Dear friends in Christ,

The book of Psalms is an interesting text in its use of reflective Hebrew poetry and incredibly diverse range of feelings expressed about and to God. At the same time, it is one of the books most quoted by Jesus. The 37^th Psalm is written by a person who sees the whole world falling apart, and is deeply upset by how unfair it all seems. Trust in God seems difficult at best and foolhardy at worst. And yet, when we look at our own lives and justice, with our actual experiences, we see that the Psalmist is not far off in their assertions about God’s sense of justice in God’s own time. This Psalm gave hope at that time, a thousand years later when Jesus quoted it during His Sermon on the Mount, and the subversive hope, peace, and faith that it fosters still ring true thousands of years later. Please join us this Sunday as we take a deep dive into faith and justice in scripture.

Please stay after worship for our Fall Congregational Meeting when we will elect Council members for next year, hear a brief update from our Treasurer on the church finances, and I will give a short report on the church goals for 2025 and 2026.

We will also be collecting for two charities this month and next, and you can click here to see two brief videos that talk about the funds: Strengthen the Church (STC) and One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS). These two collections are usually taken in the spring, but this spring was exceptionally strange and chaotic for me, so we postponed them. We will be talking about these in upcoming services, but if you would like to make a donation to either, you can click here or Venmo to @wehoucc (phone# 323-793-9059) and type OGHS or STC in the memo. Because we know we are taking these later in the year and close together, our church leadership has agreed to contribute $300 to each from our Mission Endowment Fund to supplement whatever is contributed. Thank you in advance for your thoughtfulness and generosity!

We will look forward to seeing you there!

Many blessings,

Pastor Tracy

SAVE THE DATE

Saturday, October 25, 2025 – Labyrinth Walk. If you would like to carpool, please call or text 323-793-9059 and plan on meeting us in the church parking lot by 10 AM on 10/25. Bring a brown bag lunch or something to share for a picnic after the labyrinth.

Sunday, October 25, 2025  – Fall Congregational Meeting immediately following worship.

Wednesday, October 28, 2025 – Prayer Group meets via Zoom

Sunday, November 2, 2025 – Collecting for One Great Hour of Sharing. You can donate to OGHS here. Also, we will observe All Saint’s Day. Please join us for a special worship service where we remember and honor the saints in our lives who have gone before us.

Saturday, November 8, 2025 9 AM – 12 Noon – Knitting Ministry and Potluck Brunch

Sunday, November 9, 2025 – Birthday and Anniversary Blessings for November, and Blessing of the Veterans.

Sunday, November 16, 2025 – Collecting for Strengthen the Church. You can donate to STC here.