Over 6 years ago Westwood launched its focus on our confession that in baptism each of us has been claimed as a child of God and called to be God’s hands and feet in all realms of our life.  We use the word “Vocation” to describe this.  One of the reasons this focus emerged was the concern that a real separation exists for many of us between our faith and our real lives.  Over the last years, we have had specific foci on our callings in our work/school/retirement roles, in our role as a neighbor, and in our family and friend roles.

As we enter the fall of 2020 amidst an ongoing pandemic and following a summer of deep questions about racial equity, we approach an upcoming election which has dominated the news cycle.  If we are to take seriously this call to discipleship in all the realms of our lives, then one of the things we need to acknowledge is that we also have a calling as citizens.  Our theme for the coming year is “Faithful Imagination,” and this fall, we will focus on “Faithful Imagination: Our Voice in the Public Realm”.

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While we as leaders see this as critical to engage as people of faith, we are not naïve to the challenges that this presents in such a hyper-partisan environment.  No matter our intent, the wrong combination of words or inflection in our voice can quickly lead folks to assume a particular partisan meaning.  In addition, we all have the challenge of our own humanness.  We each have our own opinions about the upcoming election and that can easily come through.  So, with these two challenges in mind, we’d like to share a clear statement on what our goals are, what they are not, and our invitation to you.