Westwood UMC - Los Angeles, CA

Join us for one combined Westwood UMC worship gathering as we celebrate Christmas in joyful worship as the children retell this sacred story. With music from our Loft Band, and on our Sanctuary organ, we invite you to celebrate this holy day in our beautiful sanctuary. This Sunday, our children share the Christmas story in scripture with their presence, as we celebrate the gifts of Emmanuel, God with us. "Give me your hand" might seem counter to how we usually respond to fear, but what if fear can result in connection instead of isolation? We don't live out our callings in isolation—our communal flourishing depends on each person stepping into their calling despite their fear. How can we offer support to one another? When do we need to accept an outstretched hand? And can we use our power and privilege to stand in solidarity with people whose lives are at risk? Sunday, December 21, 2025 Rev. Molly Vetter

When we step forward in faith, we're not necessarily leaving our fears behind. In the calling of Mary and Elizabeth, we are reminded that most callings begin with some degree of self-doubt, trepidation, and uncertainty. When taking uncertain steps forward, we may be comforted to imagine the mother of God saying "yes" with a trembling voice. Whatever the reason she then retreats to her cousin Elizabeth's house, whatever the fears and threats she faces, she steps forward anyway, with the words of the Magnificat forming on her lips. Sunday, December 14, 2025 Rev. Molly Vetter

This Advent, we jump to the end of John the Baptist's ministry to hone in on a moment when deep fear and suffering cause him to question the impact of his life's work. With him, we also ask: "Have my efforts made a difference? Is God truly at work?" Even more: Is my hope solely dependent upon outcomes, tangible proof, or positive change? We are called to a hope that shimmers still, even when things feel impossible. We are called as a community to keep hope alive for one another. Sunday, December 7, 2025 Rev. Molly Vetter

From global ecological disaster to national political crisis to local violence - and even the recent vandalism of our church sign - we, like those who first heard the Good News of Christ's birth, long for God to "break in" and stop the harm. What a strange and beautiful gift to remember that the good news of Christmas is made for a time like this: in the first chapter of Luke, verse five reminds us that the gospel story starts "in the time of Herod," a ruler remembered for his brutality and suspicion. Our Advent journey this year invites us to name our fears, trusting in the power of divine hope to break in, still. Sunday, November 30, 2025 Rev. Molly Vetter

Join us for our tradition of one, combined worship gathering this Sunday, as we celebrate generosity this Thanksgiving Sunday. With musical leadership from our organ, the Sanctuary Choir, and the Loft band, Pastor Molly will preach on our new Westwood UMC mission statement. It calls us to the work of growing Jesus' beloved community, a calling that unites us across our diversities in the shared work of justice and compassion. Our shared witness is a testimony of hope that has the capacity to change our world. Sunday, November 23, 2025 Rev. Molly Vetter

Our newly-adopted mission statement describes our values of justice and compassion, a pair of values that express our public and private commitments to Christ-like acts of mercy. These values are an expression of the ancient wisdom of scripture, including from Hebrew prophets and in Jesus life and witness. This Sunday, we continue a focus on our congregation's mission, as it invites each of us to be a part of this community and its "Chorus of Generosity." Sunday, November 16, 2025 Rev. Molly Vetter

In this powerful sermon, theologian and author Kat Armas—drawing from her new book Liturgies for Resisting Empire—invites listeners to confront both the external and internal forces of empire that shape our imaginations, relationships, and faith. Reflecting on the story of the hummingbird and the mission of Westwood UMC, Armas reminds us that true liberation begins within: in the slow, sacred work of unlearning fear, hierarchy, and scarcity so we can embody God's abundance and kinship. Through the stories of Exodus, the wilderness, and the early church, she paints a vision of "kingdom" as kinship—a community of mutuality, justice, and love that resists domination and embraces difference. Her message calls us to be like the hummingbird: small but steadfast, carrying drops of courage and compassion to help heal the world, one act of resistance and love at a time. Sunday, November 9, 2025 Special Guest preacher Kat Armas, with Rev. Molly Vetter

We are pleased to welcome Sharon Rhodes-Wickett back to our Westwood pulpit for All Saints Day this year. Sharon was Senior Pastor of Westwood UMC from 1994-2006, and was a regular leader in our midst more recently in retirement. We are glad that she is returning to help us remember the saints who have gone before us. We encourage you to bring photos or mementos of loved ones you remember on this occasion to set on the altar during worship; you can bring them up to the altar before or during the prelude. After worship, please reclaim your items to take them home. Sunday, November 2, 2025 Rev. Dr. Sharon Rhodes-Wickett

