passionate about his faith as his country and his service.
Giving to the church can be more than a pragmatic decision to support the church’s work. It can be part of a challenged, inspired, aspirational heart. Our giving reflects the center of our being…our hearts.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Proverbs 3:1-12, and is read by Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt.
"One of the great gifts of being on the staff at Westminster is that several Sundays - twice on a Sunday - I get to hear about the importance of using Pulitzer Prize-winning authors in your sermon. So I will follow suit when I make an allusion to Kendrick Lamar."
Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Luke 18:9-14, and is read by Rev. Larry Hayward.
A common criticism of today’s society is that we live in our own particular bubbles and often fail to understand those who have very different beliefs and aspirations than our own. This 3 week interactive course with WPC member Dr. Jim Muyskens is designed to provide us a better understanding of other major religious traditions as we compare & contrast the basic tenets of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism with those of Christianity. The hope is we’ll gain greater understanding of other traditions as well as gain a deeper appreciation of our own. Where do various traditions align, and where do they differ from our own? We’ll end with a discussion of effective means for confronting inter-faith conflict and for advancing inter-faith dialogue.
What can we learn from the Old and New Testaments about some of the issues and structures that vex us today? Pastor Larry Hayward will lead us to take a look at government/politics, class differences, legal traditions, the military and the family and challenge us to think about these structures through the lens of the Old and New Testaments. Week Four: Family.
Because our faith exists within the world, we join with others and become a community, an organization, an institution within the world. We are more than a collection of individuals who seek interaction with God on a personal level; we are a people, a community, organized to worship, serve, learn and grow together. We are an organization. We are an institution – what Peter calls “a royal priesthood, a holy nation.”
Rev. D.r Larry Hayward preaches on the twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Acts 1:12-17, 21-26, and is read by Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Luke 17:5-10, and is read by Rev. Jacob Bolton.
What can we learn from the Old and New Testaments about some of the issues and structures that vex us today? Pastor Larry Hayward will lead us to take a look at government/politics, class differences, legal traditions, the military and the family and challenge us to think about these structures through the lens of the Old and New Testaments. Week Three: Legal Traditions.
What can we learn from the Old and New Testaments about some of the issues and structures that vex us today? Pastor Larry Hayward will lead us to take a look at government/politics, class differences, legal traditions, the military and the family and challenge us to think about these structures through the lens of the Old and New Testaments. Week Two: Class.
What can we learn from the Old and New Testaments about some of the issues and structures that vex us today? Pastor Larry Hayward will lead us to take a look at government/politics, class differences, legal traditions, the military and the family and challenge us to think about these structures through the lens of the Old and New Testaments. Week One: Government.
I want to ask today why a local church would engage in ministries that seek to improve or change society as a whole or ministries that focus on people who lie beyond the congregation’s membership: people who have spiritual or physical needs, people who may live anywhere in the world, and people who may or may not profess Christian faith. In other words, why does the church give time and attention to people beyond its members?
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is 1 Corinthians 11:17-29, 33-34, and is read by the Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy.
Our primary forebear, John Calvin, opened his massive theological treatise on what Protestants believe – Institutes of the Christian Religion – with these words: “Without knowledge of self, there is no knowledge of God;” followed by, “Without knowledge of God there is no knowledge of self.”
When we learn of the world through all its systems of knowledge, we learn of self and we learn of God; when we learn of God, through liturgy, music, preaching, and teaching, we learn of God and we learn of self. Calvin’s purpose was to show “how [the knowledge of self and the knowledge of God] are interrelated,” we might say “inextricably intertwined.” Our theology and liturgy encompass what we know and experience in the world, in its created beauty and its fallen sadness.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is 2 Timothy 4:9-13, and is read by the Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy.
A conversation with an award-winning Israeli journalist about the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the potential for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Amir Tibon, the Washington correspondent for Haaretz newspaper, Israel’s paper of record, will speak about his work covering the conflict on the ground, and what he has learned about America’s role in the conflict here in Washington. Why has this conflict been so difficult to resolve? How is the United States affecting the situation? And what can be done to create a better future in the region?
In his role as Washington correspondent for Haaretz, Amir covers the U.S.-Israel relationship, the Middle East peace process and the American Jewish community. His reporting on Israel and the Middle East has appeared in The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, Politico Magazine, The New Yorker, The New Republic and other leading U.S. publications. In 2015, he was nominated for a National Magazine Award for a story on the last round of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. His first book, a biography of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, was published in 2017.
It struck me that as we kick off our program year this fall, I want to build on sermons I preached last fall – which could be labelled “The Restatement of the Obvious.” I hope that while I will be “restating the obvious,” I will restate it in ways that remind us who we are and why we are here in this congregation of God’s people.
I want to begin with “Why Worship?” Why attend church, Sunday morning, nearly every week? Why sing hymns, listen to anthems, speak to God to confess our sins, reflect on our lives, ask God’s forgiveness or help or intervention or comfort or understanding?
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28.
We have been focused on the Book of Acts this summer, in which its author Luke traces events and developments in the earliest decades of the church, first under the leadership of Peter, then of Paul. These early Christians and their leaders take the hope and idealism that came out of the resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit they had received at Pentecost and lead the Christian movement from its roots in Judaism and Jerusalem into the Greco-Roman world culturally, religiously, geographically. For the last sermon in the series, I want us to follow as a disagreement arises between Paul and other leaders in the church, concerning whether, in light of the impending threat to his life, Paul should go to Jerusalem. I ask you to pay particular attention to the role of the Holy Spirit in what on the surface appears to be a dispute over where next to travel.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Acts 21:1-6.
In presenting the story of seven sons of Sceva scurrying from an evil spirit, Luke helps us approach the power of evil with some welcome but dark humor. It is neither Paul, nor the Word of God, nor the Holy Spirit that drives out evil. In this story, it is evil defeating evil that allows the good to prevail.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Acts 19:11-20.
The Rev. Jacob Bolton preaches on the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, as the candidate for Associate Pastor for Christian Formation. He will join the staff of Westminster in early October. The Scripture lesson is John 2:1-11.
Rev. Whitney K. Fauntleroy preaches on the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is selected verses from Hebrews 11.
In what may seem like the crevices of our scripture, we find a painstakingly beautiful reminder of God's love for us. Hosea shows us a God who has inner turmoil about whether God should exercise wrath or grace on their creation. We are reminded to what ends God will go to call us home, and of the lavish manner in which God chooses to love us.
Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The scripture lesson is Hosea 11:1-11, and is read by Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt.
Today we discover a gift for us, through the rather uncompromising stance of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the church he helped found in Galatia. That gift is freedom. We will probe what it means to be free in Christ and to see how this freedom binds us in the direction of love for others and for God.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is is Galatians 5:1-6, 13-14.
As many words formerly considered off limits in our culture have gained general acceptance or at least have lost their ability to shock, another word which once enjoyed a respectable reputation has become a word of off-limits: compromise. A compromise is something that we promise together, as representatives of two or more groups who have been in discussion, dissension, disagreement, debate and yet have managed to come to some form of resolution and to a promise into which each is willing to enter. Compromise. “A promise together.”
Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is selected verses from Acts 15:1-31, and is read by Nancy Griswold.
One of the best known short stories of Raymond Carver is entitled “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.” What I propose is that “what we talk about when we talk about faith” sometimes needs to be “how can we talk about faith” at all because we so rarely do; and when we do, no matter how many sermons we have heard, no matter how many hymns we have sung, no matter how many classes in Old and New Testament we have taken, we don’t really know how to talk about our faith. We are not even sure that we should.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Acts 14:8-18, and is read by Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt.
In today’s sermon, three days after we have celebrated the signing of the Declaration of Independence and hence the birth of our nation 233 years ago, around the idea – the idea, not race or soil – that all people are created equal, I want us to look at one scene in in which early Christians –in this case Paul and Barnabas – come into contact with a person who holds considerable political power in the Roman hierarchy of rulers. Looking at this story, I want us to consider what can happen when Christians live and work or at least come in contact with people who hold genuine political power.
Larry R. Hayward preaches on the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Acts 13:1-12.
We are in the midst of a sermon series on the Book of Acts, a book which recounts in dramatic fashion the story of the early Christians who – armed with the good news of the resurrection and commissioned by Christ at his ascension to carry that good news to all people and nations – are about the business of taking the spiritual force, the humanitarian idealism, the promise of ultimate redemption found in Jesus and translating it into the world of facts and fancies, kings and empires, families and fortunes, gained and lost. Jesus started a movement; and beginning in Acts, the church translates that movement into a religion, an institution, a global community “in the world” but not “of the world.” In doing so, early Christians had a continual need for deliverance, a need often met by intervention on the part of God.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Acts 12:1-19, and is read by Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy.
We often assume that major times we experience the presence of God or make a deeper commitment to our faith involve a break with the past, more change than continuity. But while the direction of Paul’s life – and the focus of his deeply held service to God – takes a 180 degree turn on the road to Damascus, it is rooted in the faith and life, the language and literature, the vocabulary and vernacular that had shaped and formed him in his upbringing in Judaism.
Rev. Larry R. Hayward preaches on the 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Acts 9:1-20, and is read by Lauren Beyea, chair of the Worship and Music Committee.
"I want to preach today on the recent death of my own mother, Carolyn Hayward, 22 days ago in her 87th year. Now I do so aware that such a sermon is fraught with potential pitfalls, not the least of which is that it can become more about the preacher than the good news to which the preacher is called to bear witness. I seek to walk through this sermon in the midst of you whom I love, and whose love I have received since I first stood in this pulpit 15 years ago."
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on Trinity Sunday. The Scripture lesson is Luke 2:36-38, read by Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy.
It is Pentecost. While this morning you will not hear about the tongues of fire and the chaotic cacophony of that first Pentecost, rest assured that the Spirit moves.
Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on Pentecost Sunday. The Scripture lesson is Romans 8:14-17.
Welcome to this "Picnic Sunday," the closest that Westminster gets to "casual Friday." But in the midst of all the woundedness in the world, how DO we have a picnic? Perhaps the ultimate point to be made in all of this is: in light of such loss and hardship that is out there and also with us here, you do not cancel the picnics. Jesus, after all, in the face of his people's despair, began his ministry at a wedding.
Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Seventh Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is Acts 16:16-34.
Gamaliel was a Pharisee: one of the foils of the gospel, the misguided bad guys who always got it wrong because they insisted on others getting it right. But in Acts, Gamaliel stands out as a person worthy of respect, and full of wisdom.
Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on Acts 5:27-40.
The history of the church that chooses to divide and conquer with our privileges and preferences is long--it is indeed very long. This "us and them" mentality is seemingly so innate to our faith, we don't pause like Peter enough to ask, "Who am I that I should hinder God?"
Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on the Fifth Sunday of Easter and Confirmation Sunday. The Scripture lesson is Acts 11:1-18.
Trauma lies at the heart of the Old Testament, and its many books offer a range of models for embracing potentially traumatic transformations. Two quite divergent models can be found in the book of Psalms and Job. The Psalter builds a temple in space and in time that envelopes and moves through trauma toward praise. The book of Job places trauma at the beginning and moves simultaneously into the dark reality defined by trauma and out of that darkness into a world after trauma, at once more free and mysterious than the world it attempts to leave behind. We will consider the impact of trauma on the formation of the Bible generally and the two particular responses in the Psalter and Job as models for resilience.
Dr. Paul K.-K. Cho holds a B.A. in comparative literature from Yale University, an M.Div. from Yale Divinity School, and a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Harvard University. He serves as Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at Wesley Theological Seminary. He is author of Myth, History, and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible and is currently working on a book on The Dead Give Life: Willingness to Die in the Hebrew Bible.
Throughout the literature of the Bible, there is a link between the power of the voice and the omnipresent image of Shepherd. As a preacher, anytime I speak of “hearing the voice of God” or “Christ speaking to us” I know that a number of people will assume and hope that I am speaking symbolically; a number will look down at their bulletins in awkward silence; and a number will say to themselves “God has spoken to me, but if I say anything about it, people might avoid me.” Wherever you fall among these numbers, please stay with me.
Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is John 10:22-30.
Trauma lies at the heart of the Old Testament, and its many books offer a range of models for embracing potentially traumatic transformations. Two quite divergent models can be found in the book of Psalms and Job. The Psalter builds a temple in space and in time that envelopes and moves through trauma toward praise. The book of Job places trauma at the beginning and moves simultaneously into the dark reality defined by trauma and out of that darkness into a world after trauma, at once more free and mysterious than the world it attempts to leave behind. We will consider the impact of trauma on the formation of the Bible generally and the two particular responses in the Psalter and Job as models for resilience.
Dr. Paul K.-K. Cho holds a B.A. in comparative literature from Yale University, an M.Div. from Yale Divinity School, and a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Harvard University. He serves as Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at Wesley Theological Seminary. He is author of Myth, History, and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible and is currently working on a book on The Dead Give Life: Willingness to Die in the Hebrew Bible.
Three times, Jesus asks Simon Peter, "do you love me?" And three times, Peter answers correctly. But like the church that Peter would come to represent, Peter did not always do so well with questions--especially when his own life was in jeopardy.
