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Wedgewood is a liberal, culturally diverse, service-oriented, interfaith church in Charlotte, NC with members who are Progressive Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Pagans, Atheists, Agnostics, and many other faith journeys and perspectives. When we say everyone is welcome at Wedgewood, we mean EVERYONE! Join us as we try to change the world.
Sunday, February 8th at Wedgewood: “Healing the Harm: Moving from Punitive to Restorative Care” with Glenn Smith, Executive Director & Founder of Life Connections of the Carolinas
​Glenn Smith heard the same refrain again and again while teaching life skills classes at the Mecklenburg County Jail: “If I had learned this stuff when I was younger, I probably wouldn’t be here.”
After six years of hearing those words, Glenn was inspired to act. He proposed a youth prevention program to the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council, secured funding, and began the work that would shape his life’s mission.
For nearly 30 years, Glenn has been dedicated to mentoring children, strengthening families, practicing restorative justice, building kinship, supporting mental health, and providing vocational training. That work has grown into Life Connections of the Carolinas, a nonprofit now offering 16 programs across 9 counties. Through life skills education, mentorship, and advocacy, Life Connections helps create the conditions for individuals, families, and communities to grow stronger together.
In 2025, Glenn received the Sydnor Thompson, Jr. Community Leader Award from the Mecklenburg Metropolitan Interfaith Network for his decades-long commitment to supporting incarcerated individuals, at-risk youth, and their families. His work has helped hundreds of families remain united, kept thousands of young people out of jail, and equipped incarcerated men with the life skills needed to succeed after release.
We are honored to welcome Glenn to Wedgewood as he shares his story and invites us into a deeper conversation about justice, accountability, and the work of healing harm through restorative care.
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10:30 AM: Coffee & Conversation
11:00 AM: Sunday Service
12:00 PM: After the Amen
Join us for our first Monthly Meetup
of the year at Morazan Restaurant!​
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We are gathering around good food, good conversation, and the joy of being together as community.
Morazan serves authentic Salvadoran, Honduran, and Mexican cuisine, making it the perfect place to share a meal and reconnect in-person after the holidays. Whether you come solo or bring a friend, you will be welcomed just as you are.
These meetups are intentionally low-key and relational. No agenda, no program, just space to build community, deepen connections, and enjoy one another’s company.
WHEN: Tuesday, February 10th at 6:30 PM
WHERE: Morazan Restaurant (4918 Central Ave, Charlotte, NC 28205)
First-time attendees, enjoy dinner on us. Just send us an email at wedgewood.church@yahoo.com beforehand so we know you’re coming.
RSVP by February 9th to save your seat.
Come hungry. Come curious. Come as you are. We can't wait to see you there!
Children Need Our Help!
Wedgewood is sponsoring a GoFundMe effort to support the children who have been directly impacted by recent Customs and Border Patrol and ICE actions in Charlotte.
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The recent CBP operation, along with ongoing heightened ICE activity, has caused devastating disruption for families across our city. Some children have had parents detained or deported. Others have caregivers who are “disappeared” with no confirmed information about their whereabouts. Many have missed significant time at school. All are experiencing fear, instability, and deep anxiety.
This GoFundMe will create an emergency relief fund dedicated specifically to helping these children. With your support, we will work through trusted local organizations to provide urgent assistance that helps stabilize families, covers essential needs, and ensures that no child is left to navigate this crisis alone.
Please consider donating to this urgent effort. Your generosity will help keep families safe, supported, and connected during an incredibly difficult moment for Charlotte’s immigrant community.
Thank you for standing with our neighbors when it matters most.
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Community Resource
Directory
Across the Charlotte region, families are feeling the impact of the ongoing government shutdown and rising food insecurity. Food banks and community organizations are working around the clock, but the need continues to grow.
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Our Community Resource Directory connects neighbors to vital local resources, including free community meals, food pantries, and mutual aid programs, as well as opportunities to donate, volunteer, and support those doing the work on the front lines of hunger relief.
Click the link below to explore local food resources and find ways you can help.
Stay connected with Wedgewood
​Our weekly newsletter is one of the ways we stay grounded as an interfaith community rooted in justice, compassion, and collective liberation. Each week, we share reflections from recent services, what’s coming up in the life of the community, and ways to show up for justice, community care, and collective action in Charlotte and beyond.
