03/14/2019 by Shannon Day

What is a Change Team and what does it have to do with Racial Justice work?

Greetings from the WSUU Racial Justice Change Team! We’d like to give everyone a better sense of what we’re all about, starting with why specifically we decided to call ourselves the “Racial Justice Change Team.” A “Change Team” is a group who identifies existing barriers to achieving desired outcomes in a specific area of an organization and who then supports the organization in creating and implementing a plan to address those barriers. The WSUU’s Racial Justice Change Team formed last spring and we’ve been focusing on how we, as a church community, can examine white privilege and our own place

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03/13/2019 by Shannon Day

Lift Update – March 15, 2019

Judi Finney and I met with the contractors this past Monday to finally learn the fate of our new lift which will transport people from the Social Hall directly into the Sanctuary. Mark Olsoe, Judi, and I (along with input from Robert Pacht and Peggy Tlapak) have been working together since last summer to try to get this project on its feet. We finally found a reputable construction firm last September and have spent the last almost six months waiting while the professionals did their work: the architect, the electrician, the structural engineer and the construction company all trying to

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03/06/2019 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains for March – Rev. Alex Holt

“What IS an ordination and why is it important?” What is an ordination? Someone asked me that a few weeks ago as Westside prepares for the ordination of Crystal Zerfoss at 2:00 pm on Saturday, March 16th at the church. That person recalled the ordination of Westside’s DRE Rev. Cynthia Westby some months ago in Berkeley as an interfaith chaplain. I had to think about it for a moment when the person asked me. My response was that it’s like a wedding. It’s the moment a vocation (as opposed to a career) is ritualized into a formal relationship meant to last

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03/06/2019 by Shannon Day

Music Column for March – Scott Farrell, Acting Music Director

I would like to share something with all of you. I was standing on the platform during the service this last Sunday, directing the choir, and this wave of “you belong here” washed over me. It was palpable and powerful. When I decided to apply for the position here at Westside less than three months ago, I did so because I had  been feeling an inner prompting to become more involved in my local community, and having been exposed to Unitarian Universalism a bit in my past, WSUU felt like it might be a good fit with my spiritual and social justice

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02/27/2019 by Shannon Day

DRE Column for March – Rev. Cynthia Westby

Cabin Fever “You’re now free to move about the cabin!”  Words we live for when we’re trapped on an airplane in our 2X2 seats!  In February, confined to my house by the snowy weather, I was more than ready to hear these precious words of freedom.  My snowbound life gave me the same cabin fever I experience on an airplane. Did you notice cabin fever too, during those weeks of snow, cold and closures?  Many of us spent a good chunk of time holed up at home.  Because our cars were surrounded by mountains of snow and the City of

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01/23/2019 by Shannon Day

DRE Column for January – Rev. Cynthia Westby

The Hidden Treasure In Change Rev. Cynthia Westby, Director of Religious Exploration Transition shakes up most of us. Change messes with the order of things we’ve gotten used to, feel comfortable with, and prefer to see remain the same. Change is often not pleasant or agreeable. There is, however, hidden treasure in change. I’ve discovered that if I hang in there and observe myself and the situation, I may learn something. For instance, I may realize the new circumstances give me opportunities to offer a new way of thinking about things that is refreshing or interesting. One of my favorite stories about a

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12/19/2018 by Shannon Day

DRE Column for December: The Gift of the Bengali Tea Boys

Difficult situations are gifts.  Gifts we often resist and usually don’t appreciate.  They teach us about our blind spots. . . if we stop and listen to what is happening inside us.  You may want to return these gifts, but resist!  Sticking with the feelings and experience pays off. When my buttons get pushed, I start wondering what is going on in me.  What do I believe is happening?  What should the other person be doing?  Wanting the other person to be different only because they are driving me crazy is my cue to reexamine the situation more carefully. American Tibetan Buddhist nun Pema

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11/28/2018 by Shannon Day

DRE Column for November – Growth-full Grieving – Rev. Cynthia Westby

I’ve been finding grief catching me unawares lately. Any transition triggers feelings but usually it is bewildering and surprising when I realize I’m in the midst of a grief response to transition. Especially when the transition is happy. For me, there is the strange grief coming after my ordination. This huge transition marks the end of a year-long push to be ordained. Of course, I am happy to have completed my goal. Thrilled. But I also have this an odd empty feeling. The work has defined almost all of my personal time. Now what shall I do with all this

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11/07/2018 by Shannon Day

Sign Up for Beloved Conversations Groups

Good morning, Westside UU and the Racial Justice Change Team will be launching Beloved Conversations in January. Beloved Conversations uses a small group ministry format to explore the role of race/ethnicity in individual and congregational lives. It was developed at Meadville Lombard Seminary by the Fahs Collaborative and has been implemented by over 140 Unitarian Universalist, Quaker, and Jewish congregations. Starting in the January 2019, 48 Westside members will be participating in four different groups led by lay facilitators. It is with great respect that we invite your participation in Beloved Conversations in Winter 2019. General Registration is open now

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10/31/2018 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains – Week of Nov. 2

“What’s Up with Changes in Worship at Westside” I’ve heard there’s some distress about all the changes in Sunday worship in the last years. I wanted to address it here and my reasons why we are in an experimental year of worship planning and performance. First, it’s natural to want stability in a liminal season when things are chaotic. Sunday services are the anchor for a religious community like this one. There are many who find great meaning and comfort in traditional, stable and meaningful Sunday services. Any given Sunday we walk in the door and pretty much expect what

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