White Rock UMC

Our final sermon in Chapter 1 "I Am Who I Am" was a look at God as love, specifically through the story of the Transfiguration found in Luke 9:28-36. 

Throughout this series we have explored God as being relational, forgiving, and we conclude by emphasizing God as non only loving, but love. Seeing God as love has the ability to open our eyes, and our mind's eye, to a whole new experience... a whole new understanding of who God is and who we are in relation to God.

Find more from our unfold series at www.wrumc.org/unfold.

This week Rebecca and Phil discuss the final week of Chapter 1: I Am Who I Am. They discuss the various ways this week's worship pivoted due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and damaging language and legislation come from politicians in Florida and Texas targeting our siblings in the LGBTQIA community. 

In this episode they mention Mitchell's blog, which can be found here. They also talk about the Tiny Desk Theology interview with Dr. Donna Bowman, which can be found here. As a reminder we will have Ash Wednesday service at 12:00 and 6:00pm CST. Join us in person or on our website.

Finally, if you have any questions or comments about the "why behind the worship," email us at [email protected].

In week three of our chapter focusing on the character and nature of God, Mitchell presented God as forgiving using Psalm 103. Last week invited to consider God as relational, this week he said God's relational nature is grounded in forgiveness.  

Join us on Sunday as we will conclude Chapter 1 and get the last attribute of God we'll cover in this chapter before we move to Chapter 2.

Find more resources at www.wrumc.org/unfold

In this week’s episode of TDAS, Rebecca and Dexter discuss the diverse hymns based on Psalm 103, talk about what the pandemic may have actually changed for the better, and try to make sense of what to do with the Unfold Journal’s “Creative Page.” 

Bonus conversations include Wordle starting words, and their go-to doodles during worship.

Check out more of our Unfold series here. 

The February Church & Society gathering was a round table conversation discussing why every election, even (and especially) primary elections, matter in the state of Texas. Rev. Phil Dieke was joined by Stacey Brown of Elev8 Movement, Scott Atnip of Texas Impact, and Fr. Paul Klitzke of The Episcopal Church of the Ascension.  

In this conversation they discuss the importance of education as well as mobilization when it comes to elections. They discuss the value and importance of getting to know your elected officials, rather making sure your elected officials know you so they know what you value and stand for. 

They also discuss the importance of trusted resources in this age of dis/misinformation. The following list is not exhaustive, but a great place to start:  

Election Protection in 2022: https://secure.everyaction.com/urmz7w_ZYUyrhRyZOe1Ruw2 

League of Women Voters: https://www.vote411.org/ 

Texas Impact: https://texasimpact.org/ 

Faith Forward Dallas: https://www.faithforwarddallas.org/

Rev. Mitchell Boone's second sermon in Chapter 1: I Am Who I Am focused on God as relational. Last week he invited us to approach our understanding of God with humility. This week, by looking at the Parable of the Good Samaritan, he invited us to consider the character and nature of God being relational. Even suggesting this is one of the most important attributes of God, as this gets to very essence and desire of God.  

As we continue to make our way through Chapter 1, let us know your thoughts on the character and nature of God.  

Find more resources at www.wrumc.org/unfold

In this week's episode of The Day After Sunday Rebecca and Phil discuss the woes of livestreaming on Facebook, Rebecca's evolution on using songs in different languages during worship, and epistemology or the things we assign value to in determining how we understand things or knowledge in general. 

This is definitely a "why behind the worship" as they get a bit nerdy in their conversation both of music and theology, but not without some laughs as well. In the conversation they reference books written about the Bible by Rachel Held Evans, Pete Enns, and Rob Bell. They also mention joining a Covenant Group. You can sign up for one here. 

Chapter 1 of our Unfold Series is all about God. "I Am Who I Am," is a reference to Moses' encounter with God in Exodus 3. Mitchell used this text to ground us in our pursuit of exploring who God is and what God is like. 

While this can feel like an overwhelming task, Mitchell invited us to approach God with humility, never claiming we can fully know God, rather being inspired by the awe of God. Likely, we will not all agree regarding our understanding of who God is, or what God is like. Nonetheless, we continue the pursuit together, in community. 

Keep up with all our Unfold series resources at www.wrumc.org/unfold.

Tiny Desk Theology is an in depth theological look at a specific topic. During our Unfold series we will kick off each chapter with a Tiny Desk Theology, inviting a guest to lead us into a deep theological dive of that topic. Since Chapter 1 of Unfold is all about God, we invited the Rev. Dr. Thomas Jay Oord to join us. 

In this conversation we get to the basics of who God is and what God is like, at least according to Tom and his perspective from Open & Relational Theology. We address how the understanding of God has evolved over time, what criteria we use when discussing what God is (and isn't) like, and also discuss the issue of evil (theodicy)... because you can't talk about God and not address evil in the world. As a part of that conversation, Tom introduces the idea that God Can't. Due to the unrelenting love of God, there are some things God can't do. 

We hope you enjoy this conversation. If you have follow up questions or want to take part in our next Tiny Desk Theology, email Phil ([email protected])

To learn more about Open & Relational Theology, visit the Center for Open & Relational Theology. Turns out, Tom is the Director! 

Rebecca and Phil are joined by Mitchell to discuss our first Sunday of Chapter 1 in our Unfold series. In today's podcast they discuss the subtle nuance between performance and performative in worship, and how that varies between in-person and online worship. They also Lord of the Dance, Mitchell's sermon on Exodus 3, and what humility has to offer us as we begin this four week look at God.

In the conversation Phil references an article by Diana Butler Bass, you can find her article titled "The Mystical Body of Christ," here. 

Also, follow along with all our Unfold resources, including our first Tiny Desk Theology, on our Unfold webpage.