The following opportunities are available for YOU to share in creating and building community … remember, it takes just a few small loaves of bread and a couple of little fish from each of us to feed the many (tens, hundreds and thousands even!) of people with whom our lives intersect.  May your days be full of the smaller things that make big things happen!

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Saturday, August 1—ALL are welcome to the monthly potluck co-hosted by The LGBT Center and Westminster.  Created as a safe space to gather, the potluck is from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in our Social Hall!  Bring your favorite summer salad (or a little bread or some fish!) and enjoy a time of conversation and laughter as we learn from one another about the various resources available or how to fill in the gaps for one another!  ALL are welcome—all ages, and those in the LGBTQ community AND our allies! 

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Sunday, August 2—join us for worship at 8:30 or 10:30 a.m.!  And yes, this week we will indeed worship in the Social Hall and take advantage of some air-conditioned comfort.  All week long the sanctuary temperatures have been nudging upward, so for comfort and safety we’ll take advantage of a cooler space for at least this Sunday.  We look forward to some of our Sunday Players joining us (Mary Chavez, Corri Collin, Chris McLain and Mark Safranek) and creating lively musical accompaniment for our singing and our worship.  And it’s Communion Sunday when we share bread and cup together and celebrate the community God is calling us to be while sharing common elements in our faith.

Our Community Coffee Hour will be hosted by Ann Marie Floch and Janice Packwood in the Social Hall from 9:30 to 10:20, and TAGS (Talking About God Stuff) will take place in the Parlor—another cool spot in the building!  Hope to see YOU on Sunday!

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Tuesday, August 4—The Nurture Board will meet at the Schock-Jeske home at 5:30 p.m.  The Book & Salad Club will meet at Comstock Park, in an area on the west side of the park at 6:30 p.m.

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Coming up and going all OUT on Saturday, August 15!  As an Open and Affirming congregation in the Pacific Northwest Conference, we at Westminster share the opportunities of living our “and Affirming” with a number of folks.  On Saturday, August 15, a day-trip is being planned so we can join members and friends of Pullman’s Community Congregational UCC in celebrating Palouse Pride in Moscow, Idaho.  Plans are to leave Spokane fairly early (BY 9:00!) in order to walk in the parade with our banner.  The parade line-up is at 11:00, step-off at 11:30.  And then we’ll spend time listening to music and sharing in the festival at East City Park in Moscow before returning to Spokane.  Let’s have some fun!  Contact Pastor Marj if you’re able to join us! 

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A community events in which you might like to participate:

Friday, August 14:  “St. Francis of Assisi: Instrument of Peace”, a lecture featuring Brother William Short, OFM, world renown author and expert on St. Francis, will be hosted at Gonzaga University’s Wolfe Auditorium in Jepson School of Business.  The event begins at 7:00 p.m., is open to the public and free.  A book-signing with Brother Bill will follow.  To RSVP visit www.gonzaga.edu/ce.

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What are YOU reading?  These days I’m enjoying words from Joyce Rupp and Macrina Wiederkehr in The Circle of Life:  The Heart’s Journey Through the Seasons.  Here are some thoughtful words from “O Antiphons for Summer”:

          O Breath of Summer,

          Come! Come with your warm winds.

          Breathe on all within us that resists growth.

          Temper our desire to be in control.

          Raise up some wildness in us.

          O Come! ...

                    O Gardens of Plenty,

                    Come! Come bless us with your wealth.

                    Sustain us with your abundance.

                    Remind us of the world’s hunger.

                    Nudge us to give from our fullness. 

                    O Come! ...

                             O Long Days of Extended Light,

                              Come! Come with your wide expansive arms.

                             Open our eyes to the daily miracle of life.

                             Slip into our distracted hearts with every dawn.

                             Expand our ability to see beauty in our world.

                             O Come! …

And if you’d like the entire poem, let me know—it’s been a delight these oh-so-warm summer days!

Trusting you’re seeing glimpses of sacredness in your every-day journeys! 

Be blessed and be a blessing!  

Pastor Marj