The District Chronicles

Issue date: 4/26/09 Section: Neighborhood

Media Credit: wesminsterdc.org Wesminster's hopi-style labyrinth

If you visit the Westminster Presbyterian Church on any given Wednesday night, you'll notice a sudden change of atmosphere when you step in from the street. The room is dim and smells of incense. A small yoga class stretches out on the stage at the front of the room.

The expansive space has a stained glass window and five pews pushed to each side, but no altar. A large cross hangs high above the stage and blends in to become just another piece of the abundant artwork in the room.

It's easy to mistake Westminster Presbyterian Church for an art gallery; except, on Wednesday nights, a sense of Zen and reverence sucks in whoever wanders through the glass doors. Even though the architecture says multipurpose, it is clear that this is a spiritual space. Maybe it is because of the illuminated labyrinth, lined with tea candles, spanning the sanctuary floor, where the hosts Yoga & Labyrinth Walks.

A labyrinth is an ancient spiritual device employed by cultures all over the world. It is made up of a single, tightly coiled and well-defined path into a center circle. Unlike a maze, it is always circular, and never deceptive or difficult. Instead of going from start to finish, a person walks from outside to inside, then back out the way he or she came. Over time, different cultures have lent it to different purposes but a labyrinth is used generally for meditation or as a decorative symbols. Westminster installed its Native American Hopi-style labyrinth in 2001.

On Wednesday nights, people from the surrounding Southwest community and beyond - some, members of the congregation and others who claim no religion at all - find themselves here, waiting their turn to reflect. Eric Eldritch, the volunteer who facilitates this ministry, has been a community organizer in the District for 25 years. To him, the labyrinth and Westminster's other activities are a vital part of a church's responsibility to the community.

"It's about meeting people where they are and supporting them on their journey," Eldritch said. "This is kind of an internship for me because I want to get into interfaith services. I think spirituality can do a lot of healing in this city."

Eldritch welcomes people to the church and leads them through breathing exercises before they walk the labyrinth, or unroll their mats on stage for yoga. Barbara Patterson, a Ward 4 resident, has been a regular in the yoga group since January, but began her new tradition with the labyrinth.

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