A Knack for Surprise-Tim Read

Westwood United Methodist Church · Oct 9, 2026

“In 2022 I entered the Westwood chili cookoff for the first time. I would have been happy to go home with an empty slow cooker. I was stunned when I heard my name announced as winner.

But Westwood UMC has a knack for surprising me. I grew up in a conservative religious environment which focused on fear, punishment and guilt. I never felt a real connection to it.

Shortly after we came to Westwood UMC, Pastor Woodall did a series on the book If The Church Were Christian. I’d never heard anything like it in church before. Since then, Westwood has shared more about a God that is less of a…