10/24/2018 by Shannon Day

Cynthia Westby, DRE Column October 2018 – Transitions

As we transition into fall, with this glorious weather, watching the leaves drift down into colorful piles on the ground, I am looking forward to a deepening richness in my position as DRE. I am excited to be ordained and it gives me great joy to be a minister! I am deeply touched by the beautiful stole that was presented to me on Sunday morning, October 21st during service. The lovely presentation by Alex Holt, Nola Balch, RE Council Co-Chair and RE Council members Cara Mathison and Laura Strand on behalf of the congregation was so moving. Shannon Day picked

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09/25/2018 by Shannon Day

Ordination of Rev. Cynthia Westby, DRE

I was ordained as an Interfaith Minister on Saturday, September 15th by the Chaplaincy Institute Interfaith Community in Berkeley, California.  The beautiful, powerful two-hour long ceremony was held in the early evening at Christ Church in Berkeley.  It was an emotional, deeply moving ceremony and I am thrilled to now be Rev. Cynthia Westby.  With my husband, Eric, and seven other good friends who live in the area as my support and witness, I felt held in community and blessed by them, by all of you, and by the Chaplaincy Institute Interfaith Community.  It was an incredibly memorable experience. Below

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05/16/2018 by Shannon Day

DRE Column for May – Chaplaincy Institute Graduation and Ordination

It is with great joy and excitement that I announce that I have graduated from the Chaplaincy Institute in Berkeley and have been approved for ordination as an Interfaith Minister and chaplain.  The ordination ceremony will be held on September 22, 2018 in Berkeley. In the world of Religious Exploration, we DREs are responsible for finding creative ways to encourage, inspire, and support the work of faith exploration and formation at home and at church. As Westside’s RE program evolves to keep pace with the evolution of the needs and availability of children, volunteers, and parents, I am ensuring that

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04/11/2018 by Shannon Day

Poetry and Gratitude – Cynthia Westby, Dir. of RE for Children and Youth

What if you woke up each morning to a poem instead of an alarm?  Poet Naomi Shihab Nye, famous for her poem “Kindness” (you can read it here:  https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/kindness), woke her son up for years with poetry from poets all over the world.  Always short, sometimes just a stanza of a poem, that morning’s poem would come up, over time, in the family’s conversations as their son brought up the feelings and ideas evoked in him by the poem of the morning. What would grow in us if we took time each day for poetry?  What would grow in our

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03/21/2018 by Shannon Day

What is in a Name? Cynthia Westby, Dir. of RE for Children and Youth

What is in a name? Great question! I just read a wonderfully provocative book by Rabbi David A. Cooper’s book “God is a Verb: Kabbalah and the practice of mystical Judaism.” His suggestion? That we begin to think of all beings as verbs rather than nouns. So, you would see your child and see “Carol-ing” rather than “Carol,” for instance. This way of naming with verbs captured my imagination and I worked with this as a spiritual practice over the past few weeks. Language and naming are important. They affect how we experience ourselves and other living beings. Consider this

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02/21/2018 by Shannon Day

What is Interfaith? – Cynthia Westby, Dir. of Religious Exploration for Children and Youth

Interfaith ministry is a hot topic these days in UU circles.  Starr King Seminary’s relationship with the Interfaith Chaplaincy Institute and support of double divinity degrees in UU and Interfaith is a powerful example of this keen gravitation to Interfaith.  Knowing I am going to be ordained as an Interfaith Minister many people have asked me what Interfaith means.  Great question!  It is a question each person who is drawn to Interfaith ministry or work will answer differently.  I wanted to give you my current answer, knowing that my understanding is in process and evolving just as all our understandings

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01/24/2018 by Shannon Day

Religious Exploration – Cynthia Westby, Director of Religious Exploration Column for January

The world is made of stories.  We are all storytellers.  Every day we tell stories – to our friends, families and co-workers.  We share our experiences and whether we are aware of it or not, we share what we have made of these experiences in that moment.  Telling our stories we end up reflecting on and exploring what is meaningful to us.  Stories are powerful. They can teach.  They can inspire us – possibly to act. Each Sunday, near the beginning of our service a storyteller offers a story relating to the theme of the sermon and service that day

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