02/09/2026 by Shannon Day

Buddhism, Tea and Love

Greetings: Westside had an exciting weekend including a Winter Con for high schoolers, our annual Auction Saturday, and special guest speaker Marcus Green Sunday. Thank you to all those who have worked behind the scenes with Westside’s auction and to all those who attended, participated, and donated. Your donations and pledges make it possible for us to do all the wonderful programming and events at Westside and have our amazing staff. In RE, one of the ways we embrace our UU pluralism and multicultural values is by engaging in a variety of spiritual grounding practices, and connecting the children to

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02/03/2026 by Shannon Day

Board Update for February 2026

As we wrap up this year’s thrilling auction, let’s give a standing ovation to our incredibleauction team! Co-chairs Shelley Webb and Judi Finney, Internal Procurement leadsLaura White and Lisa Maynard, External Procurement champions Mike West andSheree Porter, and Night of Party maestros Leah LaCivita and Don Wahl have trulyraised the bar. Their dedication brought in an abundance of generous donations andsparked contagious excitement throughout our community. The bidding wars werefierce, the energy was electric, and together we’ve ensured this year’s auction will beremembered as a resounding triumph! Spark Sundays are lighting up 2026! On the first Sunday of each month,

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01/29/2026 by Shannon Day

Ground Hog Day

Greetings: Have you ever seen a ground hog? Once when I was hiking in the mountains I saw and heard marmots but they’re different than the one groundhog I spotted while visiting my spouse’s family in Illinois. On social media, I follow a famous groundhog named Chunk. If you do a search in your favorite search engine or on YouTube for Chunk the Groundhog, you can learn about him, his family, and their adventures. Chunk had been helping himself to Jeff Permar’s garden, and instead of trying to get rid of Chunk, Jeff decided to lean into co-existence. What might

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01/26/2026 by Shannon Day

Staff Transition Announcement from the Mid-Year Report

At Westside, we have the bittersweet news to share that our Director of Operations, Shannon Day, is planning her retirement. She will finish in her role at the end of this church year, in June. In Shannon’s many years doing administrative work for Westside, she has gone above and beyond in so many ways, ministering to this congregation through joyful and difficult times. She has been a steady presence through numerous ministerial and other staff transitions. In my time here, Shannon has been an integral part of welcoming me and has frankly smoothed my transition into this congregational setting. She

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01/26/2026 by Shannon Day

Messages of care and solidarity with Minnesota UUs

Greetings: How is your heart? This last Sunday in RE, our special activity was making cards with messages of care, love, support, and encouragement to Minnesota UUs. These kinds of handwritten notes are so appreciated. We encouraged children to collaborate as writers, scribes, and artists. We will also had our other RE activity stations available. All of Westside was invited to make cards and handwritten messages. Blank cards were provided on the activity table in the back of the sanctuary and more card-making supplies in the Social Hall after services on Sunday. This week, we will send the package of

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01/15/2026 by Shannon Day

MLK Day of Action

How are you and your family doing in these times? What is nourishing you? One thing that helps sustain my hope is doing what might feel like small acts of kindness and generosity in my communities. At a time when world events are so overwhelming, we often feel confused and uncertain about what to do. The social change ecosystem framework has been an anchor and guide for many people and groups to organize our roles and strengthen our connections. This Sunday, January 18,10:30 am – noon at our All Congregation Event: MLK Sunday Day of Action, I will be sharing

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01/13/2026 by Shannon Day

My Spiritual Autobiography, in brief

My Spiritual Autobiography, in brief Inspired by hearing snippets of congregants’ stories in our recent service, “Yes, And” I wanted to take the opportunity to share a concise description of my faith journey. I have shared pieces of this in different moments at Westside, but maybe parts of this will be new. My parents met in the UU congregation in Birmingham, Alabama in the 1980s. My dad grew up Southern Baptist and fully rejected it, and was seeking a community of free-thinkers to be a part of. My mom grew up Methodist and deeply loved being part of a progressive

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01/12/2026 by Shannon Day

Recentering

Greetings:How is your center? I have daily gentle yoga and gratitude practice that feels so important these days to help me ground. I also return to a couple of resources that Reverend Peg introduced me to years ago. She told me about the webpage, Good News Network, which helps reinforce my hope. She also shared about the Insight Timer app, where I continue to enjoy wonderful guided auditory meditations, calming ocean sounds and cello music, and spiritual poetry. In RE, we offer mindful and embodied practices for children and youth to learn to quiet their minds and let go of

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01/07/2026 by Shannon Day

Board Update for January 2026

HAPPY NEW YEAR from your Board of Trustees! Often part of preparing for a new year is to reflect upon the past year year for inspiration. Looking back at 2025, we can be inspired by our work and celebrations. Both the Board and congregation embraced the values outlined in our Living Covenant…love, justice, trust and inclusion. We adopted the Pathways to Reconnection and Repair. By affirming these statements we clarified how we live, worship and play together as a congregation. This powerful, meaningful work will impact our growing community for years, we should be proud! Last year’s successful auction and

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01/06/2026 by Shannon Day

Storytelling

When my family first visited Westside 14 years ago, there were so many things that stood out to us: welcoming vibes, excellent programming for children, Westside’s inclusivity for our 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and wonderful stories!Do you love telling stories? If you do, or you’re curious abut it, we hope you will come to our annual Storytellers Guild Annual Meeting and Workshop on Sunday, January 25th at 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm. In our UU tradition, we create a space during Sunday Service for a really cool liturgical element we call the Time for All Ages (TFAA). Mostly, this is a time

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