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

Minister| WSUU News Continue reading
05/21/2019 by Shannon Day

Westside’s Social Justice Council Proposal to Join Faith Action Network

The Social Justice Council proposes that the Westside UU Congregation join the Washington Faith Action Network (FAN) as a congregation on an ongoing basis. We are submitting this proposal to be considered as part of the June 2, 2019 annual meeting. Who is the WA Faith Action Network (wafan.org) From their website: …a statewide interfaith advocacy 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization through which thousands of people and over 140 faith communities across Washington State partner for the common good. Mission Faith Action Network is an interfaith statewide partnership striving for a just, compassionate, and sustainable world through community building, education, and courageous

Social Justice| WSUU News Continue reading
04/11/2019 by Shannon Day

Origins and Purposes of the Racial Justice Change Team

The Racial Justice Change Team (RJCT) formed in 2018, in part to fulfill a commitment that our congregation had made in 2016, when the Congregation voted at a special meeting to hang a “Black Lives Matter” banner prominently on the side of the building.  The banner initiative was led by an ad hoc committee that included Cecelia Hayes, Theresa McCormick, Fred Matthews, Nikki Roberg, and Rev. Beatrice. The initial organizers of the RJCT team, Fred Matthews, Kerrie Schurr, and Tracy Burrows, were inspired by the work that the East Shore UU, University Unitarian, and Woodinville UU churches were doing to

Social Justice| WSUU News Continue reading
03/14/2019 by Shannon Day

What is a Change Team and what does it have to do with Racial Justice work?

Greetings from the WSUU Racial Justice Change Team! We’d like to give everyone a better sense of what we’re all about, starting with why specifically we decided to call ourselves the “Racial Justice Change Team.” A “Change Team” is a group who identifies existing barriers to achieving desired outcomes in a specific area of an organization and who then supports the organization in creating and implementing a plan to address those barriers. The WSUU’s Racial Justice Change Team formed last spring and we’ve been focusing on how we, as a church community, can examine white privilege and our own place

Social Justice| WSUU News Continue reading
03/13/2019 by Shannon Day

Lift Update – March 15, 2019

Judi Finney and I met with the contractors this past Monday to finally learn the fate of our new lift which will transport people from the Social Hall directly into the Sanctuary. Mark Olsoe, Judi, and I (along with input from Robert Pacht and Peggy Tlapak) have been working together since last summer to try to get this project on its feet. We finally found a reputable construction firm last September and have spent the last almost six months waiting while the professionals did their work: the architect, the electrician, the structural engineer and the construction company all trying to

Board of Trustees| WSUU News Continue reading
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

Minister| WSUU News Continue reading
03/06/2019 by Shannon Day

Music Column for March – Scott Farrell, Acting Music Director

I would like to share something with all of you. I was standing on the platform during the service this last Sunday, directing the choir, and this wave of “you belong here” washed over me. It was palpable and powerful. When I decided to apply for the position here at Westside less than three months ago, I did so because I had  been feeling an inner prompting to become more involved in my local community, and having been exposed to Unitarian Universalism a bit in my past, WSUU felt like it might be a good fit with my spiritual and social justice

Music| WSUU News Continue reading
02/27/2019 by Shannon Day

DRE Column for March – Rev. Cynthia Westby

Cabin Fever “You’re now free to move about the cabin!”  Words we live for when we’re trapped on an airplane in our 2X2 seats!  In February, confined to my house by the snowy weather, I was more than ready to hear these precious words of freedom.  My snowbound life gave me the same cabin fever I experience on an airplane. Did you notice cabin fever too, during those weeks of snow, cold and closures?  Many of us spent a good chunk of time holed up at home.  Because our cars were surrounded by mountains of snow and the City of

RE - Children and Youth| WSUU News Continue reading
01/23/2019 by Shannon Day

DRE Column for January – Rev. Cynthia Westby

The Hidden Treasure In Change Rev. Cynthia Westby, Director of Religious Exploration Transition shakes up most of us. Change messes with the order of things we’ve gotten used to, feel comfortable with, and prefer to see remain the same. Change is often not pleasant or agreeable. There is, however, hidden treasure in change. I’ve discovered that if I hang in there and observe myself and the situation, I may learn something. For instance, I may realize the new circumstances give me opportunities to offer a new way of thinking about things that is refreshing or interesting. One of my favorite stories about a

RE - Children and Youth| WSUU News Continue reading
12/19/2018 by Shannon Day

DRE Column for December: The Gift of the Bengali Tea Boys

Difficult situations are gifts.  Gifts we often resist and usually don’t appreciate.  They teach us about our blind spots. . . if we stop and listen to what is happening inside us.  You may want to return these gifts, but resist!  Sticking with the feelings and experience pays off. When my buttons get pushed, I start wondering what is going on in me.  What do I believe is happening?  What should the other person be doing?  Wanting the other person to be different only because they are driving me crazy is my cue to reexamine the situation more carefully. American Tibetan Buddhist nun Pema

RE - Children and Youth| WSUU News Continue reading