Halfway through our week here, we have already experienced extraordinary grace, beauty, suffering, and compassion.

The reservation — The Rez — is a hard place, by design. Centuries of genocide, oppression, and deprivation have made sure it is so, and continue to this day. This is one of the poorest places in the United States, where many people live without running water, heat, electric power, or adequate — let alone healthy — food. The people here are suffering economically, physically, mentally, and spiritually. There is every form of injustice. And yet we are hearing from our Lakota relatives that there is a renaissance unfolding. People are re-learning their heritage: their language, traditions, songs and ceremonies and prayers. As we offer our labor to build and deliver beds, safety ramps, and outhouses — outhouses! — they generously reciprocate with their life stories, both trauma and hope. It feels important to contribute, as Nancy put it, concrete interventions to problems that go way beyond the concrete. And it feels equally important to gratefully embrace our Lakota relatives as beloved family, to join with them in heartfelt prayer for peace, justice, and an end to White Supremacy.

As hard as it is, The Rez is also a profoundly beautiful and sacred place, as Branda captured in her poem, and as you can see in some of the numerous photographs we have taken. In our nightly closing session, we have reflected on how each day’s experiences have kindled our spirits with gratitude and wonder. There is so much more to share with you, much of which will take us time and discernment to fully process.

Thank you for sending us here with your love and support. Please continue to pray that God will work through all of us — those of us here in Pine Ridge this week and all of you at home — to re-member creation, to heal and make whole that which humans have broken.

In love —

Julianne, on behalf of Andrew, Branda, Henry, Jodie, Maggie, Michaela, Nancy, Petra, Sonia, and Rev. Will

Badlands by Branda Wilhoite

Painted desert,

desiccated to fading,

Crumbly underfoot,

Framed by wide, blue skies.

A ribbon of green, swaying grasses

Swathed at its feet

A dry creek bed- the memory of a river-

A trickle, a shrinking puddle,

In the hot afternoon sun.

Rock spindles stand like tall sentries

Guarding “The Bowl”

Unlikely life- sage, paintbrush, and thistle,

Breathe hope into this desolate,

Beautiful place.

Re-Member

To make whole that which is broken.

As an open and affirming congregation, we celebrate and include people of all identities and life journeys into the full life and ministry of our church. This commitment to radical hospitality is lived out not only in worship, but in the everyday spaces we create together.

Whether neighbors stopping to chat, families gathering after services, or passersby taking a quiet moment, these chairs are a simple, visible sign to all who pass by that there is a place for them at FCCW.

Join us in creating a space of welcome, connection, and belonging for all by sponsoring a $220 chair or buddying up with a friend to sponsor a chair.

Dear Fellow Congregants, the annual Summer Picnic is just around the corner on June 14^th, and the Justice Ministry want to make it another delicious celebration this year. We are hoping that some of you would be willing to help contribute to the feast; we have the basics covered, but we’d love it if you would be help fill in the gaps with snacks, drinks and yummy desserts.

Please sign-up here to bring more scrumptiousness to Picnic Day.

We hope to see you there, bring blankets and a good appetite.

-Your friends from the Justice Ministry.

Our ministers play a central role in shaping the spiritual life, care, and community that make our church such a special place. We are deeply grateful for their dedication and service, and we also believe that thoughtful feedback helps all of us continue to grow and serve more effectively.

The survey is designed to help us better understand:

• what our ministers are doing especially well,
• where their gifts are having the greatest impact, and
• whether there are areas where we can support continued growth and improvement.

Your honest and constructive feedback is incredibly valuable. We encourage everyone to take a few minutes to complete the survey. Responses will help us strengthen our ministry and ensure that our church continues to be a welcoming, vibrant, and spiritually enriching community for all.

Thank you in advance for your participation and for the care you show for our church and its leadership.

The survey can be accessed using the link here: https://forms.gle/vGbBLHRNYtMqeHDaA

or by using the QR code provided here:

-Christian Ehrbar

Personnel Ministry Chair

The Open Doors Working Group (ODWG) was honored to give a brief presentation at the recent annual meeting on the work we have been doing and then to offer a straw-poll to gauge your reaction to suggested pathways forward. We are grateful to those at the meeting for the thoughtful and often detailed responses to the straw-poll. We felt we came away with a lot of useful information. So, thank you!

In particular, the straw-poll focused on the Mission Zone. ODWG recommended that we narrow our focus of possibilities for the use of that part of the building (Chidley Hall and above), eliminating such things as the outright sale of the building and using it for a mission activity with minimal financial return. The two suggested sets of options to consider were “Mission-Aligned Non-Profit Center” and “Community of Need Housing”. Below is the slide presented to the meeting for the straw-poll.

Of the 58 poll results, 33, 2, 21, 2 were for options 1-4 respectively. Comments revealed a great deal about what people were thinking as they made their selections. The wide discrepancy between  #1 and #2 was significantly offset by the large number of people with an interest in #3, which was some combination of the 2 basic options. Comments made it clear that people had generally steered away from  #2 on its own because of the negatives we had suggested in terms of complexity and the length of time it would be likely to take to realize, but many suggested interest in that kind of use.

Some particular themes that emerged from your comments were:

• Support for this narrowing of the field.
• A desire for more information about what we mean by “community of need”. (To answer that, at least in part, here are some ideas that have surfaced – we are always open to hearing about others: adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities, immigrant support, faith-based housing, end-of-life care.)
• Some questions as to how #1 is different from our current set-up. (To answer that: We now have a somewhat random set of rentals of different parts of the building at different times. We would anticipate leasing the building, either as a whole, or in major parts – such as by floor – with leasing partners.)

Other notable themes:

• Concern that non-profits may not have the resources needed to provide sufficient financial contributions.
• A desire to have a tenant non-profit in which FCCW congregants could participate if they choose
• Concerns about the level of management of the building that will be needed in any of these scenarios.
• A suggestion that we work in phases, starting with a non-profit tenant on one floor and taking the time to do the more complex work of housing on other floors.
• Desire to decarbonize as we redevelop.
• The challenge of parking with any option.

Thank you for all your interest and feedback. We hope that you will continue to think and pray about these exciting challenges as we research options that are feasible and sustainable – financially, environmentally and structurally. We want to hear from you. Please email any of us or talk to us directly.

Open Doors Working Group: Ben Keeler (LT representative and chair) bkeeler22@yahoo.com , Jonathan Goodell jcg.3bell@gmail.com , Kris Montgomery montgomeryk@aol.com , Andrew Sansom andrew@sansoms.net , Penny Sparrow pjsparrow2@gmail.com and Branda Wilhoite. 

Our speaker, Lizzie Linn, is returning to FCCW after her well-attended talk last spring, Mindfulness: Practice Being Present. We hope you can join us after the service on Sunday, April 19, to hear her thoughts and guidance on this timely topic.

Download the Bulletin Here: Healing Service Third Sunday of Lent OOW 3-8-26.docx