By Dan O’Brien
Re: “This Was Not the Headline I Would Have Written”
In the context of my letter regarding the dispute over parking on Farragut Drive, it has come to my attention that I should acknowledge my relationship with Councilmember Jeff Cooper as well as my affiliation with Grace Lutheran Church.
Through my involvement in various volunteer organizations, including Culver City Great Parks Assn., Culver City Education Foundation, Culver City Homelessness Committee, and United Parents of Culver City, I've had the great pleasure of getting to know each of our City Council members.
I consider all of them friends since sometimes we work side by side to better our community.
I first met Jeff when he was a member of the five-person Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Commission. Jeff, along with his fellow committee members, was extremely open and willing to help me and others improve the conditions of our parks. It was through that initial connection that I got to know Jeff. I have always respected the effort that Jeff puts into his community service. Because of this respect, my wife Beverly and I offered to host his campaign kickoff party in the last City Council election.
It should be noted that all of the City Council members know me by name. We have shared conversations on innumerable occasions.
I am also a member of Grace Lutheran Church. When we first moved to Culver City, Beverly and I decided it was finally time to reaffirm our faith so that our children could grow up experiencing that environment of love and support. We chose Grace Lutheran because we loved the quaintness of its architecture and the proximity to our home, just blocks away.
I have to honestly say, that I have never experienced such a feeling of acceptance and warmth from a church as I did at Grace. From the very beginning of each sermon, the fatherly Pastor Jim greets his parishioners with a warm, “Good Morning!” calls all of the children up to the front of the congregation for a heartfelt and relatable mini-sermon directed at the children, before everyone in attendance. I am getting choked up with joy recalling my young children experiencing this from the time they could crawl.
It is because of the wonderful ministry that Grace offers to the entire community, – people of all races, economic status, and even religious beliefs that Beverly and I stay involved in the church — Beverly more so than I. Beverly is listed as the Sunday School Superintendent at Grace. She spends nearly every Sunday morning keeping the little ones engaged while their parents listen to the adult portion of the sermon.
With all of this in mind, I would like to take this opportunity to invite anyone from the community who has maybe thought about going to church, but hadn't gotten around to it, or didn't want to go through the ordeal of test-driving different churches, to come on down to Grace this Sunday or any other. It is actually Beverly's and my turn as greeters. If you come to the 9 a.m. service, we'll see you at the front door.
Mr. O’Brien may be contacted at beverlyanddan@icloud.com
