06/09/2021 by Shannon Day

Idea Forum Follow Up

Thanks to all who stayed after our marathon annual meeting to attend the idea forum, where two proposals were presented and discussed. These ideas are also offered here in writing. Please take a look and indicate your level of support in this survey. 1) Thanks to the Board and the Nominating Committee for their dedicated, hard work during difficult times. I’m grateful to volunteers who offered to serve for the coming year. This is not about who was chosen, but how. The committee itself recognized the need for a more democratic and transparent process and took many steps to make improvements, but we still

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06/09/2021 by Shannon Day

Westside Conversations for Connection- BIPOC Series open for Registration

All Westside members are invited to participate in the new Westside Conversations for Connection program, a three-session listening and conversation series designed to give members an opportunity to feel heard and to renew and/or form connections with others in small groups. The program aspires to achieve these goals by: Encouraging members to share their stories and experiences of our congregational community in a small-group facilitated setting.  Connecting members with each other across existing congregational and affinity groups in structured formats with sequential questions (one question per session). Prioritizing the opportunity for congregants to experience intimacy and cultivation of trust in

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05/12/2021 by Shannon Day

Let’s Celebrate Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans.

The Asian country of the Philippines is my heritage and I invite you to join with me this month to celebrate Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans. From Asian Americans or Pacific Islander Americans, each week in May I’ll offer links to book reading, podcast, music, poetry, film, panel or art. Questions? Contact WSUU member, Roseanne Lorenzana, roseanne.wsuu@gmail.com Hawaiian-born Shimabukuro has virtually reinvented the instrument, causing many to call him “the Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele.” View  here (2 minutes)  and  here (7 minutes). Poems from a father, a refugee from Vietnam, an activist resisting the invisibility of the Asian American urban poor. Bao

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03/24/2021 by Shannon Day

Heart to Heart – Monthly Young Adult Gathering

So many people grace the doors of Westside seeking a community in which to belong, a community where they can share the big questions and challenges of their lives, and bear witness to others who are similarly seeking. We yearn for relationships of depth and vulnerability, and spaces in which to be our most honest selves. Westside members and friends in their twenties or thirties are invited to join Rev. Christopher for a monthly time of ministry. Using a program called Heart to Heart, we’ll gather to share and to listen to one another, with the following topics explored over

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03/24/2021 by Shannon Day

Calling Westside Delegates to General Assembly 2021 (June 23-27)

Unitarian Universalist Association’s Annual Meeting, General Assembly, is 100% virtual again this year! You can learn more about this year’s theme: Circle ‘Round for Justice, Healing and Courage, as well as, the schedule of events here. https://www.uua.org/ga The annual meeting being virtual is allowing easier access to more people and lower registration costs, which is in alignment with WSUU’s new delegate policy and our priorities. This is an ideal year to explore our faith tradition’s largest annual event and represent our community in action! Westside is allowed four delegates this year, who will vote for us during GA business meetings.

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03/24/2021 by Shannon Day

A Letter from the Board in Response to the Events in Georgia

As we mourn the precious lives lost in last week’s violent attacks in Georgia, we offer care and love to our Asian American and Pacific Islander friends, congregants, and community members. We bear witness to the painful impacts of anti-Asian racism, which has escalated in the last year, but also has a long, repugnant history in this country. We also acknowledge the damage that Asian stereotypes have long played, including the way Asians have been viewed as a silent and model minority, experiencing no problems in American society. This simple formulation undercuts the diversity of the Asian American experience, and

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02/10/2021 by Shannon Day

Some Racial Justice Learning Opportunities for February

One of the goals of the Racial Justice Change Team is to connect the congregation to our work. With that focus in mind, we want to help honor Black History Month and Lunar New Year (February 12). We would also like to bring to your attention some learning opportunities about Coast Salish tribal history and a book by a Korean-American author on the Asian American experience. Each learning opportunity is offered by a Seattle organization. (Note: Presenter and author names followed by * indicate the person is BIPOC. [WSUU] indicates that the presenter/facilitator is a WSUU member or friend.) Many

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01/27/2021 by Shannon Day

Racial Justice Change Team Goals for 2021

Wondering what the Racial Justice Change Team (RJCT) is working on this year? Here are the team’s goals for 2021: Become conversant in the recommendations of the UUA’s “Widening the Circle of Concern” report and align our actions to those recommendations. We have ensured that our planned actions below align with the general recommendations of the report, as well as the priorities of the WSUU Board. The report is available for free at the above link, or for a fee in print or as an Amazon Kindle ebook. Support our BIPOC members and continue to be connected and accountable. Currently,

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01/13/2021 by Shannon Day

Board Member Article for January – Thomas Terence

When Jeanette and Elsa and I started attending Westside in 2009, we were mostly interested in helping Elsa answer some of her questions about what religion could be. It came out pretty quickly that Jeanette was a teacher and I was a teacher in my previous career. We were asked if we would be interested in teaching RE and we both said yes right away. I have been with RE since – still teaching via Zoom (for now)  and serving on the RE Council for a couple of years. Through this, I’ve met many wonderful people – fellow teachers and

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01/13/2021 by Shannon Day

Connection Survey Results

In the December 20th and January 1st Westside Weeks we offered a survey of congregational connection during these challenging times. The results were overall encouraging, with almost 70% of respondents saying they were feeling connected or deeply connected and over 80% of respondents saying that they are okay with the level of connection they have, at least for now. That said, with only a little over 30 people responding, there are many community members we didn’t hear from. It’s also clear that those feeling the least connected are unlikely to be answering a survey about it. The answers still provided

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