Patrick Hunnicutt preaches from John 21:15-19.
There is an aspect of the resurrection of Christ that we don’t talk about often, an aspect that is part of a larger story we don’t tell enough. This aspect is the redemption not just of our own lives as individuals, but the redemption of the whole of the created order. Just as there is a “life to come” for individuals, so also there is a “life to come” for all of creation.
Larry Hayward preaches from Revelation 1:4-8.
Perhaps the most important words the men in dazzling clothes speak to the women may not be, ironically, “He is risen.” Rather, the most important words may be “Remember…remember how he told you.” The reason these words are so important is that they are instructive. They chart the way the women come to trust the message that Christ is risen – and as such they form a way we can come to such trust as well.
Larry Hayward preaches on Easter Sunday from Luke 24:1-12.
It is a regret of my life, perhaps not beyond repair, that I have not read more of Shakespeare. When I first started preaching, I encountered a phrase from Shakespeare’s As You Like It that has stayed with me for obvious vocational reasons:
And this our life, exempt from public haunt, Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
It is the “sermons in stones” that I remember.
Larry Hayward preaches from Luke 19:28-40.
From the story of Creation to Jesus’s calling the Pharisees a “brood of vipers,” the serpent in the Bible is not the most inviting of creatures. Yet their rep is not always disreputable—in various cultures and religions, serpents are symbols for fertility and rebirth, guardianship of temples and sacred places, and medicinal healing. As in history and mythology, the association of serpents with the cross is a mixed bag.
Larry Hayward preaches from Numbers 21:5-9 and John 3:11-15.
We come now to sermon four of five in a Lenten series entitled “Construing the Cross.” Through these sermons we are looking at different but complementary ways the Christian faith interprets the death of Christ on the cross: sacrifice, scapegoating, deliverance, tree and serpent. All these ways I hope prepare us to celebrate even more hopefully that day on which we will sing “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.”
Larry Hayward preaches from Genesis 2:8-9, 15-17; Deuteronomy 21:22-23; Revelation 2:7; and Revelation 22:1-2.
What does it mean to “follow Jesus,” to “practice” Christian faith in an increasingly post-Christian culture? What makes us uneasy about claiming Christian faith in the current climate? Is there a difference between being a good Christian and just trying to be a good person? Does being a Christian mean we have to reject other religions? This 5-week Lenten series explores these and other questions as a way of helping us name in new ways our sense of Christian identity in contemporary culture. This week's topic is "Christian Spiritual Maturity." Please note: part 3 is not available due to technical difficulties.
Dr. Kathy Staudt works as a teacher, poet and spiritual director at a number of institutions, including Virginia Theological Seminary and Wesley Theological Seminary.
This series looks at different but complimentary ways our faith seeks to interpret the death of Jesus Christ: as sacrifice, as scapegoating, as deliverance, as tree, and as serpent. Today the association we explore is that of the cross as deliverance. God moves through history bringing freedom. God moves through humanity bringing salvation. These gifts are part of the larger movement of God’s redemption of all of creation – found within and jumping out at us from the pages of Genesis through Revelation.
Larry Hayward preaches from Exodus 12 and John 6.
What does it mean to “follow Jesus,” to “practice” Christian faith in an increasingly post-Christian culture? What makes us uneasy about claiming Christian faith in the current climate? Is there a difference between being a good Christian and just trying to be a good person? Does being a Christian mean we have to reject other religions? This 5-week Lenten series explores these and other questions as a way of helping us name in new ways our sense of Christian identity in contemporary culture. This week's topic is "Jesus: The Heart of Christianity."
Dr. Kathy Staudt works as a teacher, poet and spiritual director at a number of institutions, including Virginia Theological Seminary and Wesley Theological Seminary.
In this series we explore differing but complementary understandings of the death of Jesus Christ: sacrifice, scapegoat, deliverance, tree and serpent. Today’s sermon explores the association of the death of Christ with the ancient practice of sending a scapegoat into the wilderness and the common phrase that ritual has bequeathed to our language.
Larry Hayward preaches from Leviticus 16:7-10, 20-22 (KJV) and John 11:45-53.
In Christian tradition, we say as a matter of course that the death of Christ involves sacrifice: Christ sacrificing his life or his being sacrificed for us. Today we look at sacrifice as related to the cycle of life and death in nature: as in the cycle of all living things, Jesus's death bears fruit that changes the human heart and overcomes the power of sin and evil in the world.
Larry Hayward preaches from John 12:20-26 in the first of a five-part Lenten series.
What does it mean to “follow Jesus,” to “practice” Christian faith in an increasingly post-Christian culture? What makes us uneasy about claiming Christian faith in the current climate? Is there a difference between being a good Christian and just trying to be a good person? Does being a Christian mean we have to reject other religions? This 5-week Lenten series explores these and other questions as a way of helping us name in new ways our sense of Christian identity in contemporary culture. This week's topic is "Christians in a Secular Culture: A spiritual path."
Dr. Kathy Staudt works as a teacher, poet and spiritual director at a number of institutions, including Virginia Theological Seminary and Wesley Theological Seminary.
Between 1820 and 1850, the U.S. contended with a set of urgent problems: how to reconcile the ideal of liberty with the reality of racial slavery; how to square Christian belief with the removal of Native tribes from homelands coveted by white people; how to interpret the principle of “equality” vis a vis women, free people of color, and Catholic immigrants; how to invent a national identity and a robust nationalism in the face of conflict, demographic diversity, and geographical immensity. Underlying these conundrums—as we see in the literature of the era—was an unresolved contradiction about citizenship: were you an “American” because you pledged allegiance to the nation and its laws or because your ancestry connected you to the first colonists, those in the vanguard of “Anglo-Saxon Civilization?” And complicating it all was the righteous (but possibly self-serving) belief that God had destined Americans to be a new “Chosen People” and America to be a “city on a hill,” a nation exempted from the historical inevitability of rise and fall.
The author of "Strange Nation" and the Boyd Professor of English at Louisiana State University, Dr. J. Gerald Kennedy has a Ph.D. & Master’s from Duke University. He has published over 14 books on American Literature, short Fiction, literary nationalism and modernism and received countless awards and honors for his works on Edgar Allen Poe. He has been a Member of the Hemingway Society, President of the Poe Studies Association, and on various English advisory Boards. At Westminster, he is even better known as “Ben’s dad.”
"Love your enemies is not the only teaching of Jesus Christ that leads me to question the seriousness, if not the reach, of my faith. Then when Jesus adds, 'do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you" - my doubts remain.
Larry Hayward preaches from Luke, Proverbs, and Romans.
"In the year King Uzziah died." For all their tumultuous history, Israel lived in relative stability during the reign of Uzziah. When he left the throne, it ushered in a time of instability--Isaiah's career as a prophet will largely take place under Syrian occupation. Was it the finality of death and the inevitable reminiscing that comes with shock and mourning that made Isaiah recall "the good old days"?
Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on Isaiah 6:1-8. The Scripture is read by Nico Gutierrez from Boy Scout Troop 129.
A three-part series with Dr. Diana Bermudez, a psychotherapist specializing in early childhood who helps young children, parents, educators and administrators to enhance emotional health and decrease challenging behaviors. In this session, Dr. Bermudez discusses the transformation of parenting from the traditional generic/authoritative style to a more responsive/nurturing style.
German pastor, theologian, and anti-Nazi dissident, Dietrich Bonhoeffer has achieved iconic status as one who epitomizes what it means to struggle and resist tyranny and fascism and how one acts in faithful witness as a religious and political commitment. Dr. Victoria Barnett, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, will guide us through his faith journey, with an emphasis on how he engaged with the issues of his times and how that in turn led to some new theological insights. Part 4 of 4.
In a world in which sin and evil, death and disease, tragedy, treachery, and tyranny retain a great deal of their power, the church will never be able to reach every human being, heal every illness, eliminate every form of injustice, bring reconciliation to every personal, familial, political, religious, class, ethnic, tribal, national, or global conflict. But even when we accept, however reluctantly, what the church cannot do, there is one thing – one thing – that the church retains the power to do: bear witness to the Word God has given us, a Word which – in the end – is a word of hope.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on Luke 4:21-30 and Psalm 71:1-6.
A three-part series with Dr. Diana Bermudez, a psychotherapist specializing in early childhood who helps young children, parents, educators and administrators to enhance emotional health and decrease challenging behaviors. In this session, Dr. Bermudez discusses how brain research has transformed our understanding of early childhood mental health and the role of parents.
Westminster members Matt Viser, Dan Judy, and John McArdle team up again to bring us up to date on the implications of the 2018 midterm elections. Matt is National Political Reporter with the Washington Post, Dan is Vice President at North Star Research, and John is Producer and Host at C-Span. Hear their insights and analysis of the midterms, just as the new Congress is getting started.
German pastor, theologian, and anti-Nazi dissident, Dietrich Bonhoeffer has achieved iconic status as one who epitomizes what it means to struggle and resist tyranny and fascism and how one acts in faithful witness as a religious and political commitment. Dr. Victoria Barnett, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, will guide us through his faith journey, with an emphasis on how he engaged with the issues of his times and how that in turn led to some new theological insights. Part 3 of 4.
When we come to church, we expect to hear about love. But love and hate are bound in very intimate ways, so today we'll take a detour into the realm of hate. We ask ourselves, what is it that we hate?
Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on Luke 4:14–22a.
German pastor, theologian, and anti-Nazi dissident, Dietrich Bonhoeffer has achieved iconic status as one who epitomizes what it means to struggle and resist tyranny and fascism and how one acts in faithful witness as a religious and political commitment. Dr. Victoria Barnett, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, will guide us through his faith journey, with an emphasis on how he engaged with the issues of his times and how that in turn led to some new theological insights. Part 2 of 4.
The first miracle Jesus performs in the Gospel of John occurs at a wedding feast that lasts seven days and doubtless costs more than a few shekels. When Mary notices a human need – not one of life or death, of poverty or plenty – she turns to her son, whom both she and the reader know is “the Word” that has become “flesh” and “dwelt among us, full of grace and truth, ” and lays this situation at his feet.
Larry Hayward preaches on John 2:1-11.
Baptism of the Lord Sunday always seems to come at just the right time: that part of the year that we are in between transitions, as we get caught up in the culture of the New Year. We might find ourselves somewhere between the reflections of the old and the hopes of the new.
Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on Luke 3:15–22.
German pastor, theologian, and anti-Nazi dissident, Dietrich Bonhoeffer has achieved iconic status as one who epitomizes what it means to struggle and resist tyranny and fascism and how one acts in faithful witness as a religious and political commitment. Dr. Victoria Barnett, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, will guide us through his faith journey, with an emphasis on how he engaged with the issues of his times and how that in turn led to some new theological insights. Part 1 of 4.
In the Time Being in which we live, the Herods of the world often rule but do not ultimately prevail. The Child who lives is the One over whose birth the star settles, the One whose birth draws Magi from their precincts of learning and shepherds from their fields of labor.
On the Epiphany of the Lord, Larry Hayward preaches on Matthew 2:1-12.
How are we to behave in community? In Colossians, how we dress is a metaphor for how we strive toward communal flourishing. We do not dress for ourselves, but for our community: a community that should be imitators of Christ.
Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on Colossians 3:12-17.
On this night, Christmas Eve, we gather with a sense of rapt, beautiful wonder.
Shakespeare once wrote: “Such a deal of wonder is broken out within this hour, that ballad-maker’s cannot be able to express it”. In contrast to all other services in which the church gathers at night, on Christmas Eve, the sense of wonder is so pervasive that not even our most beautiful hymns and anthems, our gentlest harp, our most inviting voices can “express it.” Christmas Eve almost begs to be silent.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on Luke 2:13-20.
On this Sunday before Christmas, the Fourth Sunday of Advent, I want to do something I rarely do in a sermon: I want to bear witness as clearly and beautifully as I can as to why I believe in all we are doing in this service today: the words we say, the music we hear and sing, the prayers we lift spoken or silent. In other words, I want to say, as best as I am able, why I am a Christian and how I got to be one. I hope to do so in a way that is not so much about me, but becomes about you who have gathered and about the birth, life, and destiny of the Christ whose name draws us here.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on Luke 1:39-45.
Advent is a time of hope & expectation. We celebrate the miraculous birth of a child whose life, death and resurrection is the anchor of the Christian message. How are we to understand this first century message today as we come to it with very different cultural mores and practices, ethical understanding, scientific knowledge, and philosophical and religious insights? Questions we’ll explore include how to square our current scientific outlook with the Biblical account, how to understand the nature of miracles, and how faith is to be understood in this Post-Truth era. With Dr. Jim Muyskens.
Paul's encouragement to rejoice, his assurance of the nearness of God, his promise that we would obtain a peace that surpasses understanding - these are the words of the Bible that the church has been playing over and over again. If all we listen to are these "greatest hits," they might lose their power. Haven't we played that song enough?
On the third Sunday of Advent, we light the candle for joy. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on Philippians 4:4-9.
