Good grief! It’s that time again. This past weekend we were reminded to Spring Forward – moving our clocks ahead by an hour. I love it that the days are getting longer and the many reminders that spring is just about upon us. But I hate moving my clock ahead and losing that hour. Time is so precious and every year I resent losing those 60 minutes. Yes, I know I should feel like I get it back in the fall, but I don’t.

So, what does this have to do with a message from the Westside Board President. What attributes does this season bring?

Spring is, to me, the season of enthusiasm. Bulbs, early flowers and trees are bursting out to greet the increasingly warm days. That enthusiasm – or energy – seems true at church also. Maybe it’s the start of the Stewardship Drive. On the UUA website, Rev. Vail Weller wrote what I feel is true for me: “I believe that this church changes lives for the better and that we’re only getting started. We need to be a congregation of stewards, who understand that the church needs our strong support in order to fulfill our shared mission of transforming ourselves and the world. As stewards, we are caretakers of this institution for a future we will never see, just as our founders had the vision to build and strengthen a congregation from which we now benefit.” Supporting our ‘now’ and ‘building for our future.’ That is the promise of Stewardship.

Or maybe my enthusiasm is because we’re in the middle of another Membership Series. Once again, we have a stellar group of people who have come through our doors and felt they had found home. And found the welcome enough to consider joining our community. I can’t wait for you to meet them at the Welcoming Ceremony on April 22nd. That ceremony was such a special one for me 6-1/2 years ago and I treasure each new ceremony and each new group that chooses to become part of Westside.

There is also enthusiasm building for the work of the Discernment Team who are going through the completed questionnaires filled out by your interested nominees and are now working very hard to create a balanced and thoughtful group of seven for the Ministerial Search Team. They will be presenting the culmination of their work on April 15th immediately following Sunday service when they will share their slate for the Congregation to vote on. Please put the date on your calendar and plan to be present for that single item for the meeting.

Finally, the advent of spring brings a little more urgency to the work of your Board. We are just about two-thirds of the way through our year of service on the Board and, despite our carefully curated list of goals, church life keeps intervening pushing aside what we had put down as priorities. Now we get to add thinking about the budget! But, step by step, we continue to work using our mission as our guide: To support one another, expand our minds and build a more just world.

Because we are in this together in loving community,

Patti McCall
WSUU Board President