01/23/2020 by Shannon Day

The Board Unveils our Raise the Paddle Focus!

Each year for our auction, we have a Raise the Paddle segment to raise money for a particular project or need in the congregation. The priority project has typically been identified by the board. Some examples in the past are the redesign of the admin office and the redesign of the nursery. In the last few years, we have focused these funds on bolstering our operating budget. However, with the careful planning of last year’s board and the forethought of our treasurer – Shelley – and the finance committee, we are fortunate to be able to highlight a special project

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01/23/2020 by Shannon Day

Music Ministry Update

Music Ministry Update: Please Welcome Scott Farrell as our Permanent Music Director! Jade Lowry, Board President We have been in transition in many ways in the past four years. This year’s board was confronted with navigating our bridge and music ministries and how to contract with our bridge minister and our acting music director when our called minister isn’t coming until so late in the year, which was not what this community had initially planned for. In an effort to be inclusive, transparent and collaborative, the board engaged in an open and unstructured process – for better or worse –

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01/22/2020 by Shannon Day

An MLK Day Message from UUA President, Susan Frederick-Gray

“The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.”  ~Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.   Deanna, On this MLK Day it is imperative that we not only remember his words but understand how his words, actions and leadership call us to live and act today. Some imaginations give us

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01/08/2020 by Shannon Day

Bridge Notes 1.10.2020

It was a joy to begin a new year and a new decade worshiping with y’all on Sunday, dear ones.     After service, the Worship Planning Team met, and I have a few notes to share. Revisiting the arch, with good process this time (with gratitude for the grace of everyone who experienced the abrupt change in December that did not honor the change-making process of this congregation):   One of the loving traditions at Westside is to sing children and youth to their religious exploration (RE) programs after the Time for All Ages.  For many years, congregants have turned and formed

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12/20/2019 by Shannon Day

Board Update from Jade Lowry, President

Dear Beloved Westside Community, In this month of long hours of darkness, as I feel pulled to go inward with introspection and also outward to participate in holiday ceremonies and festivities, I’ve noticed how grateful I feel to be living in community. Our community has an incredible generosity of spirit, and we have seen that through the past month as we received input from over 70 of you, sharing your experiences with our bridge and music ministries. We are committed to opening pathways for all voices in our community to be heard and honored, and for all voices to have

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12/18/2019 by Shannon Day

Holiday Bridge Notes – Rev. Deanna Vandiver

This Public Service Announcement brought to you by your Unitarian Universalist bridge minister who has just been creatively reminded by the universe of this important truth.   Beloveds, in the crush of this season of holidays, remember that YOU GOT PEOPLE.   Contrary to the images of loneliness and unworthiness being projected onto us during this commercialized season – you are intimately and ultimately connected to all of creation. Whether you buy or receive holiday gifts, send cards, light menorahs, kinaras, Christmas trees, or bonfires – during the longest nights of the year and during the longest days and every

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12/18/2019 by Shannon Day

Season’s Greetings from Rev. Christopher Wulff

Seasons’ Greetings Westsiders! Here in Toronto, we’ve been buried under some big snows, cast angels in the billowing powder, and careened down hills on carpets of magic. This morning’s snow has left only a light dusting on the ground, but we are surrounded by signs and sounds of the season at every turn. As much as it has been hard being away from you all, this fall has been an enormous gift of time with family and friends, resting in the love that is and anticipating all that is yet to come. The spirit of advent, that pregnant pause of

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12/11/2019 by Shannon Day

Letter from the Treasurer – Shelley Webb

Dear Westside Congregation, This year, I am serving in the role(s) of Past President and Treasurer. Since many of you primarily know me from RE or from Board President work, you might not know that my secret super power is spreadsheets, and that one of my happy places is crunching away at numbers on my computer in my basement. By profession, I am a health insurance actuary. The German word for Actuary is Versicherungsmathematiker, which literally means “Insurance Mathematician”. During my board presidency last year, I often found myself jotting down notes of stories I thought were relevant to the

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11/06/2019 by Shannon Day

Thanksgiving and the Challenge of Seeing a Reality that is Unpleasant

So many of us have no intention of causing great harm and have every desire to bring a loving presence into the world around us. So many of us also cherish our autumn holiday that focuses on gratitude and sharing delicious food and time with loved ones. So it is particularly challenging to feel the growing awareness of the ways this holiday doesn’t align with the very values we and our UU faith hold dear. This message offers an opportunity for awareness, and for considering how we might shift things in our Thanksgiving experience to honor whatever we feel to

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11/06/2019 by Shannon Day

Reflections from Board Secretary – Aimee Schiefelbein

Hello Loving Community, I’ve been reflecting about being a Board member in our time without a settled minister, how it changes the dynamic of the work and how it strengthens and allows us opportunities to care for each other in ways we might not otherwise have access to if we had a full-time settled minister. For me this summer blew by quickly while caring for my mother at the end of her life and her eventual passing in August. I had many mystical and beautiful experiences with her that I’m still making sense of. Life doesn’t stop while taking on

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