Does your life ever feel like rocky soil? Most of us have been there once or twice or more when our faith life is bone dry. In my experience, there are times when God tries to scatter seeds in me, seeds that could grow into tall, strong, healthy plants but I can offer no good soil to encourage that growth. My introduction to this congregation was one of those times. With a very sick newborn in the intensive care nursery at UCSF and a three-year-old at home, I was feeling thorny and rocky and completely confused about where God was in the midst of it all. As I look back now, I am incredibly grateful that you and your Westminster ancestors were here in that building next door when I dropped in one Sunday in May, 1981. Healthy soil was here in Alan and Ellie Lamb, Ruth and Jack Frost, Bertha Cashin and Marion Easton, and the new pastor, Doug Huneke. Though my soul felt dry as a bone, I soon knew the sun-like warmth and the thirst-quenching drink of your concerned questions, offers of childcare, and visits to my home. My faith roots recognized that healthy soil and began to grow. Green sprouts began to peek their heads above ground.

Not sequentially but simultaneously with the experience of such nurture in this community, I began to feel the nudge to notice and participate in a broader world. Homeless individuals and families were being sheltered in neighborhood churches and they needed meals. New mothers that I met in playgrounds were longing for relationships and meaning as they transitioned from their career identity. People were escaping from war in Central American and looking for sanctuary in Marin County. Seeds were being planted and starting to grow. It was hard for me not to become involved. I felt pulled as I listened, as I reflected on Bible passages, and developed relationships in this community that was born with a justice-seeking mission to proclaim the Good News.

Today is the first Sunday of a month-long period of reflection. The Session elders invite us to think about the importance of Westminster involvement in our lives as we prayerfully consider our commitment to God and to each other for the coming year. This morning three members, Chuck and Ginny Quick and Erin Elliott, will share with you some thoughts about their own involvement in this congregation, the seeds that have grown in their own lives as they put down roots in this church family.

Chuck Quick

There are churches that open their doors, churches that invite you in, churches that feed your stomach, a few that feed your mind, and fewer that succeed at welcoming you without reservation. Of course, the church means the people.

Westminster did this for our family, Ginny has told you of the unreserved acceptance you gave Kyle and us on our arrival at Westminster. That never happened with another of my children, Peter, now 34, and along with my hurt over Peter, remains one of my least comfortable feelings about the nature of some church relationships. Must have been a church in the area near the road in the parable.

As for me personally, I got along with Jack Frost – the real Jack Frost who was born in the town I grew up in in New Jersey and became a member of the same church as a youth that I joined as a communicant – some years later, I found I could argue as well as any college student with Doug (that means big noise over little matters), got to feel useful in the building of our sanctuary, found myself on session, built some things for people who needed them, had the church ask me to participate in the Mexico trip. And that is a short list.

What’s not to like?

Thirteen years is the longest span I’ve spent in one place in my life. The constant in that time is Westminster. The people here today and the members not here today have changed significantly and yet not changed at all. This church has consistently attracted committed members open to challenge and participation in life. The community that we share is a fertile ground for personal development, faith challenge and the chance to give where there are no strings on the gift. The Lord loves a cheerful giver (says that in the Bible somewhere – some edition) and Westminster is a family in which I have been able to give my time, talents and pocket change (that’s a euphemism) in more ways than I ever expected.

What’s not to like?

Ginny Quick

Chuck and I first attended Westminster nearly thirteen years ago when our youngest son, Matt, was five. We were immediately drawn to the church because everyone was very friendly. It didn’t matter that we were brand new; we were welcome. And our children were welcome, including our son, Kyle, who, as many of you know, has special needs. Worship at that time was in Findlay Hall. One of my earliest memories at the church is that Kyle often called out "hello" to Doug during the processional and no one seemed to mind!

Over the years our family has attended worship, Sunday School, confirmation classes, pageants, picnics, and retreats. We have served on Session and Deacons. More recently, Chuck began singing in the choir and has made five trips to Mexico with the high school youth. This past year, both Matt and I were privileged to serve on the search committee for the Director of Youth Ministries. These activities are part of our faith journey. We explore our faith and grow spiritually as we work with others in the church to make a difference in the world.

