09/17/2025 by Shannon Day

Love Will Remind Us

In hard times, Mister Rogers suggested we look to the helpers, and I think that’s us. We Unitarian Universalists are the helpers working to make our world better, and at the same time, we also need support, rest, and inspiration to fuel us. Where are you finding inspiration? One place I find it is in the words of one of the UU leaders I look up to — Rev. Sofia Betancourt, Ph.D. I have set my web browser with a bookmark so when I open Facebook, it doesn’t open on the Facebook feed, but rather to Rev. Sofia Betancourt’s professional

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09/09/2025 by Shannon Day

Ingathering and Start of the RE Year

Greetings all: I’m so grateful to everyone, especially the youth that joined us last Saturday to lend a hand in reorganizing the Religious Exploration spaces and supplies including the Youth Space. It was special and sweet to cohost the RE clean out event with Katie, our DRE from last year. What makes you feel comfortable in a space? Do you prefer to sit in a chair, floor sit, move around, do small arts and crafts, or maybe a combination of all those things and more? We had you all in mind as we readied ourselves for the start of RE

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09/03/2025 by Shannon Day

Fall Rituals

Greetings all! What is your favorite Fall ritual? Rituals can be “an act or a series of acts regularly repeated in a set precise manner, an established form of ceremony or a ritual observance.” *Do you and your chosen family have Fall rituals you do every year for the start of school or RE at Westside? My little family would often make a trip to the thrift store for “new” used clothing after school started. I grew up locally in a place where I could see salmon spawn and complete their cycles every year. I still try to make a

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09/03/2025 by Shannon Day

New DRE Greeting!

Greetings all: I’m grateful to have a couple weeks to get up to speed and gear up for the start of our RE program. I am delighted that I will get to follow through, enrich and build on the work I’ve created as WSUU’s Equity, Inclusion and Creativity Advocate. For the last two years, I have worked closely with our previous DREs in weekly sessions crafting our RE program serving children and families, making an inclusive, flexible, value-based program.As your new DRE, I will bring my full self in this work of creating joy, belonging, learning, and a bit of

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08/12/2025 by Shannon Day

Board Report July 31, 2025

I’m happy to report on the first meeting of the 2025-26 WSUU Board after a fun meet-and-greet potluck.  We begin this year continuing to focus on the ongoing work of supporting and growing our Westside community.  I am excited that we are in process of choosing our new Director of Religious Education (DRE) search and will have news to give the congregation soon. Many thanks to Rev. Katie for her commitment to our youth and we wish her well as she finishes out her time with us.  I’m also happy to report that a decision was made to fund training

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08/12/2025 by Shannon Day

Parent Group Fall 2025

Parent group meets on the third Sundays of the month from 10:30am–12 pm, and is open to parents/caregivers of children, youth, young adults, and adults of all ages. We meet in the library on the 3rd floor. All are welcome to join any or all meetings — no RSVP is necessary. Participants are welcome to park in the church lot or on the street, and to enter through the Social Hall door. Our joyful RE child and youth programming will be taking place at the same time in the Social Hall. In this monthly meeting time, we are creating a

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06/03/2025 by Shannon Day

Statement of Incoming 2025-26 Board of Trustee President, Jill Jackson for Annual Meeting 2025, June 1st

Good morning. The first thing I want to say is Thank you. I read through all the reports presented for this annual meeting and am just in awe of what all you do to build and sustain this community. There is so much commitment and love here. I am humbled and honored and grateful for the trust that you all are collectively placing in me and the other Trustees of the Board to lead our congregation in partnership with Rev. Carter. I feel great joy that we have Rev. Carter as our minister, and I want to open today with

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05/28/2025 by Shannon Day

Staffing Update

A Letter from Rev. Carter With a mixture of sadness and gratitude for her service, I share the news that Rev. Katie Lawson who has been serving as our Director of Religious Exploration will be concluding her time at Westside UU at the end of this summer. She has taken on the work of caring for our children and families, and the challenges of this ministry in these times, with grace and creativity. We are sad to see Rev. Katie go, but we understand and support her decision which is based on unforeseen personal factors. We carry immense appreciation for

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12/31/2024 by Shannon Day

Westside’s Right Relations Teams & Covenanting Process

Westside has been dedicated to updating what we’ve described as our Right Relations work since January, 2023. Following the Vote to affirm the 8th Principle in June of 2022, groups were formed to bring that vote into action. One of the groups was assigned to “right relations” work. A decision was made to contract with Pam Orbach of The Center for Restorative Solutions to learn about Nonviolent Communication (NVC), circle work, and restorative justice practices. Our learning in these areas, combined with our shared values as Unitarian Universalists, has helped us to build pathways for connecting with deep listening and

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10/22/2024 by Shannon Day

October Board Update

The chill arrived this week in Seattle. Wind and rain have started to urge the color-changed leaves to drop before they are ready. As you are aware, outside forces often are needed to spur change before it is wanted… I am sure that you have all felt such things from time to time. But, as of tonight’s full moon, the leaves have hung on well. Changes of every type, however, are coming – as per the usual. October’s Board Meeting welcomed one of our newest WSUU team members, Reverand Katie Lawson. It was a delight to spend time with her.

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