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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12/01/2021 by Shannon Day

Help Identify our 2022 GA Delegates!

General Assembly (GA) is the annual meeting of our Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Participants worship, witness, learn, connect, and make policy for the Association through democratic process. It will be June 22 – 26 and it will be both online and in-person in Portland, Oregon. Anyone may attend! Delegates vote on our behalf, but everyone is encouraged to attend GA! Information about financial aid can be found here. Our GA Delegate Policy, which was new and improved last year, charges the Nominating Committee with presenting the congregation with a slate of Delegates to vote on. This replaces the informal policy

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12/01/2021 by Shannon Day

Board Update for November 2021

Hello friends. You read the subject correctly – although it is now early December, I (Kristina) am writing to provide a November update from the WSUU Board of Trustees. This is often a busy time of year even in normal circumstances; so much has been happening that this month we thought the most sensible thing to communicate would be a summary of the various things we’ve been working on the past few months. Because I am a librarian and I can’t pass up a chance to share resources, I will take this opportunity to remind everyone (or let you know if you didn’t

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11/26/2021 by Shannon Day

Meet the Committee on Ministry

Dearest Westside members and friends, We, the Committee on Ministry, are pleased to introduce ourselves. We are Simon Knaphus, Roseanne Lorenzana, John Fawcett-Long, Naomi Bradfute, Peggy Abby, and Rev. Christopher. We were chosen by Rev. Christopher with input from last year’s Board of Trustees, and have been affirmed by the Board of Trustees this year. Although we have been meeting since May 2021, we took awhile to find our rhythm with each other and to build our container. In fact, we are still polishing our mission statement and will share it soon. In general, a Committee on Ministry (CoM) is

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