Advent is a time of hope & expectation. We celebrate the miraculous birth of a child whose life, death and resurrection is the anchor of the Christian message. How are we to understand this first century message today as we come to it with very different cultural mores and practices, ethical understanding, scientific knowledge, and philosophical and religious insights? Questions we’ll explore include how to square our current scientific outlook with the Biblical account, how to understand the nature of miracles, and how faith is to be understood in this Post-Truth era. With Dr. Jim Muyskens.
Advent is a time of hope & expectation. We celebrate the miraculous birth of a child whose life, death and resurrection is the anchor of the Christian message. How are we to understand this first century message today as we come to it with very different cultural mores and practices, ethical understanding, scientific knowledge, and philosophical and religious insights? Questions we’ll explore include how to square our current scientific outlook with the Biblical account, how to understand the nature of miracles, and how faith is to be understood in this Post-Truth era. With Dr. Jim Muyskens.
As we read Paul’s letters, we become aware that he knew – from personal experience – that not all human relationships can be mended, not all conflicts resolved, not all divisions healed, even those relationships that begin in a common faith. His words to the Thessalonians are written with this awareness of the human propensity for division, but also with a hope and a pathway toward something better.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the first Sunday of Advent from 1 Thessalonians 3:6-13.
Paul began his letters to the early churches by saying, "grace and peace." The apocalyptic writer John used the same words to introduce his vision of a new heaven and a new earth. "Grace and peace" make for great beginnings and for great endings, too.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches from Revelation 1:4-8.
Is it part of the irony of God that something so historically and religiously significant as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam would come from a small desert region of the world and from a people whose origins barely registered in the annals of historians of their day?
How little we know.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Mark 13:32-37.
On this 100th anniversary of the armistice, the question I would like to address today – more as a minister than a citizen – is this: Is there a theological reason to remember every year, those who have put their lives on the line?
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on this Remembrance Sunday from 1 Corinthians 1:18-25. This sermon was preached at the 8:30 a.m. service.
I conclude the series today by seeking to answer perhaps the most ambitious question of all – “Why Tithe?” I ask this of you because I believe that our faith is neither as rich nor complete until we are committed to returning to God a significant portion of the material goods which so mark and bless our lives.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches from Genesis 14:17-20.
Hear firsthand who we are here at Westminster through the eyes, ears and hearts of your staff.
Patty Chamberlain talks about Children’s Ministry and how she plans and thinks about bringing God’s word to the littlest among us.
Why give to the church – not only our time, but a considered, thoughtful percentage of our income as well? Why give our money – as well as our time – to the church?
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches from Matthew 6:19-21.
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead meant that everything first disciples of Jesus had thought they understood was now to be re-thought in the light of God's surprising action. They experienced various kinds of change: individual and communal, mind and heart, circumstance and vision or point of view. Sometimes change brought struggle, even conflict; more often, it brought joy and a new appreciation of God's providential care for them. With with Dr. Katherine Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary.
We believe in some sense our faith can exist apart from the community created in its name, the church. While I do not want to deny that we can come to and even grow in faith apart from a congregational setting, I still want to offer three interrelated and ascending answers to the question: “Why join a church?” So here goes.
Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11.
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead meant that everything first disciples of Jesus had thought they understood was now to be re-thought in the light of God's surprising action. They experienced various kinds of change: individual and communal, mind and heart, circumstance and vision or point of view. Sometimes change brought struggle, even conflict; more often, it brought joy and a new appreciation of God's providential care for them. With with Dr. Katherine Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary.
If you came to Westminster needing to hear how easy it is to be a follower of Jesus, then this passage in Mark is a reminder that following Jesus is, and always will be, a difficult decision. Or that following Jesus is surrendering to a life of difficult decisions every day.
Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches today from Mark 10:17-31.
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead meant that everything first disciples of Jesus had thought they understood was now to be re-thought in the light of God's surprising action. They experienced various kinds of change: individual and communal, mind and heart, circumstance and vision or point of view. Sometimes change brought struggle, even conflict; more often, it brought joy and a new appreciation of God's providential care for them. With with Dr. Katherine Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary.
On this World Communion Sunday in which we break bread and share wine with churches of different denominations across the world, what is it that Westminster particularly embodies that leads us to be a genuine part of the of the answer to the question “Why Church?”
Why Church? Fall Sermon Series The series will lead up to our stewardship campaign, in which we each decide how much of our financial resources we will pledge to the work of Westminster in 2019, but it will not be limited to that focus. In some ways, the series will ask basic questions about why we are here, why we are involved in a church at all, and what role our involvement plays in our lives. In a time in which American religious life is changing, and in a church in which many of us may only be here for three or four years before being transferred to the next city, we all benefit from paying attention to fundamental questions this series will address.
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead meant that everything first disciples of Jesus had thought they understood was now to be re-thought in the light of God's surprising action. They experienced various kinds of change: individual and communal, mind and heart, circumstance and vision or point of view. Sometimes change brought struggle, even conflict; more often, it brought joy and a new appreciation of God's providential care for them. With with Dr. Katherine Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary.
"Whoever is not against us is for us," says Jesus. Who is for? Who is against? Who is right, who is wrong? Who and what are true, and who and what are false? It's just too bad that Scripture has no resonance with current events.
Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on Mark 9:33-41.
PLEASE NOTE There is no audio recording of this sermon due to a technical error.
Why Church? Fall Sermon Series
The series will lead up to our stewardship campaign, in which we each decide how much of our financial resources we will pledge to the work of Westminster in 2019, but it will not be limited to that focus. In some ways, the series will ask basic questions about why we are here, why we are involved in a church at all, and what role our involvement plays in our lives. In a time in which American religious life is changing, and in a church in which many of us may only be here for three or four years before being transferred to the next city, we all benefit from paying attention to fundamental questions this series will address.
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead meant that everything first disciples of Jesus had thought they understood was now to be re-thought in the light of God's surprising action. They experienced various kinds of change: individual and communal, mind and heart, circumstance and vision or point of view. Sometimes change brought struggle, even conflict; more often, it brought joy and a new appreciation of God's providential care for them. With with Dr. Katherine Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary.
"I know that there have been times in my preaching where I have read to you writings that are too dense, too complex, too long for most listeners of any age to follow. I plan to commit this sin again today, and challenge you, once again, to listen well."
Larry Hayward preaches on Proverbs 1:20-33.
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead meant that everything first disciples of Jesus had thought they understood was now to be re-thought in the light of God's surprising action. They experienced various kinds of change: individual and communal, mind and heart, circumstance and vision or point of view. Sometimes change brought struggle, even conflict; more often, it brought joy and a new appreciation of God's providential care for them. With with Dr. Katherine Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary.
Today’s sermon is about maternal, parental, even grand-parental love. It is a sermon about how such love can be ever so close to God’s love. It is a sermon about how the love we have for children is akin to the love we receive from God. As the body of Christ in the world, it is important for the church to embody and foster such love.
Larry Hayward preaches on Mark 7:24-30.
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead meant that everything first disciples of Jesus had thought they understood was now to be re-thought in the light of God's surprising action. They experienced various kinds of change: individual and communal, mind and heart, circumstance and vision or point of view. Sometimes change brought struggle, even conflict; more often, it brought joy and a new appreciation of God's providential care for them. With with Dr. Katherine Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary.
In the passage we read today, the Gospel writer Mark expresses a critique of Jewish ritual. Jesus, however, appears less concerned about the specific practices Mark is critiquing than with the intention and motivation that lie behind both the ritual and its critique—a focus more on the heart than the practice the heart produces.
Larry Hayward preaches on Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23.
Israel has been waiting for a fixed locale to faithfully worship, to experience the God of Abraham, Isaac, and and Jacob. Now Solomon is in the Temple, dedicating the space after what has to be one of the longest house hunting expeditions in Israel history.
Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on 1 Kings 8 (selected verses).
In the story of Solomon, we see both divine revelation and humble human response. It is complicated Biblical legacies like Solomon's that are a staple of understanding the story of us: us the fallen, and us the faithful.
Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on 1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14.
In Stephen, we see the dignity of all kinds of work. We are reminded, too, of the ways we often impose limits that God, in God's dynamic power, seeks to break down.
Patrick Hunnicutt preaches today on Acts 6:8-15.
In this final sermon in this summer series on ordinary but obscure characters in the Bible, we turn to the most obscure character of all: “the mother of Rufus.” When we do detective work around the family of Rufus and his mother, we begin to encounter a tragic division that appears to have arisen within the family. Larry Hayward preaches on Romans 16:13 and Mark 15:21-24.
Summer Sermon Series: Ordinary People. It is in the loves and hates, the hopes and fears, the strides and stumbles of ordinary people that God is both known and active in the world and which is narrated in Scripture. This summer’s series will highlight four men and four women from the Bible and hold them before our eyes that we may observe what they experienced, what moved them, and how God may have been present to them.
There is so little in the text itself about "Joseph called Barsabbas, also known as Justus" that we are left to carefully reading the text for clues about him and then using our imagination and common sense to move him from being a stick figure to at least an etching in whom we might see some of our own characteristics and experiences under God. Larry Hayward preaches on Acts 1:12-17, 20-26.
Summer Sermon Series: Ordinary People. It is in the loves and hates, the hopes and fears, the strides and stumbles of ordinary people that God is both known and active in the world and which is narrated in Scripture. This summer’s series will highlight four men and four women from the Bible and hold them before our eyes that we may observe what they experienced, what moved them, and how God may have been present to them.
Who lives, who dies, who tells your story? In Luke, we are given the portrait of a man whose history we might otherwise have forgotten, that we might not have celebrated. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on Luke 23:50-56.
Summer Sermon Series: Ordinary People. It is in the loves and hates, the hopes and fears, the strides and stumbles of ordinary people that God is both known and active in the world and which is narrated in Scripture. This summer’s series will highlight four men and four women from the Bible and hold them before our eyes that we may observe what they experienced, what moved them, and how God may have been present to them.
We cannot explain the crucifixion to our fullest satisfaction. We can only cross ourselves, bow our heads in silence before it. We can only trust that through the death it brought to the Christ who faced it heroically, God has in fact been “absorbing” into his very heart and mind and soul, all the suffering and sin we know.
Summer Sermon Series: Ordinary People. It is in the loves and hates, the hopes and fears, the strides and stumbles of ordinary people that God is both known and active in the world and which is narrated in Scripture. This summer’s series will highlight four men and four women from the Bible and hold them before our eyes that we may observe what they experienced, what moved them, and how God may have been present to them.
In Huldah, the person who is the focus of today’s sermon, we see a different kind of love: love for the pages of a book and the words written on those pages which she attests are God’s Word and which eventually become a part of the Bible we read.
Summer Sermon Series: Ordinary People. It is in the loves and hates, the hopes and fears, the strides and stumbles of ordinary people that God is both known and active in the world and which is narrated in Scripture. This summer’s series will highlight four men and four women from the Bible and hold them before our eyes that we may observe what they experienced, what moved them, and how God may have been present to them.
Orpah appears only in the Book of Ruth, and while she is named (not always a guarantee for women in scripture), she appears in only the first chapter and doesn’t have a speaking role. She then disappears from the narrative and from historical memory, until the family of an infant girl born into poverty in Kosciusko, Mississippi, in 1954 chose her name for a child who would grow up to become one of the most admired and recognized women in America. arry Hayward preaches from Ruth 1:1-18.
Summer Sermon Series: Ordinary People. It is in the loves and hates, the hopes and fears, the strides and stumbles of ordinary people that God is both known and active in the world and which is narrated in Scripture. This summer’s series will highlight four men and four women from the Bible and hold them before our eyes that we may observe what they experienced, what moved them, and how God may have been present to them.
"Paltiel is probably the most obscure of the eight Biblical characters on whom I am preaching this summer. As I have circulated the titles in this series among staff and members, no one has come up to me and said: 'I’m so glad you are preaching on Paltiel.'" Larry Hayward preaches from 2 Samuel 3:12-16.
Summer Sermon Series: Ordinary People. It is in the loves and hates, the hopes and fears, the strides and stumbles of ordinary people that God is both known and active in the world and which is narrated in Scripture. This summer’s series will highlight four men and four women from the Bible and hold them before our eyes that we may observe what they experienced, what moved them, and how God may have been present to them.
In his parables, Jesus takes ordinary things--like lost coins, dinner parties, and misbehaving children--and he uses them in stories to help his listeners perceive their familiar reality in a whole new way. Parables were Christ's way of helping people meet God, and t see their life with God "again, for the first time." Patrick Hunnicutt preaches from Mark 4:26-34.
In traditional preaching and teaching across the centuries, the unnamed wife of Lot serves as an example of how not to be if we seek to be faithful and committed followers of Jesus Christ. But a close reading of this story at least opens the door for a more charitable and humane interpretation of Lot’s wife. Larry Hayward preaches from Genesis 19:12-15, 24-26.
