08/25/2021 by Shannon Day

WSUU Board Retreat Update

by Jim Schlough, Board Treasurer August 22, 2021 The recently elected Board of Trustees of our church got together last Sunday for a daylong retreat. We have an entirely new board of five people this year and, although many of us have served previously on other non-profit boards, we want to determine how we can best serve the specific needs and hopes of our beloved WSUU community. We also want to express gratitude for the guidance we have already received from last year’s board members.Let me remind you who we are: Kristina Darnell, president; Marco Deppe, vice-president; Laura White, secretary; Jim Schlough,

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08/18/2021 by Shannon Day

WSUU COVID Guidelines

September 1, 2021 Love of community, safety, and accessibility are our primary goals for our beloved spiritual home. We celebrate all those involved in nurturing our community virtually and in person. General Guidelines on Church Property Inside and Outside Masks are required in all indoor WSUU church spaces unless you are a vaccinated staff member working alone or with other employees, a young child under 2 years of age and/or those who cannot wear a mask due to a health or accessibility need. Masks are optional outside the building for vaccinated persons. All unvaccinated persons should wear a mask unless

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07/21/2021 by Shannon Day

Notes from Rev. Margo Rinehart’s sermon, Spiritual Maturity

a sermon by Rev. Margo Rinehart In her sermon for the July 11 worship service, Rev. Margo referenced the writing of UU minister Rev. Kendyl Gibbons on the topic of cultivating spiritual maturity. Here are the five points on the journey that she described: 1) Developing self-awareness in the service of intention – pay attention to the impact of your actions, understanding where you end and the rest of the universe or another person begins.  2) Choosing an orientation toward reverence and gratitude – treat our very existence and consciousness as an object of reflection, a source of wonder and

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05/12/2021 by Shannon Day

Let’s Celebrate Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans.

The Asian country of the Philippines is my heritage and I invite you to join with me this month to celebrate Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans. From Asian Americans or Pacific Islander Americans, each week in May I’ll offer links to book reading, podcast, music, poetry, film, panel or art. Questions? Contact WSUU member, Roseanne Lorenzana, roseanne.wsuu@gmail.com Hawaiian-born Shimabukuro has virtually reinvented the instrument, causing many to call him “the Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele.” View  here (2 minutes)  and  here (7 minutes). Poems from a father, a refugee from Vietnam, an activist resisting the invisibility of the Asian American urban poor. Bao

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04/16/2021 by Shannon Day

Thank you to Garden Volunteers!

Last weekend we had a great turnout, with 14 people coming early on a Saturday morning, masked and distanced, to help get the Westside garden into shape for the spring! After many yards of mulch, lots of weeding and planting, the garden is looking great! Thank you to everyone who came out to help, and to our Landscape and Garden Team Co-Chairs, Amy Hance-Brancati and Kimberly Frappier!

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03/24/2021 by Shannon Day

Heart to Heart – Monthly Young Adult Gathering

So many people grace the doors of Westside seeking a community in which to belong, a community where they can share the big questions and challenges of their lives, and bear witness to others who are similarly seeking. We yearn for relationships of depth and vulnerability, and spaces in which to be our most honest selves. Westside members and friends in their twenties or thirties are invited to join Rev. Christopher for a monthly time of ministry. Using a program called Heart to Heart, we’ll gather to share and to listen to one another, with the following topics explored over

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03/24/2021 by Shannon Day

A Letter from the Board in Response to the Events in Georgia

As we mourn the precious lives lost in last week’s violent attacks in Georgia, we offer care and love to our Asian American and Pacific Islander friends, congregants, and community members. We bear witness to the painful impacts of anti-Asian racism, which has escalated in the last year, but also has a long, repugnant history in this country. We also acknowledge the damage that Asian stereotypes have long played, including the way Asians have been viewed as a silent and model minority, experiencing no problems in American society. This simple formulation undercuts the diversity of the Asian American experience, and

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02/10/2021 by Shannon Day

Some Racial Justice Learning Opportunities for February

One of the goals of the Racial Justice Change Team is to connect the congregation to our work. With that focus in mind, we want to help honor Black History Month and Lunar New Year (February 12). We would also like to bring to your attention some learning opportunities about Coast Salish tribal history and a book by a Korean-American author on the Asian American experience. Each learning opportunity is offered by a Seattle organization. (Note: Presenter and author names followed by * indicate the person is BIPOC. [WSUU] indicates that the presenter/facilitator is a WSUU member or friend.) Many

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01/27/2021 by Shannon Day

Racial Justice Change Team Goals for 2021

Wondering what the Racial Justice Change Team (RJCT) is working on this year? Here are the team’s goals for 2021: Become conversant in the recommendations of the UUA’s “Widening the Circle of Concern” report and align our actions to those recommendations. We have ensured that our planned actions below align with the general recommendations of the report, as well as the priorities of the WSUU Board. The report is available for free at the above link, or for a fee in print or as an Amazon Kindle ebook. Support our BIPOC members and continue to be connected and accountable. Currently,

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12/29/2020 by Shannon Day

President’s Letter January 2021- Vanessa Shaughnessy

We made it to 2021! I hope you had opportunities for rest and joy in the last few weeks of that very long year. I am deeply grateful that those of us on the board have been able to take some time for celebration and rejuvenation ourselves, especially because it’s about to get very busy! It’s been helpful for me to reflect that, through the hurt and uncertainty of the last several months, there have been opportunities unique to this time. Virtual gatherings have fostered connection and conversation that may not have happened in person. For example, my youngest is

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