GRAMMATICAL PRECISION FOR THE GLORY OF GOD

Two miles north of the University of Washington and a stone’s throw from Lake City, local businesses in the neighborhood don’t even agree on the spelling of this neighborhood; a handful spell it “Wedgewood” while most spell it Wedgwood.

Which one is it? And what exactly is Wedgwood? Some kind of native fir tree?

To clear up the mystery: there’s only one “Wedgwood” in Washington, and there’s only one “E” in Wedgwood; that’s a helpful way I remember.

During World War II, the neighborhood’s developer, Albert Balch, named it “Wedgwood” after his wife’s favorite kind of bone china. Yes, the odd answer is that the area is named after British pottery, founded by a guy named Josiah. You can find out quite a bit more about Wedgwood-with-one-E from our good friends at Wikipedia.

Sometimes it’s the little things that make a first impression on a neighborhood. Getting your maple bars from the local Top Pot Donuts and your Sourdough from the Grateful Bread Café isn’t a gospel essential, but in Wedgwood’s case it can truly be missional. Getting the neighborhood’s name right is probably a plus; launching services with a misspelled Campus name on our sign would probably be a strike against us. It wouldn’t mean we don’t love Jesus, but it could communicate that we don’t know our community. A key part of our heart and mission as a church is to know our culture and community so we can better love them.

We’ll call this one Wedgwood 101.