Dear Westport Presbies and Friends,

A note from our Pastoral Nominating Committee:

The Rev. Dr. Jared Witt is now our pastor at Westport Presbyterian Church.  He will no longer serve as an interim pastor but will serve as a pastor with a three year contract.  He will be installed in a ceremony, per Presbytery guidelines, later in the fall.

The decision to offer Rev. Witt the pastor position in our church came from the PNC (Pastor Nominating Committee), comprised of Debbie Anderson, Drew Irwin, Matthew Kennedy, Karen Elmer and Bob Russell).  Both the Session and Presbytery Commission on Ministry approved the offer of the call,  as did the Heartland Presbytery at their meeting on June 9.

As we do all things in an orderly manner, the congregation on June 21 approved the terms of the call to Rev. Witt.
Since the founding of our church in 1835, we have been blessed with outstanding pastoral leadership, and we firmly believe that Jared will continue and enhance that legacy.

A note from our Pastor:

Happy hot summer everyone:
My time with you as your “interim” pastor has been meaningful to me. And I feel like we are stabilizing as a community – ready to dream about what’s next. Along those lines, when our Pastoral Nominating Committee engaged with me about staying on as “installed” pastor for the next three years, I was glad to do so. During the Fall, we’ll begin exploring some of the goals we have for the future.
I hope you are enjoying the summer season, whether that’s here in KC or some extra travel. We spent a week in Los Angeles (seeing a Rush show, watching the Knicks win the NBA title, and visiting LOTS of museums). And now our younger two kids are home after college. We’re enjoying the World Cup events here in KC and had a ball at Fan Fest last week.
We’re having an all church work day this coming Saturday, July 11, from 9am-1pm (food provided). Email or call the church to sign up. Or just come join us. We’re getting rid of lots of older stuff we no longer need so that we can better organize and use our space.
If you haven’t yet visited our friends in our storefront space – do so soon! By participating in the KC Open Doors Program during the World Cup, we are able to host a pop up shop organized by the National Association of Asian American Professionals. (Their IG handle is naaapkc). We’re also cheering on the good work being done by other partners – the Missouri Workers Center (who office upstairs) and the Westport Center for the Arts (expanding their offerings). Last but not least, we are continually heartened by the good work done by Wanda Lee and the Willow Woods staff, providing top level child care for families in midtown. 
Join us for worship during July – as we’ll be exploring the epic storytelling of Homer’s Odyssey. Chistopher Nolan’s film adaptation hits theaters in late July, so you might want to get tickets soon!  
Peace, Jared.

Upcoming Events:

• Sunday, July 5, 2-4  English Dance.  All are welcome; beginners are encouraged to arrive 20 min early to learn a few basics.
• Saturday, July 11 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. the church will be having a work day to help with some much needed cleaning and organizing. Volunteers will be needed to help clear out at least one of our basement storage areas and some other areas around the church (we will be renting a dumpster for trash), as well as for moving and reorganizing closets, pantries, and anything that is where it does not belong. Snacks will be provided.
• Sunday, July 19, 6-8PM  Concert with the Brad Gregory Sextet – Westport Center for the Arts KC

LiveStreams

Our church livestreams have officially been moved to our youtube channel, but we are still trying to crosspost them to Facebook so our facebook viewers don’t get left out.
You can subscribe to them on our youtube channel or just look for them under “Live”: Westport Presbyterian Church – YouTube
Our substitutes may or may not be recording them in Deanna’s absence, but Deanna will be back this next weekend to get those back up and going.

Birthdays and Anniversaries

Birthdays:
July 26 – Harlan Smith
July 28 – Bill Russell
July 28 – Eddie Lewis
July 29 – Stanley Brian Morgan

Anniversaries:
July 20 – Bob and Elaine Russell

If you have information that should make it into next month’s newsletter, please let Martine know.

Keep the faith…  WPC