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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08/14/2019 by Shannon Day

Hello from north of the border! – Rev. Christopher Wulff

It’s been a little while since we’ve seen each other, hasn’t it? I miss you all so very much! I’m finding this liminal time between the vote to call in May and my beginning to serve as your minister to be a very rich opportunity for practicing appropriate boundaries, as we persist a little while longer in this state of “Go! Wait, not yet!” Have you ever had an experience like this, where you wanted to dive right into the pool, but felt like you were waiting forever for the lifeguard to blow the whistle? It’s not my strength, but

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07/24/2019 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains – “Final Thoughts…”

Nearly 3 years ago I wrote my first column in your online news. This was a section from that column: “I am a strong believer in ‘church’ being a joyful as well as serious experience. Laughter and delight is a powerful antidote to the feelings of powerlessness and despair that can come creeping into our lives otherwise. I hope we’ll be able to experience some joyful and spontaneous moments as we begin our work.” Well, I still think that sentiment is true for us all. Laughter and joy are still with you as Westsiders but the utter seriousness of these

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06/19/2019 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains – Week of 6.21.19

“Angry people want you to see how powerful they are… loving people want you to see how powerful you are.  ~Chief Red Eagle, c 1800 These are times of profound anger in America and the world. Who among us isn’t angry these days? I know that I’ve carried anger as well as sorrow for many years of my life. I can point to people or events and say, “They caused my anger.” Really? Is that really true? Do we not have a choice whether to take on anger – or not? Is it someone else’s fault that we carry the

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05/22/2019 by Shannon Day

Love Will Guide Us – Rev. Christopher Wulff

It has been a bit of a whirlwind since I left all of you and beautiful West Seattle a few weeks ago, floating on air and pretty wiped out from our incredible ten days together. Ariel has just returned from five days away in Calgary serving as the Adult Chaplain at the Canadian national youth conference; Rowan and I are heading to Toronto on Thursday for a week for my grandfather’s memorial service. I know things at Westside have likewise been proceeding apace, with the 501c3 application submitted (thank you Shannon and all the volunteers who helped) and more preparation

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03/06/2019 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains for March – Rev. Alex Holt

“What IS an ordination and why is it important?” What is an ordination? Someone asked me that a few weeks ago as Westside prepares for the ordination of Crystal Zerfoss at 2:00 pm on Saturday, March 16th at the church. That person recalled the ordination of Westside’s DRE Rev. Cynthia Westby some months ago in Berkeley as an interfaith chaplain. I had to think about it for a moment when the person asked me. My response was that it’s like a wedding. It’s the moment a vocation (as opposed to a career) is ritualized into a formal relationship meant to last

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10/31/2018 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains – Week of Nov. 2

“What’s Up with Changes in Worship at Westside” I’ve heard there’s some distress about all the changes in Sunday worship in the last years. I wanted to address it here and my reasons why we are in an experimental year of worship planning and performance. First, it’s natural to want stability in a liminal season when things are chaotic. Sunday services are the anchor for a religious community like this one. There are many who find great meaning and comfort in traditional, stable and meaningful Sunday services. Any given Sunday we walk in the door and pretty much expect what

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10/03/2018 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains – Week of Oct. 5

“Boys will be boys” I heard that comment above quite a bit in the last two weeks and especially after the Senate hearing last week with Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh. I also remember hearing those words when I was growing up. Sometimes it was directed at me. My room would be a mess, or I’d talk back to the people who brought me up. There’d usually be a sigh from the adults, and some variation of ‘boys will be boys.’ It didn’t stop there. There would be a lesson given to me that while indeed ‘boys will be boys’

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09/05/2018 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains Week of 9/3

“So, what’s up with Worship Council?” Several Westsiders have asked me that question in recent days. I had mentioned some changes in my August 19th sermon called “Living in a Liminal Season.” I talked about being in a time of radical and unpredictable change which we all are now. This is what I said in that sermon (paraphrased): “Here’s one example. The Worship Council has had a long history of providing professional and wide-ranging Sunday services here. I mentioned that Chaplain Mark led the group for a decade. Last year Lisa Reitzes facilitated Worship Council during a time of profound

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08/29/2018 by Shannon Day

Let Us Rejoice Together – Margo Rinehart, Ministerial Intern

August 31st marks the end of my twelve-month ministerial internship at Westside. With that life flashing before us, I desperately try to slow down the spinning orb in order to spend more time in grace and gratitude. Time to take inventory of all we have learned together. In this holy work of building a religious community, we have: Come to better know one another’s dreams, sorrows, and longings Celebrated awe, wonder, and what is life-sustaining and true Explored a one-dimensional, distorted story of immigrants and have stood in solidarity with the persecuted Spoken for truth and justice even knowing that

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