In our Gospel lesson, Jesus uses parables to give essential and needed reminders about how God's dreams are different from our dominant culture. Jesus celebrates faithfulness that looks more like anti-hero than classic icon. This week, the gospel centers on and celebrates the great faithfulness that is shown through our vulnerable humility. Sunday, October 26, 2025 Rev. Molly Vetter

In our Gospel lesson, Jesus uses parables to give essential and needed reminders about how God's dreams are different from our dominant culture. Jesus celebrates faithfulness that looks more like anti-hero than classic icon. This week, the gospel centers on and celebrates whose great faithfulness comes through uncomfortable persistence. Sunday, October 19, 2025 Rev. Molly Vetter

In our Gospel lesson, Jesus uses parables to give essential and needed reminders about how God's dreams are different from our dominant culture. Jesus celebrates faithfulness that looks more like an anti-hero than a classic icon. This week, the gospel centers on and celebrates a stranger (a foreigner, an outsider) who shows us the greatest faithfulness. Sunday, October 12, 2025 Rev. Molly Vetter

Our Season of Creation concludes with a feast of grace - a celebration of World Communion Sunday, and a call to trust in our capacity to be a part of God's dream of flourishing for the world. Even when it's difficult, even when our efforts seem so small, we are called to work for the well-being of all creation. Sunday, October 5, 2025 Rev. Molly Vetter

Our Season of Creation continues with lament—honest recognition of environmental harm and heartfelt compassion. Borrowing words from the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah, our lamentations give way to healing as our repentance points us toward God's justice, and a renewed commitment to God's vision for a flourishing world. Sunday, September 28, 2025Rev. Molly Vetter

Our Season of Creation continues, with an ancient prophet's call to pay attention to creation, and mourn for all that has been destroyed. And still, we claim hope in a God who refuses to make a "full end." Peace with creation begins with repentance and the restoration of right relationships—with God, each other, and the Earth—heeding the call to live justly and sustainably in God's world. Sunday, September 21, 2025Rev. Molly Vetter

We celebrate Homecoming Sunday with a "Welcome Home" to our common planetary home. This Sunday, we begin our Westwood UMC celebration of the Season of Creation, with a focus on how to leave in peace with all creation. Come celebrate the integrity and beauty of creation! Sunday, September 14, 2025Rev. Molly Vetter

We continue our Quest series with reflection: When we begin to broaden our experience of lands and peoples in our travel, or in our own towns and cities, our experiences of new (often uncomfortable) things sometimes activate our own resistance. Yet, if we continue to reflect and open, what feels so different may not be as far from us as we first imagined. We hold values that are shared in common across many cultural and religious diversities: peaceful coexistence, food and shelter, love and compassion for those suffering and oppressed. How can deeper reflection about our own hesitation to connect to the wider human family free us to explore more possibilities for a better world? Sunday, August 31, 2025Rev. Molly Vetter

Jesus often crossed paths with others not from his "tribe." He did not shy away. Actually, he most often sought out these opportunities. He met people in their daily lives and locales, such as the Samaritan woman at the well and her community, and engage with them at the point of their deepest yearning. When we seek out and open to new encounters, new people, new relationships, we allow ourselves a spiritual rendezvous with humanity. And in this act, we discover more spiritual depth within us than we previously imagined. How can we shift our perception, redefining "strangers" as "friends we have not yet met?" Sunday, August 24, 2025Rev. Molly Vetter

Whether you travel far away or see your local surroundings as if for the first time, pilgrimage has long been a spiritual practice, and "journey" a deeply-felt metaphor for our spiritual lives. "Quest" comes from the Latin root meaning "ask, seek." This week we begin a four-week worship series that will encourage us to open ourselves more fully to the curiosity and wonder, reflection and transformation that travelers–not merely tourists–experience when they choose to immerse themselves in soul-widening adventures. Step one: leaving home. Sunday, August 17, 2025Rev. Molly Vetter

In our life stories and the stories of Hosea and Luke, we are invited to see the very surprising and unexpected ways that God shows up in our lives. We are pleased to welcome our own Rev. Dr. John Holbert to the Sanctuary pulpit where he will preach from Hosea 11:1-9 and Luke 23:32-38. John is an active leader in our congregation in his retirement. He is also Professor Emeritus of Homiletics at Perkins School of Theology at SMU. Sunday, August 10, 2025Rev. Dr. John Holbert  

This week we conclude our series on New Testament letters, with some advice for life in Christ: it should make you a whole new person. Sunday, August 3, 2025Rev. Molly Vetter