Westminster Presbyterian

Traveling Together

Lent 2021

Special Events

Sharing Our Stories

Lent 2021

As a Christian community, we are on a spiritual journey together, just as Jesus and his disciples' journey towards Jerusalem--to resurrection--in the stories we are reading during this season.

This means that movement, development and change are part of the spiritual life (not a problem that we have to manage or solve). We are not stuck (even though we can feel that way in the middle of a pandemic winter!) And, we don't travel alone--we have companions on the journey who can help us and God equips us, nourishes us, guides us, sustains us.

Special Lenten Worship Events

See our Upcoming Events page for event details

Feb 17 - Ash Wednesday: A pre-recorded service created by a group of churches in the Albany Presbytery. The link will be emailed out and published on the Westminster website the morning of February 17. You can worship at any time that works well for you.

Thursday Evening Contemplative Services: A series of six services offered on Zoom, 7:30 pm to 8:00 pm, in partnership with Mashona Walston and First Church in Albany. These will be quiet, with contemplative music, a time of prayer. Thursdays - starting February 18 and ending on March 25.

March 28 - Palm Sunday: Join us Palm Sunday as we travel along with Jesus in Word and song. We'll begin with Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem and end at the foot of the cross. In between we'll read together the story of Jesus' last week as told in the Gospel of Mark, pausing for moments of musical meditation. Bring your own palms--anything green will do!

April 1 - Maundy Thursday "Table Communion" Service: This service will take place partly in a large group and partly in breakout rooms of 6-7 people. We'll reflect together on the story of Jesus washing his disciples' feet and then join him at the table for a celebration of holy communion. We'll end with a time of prayer.

April 2 - Good Friday: A contemplative service of scripture readings and organ meditations on the Seven Last Words of Christ from the cross. Music of Bach, Dupré, Sifler, Ridout, Fedak, and more. This service will be pre-recorded and available beginning at noon on Friday. Details are available on our Upcoming Events Page.

Sacred Conversations

During the Lenten season at Westminster, we will be meeting in small groups calling these groups "Sacred Conversations."

This sacred time together will allow us to have a more reflective conversation with each other about our lives. We'll meet (on Zoom, of course) three times, every other week, and each conversation will last 1.5 hours. You don't have to be a part of all three conversations, but we hope you will.

We're starting with three groups but will add more should there be interest.

Linore Southworth and Pastor Heather Kirk-Davidoff will lead a group on three Thursdays from 10:30 am to noon.
Kris Wilhelm and Lisa Petter will facilitate a group on three Tuesdays from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm.
Paul Rees-Rohrbacher and Paul Randall will facilitate a group specifically for men on a day and time that works for the group.

This past November and December, a group of 9 Westminster folks gave this process a trial run and found it to be a very welcome way to build community during this time of social isolation. We hope you'll consider joining us!

If you have questions or would like to sign up to participate, contact Pastor Heather: pastor@wpcalbany.org or (518) 436-8544.

Sharing Our Stories

During the Lenten season this year, as we follow along with Jesus' journey to Jerusalem, we will reflect each day on our own journey of faith. One of the most important ways in which we help each other along this journey is by sharing our stories with each other--the experiences that have shaped us as people of faith, the people who have helped us along the way, the things that have given us strength to keep traveling.

Each day of Lent, we will be offering a reflection by someone in our community--sent by email to those who wish to receive it. While some of these reflections will be in writing (just like our Advent reflections booklet), the online format allows us to also send visual art, videos and music to each other.

Would you consider contributing a reflection on your faith journey?

Contact Pastor Heather. Please also let her know if you would like to receive the daily reflections: pastor@wpcalbany.org or (518) 436-8544.

Daily Lenten Reflections

Click on the link below to read the shared story for that day.

Week 1: On ramp

February 17, 2021 - Pastor Heather Kirk-Davidoff

February 18, 2021 - Lisa Petter

February 19, 2021 - Kathy Walter

February 20, 2021 - Pastor Paul Rees-Rohrbacher

February 22, 2021 - Mabel Maguire McGraw

February 23, 2021 - Connie Frisbee Houde

February 24, 2021 - Lisa Petter

February 25, 2021 - Lois Wilson