Summer Sermon Series: Ordinary People. It is in the loves and hates, the hopes and fears, the strides and stumbles of ordinary people that God is both known and active in the world and which is narrated in Scripture. This summer’s series will highlight four men and four women from the Bible and hold them before our eyes that we may observe what they experienced, what moved them, and how God may have been present to them.
The knowledge of who God is can be unbearable--it is a lot to grasp the divine and the awesomeness of God's attributes. We are invited today to be both challenged and comforted by the wonder of God.
Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on Confirmation Sunday. The Scripture lesson is selections from Psalm 139.
A story that has circulated among preachers for years concerns a small, African-American Church in Michigan on that Sunday after the Kennedy assassination, a Sunday in which all across the land people poured out of their homes into houses of worship. In this particular church, the minister stepped to the pulpit, pulled the chain which turned on the light by which he could read, opened his Bible, and read words from Isaiah that open our scripture today: “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord.”
The minister then proceeded to ask his grieving, gathered congregation: In the year that we have lost our King, In the year that we have lost our dashing young president, Can we – can we – can we see the Lord?
Larry Hayward preaches on Isaiah 6:1-8.
On this Pentecost morning, we are reminded in Romans that part of the call in our souls, our bodies, our lives, is to be people who imagine.
Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on Romans 8:22-27.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward explores the meaning and importance of Ascension, an important part of the life and destiny of Christ, often lost on mainline Protestants like us. The scripture today is Luke 24:44-53
As Christians, we struggle with ways to listen for God’s call and to act where our faith leads us. With this class, Elder Kathy Harkness will consider the challenges of being called and how we can act faithfully and in attentive ways to when, where and how God calls us. (1 of 3)
Rev Dr. Larry R. Hayward focuses on John 15:15 and makes the claim that we know enough to “bear fruit…that lasts.” The scripture today is John 15:9-17.
Karen has done extensive research on contempt & mockery in our political culture, as well as the moral value of having faith in our fellow human beings. Timely topic for a time such as this. She will talk about the boundaries of civility, ways of expressing political disagreements, and how having faith in our fellow human beings just might transform the political discourse. (2 of 2)
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward focuses on what it may mean for us to be “pruned” and how that can lead to “bearing more fruit.”The scripture today is John 15:1-8.
Karen has done extensive research on contempt & mockery in our political culture, as well as the moral value of having faith in our fellow human beings. Timely topic for a time such as this. She will talk about the boundaries of civility, ways of expressing political disagreements, and how having faith in our fellow human beings just might transform the political discourse. (1 of 2)
The Westminster Youth speak on the "Good Shepard." The scripture today is John 10:11-19
Julie has a reputation for building dynamic partnerships. But her experience raising children of color in our society gives her a unique perspective on how to start a dialogue about race in this country. Julie adopted two daughters from Ethiopia. How do we raise more socially & faith conscious children? Expand your mindset to understand how bias informs your decisions. Gain insight on how to start the much-needed conversation about race with your children and yourself. (2 of 2)
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward covers several elements in this story: unrecognized presence, “disbelieving for joy,” scripture, the charge to be witnesses. What does it mean to hear and assert news so terrific we “disbelieve for joy”? The scripture today is Psalm 41.
The author of the best-selling “Nourishing Traditions” brings expertise to young mothers and children on the vital factors of one’s diet. Sally has helped change the national conversation about what constitutes a healthy diet. Learn about the dangers of certain foods, as well as what are the nutrient-dense foods. How does your diet effect your growth and the function of your brain?
Julie has a reputation for building dynamic partnerships. But her experience raising children of color in our society gives her a unique perspective on how to start a dialogue about race in this country. Julie adopted two daughters from Ethiopia. How do we raise more socially & faith conscious children? Expand your mindset to understand how bias informs your decisions. Gain insight on how to start the much-needed conversation about race with your children and yourself. (1 of 2)
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward focuses on seeking to relate “the young man at the tomb” to the “young man who fled.” It raises the question, “how do we write ourselves into the Easter story?” The scripture today is Mark 16:1-8.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward speaks about "The Last One to Flee". The scripture is Mark 14:52.
Rabbi Jack Moline & Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward present “Pretext”. Rev. Hayward & Rabbi Moline will use various Biblical texts to draw lessons for us. Once again, as only “Larry & Jack” can, they’ll share their biblical and theological wisdom from years of study, pastoring and leading congregations. Be ready for humor, wit, and engagement as we examine together the texts, the pretexts, and the contexts of the Bible. (Part 3 of 3)
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward will focus on calm, particularly how that, in Alter’s words, may lie “outside cultic or public function.” The scripture today is Psalm 131.
Rev. Whitney K. Fauntleroy speaks about "Alliance and Defiance." The scripture today is Psalm 2:1-4
Rabbi Jack Moline & Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward present “Context”. Rev. Hayward & Rabbi Moline will use various Biblical texts to draw lessons for us. Once again, as only “Larry & Jack” can, they’ll share their biblical and theological wisdom from years of study, pastoring and leading congregations. Be ready for humor, wit, and engagement as we examine together the texts, the pretexts, and the contexts of the Bible. (Part 2 of 3)
Rabbi Jack Moline & Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward present “Text”. Rev. Hayward & Rabbi Moline will use various Biblical texts to draw lessons for us. Once again, as only “Larry & Jack” can, they’ll share their biblical and theological wisdom from years of study, pastoring and leading congregations. Be ready for humor, wit, and engagement as we examine together the texts, the pretexts, and the contexts of the Bible. (Part 1 of 3)
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward continues the Lenten sermon series in conjunction with Leonard Bernstein's "Chichester Psalms". The Scripture today is Psalm 23.
With Dr. Matthew Taylor from the Reformed Institute. As Turkish armies almost sacked Vienna in the 16th century, Martin Luther helped publish the Qur’an in Latin—how did the possibility of being conquered by a different religion shape Reformer’s minds? (Part 3 of 3)
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward continues the Lenten series "The Chichester Psalms". The Scripture is Psalm 100:3-5. Today he preaches "Not We Ourselves".
With Dr. Matthew Taylor from the Reformed Institute. As Turkish armies almost sacked Vienna in the 16th century, Martin Luther helped publish the Qur’an in Latin—how did the possibility of being conquered by a different religion shape Reformer’s minds? (Part 2 of 3)
Over the centuries, we humans have experienced the decidedly mixed character of the world as we know it. In response, we began to yearn, to hope, to pray for, to believe in, something more.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on 2 Kings 2:1-4.
With Dr. Matthew Taylor from the Reformed Institute. As Turkish armies almost sacked Vienna in the 16th century, Martin Luther helped publish the Qur’an in Latin—how did the possibility of being conquered by a different religion shape Reformer’s minds? (Part 1 of 3)
Due to technical difficulties, this sermon was not recorded. Download the PDF to read it!
Whenever we hear a Biblical story about healing, we likely react in one of several ways: Our eyes may immediately be drawn to our own experience; we may think of people who have experienced some kind of healing; we may wonder about – and even be angry over – those near to use who have not been healed. When I chose to preach on this passage today, what attracted me was one simple sentence at the outset of the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law: Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Mark 1:29-39.
At WPC for the first time, Betsey will share her wisdom and extensive understanding of “elder law.” The maze of navigating legal, financial and practical questions for every decade can be overwhelming. This dynamic, interactive workshop (Q&A) is designed for all adults and for those with aging parents and allows plenty of opportunity for questions!
While changes in any congregation are necessary, inevitable, and best greeted with welcome, because a significant part the church’s role is to serve as sanctuary from the pressures of society, an island of stability in a sea of change, changes in the church can be particularly challenging for those of us for whom our church home – Westminster – is dear as refuge and relief.
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches today. The Scripture lesson is Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.
With WPC Elder David Roden. Explore why Paul’s letter to the Romans became the key motivation for the reformation. Why do some modern theologians believe the reformers misread Paul? What did Paul say and what was Paul doing in this important letter? Discover how you might interpret Romans differently. Part 3 of 3. (Due to technical difficulties, Part 2 was not recorded).
In a prophetic tale with an overabundance of the absurd, how do we stay focused on the sometimes startling, sometimes challenging, always absurd grace of God?
Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on Jonah 3:1-5, 10.
“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Nathanael is stuck: stuck in himself, stuck in his own ignorance, stuck in his own constricted view of reality. But when he is told to “come and see,” his willingness to go leads him to Jesus. And Christ’s seeing, and Christ’s knowing, change everything for Nathanael.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on John 1:43-51.
With WPC Elder David Roden. Explore why Paul’s letter to the Romans became the key motivation for the reformation. Why do some modern theologians believe the reformers misread Paul? What did Paul say and what was Paul doing in this important letter? Discover how you might interpret Romans differently. Part 1 of 3.
Whatever children and youth experience from hearing, seeing, interacting with adults – in the kitchen, in the hallways, at the water fountain, in the classroom, in the sanctuary, in the choir loft – whatever they experience from us shapes their faith, for good or for ill. We are all Simeons and Annas.
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches from Luke 2:21-40.
Matthew, Luke, and John, each writing thirty to sixty years after the death of Christ, have introduced us to Jesus with words carefully chosen and beautifully written. In contrast, Mark’s words are informative. They are important. But they are not particularly poetic or beautiful.
Instead, Mark calls us to get to work, “immediately.” The kingdom of God is near. The business of life is at hand. It is time to repent, turn our attention to the kingdom Christ brings, commit ourselves to it, get to work on its behalf.
Larry Hayward preaches on Mark 1:1-14.
though the stories that Christian churches across the world recite, sing, and tell this night are about a particular birth of a particular person in the midst of a particular people at a particular time and place in history – namely, Jesus Christ, born as a free, Jewish male, in first century Palestine – the significance of his birth transcends the time and place and gender and race and legal standing and national heritage in which he was born. The peace Christ brings transcends these all.
Our sermons this Advent are drawn from the opening to each of the four gospels in the New Testament. We heard the beginning of Matthew three weeks ago; the beginning of Luke last Sunday. Today, we focus on the opening of John’s Gospel.
Both Matthew and Luke begin their stories of Jesus with his conception and birth, not an illogical place to begin. As we will see next Sunday, Mark begins with Jesus is an adult. By contrast, John takes the origins of Jesus Christ all the way back to and even before creation. In fact, when we open the Gospel of John, we wonder if we haven’t by accident opened the Book of Genesis.
Larry Hayward preaches on John 1:1-18.
With a passion for portraits and faith, artist and elder at Georgetown Presbyterian Cynthia Farrell Johnson talks about the series of portraits she created and why it’s important to her. Her faith formation and her art has continued her journey toward fuller faith and service.
Preaching her last sermon at Westminster, Rev. Casey FitzGerald leaves us with three thoughts: 1) Do not be afraid--fear is the wrong story; 2) Surround yourself with Elizabeths--those who would name for you how God is working in your life. Be Elizabeths--do not withhold your joy in naming the way you see God working in the world; and 3) Learn and tell the stories, that, like Mary, you might recall the promises of God when you and the world need them most!
The Scripture lesson is Luke 1:26–56.
A longtime and favorite lecturer at Westminster, Dr. Tony Tambasco taught theology at Georgetown University for 35 years, specializing in biblical studies and ethics.
December 10: “The Spirit of Advent.” Look at biblical characters related to the Advent liturgical cycle to understand our own Spirit-filled call to mission.
A longtime and favorite lecturer at Westminster, Dr. Tony Tambasco taught theology at Georgetown University for 35 years, specializing in biblical studies and ethics.
December 3: "Responding in Faith to the Advents of the Lord.” Discuss the past, present, and future comings of Christ and the spiritual life that arises from these.
December 10: “The Spirit of Advent.” Look at biblical characters related to the Advent liturgical cycle to understand our own Spirit-filled call to mission.
Matthew: a gospel whose opening words would not necessarily win a prize for catching our attention. But by putting the account of Christ’s birth right after the family tree, Matthew shows us how it is connected to the broad passage of time and humanity that has come before—and how we might see the new life born in our midst.
Patrick Hunnicutt begins a series of Advent sermons exploring how the gospels frame our understanding of the coming Christ in their opening pages. Today’s Scripture lesson is Matthew 1:17-25.
"I realize that in the past couple of years, in the midst of our national divisiveness, I have been trying to emphasize two things at the heart of the Christian faith: That every human being is created in the image of God and is therefore a child of God, and that the steadfast love of the Lord is given to every human being. But our text for this Reign of Christ Sunday exceeds in emphasis even these two hallmarks of Christian teaching. In emphasizing human unity, today’s text points to something else: God’s ultimate power which stands above us all."
Larry Hayward preaches on Christ the King Sunday from Ephesians 1:15-23.
As we celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, Dr. Bruce Douglass, Director, Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington and Associate Professor, Georgetown University, returns to look at those 16th Century reformations. What is its enduring legacy? How does it impact us and the world we live in today? Fourth in a four-part series.
As we celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, Dr. Bruce Douglass, Director, Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington and Associate Professor, Georgetown University, returns to look at those 16th Century reformations. What is its enduring legacy? How does it impact us and the world we live in today? Third in a four-part series.
