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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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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09/25/2024 by Shannon Day

Board Update September 27, 2024

Autumn greetings to you from your Board of Trustees. The start of the 2024-25 church year has been full of meaningful activities, all in support of our Beloved Community. The Ingathering was perfect with spirited energy, music, and activities to support connections. We joyously welcomed Katie Lawson as the Director of Religious Exploration. Committees are beginning to meet, covenant groups are gathering. In short, our WSUU congregation is on the move, growing and connecting.  In support of our congregation’s mission, the Board of Trustees has held its annual retreat. The task for the day was to affirm our goals, clarify

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09/04/2024 by Rev. Carter Smith

Blessing It All

This year seems to mark the threshold in my life where everyone around me seems to be getting married, and I could not be more thrilled. While I’m (thankfully) not being asked to officiate them all, I am getting to have so many conversations with loved ones about ritual. For many people in our increasingly secular world, marriage ceremonies are a central and primary form of ritual in their lives. More and more, I see couples aware that their wedding is a place to honor their transformation from individuals into a family, and they are putting care into crafting rituals

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09/03/2024 by Rev. Carter Smith

Introducing Confluence

Confluence, as defined by Merriam-Webster: 1: a coming or flowing together, meeting, or gathering at one point 2: the place of meeting of two or more streams Inspired by the UU water communion tradition of bringing water together at our Ingathering service, our worship theme for the the 24-25 church year is Confluence. I believe this is a beautiful metaphor for our community, which is a place where we come together out of our disparate life experiences, where we choose to meet and flow together. If we aspire to be like water, we should always be moving and changing from

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08/28/2024 by Rev. Carter Smith

Ingathering Invitation

In just over a week, we Westsiders will be gathering for our annual Ingathering service and social hour. As this marks the start of my second full year as minister in this community, this is a special occasion that I am really looking forward to. Whether or not we took time away for the summer, we will get to greet one another anew. Those of us in leadership roles and on volunteer teams will get to check in with one another after some well-deserved rest. And, there will inevitably be new faces to welcome in: folks who met us at

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06/25/2024 by Shannon Day

A Statement on Palestine

From WSUU Minister, Board of Trustees and Racial Justice Change Team Dear members of the Westside UU Community, As world leaders negotiate for a ceasefire deal between Hamas and the Israeli government, we wanted to send this note of care to you all. Over the past 8 months, we citizens of the world have witnessed unprecedented levels of violence and destruction: the brutal attack that killed over 1,000 people in Israel on October 7, and the more than 36,000 people killed in Palestine since. The numbers are staggering. These statistics, along with personal stories and images from this war, haunt

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03/06/2024 by Rev. Carter Smith

Happy Anniversary, Westside!

In march of 2023, one year ago you all welcomed me into your community. And what a year it’s been! It’s tempting to use this kind of platform to hype up the community and name all the hard work folks have put in to make this past year go well. I could talk about the strong worship team who is dedicated and thoughtful in crafting meaningful services that ground us on Sunday mornings. Or all the ways people in this community have shown up for and let themselves be changed by learning Nonviolent Communication and engaging in Right Relations work.

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02/07/2024 by Shannon Day

Welcome to Core Team Corner!

Dear Westsiders,  Do you keep hearing about the Core team and wonder what it is? And why it is? Please read on for a quick view of the origins and future of Westside’s Core team. Please keep in mind that this is not a comprehensive review, and we encourage anyone with questions to reach out and have a conversation with us! You can reach us at coreteam@wsuu.org. Our work with Pam Orbach of the Center for Restorative Solutions began last winter. Members interested in right relations self selected into a group at our Beloved Community Café in the fall of

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