The 80° days we’ve been having recently alert us that summer is around the corner–and at WES, that means some different timing, programming, and people. 

We will hold just ONE platform service at 10:30am starting on Sunday, May 26 through Sunday, September 1. Enjoy sleeping in a bit, or getting out a little earlier than usual, depending! 

Our SEEK program will move, at the end of June, to two age groupings, and they’ll focus on a project-based curriculum…including plans for an outdoor mural at WES, the creation of a Little Free Food Pantry, and work in our garden. 

And as I did last summer, I’ll be taking some of my saved-up sabbatical time. This year I’ll take a seven week sabbatical, from Monday, June 24 through Saturday, August 10. During that time I’m hoping to do some writing, particularly reflecting on the experience of parenting, working, and “adulting” as a person moving from young adulthood into middle age. I’m so grateful for this time, and especially grateful to the staff and volunteers who make it possible for me to be away. 

So, who’s going to be speaking on Sundays? We have a great line-up of platform speakers planned, a combination of WES members and some of WES’ favorite guests, including Hugh Taft-Morales and James Croft. And, we’re lucky to have the Rev. Kären Rasmussen with us 1/4 time serving as sabbatical clergy. She will be present most Sundays, offering two platforms herself (one of them with animals warmly invited!), and will serve as head of staff and work with the Board in my absence. At the bottom of this blog, take a look at the bio and photo so you can get to know Kären a bit before she joins us. 

Summers in Washington offer so many great opportunities to get out and enjoy the city, to listen to jazz at the sculpture garden or cheers on the Nats. Keep an eye out for opportunities to do some of that with your WES friends, and for casual lunch gatherings at WES on Sundays, as well. I hope that you’ll find the summer’s slower pace allows you to connect more deeply–with each other, and with this wonderful community I’m privileged to serve. 

with appreciation,

Amanda

Rev. Kären Rasmussen is the Director of No Child Goes Hungry, INC and is also an Affiliate Minister at the Mount Vernon Unitarian Church. She is a native of Racine, Wisconsin and she served in the United States Navy for twenty years. After retiring from the Navy in 2000, she received her Masters of Divinity from Wesley Theological Seminary in 2010 and was joyously ordained in September 2011.

She also serves on the Board of Directors for Britepaths, a non-profit providing temporary food subsidies to people in need in Fairfax, Virginia. Kären’s social justice passion is to eliminate childhood hunger–one meal and one child at a time. She has worked at several congregations in the DC Metro area organizing multigenerational social justice projects.

Kären loves to garden, travel and ride her Harley for recreation. She and her wife Barb, live in Annandale, Virginia with their rescue labs, Kami and Abby.