In this sermon, we probe two fundamental questions that appear to be at the center of this imaginatively truth-telling parable: who is God, and how do we live joyfully with this God and with all who share in God's life both now and in the age to come?
Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on Matthew 25:14-30.
As we celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, Dr. Bruce Douglass, Director, Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington and Associate Professor, Georgetown University, returns to look at those 16th Century reformations. What is its enduring legacy? How does it impact us and the world we live in today? Second in a four-part series.
Following a tradition that began in 1982, Westminster remembers those who have given their lives in service to our nation. Several choral anthems, were offered to mark this Remembrance Sunday, with Dr. Larry Hayward offering reflections on each.
As we celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, Dr. Bruce Douglass, Director, Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington and Associate Professor, Georgetown University, returns to look at those 16th Century reformations. What is its enduring legacy? How does it impact us and the world we live in today? First in a four-part series.
I wish I could say that every wave returns to the sea before it does damage, that every storm is stilled before it becomes destructive, that every disease is stopped short before it claims its first victim. I wish I could say that that every international crisis will end before the words are spoken that cannot be taken back, before the first sword is drawn, the first bomb dropped.
But you know that I cannot make that promise. And neither does the psalmist. But in a psalm that is both eloquent and realistic about the heights and depths we experience as human beings, the psalmist closes with these words:
Let those who are wise give heed to these things; And consider the steadfast love of the Lord.
Larry Hayward preaches on Psalm 107.
Hear a panel of voices presenting our shared work and ministry providing shelter and opportunity to vulnerable children in Moi’s Bridge, Kenya. Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt and others talk about their recent trip and specifics of how we can further support our Kenyan brothers and sisters and to grow in faith through our work with them.
Like many Protestant congregations around the world, we at Westminster are acknowledging the 500th anniversary of the Reformation today. In this sermon, Larry Hayward shares what the Reformation has come to mean to him, a Presbyterian pastor in the twenty-first century. “I hope what you glean from this sermon will help you understand our church, our Reformed tradition, and most of all, where your own faith fits or lives in tension with our heritage.”
The Scripture lesson is Romans 12:1-4, 9-15. The sermon title is a reference to Karl Barth’s commentary on The Epistle to the Romans.
John Lewis, U.S. Representative & Civil Rights Activist, is one of the “Big Six” leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. He was a Freedom Rider, spoke at the 1963 March on Washington, and led the walk that became known as “Bloody Sunday.” John has continued to fight for people’s rights since joining Congress in 1987 and received the Medal of Freedom in 2011.
Fred Upton, U.S. Representative, joined Congress in 1987, and became friends with John through their joint work on the Faith & Politics Institute. John and Fred have known one another over thirty years and have been able to respect their differences and yet learn from each other through humility and respect.
How have these two public servants tried to understand the views and values of people who don’t share their party affiliation? How has their faith informed their public service? How has their work been driven by their belief in something greater than themselves?
Is there a place for a church like Westminster: with worship rooted in tradition centuries old, with thoughtful preaching and teaching, with acceptance of and respect for a variety of people’s individual religious experiences and the differing moral viewpoints which grow out of those experiences?
Will there be a place in the world for the values and practices we at Westminster hold dear and have embodied since our founding in 1940 as we move ever so quickly toward 2040?
Larry Hayward expands on his recent talks with Adult Education and the Men of Westminster. The Scripture lesson is Acts 17:16-34 (selected verses).
Dr. Sally Satel is an American Enterprise Institute resident scholar, a psychiatrist and a lecturer whose research areas include domestic drug policy, psychological impact of war & disasters, political trends in medicine and transplant policy. Her outstanding speaking style conveys the essential facts and stories of those caught in the web of addiction.
"The Israelites serve as simply people--flawed and forgetful people. They remind me that God has long been in the business of loving people who are either completely a hot mess or, at best, more or less ok."
Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on Exodus 32:1-14.
Being present with a friend or family member who has dementia comes with special challenges. As part of their ongoing training, the Deacons host guest speaker Christi Clark, Assistant Director of the Insight Memory Care Center in Fairfax. Christi offers practical advice on engaging with individuals who have dementia, understanding common behaviors and communicating effectively.
"In 37 years of preaching, I have never given a sermon on the Ten Commandments. But they are central to our faith; many of us were exposed to them or even memorized them as children; and they are our Old Testament passage from the lectionary today. So I think it’s about time."
Larry Hayward preaches on Exodus 20:1-18.
Dr. Dyer is the James Maxwell Professor of Christian Education & Pastoral Theology at Virginia Theological Seminary. She lost her spouse suddenly and will offer insights from her journey of loss. What experiences might you go through adjusting to life without the person they loved? What are some physical, emotional and spiritual ways to help yourself and others to heal from painful loss?
For Jesus, the political is pastoral and the pastoral is political.
Casey FitzGerald preaches from Matthew 21:23-32.
In the midst of the history we are living, God is living with us. God provides. But God’s provision also places a call upon us: a responsibility to know who we are, and to know where we have been as a prelude to knowing where we will go.
Larry Hayward preaches on Exodus 16:1-5, 10-15.
With Doris A. Fuller, Chief of Research & Public Affairs, Treatment Advocacy Center
Doris’ story is remarkable. Following the loss of her daughter to mental illness, she has become an international advocate for those dealing with chronic mental illness. Learn from someone who deals with brain diseases about making a difference for someone, somewhere and somehow.
Dry land or no dry land, the people of Israel take a leap of faith and step into the waters.
Larry Hayward preaches on Exodus 14:19-31.
Given the changes in culture, and how such changes have impacted Christianity, what does all this tell us about our ministry here at Westminster? How might we move toward fuller faith and service to God in just such a context? Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward kicks off our 2017-2018 adult ed series.
This year’s adult formation theme, "Towards Fuller Faith and Service," is meant to guide us toward praising and serving God more fully and serving our neighbors.
What is it about God—the God who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Christ in whose name we gather, who is the Spirit whose presence we invoke—that compels us to one simple and positive four-letter word?
Larry R. Hayward preaches on Romans 13:8-10.
Perhaps God will remain within the burning bush until he finds someone willing to join him in the effort of setting his people free.
Larry R. Hayward preaches today on Exodus 3:1-15.
Jesus asks his disciples two questions of identity: "Who do people say that I am?" and "Who do YOU say that I am?" Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy explores how the answers reveal both our typical human capacity of defining people through what we already know, and our ability to move beyond that through experience and revelation.
The Scripture lesson is Matthew 16:13-20.
In our story for the day, our assigned lectionary text, Jesus drops the mic on 2017: It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles. Jesus is clear--words matter.
Casey FitzGerald preaches today from Matthew 15:10-28. The song included in the Scripture reading is "Listen in the Silence" by Linnea Good.
Larry Hayward continues his summer sermon series, "In the Beginning". Today's scripture is Genesis 37:12-28.
Something about being human means being drawn to a good fight. Patrick Hunnicutt continues the story of Jacob in Genesis 32:22-31.
Whether it is daylight or darkness; whether you are home, in the process of leaving home, or returning home; whether you are estranged from your family or as close as you have ever been with them: may you know that the Lord is with you, and may the Lord take you – Jacob-like – to your true home. And when you arrive, may you recognize it with the joy and wonder that came to Jacob.
Larry Hayward continues the series “In the Beginning” with Genesis 28:10-19.
Among the most pronounced divisions which unfold in Genesis is that between brother and brother. In the story of Jacob and Esau, can we find hope for reconciliation?
Larry Hayward preaches on Genesis 25:19-28.
From the time Isaac is born to Abraham and Sarah until the time nearly forty years later he marries Rebekah, we see Isaac experience nothing but trauma and loss. But as the story of Isaac continues in Genesis, we get to see Isaac experience a moment of healing as well.
Larry Hayward preaches on Genesis 24:62-67.
As we share in our nation’s 241st year of independence, the dynamics in this text concerning the relationship between the people of Israel and their leader Moses can, I believe, add a bit of wisdom to the dynamics of what it means in our time to be the people called “The United States of America.” I offer these comments neither as law, prescription, nor even opinion, but as perhaps a bit of wisdom gleaned from a particular moment in the history of the people of God who were not quite as far along in their formation as a people as we are in our nation today, but a people with whom we may have more in common than at first we think.
Larry Hayward preaches on Numbers 11:24-30.
When we first read the story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar, it is hard to garner much respect for any of the adults in it, for the flaws of each are on full display. The book itself presents us with certain ethical dilemmas and at times violent, morally reprehensible, and stomach-turning behavior on the part of the people of God.
Larry Hayward preaches today from selected verses in Genesis 16 and 21.
There are moments when we are called into spaces and places—or when places and spaces appear around us suddenly—where we feel helpless and overwhelmed by the need at hand.
Into this world, we are called to see, to hear, to experience what is around us. And then we are called to speak good news, and even to heal.
Rev. Casey FitzGerald preaches today on Matthew 9:35—10:23.
This summer, Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches a sermon series on the Genesis selections of the Lectionary.
The series begins with Genesis 1:26–31. In this first Creation story we encounter both a vertical relationship, between God and humanity, and a horizontal relationship--a communal relationship--within God's own person and with each other.
The church is a gathering of difference: different stories, different backgrounds, different calling, different life experiences, different gifts. In 1 Corinthians, Paul is writing to a divided church, one where certain gifts are being valued over others. Paul writes to remind them who they are, that the church is best when it is a motley crew of faithful folks seeking to bring humanity in reach of something higher.
On the Day of Pentecost, Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on 1 Corinthians 12:3b–13.
As the disciples pick up the mantle of mission in Acts, they face bitterness, resistance, persecution. Some are imprisoned. Some are shipwrecked. Some are assailed by angry mobs.
Yet the last memory they have of Christ is him blessing them: thus they are able to carry on, even when carrying on is the last thing they have the confidence to do.
Larry Hayward preaches on the Ascension of the Lord from Luke 24:44-53.
Rev. Dr. Kathryn Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary, concludes her series on the experience of the early church, as described in the book of Acts, in dealing with both personal and social change. This week's theme is "From Fear of Gentiles to Welcoming Gentiles."
If our task as the church is to participate in the inbreaking of God’s kingdom on earth, perhaps we need not aim for some heroic and decisive departure from everything we have known in order to follow Jesus. Perhaps we just to situate ourselves at the beginning of the story, in the crowd that is eager to listen.
Patrick Hunnicutt preaches from Luke 5:1-11.
Rev. Dr. Kathryn Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary, reflects on the experience of the early church, as described in the book of Acts, in dealing with both personal and social change. This week's theme is "From Church Persecutor to Church Planter." Through May 21.
In a context in which disciples are confused and fearful of Jesus’s leaving – “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” – Christ is saying, with calm reassurance, “You have seen the Father because you have seen me. I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
Jesus is expressing exalted reassurance, not a call to conversion or theological precision. How does the beauty and power of John’s language about Christ actually lift our souls into his presence and lead us to belief?
Larry Hayward preaches today on John 14:1-14.
Rev. Dr. Kathryn Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary, reflects on the experience of the early church, as described in the book of Acts, in dealing with both personal and social change. This week's theme is "From Timid Disciples to Bold Witnesses for Jesus." Through May 21.
On Youth Sunday, several of our twelfth-grade students reflect on Psalm 23. Speakers are Anne-Marie Berens, Andi Scroggs, Chris Neureiter, Julia Ruffino, and Jilly Stone.
Rev. Dr. Kathryn Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary, reflects on the experience of the early church, as described in the book of Acts, in dealing with both personal and social change. This week's theme is "From Private Property to the Common Good." Through May 21.
Those of us who are well-acquainted with the story of the resurrection still desire to encounter it anew. How can we experience the resurrection as something that is vivid and real to the heartbeat of this life, not just some promise of the life that is to come or some story from many years ago?
Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on Luke 24:13–35.
When the risen Christ appears to his disciples as a body in John, Christ bestows upon them the power to represent him in the world, and the power to "forgive" and "retain" sin. What does this offering of forgiveness do for us today?
Larry Hayward preaches on John 20:19-23.
Rev. Dr. Kathryn Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary, reflects on the experience of the early church, as described in the book of Acts, in dealing with both personal and social change. This week's theme is "From Saness to Joy and from Easter to Pentecost." Through May 21.
The only real way we can respond to the resurrection of Christ is to fall down and worship. For people of faith, worship is crucial in accepting and preparing for a great responsibility, for our Great Commission.
Larry Hayward preaches on Easter Sunday from Matthew 28:1–10, 16–20.
Today is traditionally known as Palm Sunday, the day in which Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and was greeted by crowds waving palm branches and cheering, a day that leads to Jesus’ death but ultimately to his resurrection.
It is the resurrection of Christ that makes his teaching beyond that of a great teacher, his death beyond that of a martyr, his life beyond that of other great lives, both those lived to their fullness of days and those cut short by human conflict and violence. And it all begins with a procession into Jerusalem on a donkey, to the waving of branches and shouts of “Hosanna!”
Dr. Larry Hayward preaches today on Matthew 21:1-11, using Mary Oliver’s poem, “The Poet Thinks About the Donkey.” This sermon was preached at the 8:30 a.m. service.
