“and she gave birth to her firstborn son …” – Luke 2:7 During my tenure as the pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church, one of the annual highlights each year was anticipating which newborn baby within the congregation would play the esteemed role of baby Jesus in our annual Christmas pageant. A human baby Jesus in […]
Blythe Denham Kieffer
The Rev. Dr. Blythe Denham Kieffer served as pastor and head of staff at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Springfield from Oct. 1, 2013, to Oct. 1, 2025.
Posted inCommunity & Lifestyle
Amazing grace
This Sunday Christians celebrate “Christ, The King” Sunday, the final Sunday of the liturgical year. Luke 23:33-43 references Christ on the cross between the two thieves, one of whom recognizes the injustice of Christ’s death and asks to be remembered by Christ when he comes into his kingdom. Westminster Presbyterian Church welcomes bagpipers on this […]
Posted inCommunity & Lifestyle
Unfolding compassion
“When Jesus laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.” Luke 13:13 The prophet Hosea (11:4) describes God as one who “bends down … to feed, to lift up and to hold.” Strength and flexibility are both necessary in the act of bending. We have a God who is […]
Posted inArts & Culture
What I did for love
As a young woman, I saw the 1975 musical A Chorus Line. Set on the stage of a Broadway theater, the musical provides a glimpse into the personalities of 17 Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on the chorus line as they describe the events that have shaped their lives and their decisions to become dancers. […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Harnessing the Spirit
The Netflix movie The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, based on the memoir of William Kamkwamba, is an inspiring story about a young boy’s ingenuity and determination to overcome adversity. William Kamkwamba was born in 1987 into a Christian family in Malawi, a country where magic ruled and modern science was a mystery. It was […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Faith, art and advocacy
Members and friends of Westminster Presbyterian Church will gather on Founders’ Sunday, May 18, to celebrate 190 years of faith, art and advocacy. Our story begins with faith and a commitment to advocacy. The 30 founding members who signed the church charter on May 26, 1835, had strong abolitionist convictions and positive initiatives advocating justice […]
Posted inArts & Culture
A modest proposal
In 1729, Jonathan Swift wrote the satiric essay A Modest Proposal, published in pamphlet form to influence compassion for the starving Irish. The satire ridiculed the British politicians, elites and landowners who did not see the poor Irish as a problem of human misery and suffering but rather as an inconvenience. The ridiculous proposal that […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Tongues of mortals
“If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” – I Corinthians 13:1 The folklore my mom liked to tell about our family is that I did not speak until I was 3 years old. Apparently as the youngest […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Tapestry of life
To love an enemy is simply impossible, for an enemy is by definition someone hated rather than loved. An enemy who is loved is no longer an enemy. Perhaps this is what Abraham Lincoln had in mind when he asked, “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” For the last […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Mary’s role in the Christmas story
And she gave birth to her firstborn son … Luke 2:7 Mary plays a unique and prominent role in the Judeo-Christian story of a sacred journey. It is Mary who brings God’s son into the world. In her womb she carried the One Christians call Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Mary’s significance […]
Posted inArts & Culture
A time to see
I heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; Job 42:5 If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too: If you […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Unfolding lives
“When Jesus laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.” – Luke 13:13 The prophet Hosea (11:4) describes God as one who “bends down … to feed, to lift up and to hold.” Strength and flexibility are both necessary in the act of bending. We have a God who […]
