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JIGLPET (sounds like Jigglepet) Origins
Greetings: JIGLPETs are a fun away to remember our UU Values: Justice, Interdependence, Generosity, Love, Pluralism, Equity and Transformation but do you know where they come from? They come from us: input from more than 10,000 UUs, from years of discerning, work, listening sessions, discussions, and many drafts encouraging inspirational, poetic, creative language. You can read my 2024 report on the UUA bylaw change here. Later that summer, I was listening the VUU a UU Talk Show that featured Rev. Cheryl M. Walker and they were talking about how to remember our UU values. Rev. Cheryl said what about JIGLPET
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Westside’s Holiday Bag Project for WIN – 2025
Since 2013, we have participated with WIN (Westside Interfaith Network) to provide Christmas gift bags for the many people who come to the Welcome Table, now located at the New Beginnings (formerly Body of Christ) ministry church in White Center for the free Saturday meal. WIN has asked for and received pledges for bags from a number of churches in West Seattle. Westside has pledged 15 gift bags for struggling, low-income people who live in dwellings: homes, apartments, campers, cars. We have also pledged 5 backpacks with necessary items for people who are unsheltered (Empty backpacks for you to
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Trans Day of Remembrance
This week, on November 20, communities around the world pause to honor the lives of transgender and gender-expansive people who have been killed by anti-trans violence. We remember trans ancestors and beloveds whose lives were cut short by physical violence, and by the mental health toll of living in a world where their authentic selves are stigmatized. Their names, their stories, and their courage call us to bear witness and to act. As we remember, we also commit ourselves to a world where trans people are safe, cherished, and free to live fully into their gifts—to grow old, to become
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Cozy Fall Vibes
Greetings: How are you and your family doing with Seattle’s dark wet weather? I’m all about cozy hobbies and habits. What are your favorites? I love sleeping to the sounds of rain on our metal roof, hot tea or hot cocoa while reading a book, or listening to an audiobook while doing arts and crafts. We’re bringing cozy goodness to RE this month with card making, sewing & embroidery, tea with teens, and pumpkin play clay making. The full RE calendar is in the newsletter below so you can save the dates. Looking forward to seeing you and your family!
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Board Update for October 2025
For the month of October the board continued to work on building the foundation for our year of service. We adopted our covenant which was created during our retreat and addresses how we will work in fellowship with one another and how we will serve the congregation. To develop our document we first looked at the staff covenant and were blown away by the thought, detail, and care that was doubtlessly put into its development. This month we have been thinking about our goals for the year, trying to be both visionary and practical, and looking to build on the
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Happy Halloween
Halloween greetings: Are you and your family celebrating Halloween, All Hallows’ Day, All Souls’ Day, or Día de Muertos? What are your family’s favorite things to do around the holiday? Do you dress up or decorate? I love Fall and Halloween decorations: spiders, pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns, ghosts and skeletal fun. You and your family are welcome to wear your costumes to Saturday, November 1st All Ages Game Night in the Social Hall 5:00 – 7:00 pm. All of Westside, and especially families, are invited to join us in the Social Hall for Games! Westside has a pretty good game selection, but
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Fall in ASL
Greetings: Have you noticed the ASL (American Sign Language) posters in the RE Lounge? This Fall in ASL is just one of the three ASL posters by one of my favorite Deaf artists, Brittany Castle (link.) There are so many good reasons to learn ASL, such as how inclusion and equity are part of our UU values. ASL leads to higher reading levels in kids, improves spatial learning, and has numerous cognitive benefits. Learn more about the importance of ASL (link.) It’s essential to learn ASL from Deaf ASL instructors. I’ve been taking online classes from Seattle’s Visually Speaking and
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Costumes Are Welcome
I love that the whole month of October is costume friendly. We don’t have a specific costume event scheduled this month but rather at Westside, we encourage costuming any and every day. Costuming can very much be art, fashion, fandom, creative expression and a way to love ourselves and each other. Costuming encourages self-regulation, body autonomy, body positivity, gender exploration and affirmation. Costuming says every body is beautiful. Costuming also lends itself to important conversations about cultural appropriation and not supporting and perpetuating harmful stereotypes. Dress up engages learning emotionally, cognitively, sensory, motor skills big and small, language and communication
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Board Update for October
I am full of gratitude for this year’s Board of Trustees, and our ex-officio members Rev. Carter and Shannon. This group is affirming, caring, reliable, creative, and deeply committed to Westside’s well-being. We recently gathered for a retreat to strengthen our relationships, learn new ways to collaborate, and lay plans for the year. After getting a sense of the strengths and perspectives we each bring to this work, we engaged with the Core Team to learn more about the tools that nonviolent communication offers us as leaders and members of WSUU. With that foundation we drafted our covenant and turned
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Pet Blessings
I am so excited to bring pet blessings back to Westside! Here’s a photo of our 6 pets: Willow, Burnham, Sisko, Bubba, Tendi and Rutherford. On this Sunday October 12th, we will bless our pets (through the photos and stuffed animals your child brings) and connect our care and compassion towards animals with our UU values of interdependence, generosity and love. We will introduce some of the concepts from the UUAM.org – UU Animal Ministry. Have you visited their webpage? For more information, including photos, about our special guests coming Sunday, October 12th, please send an email to dre@wsuu.org about