A Word from Pastor Nathan

Hi, Church!

Living out ministry with and among you is the highlight of my life! I love what we’re able to create together. We’ve experienced two weeks of re-gathering, and gosh, it feels so good. Thank you for making worship—both in-person and online—a priority.

One thing we learned throughout the pandemic was the need to continue our online presence. For Sunday mornings, this means we record in-person worship and premiere the recording at 6pm. On Pentecost Sunday, we had more than 115 in attendance, and our YouTube views for that Sunday are 194 as of this writing. WOW! Of course, numbers aren’t everything, but they are one indicator of how people create meaning. Since the launch of our YouTube channel in September 2018, we’ve had 31,700 views of our channel. Not only does our channel have an archive of previous worship services, it also has music videos, including a crawl through our pipe organ. I’m excited to see how we continue to enhance and expand our digital footprint.

One of our virtual members has been with us since April 2020. She is 91 and lives just outside of Washington D.C. She found us through the searching keywords: Disciples, online. A life-long member of the Christian Church, her family worships with us each Sunday and Wednesday. With the legible lyrics on the screen and auto-generated closed captions, the worship service is fully accessible to her. She also appreciates the ethos of our church, the beauty of worship, and our commitment to the justice of God. We communicate regularly by email and post, and she and her family now have a caring elder at WACC. Look at you go, Washington Avenue!

Another member of our virtual congregation lives in Minnesota. A few months ago, she wrote and said, “I have not participated in communion for years. It has seemed a little hollow and, in many cases, the inherent sexism concerns me. But I did [commune] tonight from the privacy of our darkened living room and my armchair.” How beautiful is that, church? Because of our worship, work, and witness, we’re taking communion to people who are hungry for the feast.

When we said yes to one another almost three years ago, we didn’t have a clue what would transpire, but you continue to make me grateful to serve this dynamic and growing church.

I wouldn’t trade you for the world.