Westside Fellowship - Nashville

04/03/2026

Holy Thursday is the day in which things come full circle...Jesus becomes the Passover Lamb, offered so that death may pass over us all. But in the midst of this most important meal, Jesus offers a lesson to his disciples about what it means to be truly in communion with Christ --a lesson of humility, and service. Join us on Thursday, April 2 at 7:00 pm CST (8:00 pm EST) for a time of prayer and Spiritual Communion. See you soon!

05/30/2025

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I know how rending a leave-taking can be. In the thick of it, when someone or something is going away from us, it can feel impossible to imagine that we could ever move or breathe again, or that a path might open to us, or that we would have the energy or desire to set out on that path. So on this Ascension Day, I am struck all over again by how, in Luke’s account of the Ascension, Jesus does not tell his disciples to buck up, cheer up, and promptly get on with things once he leaves. What he tells them is this: Stay. For now, until the Spirit comes, stay in this place with each other.

Before he is gone from the physical presence of his beloved followers and friends—precisely while he is leaving them, in fact—Jesus offers them a blessing. It’s this moment that really knocks me out. Jesus is not trying to put a silver lining on his leaving. He is not giving them a blessing as a consolation prize for having come through these wild years with him, only to see him leave—though consolation is surely part of his intent. Instead, with the blessing that he gives them in the very moment of his leaving, Jesus is acknowledging that the substance of grief is also the substance of love. They are made of the same stuff, and if we can be present to this—if we can stay with both the grief and the love that lives at the heart of it, the love will become more and more clear, and more clarifying, and it will, in time, show us the way to go.

STAY

I know how your mind
rushes ahead,
trying to fathom
what could follow this.
What will you do,
where will you go,
how will you live?

You will want
to outrun the grief.
You will want
to keep turning toward
the horizon,
watching for what was lost
to come back,
to return to you
and never leave again.

For now,
hear me when I say
all you need to do
is to still yourself,
is to turn toward one another,
is to stay.

Wait
and see what comes
to fill
the gaping hole
in your chest.
Wait with your hands open
to receive what could never come
except to what is empty
and hollow.

You cannot know it now,
cannot even imagine
what lies ahead,
but I tell you
the day is coming
when breath will
fill your lungs
as it never has before,
and with your own ears
you will hear words
coming to you new
and startling.
You will dream dreams
and you will see the world
ablaze with blessing.

Wait for it.
Still yourself.
Stay.

—Jan Richardson
from The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief
janrichardson.com/books

Image: “While He Was Blessing Them”
© Jan Richardson

Blessing and art inspired by Luke 24:44-53.

04/16/2025

02/27/2024

From Rev. Chris+
This is the first installment of what I am calling Disabled Psalms. It is not based on any one of the Psalms in Scripture, but it is written in the style of the Psalms. Before my injury, although I was aware of those with disabilities all around me, I’m not sure I ever truly saw them and could not possibly have known anything about their day to day experiences. After all, they are easy to overlook or to merely pity and then get on with our lives hoping that someone else will be bothered to engage with them. It is difficult for me to confront the fact that I had a life before disability and am now living a life with disability. I am also aware that there are plenty of us who are born with disabilities and never experience life without a disability. It is my hope with this first Psalm (and the forthcoming series) to offer some meaningful language for anyone in the disabled community who is grappling with their suffering. I also recognize that there are many in the disabled community who will not resonate with the language of suffering and their stories are their own to tell.

As a priest, it is my desire to lift up the prayers of those in my community of the disabled, as a fellow member. And, for those who are Christians with disabilities, I realize that they may feel an obligation to only ever give thanks and praise to God, as opposed to being raw and vulnerable with God and to sit with God in the discomfort, inconvenience and frustration without attempting to spare God from the true feelings. But the Psalms of Scripture invite us to come to God spilling our guts, as it were, in raw emotion, passion, bearing our souls, and giving God the benefit of the doubt that he has and does hear us.

Every disability is unique, every disability looks different in every individual person. Every individual’s disability journey is sacred.

-Chris, dictated through family to share with you

11/24/2023

Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! May God's grace and peace go with you and fill your homes and hearts with joy.

"We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." ~ 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3

06/27/2022

In 1 Kings 19, God shows up in the wilderness to a despairing, traumatized prophet, Elijah, and instead of giving him a lecture or a 'tsk tsk,' God simply touches his friend, listens to him & makes him pancakes! In the same spirit, Westside Fellowship gathered in my home this a.m. for more of the same. No sermon from me or dear Isaac. Just touch, Presence & pancakes -- fueled by a whole lotta love. Oh, & mimosas like grace were plentiful. Happy Sunday.

05/07/2022

Important Update! Westside Fellowship in Nashville will be meeting in a HOUSE church setting starting TOMORROW until September! We are excited to be meeting in this setting for the remainder of the summer, and we pray that you will join us- as always, all are welcome! You can expect a typical Westside service with worship, word, and table, in a casual environment. Please DM us or email [email protected] for details. We will meet at the usual time, 10:30 am. Thank you!