08/16/2022 by Shannon Day

Beloved Community Cafe September 18

On Sunday, September 18, 2022 we’re kicking off the effort to put our newly adopted 8th Principle into action at WSUU. Join the Racial Justice Change Team in coordination with the WSUU Board from 10:00 am – noon in the Social Hall to begin the co-creation of a plan to move forward on different aspects of what makes a Beloved Community. We’ll be following WSUU’s protocols for in-person events, including wearing masks and spreading out. We realize that the café on the 18th will not work for everyone, so there will also be a follow-up Zoom event on Wednesday, September

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08/02/2022 by Shannon Day

Accessing Workshops Offered at GA 2022

Workshops offered at GA and how to access them: Many UUs from across the country and world generously shared their knowledge and experience with other UUs as part of scheduled or on-demand workshops. Some are available online now, and others will become available in mid-September. All relate to our faith and/or church operations in some way. Topics include right relations, stewardship, music, religious exploration, and many more. The three workshops I attended during GA were excellent, and the others probably would be too. To find a workshop that fits your (or your committee’s) interests: First, look through pp. 23–48 of

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07/21/2022 by Shannon Day

Overall Impressions of GA from Westside’s Delegate

By Kerrie Schurr, GA Delegate Overall Impressions of GA:The pandemic has been hard on people, as acknowledged multiple times during GA:Moderator Charles DuMond described himself as “crispy”— he has more anxiety, fatigue,and irritability than prior to the pandemic. We were advised to be kind when speaking to eachother and to ask ourselves whether our words were necessary and ours to say (good advice forWSUU!). Other speakers said there is no such thing as “going back to normal,” and that weshould plan on having members who never set foot in churches—online is here to stay. President Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray’s address (36

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07/13/2022 by Shannon Day

Article II Study Commission Update

Dear Friends, We have received word from so many of you who are eager to share the Article II Study Commission’s presentations with your congregations. We are pleased to say that we are extending the deadline for feedback to give folks a chance to view the presentations and share their ideas with us! Our feedback hub (padlet.com/a2sc/ga22) will remain open through July 18. You can view all the Article II presentations as follows by clicking the link above: Introduction to the work, Purpose, and Freedom of Belief in General Session II (beginning with Dan McKanan’s theological framing at 20:35 and our

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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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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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