This week our summer sermon series, “Privilege and Promise: This is America” continues. We are committed to examining the extant racism around us (and in us!) and moving toward being actively antiracist — both as individuals and as a congregation. 

With the Kingdom parables of Matthew 13 as our guide, we will ponder: 

• How has racism hidden and grown so undetected by so many for so long?
• What price are we willing to pay to become actively antiracist?
• How might God’s Holy Spirit be at work in and around and through us during these challenging, turbulent times? 

Pastor Dave will consider these questions and more in this week’s installment, “Privilege and Promise: This is America — Seeding Growth.” 

We recognize that this is heavy, exacting work that is both immediately necessary and requires long-term solutions. In other words, this is not a series — of sermons or of actions — that we can hurry up, get through, and get on to other, more comfortable topics. 

That is why this sermon series occurs on the 3rd and 4th Sundays of June, July, and August. Spreading out the series is intended to give us space and time to really reflect, repent, and reorient ourselves toward the antiracist community God calls us to be…while also adding in time to breathe. We all need to be able to breathe. 

Becoming an actively antiracist community will not, however, be achieved merely through monologues. Space and time to question, wonder, dream, and dialogue is vital for growth. Thus, each week of this series will be accompanied by a Sermon Chat on Zoom. The link for that Zoom call will be in the Pastor Danita’s update email — so please be sure to read it, open the attachment, and follow the instructions. We need you to be part of the conversation! 

Join us on our Woodridge UMC YouTube channel as we live stream our worship at 10:00AM on Sunday.