07/12/2022 by Shannon Day

News from General Assembly 2022

by Kerrie Schurr, WSUU Delegate I am happy to report that my attendance at General Assembly (GA, the annual convention of UUs from around the world) in late June, was a very positive experience. I went into it feeling somewhat disconnected and discouraged about the state of our church and pandemic life in general, and not exactly looking forward to the business sessions. But the business sessions were streamlined from past years and downright pleasant, and the worship services and workshops I attended (all virtually) were wonderfully inspirational and/or informative. I found that other UUs are also struggling with life

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06/15/2022 by Shannon Day

General Assembly 2022 Update

General Assembly Is Next Week! —by WSUU Delegate Kerrie Schurr, gadelegate2022@wsuu.org First, a big thank-you to those who attended the Zoom meetings this past week to learn more about GA business matters and share your thoughts! Second, please fill out this congregational survey about the business matters and candidates to be voted upon at GA—your opinion counts. Business matters to be voted upon at GA include the following (items in bold are especially important): Rules of Procedure: These govern how business is conducted at GA and are the very first thing voted on. These have been simplified to make delegate

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04/20/2022 by Shannon Day

Tips and Suggestions for Online Auction Bidding

Take a few moments to explore this website’s features you might appreciate. For example, check out the tabs at the top of the homepage, such as “List of Event Dates” – you might save or print it to keep it handy. Click on “Donors” to see who you recognize in the photos and the local businesses supporting our Auction. On items you want to bid on, click on the Star next to the FB and Twitter symbols under “Next Item”, and then you will have a shortcut to see your starred items via the Online Auction Catalog’s title page “Show

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04/13/2022 by Shannon Day

It’s time to Identify our 2022/2023 Board of Trustees!

Westside’s Nominating Committee (Simon Knaphus, Cara Mathison, and Steve Burrows) invites you all to help us create the next slate of WSUU Board and Nominating Committee Members!  All members of WSUU are eligible to serve on Westside’s Board of Trustees and Nominating Committee. The Board and  Nominating Committee will both have open positions. If you are interested in a more complete description of each role, draft position descriptions can be provided to you. A board with a variety of lived experiences and identities is a strong board, so please think widely in considering potential nominees. A few qualities sought across

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03/09/2022 by Shannon Day

Board Update 3.11.22

Beloved Community, As promised in our discussions this weekend, the Board would like to provide more context around the mutual agreement of Rev. Christopher’s transition out of his ministry with Westside UU. We will focus on the Board of Trustees ministerial supervision process in this communication.  In the fall, the Board designated Laura Pierce and Marco Deppe as leads to work regularly with Rev. Christopher in a supervisory capacity with the goal of nurturing the health of our congregation, building collaboration, supporting effective leadership, responding to issues or concerns together and mutual respect of open communication. Supervision of our minister

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03/02/2022 by Shannon Day

Ideas for Swing into Spring Auction Donations

Do you need a little inspiration to help you choose what you would like to offer for this year’s auction? You’re in luck! Below you will find a long list of ideas brainstormed by the auction committee with the help of some other wonderful members. If you feel overwhelmed at the prospect of taking on one of the events or services or maybe you’re excited but don’t have good space to hold an event, consider reaching out to your fellow congregants to partner. Many people have done this in the past and it works very well! Haul things to Goodwill,

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12/23/2021 by Shannon Day

Christmas Eve service moves to online only. Join us for in-person caroling at 6pm!

Friends, members, beloveds, I am beyond gutted to have to share this message with you. Know that I wish so badly that these times were other than they are, as I know you do. And yet, we find ourselves again invited to make a choice to preserve community health as best we are able, to trust in our resilience, our love and connection. On behalf of the staff and congregational leaders, I am writing to let you know that we have decided that, due to a rapidly accelerating spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 throughout the world and increasingly

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12/16/2021 by Shannon Day

The Holidays at Westside

Blue Holidays December 18th, 4:30 – Zoom The holiday season can be especially difficult for lots of folks, filled with the grief of loss, of loneliness, of challenging relationships or a haunting church trauma. Especially when the world around us seems to call out for joy unceasing. Come together with Rev. Christopher for a time of meditation and prayer, where sadness and melancholy are allowed, our burdens shared and lightened. https://zoom.us/my/wsuuminister Solstice Service December 21st, 7-8pmLabyrinth opens at 5pm, closes at 9pmMyrtle Reservoir Park (35th and Myrtle) The longest night approaching, let us gather under night sky and give thanks

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12/15/2021 by Shannon Day

We’re Hiring a Worship Technology Assistant

After almost two years of extraordinary volunteer leadership by our AV Tech Team, we are now hiring a Worship Technology Assistant to take on this essential work of ensuring that our services remain accessible to members and friends who aren’t able to be in the sanctuary. They’ll also take on some of the presentation and preparation tasks associated with worship which had been on the desks of other staff members. The job description is below and we encourage you to share it with your networks and help us find a great new member of our worship staff team. Worship Technology

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12/07/2021 by Shannon Day

Congregational Survey on the Proposal for an 8th Principle

The WSUU Board strongly encourages each of you to engage in the upcoming opportunities within our congregation to learn about and reflect on the proposed 8th Principle of Unitarian Universalism addressing racism and other oppressions. This work began in September, when Westside’s Racial Justice Change Team (RJCT) worked with Rev. Christopher to organize a workshop entitled “Building a Culture of Inclusion,” led by PaulaCole Jones, a lifelong UU and leader in advancing the proposed 8th Principle. As part of the workshop, participants broke into small groups to discuss the relationship of the 8th Principle to the current Seven Principles of

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