My Journey to Westhope

Kevin Payne
Congregation Member

The summer and fall of 2024 leading up to the election was very difficult for many of us. The situation in the country was chaotic. The risk of “he who shall not be named” being elected to a second term were real, much as I wanted to dismiss it. The stakes were high. I asked myself, how could God allow this to happen? As a Christian, what am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to act?

Seeking Spiritual Guidance – and Finding None

Every Sunday I went to church, hoping for some answers and direction. I looked to the pulpit and to those around me. Except for one Sunday in the middle of July, I heard nothing. No direction. No input. No guidance. The subject of politics at that church was essentially taboo. But that Sunday, the day after the assassination attempt, the worship pastor stopped between songs and said something like “I’d like to pause for a moment to pray for our country – it’s been a difficult weekend.”

Hallelujah. At least someone’s aware that there’s stuff going on in the world.

But that was it.

Time to Move On

Please know that I’m not trying to denigrate my former church. Like any organization, it has its challenges and triumphs. But I was starving spiritually and still searching for answers.

It was time to start church shopping.

As I’m now “retired” from a career in tech marketing (though busier than I was at my last job), I now block time each morning to go for a walk – to get my steps in and to clear my head. I take various routes and one of those routes took me through the Westhope parking lot. I guess I’d known there was a church there but never thought much about it. I remember that the flower garden looked nice in the spring.

Then I noticed the signs on the fence. Black Lives Matter. Support Palestinian Rights. And then what I would call “their creed” as noted here:

That’s pretty bold, I thought. Maybe I’ll make this the first church I check out.

Checking Out Westhope

So, I went to their website to see if they offered online access to their Sunday worship service. To be honest, I found the website a bit difficult to make sense of. Eventually I found information about joining online. So, one autumn Sunday morning I did.

First off, the service style was different from what I was used to, a contemplative style. While there were occasional hymns, there were a lot of “sung prayers” where the verse was repeated over and over again. Um, okay.

Then the sermon. I don’t remember exactly what Pastor Erik said, at one point, but it was something like “I don’t have to like Trump but God wants me to love all people, including those that support him.”

Holy crap! The elephant in the room! Someone’s talking about it.

I tuned in the next week. More spiritual food! Yippee!

Going In Person

It was time for me to attend in person so off I went on that third Sunday. And then the following Sunday. What I found was a small, warm, passionate, very progressive group of people from all walks. And they all knew each other! More than that, they all seemed to care about each other. A community!

The pastor and others welcomed me. They all noticed I was there for the first time – and I’m not really a shy person. I asked Pastor Erik if I could set up a time to meet with him to introduce myself and learn more about the church and it’s beliefs.

The First Meeting

That Wednesday in early November I headed off to Erik’s office. He greeted me warmly. He asked, “How did you find us?” and I told him my story.

I then said to him “I think Westhope is like a well-hidden gem.”

He leaned back in his chair and lamented, “Yeah, we’ve been praying for someone that knows marketing to come along for a couple of years now.”

I laughed and raised my hand and said “Marketing guy! Isn’t that a coincidence?”

Erik laughed and said, “That’s not a coincidence.”

I offered to help out with the marketing of the church and Erik asked, “When can we start?”

We started the following week.

Six Months Later

And here we are in May. I am now an official member of the congregation. I probably know 90 percent of the people at church on Sunday by name. I know I am welcomed, appreciated, acknowledged and treasured.

I believe I am exactly where God wants me.

We now seem to have a visitor or two every Sunday. That’s great! People are hearing about us and checking us out!

Let it be known, we’re a rather unique group in that we welcome everyone, are very active in social causes, extremely progressive – and very honest about this. We are small but mighty Westhope!

An Invitation

If you’re looking for a smaller, more intimate church community, one that is full of the Holy Spirit. One that is committed to social justice and puts their money where their mouths are. One that actually pauses the first Sunday of each month to really contemplate and celebrate Holy Communion. One that teaches that God loves EVERYONE. Well, maybe Westhope could be the place for you too. Church starts at 10 on Sundays, check us out online – or in person.

I’ll be sitting on the left side, about five rows in.