Dr. Victoria Barnett, Director of Programs on Ethics, Religion and the Holocaust at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, challenges our understanding of how the Holocaust radically transformed the relationship between Christians and Jews. She will provide an overview of the role Christian churches played and explore post-Holocaust conversations between Christians and Jews. One session will focus on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s role in this history.
In today's story, Jesus finds his friends in difficult places, filled with fear and grief. In times of our own fear and grief, we often ask the same thing they did: “Why?” Jesus says, “Come, and see.”
Casey FitzGerald preaches on John 11:1-54.
King David is a person with tremendous capacity for good and evil, compassion and cruelty, tenderness and violence. Why would an all-powerful and all-knowing God invest God’s very self in a person like David – or for that matter a person like you or me? Why would God take such risk?
Larry Hayward preaches from 1 Samuel 16:1-13.
Dr. Victoria Barnett, Director of Programs on Ethics, Religion and the Holocaust at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, challenges our understanding of how the Holocaust radically transformed the relationship between Christians and Jews. She will provide an overview of the role Christian churches played and explore post-Holocaust conversations between Christians and Jews. One session will focus on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s role in this history.
Over 3500 years span the calendar between the people of Israel in the wilderness, Christ and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, and Van Morrison in the Irish countryside. But each experiences water as an entry point of a deeper experience of God.
Larry Hayward preaches from Exodus 17:1–7 and John 4:7–15.
Dr. Victoria Barnett, Director of Programs on Ethics, Religion and the Holocaust at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, challenges our understanding of how the Holocaust radically transformed the relationship between Christians and Jews. She will provide an overview of the role Christian churches played and explore post-Holocaust conversations between Christians and Jews. One session will focus on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s role in this history.
Faith normally comes to us in a place and may take us to another place, but it is rarely if ever “place-less.” We can never underestimate the role of geography in forming our faith, giving it roots, leading it to live. Even when geography is the source of friction and pain, we cannot escape it. Our faith takes form around place.
Larry Hayward preaches today from Genesis 12:1-4.
In eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the woman and man were not giving into or falling into some base, lower nature; rather they were rising, extending themselves, aspiring to exceed and excel. They were responding to all that is good and noble, hopeful and helpful, not base or demeaning: Nourishment, beauty, knowledge.
What’s not to like?
Larry Hayward preaches today on Genesis 3:1-7 and Matthew 4:1-11.
Rev. MaryAnn McKibben Dana, writer and Presbyterian pastor, leads us in Improvising with God. How is God at work in our lives and how do we respond? Examples of God’s improvisation from scripture are explored as we challenge ourselves to see God in creative and surprising ways through music, pop culture, literature and psychology.
Third of a three-class series on world religions and Christian theology that adopts a way of belonging, behaving, and believing for the common good.
We welcome to our service the Reverend Whitney K. Fauntleroy, the Westminster Associate Pastor Nominating Committee’s candidate for Associate Pastor for Youth & Young Adults. Reverend Fauntleroy comes to us from Wilmington, NC. She holds a Master of Divinity and a Master of Arts in Youth and Young Adult Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary.
Reverend Fauntleroy preaches today from 1 Samuel 3:1-10.
Sathi Clarke, Wesley Seminary’s Chair in World Christianity and Professor of Theology, Culture & Mission
Second of a three-class series on world religions and Christian theology that adopts a way of belonging, behaving, and believing for the common good.
Dr. Larry Hayward concludes an accidental sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount, preaching on Matthew 5:38-48. How do we address the gap between the demands of these words of Jesus and the world in which we seek to understand and live them out?
In her sermon a few weeks ago, Casey FitzGerald challenged us to re-engage with Scripture such that we might see the tension within it; between it and ourselves; and between it, ourselves, and our world.
Today, she leads us in hearing a large piece of Scripture—three chapters from the gospel of Matthew—that our time in worship does not normally afford us to hear. Let anyone with ears, listen.
Sathi Clarke, Wesley Seminary’s Chair in World Christianity and Professor of Theology, Culture & Mission
This is a three-class series on world religions and Christian theology that adopts a way of belonging, behaving, and believing for the common good.
Peter Wehner, Senior Fellow at the Ethics & Public Policy Center, speaks to us about how many orthodox and evangelical Christians feel increasingly marginalized. How should we think about engagement in a culture that is both effective and faithful, and what is the political role in all of this?
“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?”
“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden.”
Though Jesus never uses the word “church,” he is describing not only what the individual life of the Christian is to be, but also what the followers of Jesus Christ are collectively to be. He is describing the church.
Larry Hayward preaches on Matthew 5:13-20.
The decades-old conflict between Israel and Palestine is at a critical impasse. What will American diplomacy be in the days and year ahead? Ambassador Wilcox talks about this tragic conflict between Israel, who aspires to be a democratic and Jewish state, and Palestine, whose people live under unjust occupation and want a state of their own.
Ambassador Wilcox served in the U.S. Foreign Service for 31 years, his last post as Chief of Mission and U.S. Consul General in Jerusalem.
The Beatitudes speak to what it means to be a Christian and what it means to be the church. Are they commandments to follow in this life, or are they descriptions of the life to come? Are they reflections of the way things are or the way things ought to be?
Larry Hayward preaches on Matthew 5:1-12.
Dr. G. Wilson Gunn, Jr., General Presbyter, National Capital Presbytery, speaks to us about adaptive change and leadership in posts where we seek to lead, about changes at the presbytery level, and answer any questions members might bring to the session concerning our presbytery.
The Christian Church around the world is in a season of focusing on the beginnings of the ministry of Jesus Christ. How did Jesus’ ministry reflect the political circumstances of his day, and how did he prepare for it? How did his followers respond to his call to ministry?
Larry Hayward preaches today from Matthew 4:12-22.
A follow-up to their fall discussion on Christian-Muslim engagement, at this session Salih speaks to the challenges of fostering interfaith dialougue in America. His wife, Dr. Zeyneb Sayilgan, brings a Muslim woman’s perspective to the conversation. Salih Sayilgan is a teaching fellow at the Catholic University of America where he teaches courses on Islam and World Religions.
“I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth." (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)
“Here is the Lamb of God who lifts up the sins of the world!” (John 1:29)
On the weekend we celebrate and remember the life and work of Dr. King, we see in John’s gospel a Savior that makes the sins of the world visible before us. When we say we want to follow Jesus, do we understand what it is we’re going to see? How do we live with the tension that recognizing our sins brings us?
Casey FitzGerald preaches on John 1:29-42.
How do we extend brotherhood and sisterhood to those with whom we disagree? What are our own misperceptions of people of other faith? Imam Zia and his wife, Fatimah, have spent a decade working in this field. They have much to share with us. Learn more about our Muslim brothers and sisters and hear first-hand how we can bridge our divides with selfless service and compassion.
You may best know the words to the third chapter of Ecclesiastes from a pop song. But what do these words tell us about life as we begin a new year? Larry Hayward preaches today on Ecclesiastes 3:1-15.
On Christmas Day, Larry Hayward leads us in a series of Scripture and literature readings in celebration of Christ's birth. Today's literature readings come from "For the Time Being" by W.H. Auden. The Scripture lessons are Matthew 2:1-2, 10-12; Luke 2:15–20; John 6:1–3, 5, 8–14; Luke 2:25–32; and are read by Amanda and Laura Wilcox.
"When we come to this place on Christmas Eve, we bring what is going on in our lives, what is going on in our families, and what is going on in our world, including its inherent sadness. Yet what we experience when we arrive here are words and music and silence and prayer and candlelight and harp that tell a story so transcendent that it reaches down from the heavens, lifts us into its arms, calls us by name, consoles and strengthens us, as it moves us to a new emotional and spiritual place." Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on Christmas Eve. Tonight's scripture lesson is Luke 1:26-38. The reading from W.H. Auden's "For the Time Being" was done by the Rev. Casey FitzGerald.
When faced with Mary’s unexpected pregnancy, Joseph considers his options. We imagine he talks with his family or friends, consults Biblical texts he has memorized as a child, prays, listens to his own sense of conscience – engaging, in other words, his moral imagination. What begins as a noble exercise in Joseph’s moral imagination leads Joseph to experience the presence of God, learn the will of God, and join that will at work in the whole creation. Larry Hayward preaches from Matthew 1:18-25.
Presbyterians are part of a world-wide movement, commonly known as "Reformed," which traces its roots back to the Protestant Reformation. This series of four lectures by Dr. R. Bruce Douglass, Director of the Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington, is designed to provide a fresh interpretation of some of the key elements of that view. To conclude this series, we look a central theme of the Reformed tradition, the idea that we are saved by "faith alone." What does that mean? How is it related to the idea that Christians are known by their (good) works? Why have critics sometimes accused Reformed Christians of excessive emphasis on "works"?
The church turns to Isaiah frequently during Advent because it finds in his beautiful poetry resonance with the promises of redemption that come in and through the birth of Jesus Christ. Larry Hayward preaches on this third Sunday of Advent from Isaiah 35:1-10.
Presbyterians are part of a world-wide movement, commonly known as "Reformed," which traces its roots back to the Protestant Reformation. This series of four lectures by Dr. R. Bruce Douglass, Director of the Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington, is designed to provide a fresh interpretation of some of the key elements of that view. This Sunday, we look at Humanism: Calvin said the Bible is a source of wisdom about the human condition; and even though he believed much of that wisdom had do with human sinfulness, he still thought it was ultimately "good news." Why?
“I know that so many of our families, our marriages, our working relationships, our friendships, our churches, our communities, are frayed. I know it is easy to feel like we are standing in that burned out forest, smoke and ash beneath our feet. But I also know that in the burned out forest in which we live, a tiny shoot sprouts from a branch – a shoot from the stump of Jesse. I know that when the One born in Bethlehem arrives, through him we will have come to understand ourselves to be freer than we have ever understood ourselves to be free before.” Larry Hayward preaches on Isaiah 11:1-10. (This sermon was preached at the 8:30 a.m. service.)
Presbyterians are part of a world-wide movement, commonly known as "Reformed," which traces its roots back to the Protestant Reformation. This series of four lectures by Dr. R. Bruce Douglass, Director of the Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington, is designed to provide a fresh interpretation of some of the key elements of that view. This Sunday, we look at "The True God?"
The beginning of wisdom, Calvin said, is the knowledge of God we derive from Scripture. But that knowledge often conflicted, he said, with the things human beings think they know about God. What exactly does the Bible tells us about God's nature, purposes, etc.?
“Here’s the thing that we know as Christians, that we are called to know and live by: We can sit in darkness. We can be people who dwell in the dark, knowing that Jesus Christ is light enough. In Advent, we make way for this light—we prepare for this light, we welcome it—and it gets closer and closer to us.”
Today’s Scripture includes “Christmas and Easter: A Story,” an adaptation of the Gospel of Luke arranged by the Rev. Dennis Dewey; Romans 13:8–14 (NRSV); and the “Prophecy Catena,” an adaptation of Jeremiah 33, Luke 21, and Romans 13 arranged by the Rev. Casey FitzGerald. Our worship leaders today are the Rev. FitzGerald, Heather West, and Dave Aland.
Cover Art: Those Who Walked In Darkness © Jan Richardson. janrichardson.com.
Presbyterians are part of a world-wide movement, commonly known as "Reformed," which traces its roots back to the Protestant Reformation. This series of four lectures by Dr. R. Bruce Douglass, Director of the Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington, is designed to provide a fresh interpretation of some of the key elements of that view.
This Sunday, we look at Why the Bible? Why Only the Bible: The Reformation began with an insistence on the unique authority of the Bible in matters of faith. But what exactly does it mean in practice, and how is it affected by the way we interpret Scripture?
"When we remember, it is not simply a “remembrance of things past,” a supporting of veterans with better health care and home and education loans when they return, as important as these are. Remembering also involves to the best of our ability understanding what they faced, how much we owe our democratic freedoms to them, and vowing ever to protect those freedoms." Larry Hayward preaches on this Remembrance Sunday from Isaiah 65:17-25.
Unlike some topics on which the Scriptures are silent, the Scriptures taken as a whole have something to say about politics, and can provide some perspective that might shed light for us as Christians and voters in the United States of America in 2016. In this Sunday before the general election, Larry Hayward preaches from 1 Samuel 12:1–25.
Dr. Muyskens, a WPC member, has written and taught on religion and medical ethics and was President of Queens College, the City University of New York, from 2002-2013. At this second session, we have a philosophical discussion looking at whether access to a basic minimum of care is a right—can a society be called just if many have no access?
Dr. Muyskens, a WPC member, has written and taught on religion and medical ethics and was President of Queens College, the City University of New York, from 2002-2013. His first session will focus on how the American health care delivery systems works—or doesn’t. At the second, we’ll have a philosophical discussion looking at whether access to a basic minimum of care is a right—can a society be called just if many have no access? The third session will involve active audience participation, talking about how we navigate these seas of changes.
