Cornel West and Tavis Smiley Vist to Queen Anne UMC

On April 24, Queen Anne UMC's new ministry "The Well, a gathering place for conversation" was honored to welcome Cornel West and Tavis Smiley. At lunch, they spoke about their new book "The Rich and the Rest of Us: a Poverty  Manifesto." About 130 of Seattle (and the surrounding area's) religious and community leaders, activists for justice, and witnesses for compassion came together. We were Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and secular humanists. Our creeds and beliefs may differ, but our passion for justice is shared.

For a limited time - only one week - audio of the talk will be on Queen Anne UMC's website. If you want to hear what Tavis Smiley and Cornel West had to say, listen before the audio is taken down.

Personally, it was such a treat to welcome Cornel West back to a church I'm serving. And, it was a real pleasure to meet Tavis Smiley. Gracious men with prophetic words.

Queen Anne UMC is a tiny neighborhood church. We are not a cathedral, a mega-church, or even a large downtown church. We are tucked away on Queen Anne hill - just up the hill from downtown Seattle. We don't have a parking lot. We aren't on a bus line. We are one of thousands upon thousands of small neighborhood churches that dot neighborhoods across this country. We do have a beautiful worship space, dedicated members, and a desire to offer God's grace to the larger community. That is what gave birth to our new minsitry "The Well." Designed as an intimate space for big conversation, national (and even international) speakers, leaders, scientists, poets, dreamers, and scholars are coming to this church tucked away on a hill, and they are leading us in ongoing dialogue about faith, mind, body, and community. We are happy to be able to share a little piece of our experience with any who would like to join us.

Here's a link to the audio from Tuesday's talks. Thank you, Tavis Smiley and Cornel West. Stay strong!