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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10/24/2018 by Shannon Day

Cynthia Westby, DRE Column October 2018 – Transitions

As we transition into fall, with this glorious weather, watching the leaves drift down into colorful piles on the ground, I am looking forward to a deepening richness in my position as DRE. I am excited to be ordained and it gives me great joy to be a minister! I am deeply touched by the beautiful stole that was presented to me on Sunday morning, October 21st during service. The lovely presentation by Alex Holt, Nola Balch, RE Council Co-Chair and RE Council members Cara Mathison and Laura Strand on behalf of the congregation was so moving. Shannon Day picked

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10/03/2018 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains – Week of Oct. 5

“Boys will be boys” I heard that comment above quite a bit in the last two weeks and especially after the Senate hearing last week with Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh. I also remember hearing those words when I was growing up. Sometimes it was directed at me. My room would be a mess, or I’d talk back to the people who brought me up. There’d usually be a sigh from the adults, and some variation of ‘boys will be boys.’ It didn’t stop there. There would be a lesson given to me that while indeed ‘boys will be boys’

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09/26/2018 by Shannon Day

September Update from Minister Search Team 2019

Happy Belated Fall Equinox, Westside! As much as I am disappointed by the briefness of summer, I do feel ready for fall. It’s my favorite season, and it does suit the Scorpionic and Halloween loving tendencies of many Seattleites well. Bring on the saffron colored leaves and ancestor honoring ceremonies and frightening front lawn decorations and comfy sweaters! Fall is also your Ministerial Search Team 2019’s busiest season thus far. As we begin to munch on the rich results of the Congregational Survey, we would like to take a moment to thank the many of you turned out to answer

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09/25/2018 by Shannon Day

Ordination of Rev. Cynthia Westby, DRE

I was ordained as an Interfaith Minister on Saturday, September 15th by the Chaplaincy Institute Interfaith Community in Berkeley, California.  The beautiful, powerful two-hour long ceremony was held in the early evening at Christ Church in Berkeley.  It was an emotional, deeply moving ceremony and I am thrilled to now be Rev. Cynthia Westby.  With my husband, Eric, and seven other good friends who live in the area as my support and witness, I felt held in community and blessed by them, by all of you, and by the Chaplaincy Institute Interfaith Community.  It was an incredibly memorable experience. Below

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09/05/2018 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains Week of 9/3

“So, what’s up with Worship Council?” Several Westsiders have asked me that question in recent days. I had mentioned some changes in my August 19th sermon called “Living in a Liminal Season.” I talked about being in a time of radical and unpredictable change which we all are now. This is what I said in that sermon (paraphrased): “Here’s one example. The Worship Council has had a long history of providing professional and wide-ranging Sunday services here. I mentioned that Chaplain Mark led the group for a decade. Last year Lisa Reitzes facilitated Worship Council during a time of profound

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08/29/2018 by Shannon Day

Let Us Rejoice Together – Margo Rinehart, Ministerial Intern

August 31st marks the end of my twelve-month ministerial internship at Westside. With that life flashing before us, I desperately try to slow down the spinning orb in order to spend more time in grace and gratitude. Time to take inventory of all we have learned together. In this holy work of building a religious community, we have: Come to better know one another’s dreams, sorrows, and longings Celebrated awe, wonder, and what is life-sustaining and true Explored a one-dimensional, distorted story of immigrants and have stood in solidarity with the persecuted Spoken for truth and justice even knowing that

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08/22/2018 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains*

(*if you can see them) We have had to endure the terrible air quality conditions this week in the Seattle area. Smoke from fires north and east and down south in Oregon and California have totally obscured the mountains, the Sound and Seattle itself from here in West Seattle. No one is physically immune from the effects of the smoke. It’s also disconcerting to not see the mountains because they are such an emotional anchor for so many here. I’ve had many times when I might be in a grumpy mood, but I’ll look up at Mt. Rainier or the

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08/15/2018 by Shannon Day

Ministerial Search Update August 17, 2018

Hello Westside! Summer is both hot and not hot. How innovative! Tonight the moon was saffron and the sky was a deep periwinkle. Very pleasing and complimentary colors but caused by smog and haze from fires in the north and south I know. I send so many prayers to those dealing with the hungry entity that fires are. These past six weeks I have been in and out of touch with the world. Rather, underneath the skin of the world. Wrapped in an immersive six week theatre intensive with Intiman Theatre focusing on theatre for social change, which wraps this

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08/06/2018 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains (and Plains) 8.6.18

What a summer it’s been. Heatwaves everywhere, tragic fires in Greece, Siberia, California and many more locations. Climatologists say that we are in a radically unstable and changing time for weather and climate. That’s an example of liminality. Thanks to your generosity with my professional expenses this year, I am able to take a number of classes by the highly regarded Rev. Susan Beaumont. I’m taking one at the end of August on staffing and supervision. However, I want to mention the one I attended last week called, “Leading in a Liminal Season” at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

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