Westminster Presbyterian Church, Alexandria VA

In her sermon a few weeks ago, Casey FitzGerald challenged us to re-engage with Scripture such that we might see the tension within it; between it and ourselves; and between it, ourselves, and our world. Today, she leads us in hearing a large piece of Scripture—three chapters from the gospel of Matthew—that our time in worship does not normally afford us to hear. Let anyone with ears, listen.

Sathi Clarke, Wesley Seminary’s Chair in World Christianity and Professor of Theology, Culture & Mission This is a three-class series on world religions and Christian theology that adopts a way of belonging, behaving, and believing for the common good.

Peter Wehner, Senior Fellow at the Ethics & Public Policy Center, speaks to us about how many orthodox and evangelical Christians feel increasingly marginalized. How should we think about engagement in a culture that is both effective and faithful, and what is the political role in all of this?

“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?” “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden.” Though Jesus never uses the word “church,” he is describing not only what the individual life of the Christian is to be, but also what the followers of Jesus Christ are collectively to be. He is describing the church. Larry H...

The decades-old conflict between Israel and Palestine is at a critical impasse. What will American diplomacy be in the days and year ahead? Ambassador Wilcox talks about this tragic conflict between Israel, who aspires to be a democratic and Jewish state, and Palestine, whose people live under unjust occupation and want a state of their own. Ambassador Wilcox served in the U.S. Foreign Service for...

The Beatitudes speak to what it means to be a Christian and what it means to be the church. Are they commandments to follow in this life, or are they descriptions of the life to come? Are they reflections of the way things are or the way things ought to be? Larry Hayward preaches on Matthew 5:1-12.

Dr. G. Wilson Gunn, Jr., General Presbyter, National Capital Presbytery, speaks to us about adaptive change and leadership in posts where we seek to lead, about changes at the presbytery level, and answer any questions members might bring to the session concerning our presbytery.

The Christian Church around the world is in a season of focusing on the beginnings of the ministry of Jesus Christ. How did Jesus’ ministry reflect the political circumstances of his day, and how did he prepare for it? How did his followers respond to his call to ministry? Larry Hayward preaches today from Matthew 4:12-22.

A follow-up to their fall discussion on Christian-Muslim engagement, at this session Salih speaks to the challenges of fostering interfaith dialougue in America. His wife, Dr. Zeyneb Sayilgan, brings a Muslim woman’s perspective to the conversation. Salih Sayilgan is a teaching fellow at the Catholic University of America where he teaches courses on Islam and World Religions.

“I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth." (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) “Here is the Lamb of God who lifts up the sins of the world!” (John 1:29) On the weekend we celebrate and remember the life and work of Dr. King, we see in John’s gospel a Savior t...

How do we extend brotherhood and sisterhood to those with whom we disagree? What are our own misperceptions of people of other faith? Imam Zia and his wife, Fatimah, have spent a decade working in this field. They have much to share with us. Learn more about our Muslim brothers and sisters and hear first-hand how we can bridge our divides with selfless service and compassion.

You may best know the words to the third chapter of Ecclesiastes from a pop song. But what do these words tell us about life as we begin a new year? Larry Hayward preaches today on Ecclesiastes 3:1-15.

On Christmas Day, Larry Hayward leads us in a series of Scripture and literature readings in celebration of Christ's birth. Today's literature readings come from "For the Time Being" by W.H. Auden. The Scripture lessons are Matthew 2:1-2, 10-12; Luke 2:15–20; John 6:1–3, 5, 8–14; Luke 2:25–32; and are read by Amanda and Laura Wilcox.

"When we come to this place on Christmas Eve, we bring what is going on in our lives, what is going on in our families, and what is going on in our world, including its inherent sadness. Yet what we experience when we arrive here are words and music and silence and prayer and candlelight and harp that tell a story so transcendent that it reaches down from the heavens, lifts us into its arms, calls...

This Christmas Eve morning, Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on Luke 2:8-19.

When faced with Mary’s unexpected pregnancy, Joseph considers his options. We imagine he talks with his family or friends, consults Biblical texts he has memorized as a child, prays, listens to his own sense of conscience – engaging, in other words, his moral imagination. What begins as a noble exercise in Joseph’s moral imagination leads Joseph to experience the presence of God, learn the will of...

Presbyterians are part of a world-wide movement, commonly known as "Reformed," which traces its roots back to the Protestant Reformation. This series of four lectures by Dr. R. Bruce Douglass, Director of the Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington, is designed to provide a fresh interpretation of some of the key elements of that view. To conclude this series, we look a central theme of the...

The church turns to Isaiah frequently during Advent because it finds in his beautiful poetry resonance with the promises of redemption that come in and through the birth of Jesus Christ. Larry Hayward preaches on this third Sunday of Advent from Isaiah 35:1-10.

Presbyterians are part of a world-wide movement, commonly known as "Reformed," which traces its roots back to the Protestant Reformation. This series of four lectures by Dr. R. Bruce Douglass, Director of the Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington, is designed to provide a fresh interpretation of some of the key elements of that view. This Sunday, we look at Humanism: Calvin said the Bible...

“I know that so many of our families, our marriages, our working relationships, our friendships, our churches, our communities, are frayed. I know it is easy to feel like we are standing in that burned out forest, smoke and ash beneath our feet. But I also know that in the burned out forest in which we live, a tiny shoot sprouts from a branch – a shoot from the stump of Jesse. I know that when the...

Presbyterians are part of a world-wide movement, commonly known as "Reformed," which traces its roots back to the Protestant Reformation. This series of four lectures by Dr. R. Bruce Douglass, Director of the Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington, is designed to provide a fresh interpretation of some of the key elements of that view. This Sunday, we look at "The True God?" The beginning of...

“Here’s the thing that we know as Christians, that we are called to know and live by: We can sit in darkness. We can be people who dwell in the dark, knowing that Jesus Christ is light enough. In Advent, we make way for this light—we prepare for this light, we welcome it—and it gets closer and closer to us.” Today’s Scripture includes “Christmas and Easter: A Story,” an adaptation of the Gospel of...

Presbyterians are part of a world-wide movement, commonly known as "Reformed," which traces its roots back to the Protestant Reformation. This series of four lectures by Dr. R. Bruce Douglass, Director of the Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington, is designed to provide a fresh interpretation of some of the key elements of that view. This Sunday, we look at Why the Bible? Why Only the Bibl...

"When we remember, it is not simply a “remembrance of things past,” a supporting of veterans with better health care and home and education loans when they return, as important as these are. Remembering also involves to the best of our ability understanding what they faced, how much we owe our democratic freedoms to them, and vowing ever to protect those freedoms." Larry Hayward preaches on this R...

Unlike some topics on which the Scriptures are silent, the Scriptures taken as a whole have something to say about politics, and can provide some perspective that might shed light for us as Christians and voters in the United States of America in 2016. In this Sunday before the general election, Larry Hayward preaches from 1 Samuel 12:1–25.