The opportunity to be part of the life of the church and develop meaningful connections within the church family is an added blessing. I love seeing familiar faces on Sunday morning and remembering shared experiences. Supporting and being supported.

As the years pass these connections become even more meaningful, especially when contrasted with the many other truly meaningless activities in which we can find ourselves. And as I see our sons and the children they have grown up with developing their own connections within the church, I am reassured that they, too, have embarked on their own faith journeys. As parents, we can’t ask for more than that.

Westminster is a faith community where we are all included. It is an open invitation. We just have to say "yes".

Erin Elliott

My name is Erin Elliott, mother to Conner and Lizzy, ages 11 and 8, and wife to David. We live in downtown Mill Valley and have been active members in this Church for 5 years. Dave and I moved here from 7 years in Atlanta, although we are both natives of New England.

When the kids were younger, it became apparent to Dave and me that we wanted to become more involved in a local church. We both agreed that it was important for the children to have a community of faith where they could get Christian education. But as important, we wanted to become involved in a community where we felt we could act on our values.

Quickly, we found such opportunities through simple actions such as making meals for the Voyager Carmel Program or coordinating costumes for the Christmas performance of the Joyful Noise children’s choir.

We have realized that this is a diverse community where we can be nurtured and contribute more wholly than our school volunteer commitments or sports teams.

We have found that the easiest way to get involved is to just jump right in. Whether it has been in being involved in Sunday School curriculum development or teaching for me or being involved in the Youth Leader Search Committee for Dave, we have found it easy to contribute to life at WPC. Our "seeds" are sown through collaboration with other committed supporters of this Church. To take the "sowing" analogy one step further, our contributions so far have had the feeling of a "grass-roots" effort. We have felt our contributions making immediate impact. That has been truly satisfying.

Finally, I want to comment on how proud I felt to attend the 9/11 services on the day of the tragedy and then again one year later. It proves to me that our leadership here at Church cares so deeply about our collective healing across many faiths. I have no doubt it was a large coordination effort with the many contributors to the services. However, the palpable experience of grieving, renewal and faith in those hours spent sitting in this sanctuary made a big impact on our family’s life and healing, and no doubt many others.

And so, you see I stand here today sharing some of my personal experiences here at WPC. You each have experiences that are a reason you continue to be here now and part of this community. Now is the time to give with your financial support so this Church can continue to support us all, grow and to thrive.

Barbara Rowe

This congregation is more than pastors, more than staff and church officers. It is made up of individuals – adults, youth, and children – who provide healthy ground for each other. It is you who notice when someone is feeling sad during a sermon or a prayer and you reach out a hand. It is you who take a meal and a smile to someone recovering from illness or grief. It is you who encourage us all to build homes for Habitat or Mexican families or provide medical care in Central America. It is you who smile and welcome new people around the coffee pot on Sunday morning. It certainly does not take a seminary degree to be healthy soil, to provide a welcoming safe place to explore faith issues, to admit pain, or to share the Good News of God’s unconditional love in words and in deeds. That is how my rocky soil has been nurtured to be open to God’s planting of seeds and I have seen you nurture others who are sitting around you.

It is exciting today to celebrate the baptism of Justin and Jake Jones. At age ten, Justin is making his own decision to become part of this congregation as well as to be brother to Christians around the world. In Jake’s baptism as an infant, we are reminded that God’s love is unconditional. We are welcomed regardless of our age, our job title, our bank account, or the number of good deeds we have done. In addition, today we invite non-members to come at 11:20 to learn more about this church and consider making a public commitment to join the congregation, be welcomed into the community, be nurtured in their faith and support the work of this church. For all of us, members or not, today is the beginning of the stewardship campaign and provides the opportunity for us to consider prayerfully our pledge to the church budget for 2003. With our pledge cards returned during October, the Session elders can plan for mission trips, church school curriculum, toilet paper and light bulbs, staffing needs, and donations that help other people around the world. Without those pledge commitments, the life of this congregation in 2003 is uncertain. The cards will be available for you this week.

I am grateful to you for supporting this church when my children were young. As Kyle and Matt, Conner and Lizzy, their parents as well as you and I are sprinkled with the seeds, may we work together to provide the healthy soil needed to continue to grow in faith in all the ways God calls us to be the church of Jesus Christ here in Marin County in the coming year.

Let us pray…