Today is Reformation Sunday, and this year we mark the 499th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, dating from when Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral. Using Marilynne Robinson’s essay “Reformation,” Dr. Larry Hayward explores the Reformers’ belief that every able human being had the right to access the scriptures, because God reveals wisdom to each individual person on earth. The scripture lesson is Luke 21:1-4.
Dr. Peter Stearns, Professor of History and Provost Emeritus at George Mason University, talks with us about fear. An obvious factor in contemporary life, how has American fear been changing since the 1970s? What is our response to excessive fear? Part 2 of 2.
The first thing we say about ourselves in worship each week is that we are sinners. This is a meaningful moment; a moment where we are honest with ourselves and before God and are yet are able to receive God's grace with joy and thanksgiving. How do we balance this understanding of ourselves as sinners with the knowledge of our divine origins in the image of God? Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on Psalm 51:1-5, 10-12.
Dr. Peter Stearns, Professor of History and Provost Emeritus at George Mason University, talks with us about fear. An obvious factor in contemporary life, how has American fear been changing since the 1970s? What is our response to excessive fear? Part 1 of 2.
In several of Jesus’ parables, particularly in Luke, two central characters stand in clear contrast with one another: the Rich Man and Lazarus; The Pharisee and Publican; the Prodigal Son and the Elder Brother. In today’s parable, we encounter the Judge and the Widow. What might Jesus be saying to us through these two characters? Larry Hayward preaches today on Luke 18:1–8.
Some commentators praise the power of technology to help us organize and connect. Others say the Internet is decimating our attention spans and weakening our relationships in real life. This session offers theological grounding and practical wisdom as we navigate the joys and perils of this digital age—ever-changing yet here to stay. Rev. MaryAnn McKibben Dana is the author of Sabbath in the Suburbs: A Family’s Experiment with Holy Time (2012).
Today’s story reminds us that an essential aspect of being a Christian is having a special focus on people who are needy, people who are rejected, people who are on the margins of society and even on the margins of respectability. Larry Hayward preaches on Luke 17:11-19.
Dr. Christina Puchalski, Executive Director of the George Washington University Institute for Spirituality and Health (GWish), is a pioneer and international leader in the movement to integrate spirituality into healthcare in both the clinical setting and in medical education. She continues to break new ground in the understanding and integration of spiritual care in a broad spectrum of healthcare environments. Today, she tells us about the importance of spirituality in healthcare, which can enhance patient coping, health outcomes, and health care decision making.
"I wrote this sermon title--How Did We Get Here?--after the explosion in New York, after the bags were found in New Jersey, after the mall in Minnesota…in coming across vitriol being spewed against my Muslim brothers and sisters…with the image of refugees and their children scrolling across my mind. I wrote this sermon title--How Did We Get Here?--thinking about all the ways language is being used to hurt…before I watched a video about a town in West Virginia, a forgotten place largely comprised of poor whites trying to find their voice in the conversation of the day. I wrote this sermon title before the violence of this particular week unfolded: before the stories of two more black men, this time in Tulsa and Charlotte, killed at the hands of law enforcement. How did we get here?" Casey FitzGerald preaches today from Luke 16:19-31.
A steward in crisis adopts a shrewd but dishonest plan to cheat his master. The steward receives praise from that master, and then Jesus holds the steward up as an example for Christians to follow. What can we make of this? What do we do when God reverses our sense of what is right and what is wrong? Larry Hayward preaches today from Luke 16:1-13.
In an engaging forum, Salih Sayilgan and Dodd Sims will present their work on Christian-Muslim engagement in a world of difference. Bringing Muslim and Christian perspectives into discussion, they will offer new insights for a more fruitful cooperation between the two faiths based on the modern Muslim theologian Said Nursi (d. 1960) and his work the Risale-i Nur.
Dodd Sims, MD practices internal medicine in Alexandria. For more than twenty years he has worked with the immigrant community of Northern Virginia. He has a masters in theology from Wesley Seminary. Salih Sayilgan is a teaching fellow at the Catholic University of America where he teaches courses on Islam and World Religions.
Almost our entire cultural heritage expects us to search for and find personal happiness, meaning and purpose to our lives, and a spiritual identity or relationship with God. Jesus tells two parables describing a search: a shepherd looking for a sheep, and a woman looking for a lost coin. Who is the searcher in these stories? Who is the searcher in our lives? What do these parables tell us about finding? Larry Hayward preaches today from Luke 15:1-10.
From existential threats such as disease and nuclear war to the immediate physical challenges of food, energy, and potable water, being of citizen of the world today means grappling with vast change. General James Cartwright, USMC (Ret.), sets the stage for us on three great issues we are facing: technology, especially in communications and in the partnering of persons with machines; migration and demographic changes brought on by climate change; and governance, including the institutional and cultural biases that tend toward denial of change. How do we do the soul-searching necessary to adapt to these changes? How do we look beyond ourselves to embrace the changes that are coming?
General James Cartwright served as the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2007-2011. He is introduced by WPC member Michael Donley, who served as the 22nd Secretary of the United States Air Force. General Cartwright references the National Intelligence Council’s Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds, which can be found at https://www.dni.gov/index.php/about/organization/global-trends-2030
Today’s talk is the first of our year-long series on “Navigating the Seas of Change.” For more information about upcoming classes, visit http://www.wpc-alex.org/seasofchange.htm
The book of Philemon is in many ways a book about change: the degree of change, the pace of change, the embracing of change that arises from deep within our Christian faith. In the nostalgia which some of us feel and the change which all of us face, what can this shortest of Biblical books teach us? Larry Hayward preaches today from Philemon.
When it comes to dinner guests, Jesus ranks among the worst. The Pharisees practice hospitality by inviting Jesus to dinner, and he proceeds to tell a story about…the best way to host a dinner party. Jesus, as he tends to do, continues to disrupt our ways of thinking and our lives for the sake of the kingdom. Casey FitzGerald preaches today from Luke 14:1, 7–14 and Hebrews 13:1–8.
“Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.” When Jesus heals a woman on the Sabbath, the church leaders react and the whole crowd rejoices. What does this healing tell us about Sabbath? What do we do when our insistence on right practice comes into conflict with the freedom that comes with Sabbath? The Rev. Casey FitzGerald preaches today from Luke 13:10-17.
Brutal heat. Long-running and simmering divisions. Lingering stress. Sound familiar? We might long for words of peace, a Scripture that soothes us from the troubles of today’s world; instead, we get a Jesus who predicts division, a scorching heat carried by southerly winds. How do Jesus’ words in this passage challenge some of our assumptions about how we understand his message? Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches today from Luke 12:49-56.
This summer, the “Jewels in the Attic” series has addressed Biblical passages that are either not very familiar, might be mundane or boring, or have some troublesome aspects to them. Today, we consider the value and role that Biblical texts such as these – and the Bible as a whole – can play in our life. How can the Bible give us meaning and relevance? How does God use these passages to speak to us about things happening in our community and nation today? How can we make Bible reading more a part of our lives? Larry R. Hayward concludes the summer sermon series preaching from 2 Timothy 3:10-17. The Scripture passage is read by Rhyan Hance.
In today’s world, ideas have consequences. How important is it to have clear, well-considered ideas of who we are and what we believe? In what spirit do we develop and share those beliefs? And what is the “sound doctrine” that makes up the content of those beliefs? Dr. Larry R. Hayward continues the summer sermon series “Jewels in the Attic?” The Scripture lesson is 2 Timothy 1:8–14, 2:1–7, 4:1–5.
The Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward continues his summer sermon series, Jewels in the Attic. The scripture for today is 1 Timothy 6:6-19.
In today’s letter to Timothy, Paul lays out the duty of small house churches to determine who among its members has need and to focus the church’s support toward such members. What can Paul’s instructions teach us about how we live in community today? Larry Hayward preaches today from 1 Timothy 5:1-16.
This week has been a tough one in our nation, following the deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and the police officers in Dallas. Among the pieces of advice Paul gives Timothy concerning leadership and his own Christian commitment is this: “Set the believers an example in speech and conduct.” How can we -- as individuals, as a community, and as a nation -- seek to listen and move beyond our own comfort zones? Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches from Psalm 77 and 1 Timothy 4.
Evangelism: It’s not a numbers game. When Jesus sends out his followers, he sends them out to offer peace, share meals, and share stories together—to build relationships. But in today’s world, where we seem to be more divided than ever, how do we create community? How do we provide hospitality when it means being uncomfortable? Casey W. FitzGerald preaches today from Luke 10:1-11, with reference to “Community: The Structure of Belonging” by Peter Block.
In this passage from 1 Timothy, we discover a list of qualifications of those who would be a bishop in a first century Christian congregation (the leader of a local house church). While this list is specific to those congregations living under the Roman Empire, how can it speak to issues we face in leadership today, within the family, within the church and community, and within our nation? The Scripture passage today is 1 Timothy 3:1-7.
When it comes to the Bible, how do we decide if its words more reflect attitudes of its own day and time than attitudes that lie in the heart and mind of God? Do we have the right to conclude that one part of the Bible has authority for us, while another part doesn’t, that one part bears witness to God’s Word while another part bears no such witness? Larry R. Hayward explores this challenge through 1 Timothy 2:1-15 and Old Testament scholar Phyllis Trible’s article “Authority of the Bible.”
The texts of 1 and 2 Timothy reflect a time when Christianity had evolved from being a movement to being an organization: with standards and traditions and rules and regulations and offices and office-holders. In addition to being rather settled and mundane, they contain some very troubling passages.
The people of these Pastoral Epistles, who lived a hundred or a hundred and fifty years after the death and resurrection of Christ, are actually closer to us in experience than those who lived in his immediate aftermath. We are settled into our life and our world, trying to make sense of events that happened eons ago, events that we have been told hold the key to life here and life in the world to come. And some issues we face – in daily life, in politics, in work – are not much different than the issues they faced.
If we can work our way through these difficult passages in scripture – and in the way those passages have been used in church and society – we may be able to remove a barrier to our faith or the faith of someone else. Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward’s summer sermon series on “Jewels in the Attic” continues through August 7. Today’s Scripture lesson is 1 Timothy 1:1-7, 12-15, 18-19a.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on Confirmation Sunday. The scripture for today is Jeremiah 29:4-7, 10-14.
On this weekend in which as a nation we remember those who have lost their lives in battle, and on a day in which as a church we gather around the Lord’s Table to remember “the death of Christ” until he comes again, we look at two lectionary texts that provide similar insight and challenge. Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches today from 1 Kings 18:20-40 and Luke 7:1-10.
Central to our Christian faith is caring for God’s creation. What is our relationship to the natural world? In this lecture series, Dr. Tony Tambasco will suggest elements for a “creation spirituality,” drawing on the Pope’s encyclical and Elizabeth Johnson’s book "Ask the Beasts: Darwin and the God of Love."
The doctrine of the Trinity is embedded in our worship—in our hymns, in our affirmation of faith at baptisms and communion, in our assurance of pardon. But what does it actually mean for us? On Trinity Sunday, Larry Hayward explores this mystery using Marilynne Robinson’s book of essays "The Giveness of Things." The Scripture lesson is John 1:1-5, 14.
The story in Genesis 11 is not so much a true story about a tower, but a truth-telling story: about a people who reach for the heights in order to remain where they are, and a God who has other plans for them. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches from Genesis 11:1-9.
Central to our Christian faith is caring for God’s creation. What is our relationship to the natural world? In this lecture series, Dr. Tony Tambasco will suggest elements for a “creation spirituality,” drawing on the Pope’s encyclical and Elizabeth Johnson’s book "Ask the Beasts: Darwin and the God of Love."
Central to our Christian faith is caring for God’s creation. What is our relationship to the natural world? In this lecture series, Dr. Tony Tambasco will suggest elements for a “creation spirituality,” drawing on the Pope’s encyclical and Elizabeth Johnson’s book "Ask the Beasts: Darwin and the God of Love."
Gathered around the Table, sharing what they come to realize is their last meal with Jesus, the disciples hear Christ pray on their behalf: for their healing, their hope, their empowerment, their faith, their witness, their courage, their protection, their strength--indeed, their very life. Today, Larry Hayward invites us to experience being prayed for. The Scripture lesson comes from John 17.
Central to our Christian faith is caring for God’s creation. What is our relationship to the natural world? In this lecture series, Dr. Tony Tambasco will suggest elements for a “creation spirituality,” drawing on the Pope’s encyclical and Elizabeth Johnson’s book "Ask the Beasts: Darwin and the God of Love."
Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: Not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” What do these words mean? How can they shape us in the same way that the 23rd Psalm or Lincoln’s Second Inaugural or “Little Red Corvette” have shaped us today? How does the peace Christ offers differ from the peace the world offers, and how does his peace “let not our hearts be troubled, and neither let [them] be afraid?” Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches from John 14:25-27 (KJV).
On Youth Sunday, several of our twelfth-grade students reflect on AWE, our youth motto to Accept, Walk, and Empower. The Scripture lesson is Exodus 3:1-14. Reading the Scripture lesson are Casey Lockard, Chris Neureiter, and Jilly Stone. Speakers are Maggie Chamberlain, Eric Folkerts, Sarah Keeth, Rosie Cool, Amanda Wilcox, Kelsey Van Horne, Jillian Schiele, and Laura Wilcox.