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Whether you are new to Wedgewood or have been walking alongside us for a while, the newsletter offers a steady way to stay connected to the people, values, and work that shape this community. You do not need to share one belief system to belong here. Just come as you are and stay connected.
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Sign up below to receive one thoughtful update each week, delivered straight to your inbox.
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At Wedgewood, we believe in shared leadership and collective wisdom.
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As a small social justice church, we know our time and energy are precious, and we want to make sure we are focusing on the issues that matter most to you.
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This short survey, just 5 minutes, will help guide our work in the coming months. We promise there are no donation requests, only honest questions about what inspires you, challenges you, and helps you stay connected to Wedgewood’s mission.
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Your feedback will shape our services, events, and social justice actions moving forward.
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Thank you for helping us grow thoughtfully and stay rooted in purpose.
— The Wedgewood Leadership Team
The Wedgewood Social Justice Book Club
The Wedgewood Social Justice Book Club will meet again on Thursday, February 5th. We will continue reading our next book, Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman. Please read the second chapter before we gather again.
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We meet bi-weekly on Zoom, and Wedgewood members and non-members are always welcome.
Whether you have joined us before or are thinking about attending for the first time, we look forward to beginning the new year in thoughtful community.​
"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness."
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His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
Wedgewood standing up for immigrants at the No Kings March on June 14, 2025​
Wedgewood Statement on Immigrant Rights
On Sunday, August 10th, Wedgewood proudly voted unanimously on a proposal affirming our support for the immigrant community.
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“Wedgewood believes that all immigrants, regardless of their status, deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. We condemn the use of dehumanizing language, such as “alien” or “illegal.” We reject the deployment of paramilitary masked police forces with limited training and accountability that terrorize our immigrant communities. We strongly oppose the racist targeting of individuals based on their skin color or language. Wedgewood calls on our political representatives to redirect funds from militarizing the border to be used to increase the staffing of immigration courts and lawyers. This will allow every individual to be afforded the constitutional right to challenge their detention before a judge in a timely fashion. We consider seizing of individuals and imprisoning them without trial in foreign or domestic concentration camps to be a criminal act, and call for those responsible to be prosecuted. We condemn the deportation of individuals to countries that are suffering from war, starvation or rampant lawlessness. We advocate for a path to citizenship for the millions of immigrants living and working in the US.”
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Call to Action: We challenge you this week to reach out on behalf of our immigrant community. Contact the CMS school board about their recent to allow Ice to enter buildings, to speak with or arrest a student or staff member. Contact our state representatives about the bills that were just overridden to allow more cooperation between ICE and las enforcement. Contact all our representatives in DC.
Also remember to support our local immigrants any way that you can. Buy flowers and fruits and vegetables from the street vendors. They are risking their lives to be there. And give lots of hugs to all the people in this community affected by these abusive policies.
Statement on Israel and Palestine
Unanimously Approved by
Wedgewood Congregation
At the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Alliance of Baptists, of which Wedgewood is a member, a statement on Israel and Palestine was adopted. The statement has since been adopted by Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, Baptist Peace Fellowship, Creation Justice Ministries, Freedom Center for Social Justice, Greenfaith, and Hearts United for Good. Wedgewood partners with all of these organizations. Many individual churches have also voted to adopt this official statement.
The statement has 4 main points:
“The Alliance has voted to call Israel an apartheid state. In this statement, 1) we affirm our commitment to freedom, justice and equality for the Palestinian people and all people; 2) we oppose all forms of racism, bigotry, discrimination and oppression, 3) we declare ourselves an apartheid-free community; and 4) we pledge to join others in working to end all support to Israel’s apartheid regime, settler colonialism and military occupation.”
You may read the statement in its entirety here by clicking the button below:
If you would like more background on the Palestinian experience, the Alliance of Baptists made a video that you can watch by clicking the second button below:
Land Acknowledgement
As a community that considers social justice to be a cornerstone of who we are, we would like to acknowledge that the land that Wedgewood is on the unceded land of the Xuali, known today as the Cheraw, as well as the Esaw, now known as the Catawba, and the Sugaree people.