Central to our Christian faith is caring for God’s creation. What is our relationship to the natural world? In this lecture series, Dr. Tony Tambasco will suggest elements for a “creation spirituality,” drawing on the Pope’s encyclical and Elizabeth Johnson’s book "Ask the Beasts: Darwin and the God of Love."
On Good Shepherd Sunday, Dr. Larry R. Hayward looks at how the scriptures can be a mirror through which we see ourselves and our world--in both our beauty and our fallenness. Today's Scripture lesson is John 10:22-39.
Today's resurrection story has a stream of details--an empty net, a charcoal fire, a naked fisherman--that on their own may seem insignificant, but which work together to create relationships and connection to the greater story of Jesus in John's gospel. Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches today from John 21:1-14.
How can the story of "Doubting Thomas" address our own doubts in our faith? Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches today on John 20:19-31.
On this Easter Sunday, Dr. Larry R. Hayward traces the appearance of the risen Christ to one person – Mary Magdalene – and relates her experience to poetry from the past and people in the present, both of whom express the beauty of Christian belief at its best. The Scripture lesson is John 20:1-18.
On Good Friday, Rev. Patrick A. Hunnicutt reflects on John 18:1-11, 19-27, and 19:16-17, 28-30.
Throughout the season of Lent, the sermons will feature the poems of George Herbert (1593-1633), a Welsh poet and Anglican priest who wrote between the Age of Shakespeare and the Age of Milton. Five poems, published in 1633, formed the basis of Ralph Vaughan Williams “Five Mystical Songs,” written between 1906 and 1911. On Palm Sunday, the choir will present all five of these songs. Today, using the poem “Love Bade Me Weclome,” Dr. Larry R. Hayward examines communion in the context of Presbyterian worship. The Scripture lesson is 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.
Throughout the season of Lent, the sermons will feature the poems of George Herbert (1593-1633), a Welsh poet and Anglican priest who wrote between the Age of Shakespeare and the Age of Milton. Five poems, published in 1633, formed the basis of Ralph Vaughan Williams “Five Mystical Songs,” written between 1906 and 1911. On Palm Sunday, the choir will present all five of these songs. Today, using the poem “Antiphon,” Dr. Larry R. Hayward asks, how can we be sure we are not alone as we make our way through life? The Scripture lesson is Psalm 139:1-12.
Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches today in celebration of Westminster's 75th Anniversary. The Scripture lesson is Galatians 4:8-20.
Throughout the season of Lent, the sermons will feature the poems of George Herbert (1593-1633), a Welsh poet and Anglican priest who wrote between the Age of Shakespeare and the Age of Milton. Five poems, published in 1633 in The Temple, formed the basis of Ralph Vaughan Williams “Five Mystical Songs,” written between 1906 and 1911. The poems are “Easter,” “I Got Me Flowers,” “Love Bade Me Welcome,” “The Call,” and “Antiphon.” On Palm Sunday, the choir will present all five mystical songs. Today, using the second half of the poem “Easter,” Dr. Larry R. Hayward explores where we find beauty in our lives: in our relationships, in the midst of suffering and sacrifice, and in Christian doctrine. The Scripture lesson is Mark 14:3-9 (RSV).
Throughout the season of Lent, the sermons will feature the poems of George Herbert (1593-1633), a Welsh poet and Anglican priest who wrote between the Age of Shakespeare and the Age of Milton. Five poems, published in 1633 in The Temple, formed the basis of Ralph Vaughan Williams “Five Mystical Songs,” written between 1906 and 1911. The poems are “Easter,” “I Got Me Flowers,” “Love Bade Me Welcome,” “The Call,” and “Antiphon.” On Palm Sunday, the choir will present all five mystical songs.
Today, using the poem “Easter,” Dr. Larry R. Hayward explores how we might embrace the cross as Christ embraced the cross, living our daily lives in the most ordinary way: serving others. The Scripture lesson is John 10:11-18.
On this Transfiguration Sunday, the Rev. Casey W. FitzGerald looks at this strange story--of a mysterious, wild, and holy mountaintop encounter--and wonders what is going on in the valley. Today's Scripture is Luke 9:28-36.
Today, Westminster ordains and installs this year's class of elders and deacons, our lay leaders of the church. Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward looks to God's call of Jeremiah to show us how we can serve not just Westminster, but our community, our city, our nation, and the world. Today's Scripture passage is Jeremiah 1:4-10.
On the day after a blizzard, Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches on Psalm 19, a psalm that extols the beauty of nature.
This is not a story about abstaining from or having permission to consume wine; it is not a story about obeying or disobeying parents; it is not a story about consistency of voting record or campaign promises. Rather, it is a story about identity; timing, and abundance. Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches today from John 2:1-11.
The first session of our Parenting Series explores how parents are the primary architects of the young brain. Learn how to give your children "brain food" and to communicate and connect!
Beverly Tauke is a family counselor whose clinical focus revolves around providing people with strategies to achieve parenting success, integrating biblical concepts with current research and strategies for healthy living. She has her Masters of Social Work from The Catholic University of America and an M.A. in Communications.
The next session of our series will be "Family Story Power" on February 14.
Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt explores how our experiences of the river—with each other and with God—echo the wonder, unity, and awe that Jesus experienced at his own baptism. Luke 3:21-23a.
"As human beings and as Christians, I believe we can be a significant part of the light shining in the darkness and the darkness not overcoming it. But participating in such light is more difficult to do if, as I am prone to do, we ignore the source of the light. If the light that shines in the darkness is Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, the source of that light is God himself." Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward continues preaching from John 1:1-18.
Today, we look at what the one story of Jesus' childhood tells us about Jesus' sense of vocation and identity, and what that means for us. Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches from Luke 2:41-52.
Nothing within the Christian faith denies the reality of darkness—but within this darkness, there is light. Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches on Christmas Eve from John 1:1-5.
Of all the seasons of the year, there is something about Christmas that leads us to hope again, to believe in hope again, or at least to want to believe in hope again. For some of us, it is something as ordinary as baseball that can at least point to the hope that lies behind the promise of Christmas. Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches today from Luke 1:39-45.
Rev. Patrick A. Hunnicutt asks, "Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?" Today's Scripture lesson is Luke 3:7-18.
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches today from Luke 21:25-26.
"Yet what Christ’s birth does mark is the beginning of a new generation in history – a generation of which we are part, a generation that lives between Christ’s birth and his promised return. We are the generation who have received the news of his birth and have heard his promise that our generation will continue until his return, until that day when God’s kingdom arrives in all its fullness, when God’s will for all of humanity will be done, when God’s redemption of the earth and its people will be completed."
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches from Psalm 8, exploring its celebration of the exalted role of humanity among all the creatures of the earth, especially in in light of this week's news of terrorist attacks around the world.
Read: Emerson's Divinity School Address can be read at http://www.emersoncentral.com/divaddr.htm.
Russell Moore, “Stop Pitting Security and Compassion Against Each Other in the Syrian Refugee Crisis,” The Washington Post 11/19/2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/11/19/stop-pitting-security-and-compassion-against-each-other-in-the-syrian-refugee-crisis/.
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches about the benefits of faith in the face of fearfulness. Today's Scripture lesson is Leviticus 26:36-37 and Psalm 1:1-3.
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward concludes the fall sermon series, "Westminster at 75." As our 75th anniversary approaches, we have been taking a look at our past, present, and future of our congregation. Today, Dr. Hayward explains how the organizational changes in the challenge budget issued by our Session can benefit Westminster as we move forward into 2016. Today's Scripture lesson focuses on various verses: 1 Thessalonians 2:4; Galatians 2:7-10; 2 Timothy 1:14; 1 Peter 2:23; and Jude 1:3.
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward continues the fall sermon series, "Westminster at 75." As our 75th anniversary approaches, we take a look at our past, present, and future as a congregation. Today, Dr. Hayward relates how the theology and liturgy of the Reformed tradition, the mainline church, and Westminster give us the tools, the permission, and the spiritual power to speak to events in this world and to search for, find, and live out our Christian faith. The Scripture lesson is Acts 17:16-18b, 22-34.
Following our first Dessert and Dialogue with Dr. Tom Insel from the National Institute of Mental Health, we are pleased to have other professionals from NIMH share their expertise with us. Dr. Jane Pearson is the Chair of the NIMH Suicide Research Consortium, leading the NIMH efforts to understanding the complicated challenge of preventing suicides. She helped us understand who is at risk and offered us some education and opportunities to know how to prevent pathways to self-destruction.
Rev. Casey W. FitzGerald continues the fall sermon series, "Westminster at 75." As our 75th anniversary approaches, we take a look at our past, present, and future as a congregation. Today's Scripture lesson is Matthew 28:16-20, and is read by Rev. Dr. George A. Pera, Pastor Emeritus.
Following our first Dessert and Dialogue with Dr. Tom Insel from the National Institute of Mental Health, we are pleased to have other professionals from NIMH share their expertise with us. Dr. Daniel Pine is the Chief of the Section on Development & Neuroscience at the NIMH Intramural Research Program. A specialist in pediatric mental disorders, Dr. Pine will discuss ways that anxiety is expressed, especially in children, focusing on the difference between anxiety that is a normal part of life and anxiety that is part of a problem that needs to be addressed.
Rev. Patrick A. Hunnicutt continues the fall sermon series, "Westminster at 75." As our 75th anniversary approaches, we take a look at our past, present, and future as a congregation. Today's Scripture lesson is Mark 10:17-27.
"We belong to traditions that require us to be dissatisfied with whatever we have--not because we have too little, but because we have too much."
Rabbi Jack Moline, Executive Director of the Interfaith Alliance, talks to us about how individuals can be proactive about philanthropy beyond typical organizational structures. What are the values and virtues we would like to see better expressed in this world? Rabbi Moline shares how he practices philanthropy and the stories of the people to whom he has donated.
on the web: interfaithalliance.org thesixtyfund.weebly.com
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward continues the fall sermon series, "Westminster at 75." As our 75th anniversary approaches, we take a look at our past, present, and future as a congregation. This Sunday, Dr. Hayward examines how and why people find a church home at Westminster. Today's Scripture lesson is 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward continues the fall sermon series, "Westminster at 75." As our 75th anniversary approaches, we take a look at our past, present, and future as a congregation. This Sunday, Dr. Hayward talks about the purpose of preaching and how faith comes by hearing. Today's Scripture lesson is Romans 10:14-15, 17 (KJV).
Dr. R. Bruce Douglass, Director, Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington, returns to Westminster for our first Adult Education series this fall. Today, he discusses Marilynne Robinson and Calvinist Mysticism. Part 3 of 3.
Dr. R. Bruce Douglass, Director, Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington returns to Westminster for our first Adult Education series this fall. Today, he discusses John de Gruchy and Calvinist Humanism. Part 2 of 3.
Rev. Casey W. FitzGerald continues the fall sermon series, "Westminster at 75." As our 75th anniversary approaches, we take a look at our past, present, and future as a congregation. This Sunday, Rev. FitzGerald took a cue from RENT and asked us, "How do you measure a year?" Today's Scripture lesson is Mark 9:30-37.
Dr. R. Bruce Douglass, Director, Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington returns to Westminster for our first Adult Education series this fall. In recent years, there has been an increased interest in John Calvin and his deep and provocative ideas. Dr. Douglass will discuss why this development seems to be taking place as he examines critically some of its many fruits. Part 1 of 3.
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward begins the fall sermon series, "Westminster at 75." As our 75th anniversary approaches, we take a look at our past, present, and future as a congregation. This Sunday, we explored how genuine friendships in the life of the church comfort us in times of need and lift us in times of joy. Today's Scripture lesson is Romans 16:1-16.
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches today. The Scripture lesson is Proverbs 25:11-15 and James 3:1-12.
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward concludes the summer sermon series, "Christ and Culture." Today's Scripture lesson is Romans 3:21-26.
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward continues the summer sermon series, "Christ and Culture." Today's Scripture lesson is John 3:16-21.
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward continues the summer sermon series, "Christ and Culture." Today's Scripture is 2 Corinthians 4:16--5:10.
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward continues the summer sermon series, "Christ and Culture." The Scripture today is Matthew 5:17-19; 22:15-21.
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward continues the summer sermon series, "Christ and Culture." The Scripture today is Matthew 2:1-12.
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward continues the summer sermon series, "Christ and Culture." The Scripture today is selected passages of 1 John.
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward begins a seven-week summer series, "Christ and Culture." Today's Scripture is Romans 6:9a, 10-11 and Hebrews 4:14a, 16.
Rev. Casey W. FitzGerald preaches today from 1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 and 2 Corinthians 5:5-7, 14-17. Today's audio features storytelling of 1 Samuel by Heather West and reading of 2 Corinthians by the Rev. Dr. George Pera, Pastor Emeritus.