The Holidays at Westside

Blue Holidays December 18th, 4:30 – Zoom The holiday season can be especially difficult for lots of folks, filled with the grief of loss, of loneliness, of challenging relationships or a haunting church trauma. Especially when the world around us seems to call out for joy unceasing. Come together with Rev. Christopher for a time of meditation and prayer, where sadness and melancholy are allowed, our burdens shared and lightened. https://zoom.us/my/wsuuminister Solstice Service December 21st, 7-8pmLabyrinth opens at 5pm, closes at 9pmMyrtle Reservoir Park (35th and Myrtle) The longest night approaching, let us gather under night sky and give thanks

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We’re Hiring a Worship Technology Assistant

After almost two years of extraordinary volunteer leadership by our AV Tech Team, we are now hiring a Worship Technology Assistant to take on this essential work of ensuring that our services remain accessible to members and friends who aren’t able to be in the sanctuary. They’ll also take on some of the presentation and preparation tasks associated with worship which had been on the desks of other staff members. The job description is below and we encourage you to share it with your networks and help us find a great new member of our worship staff team. Worship Technology

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Congregational Survey on the Proposal for an 8th Principle

The WSUU Board strongly encourages each of you to engage in the upcoming opportunities within our congregation to learn about and reflect on the proposed 8th Principle of Unitarian Universalism addressing racism and other oppressions. This work began in September, when Westside’s Racial Justice Change Team (RJCT) worked with Rev. Christopher to organize a workshop entitled “Building a Culture of Inclusion,” led by PaulaCole Jones, a lifelong UU and leader in advancing the proposed 8th Principle. As part of the workshop, participants broke into small groups to discuss the relationship of the 8th Principle to the current Seven Principles of

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Help Identify our 2022 GA Delegates!

General Assembly (GA) is the annual meeting of our Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Participants worship, witness, learn, connect, and make policy for the Association through democratic process. It will be June 22 – 26 and it will be both online and in-person in Portland, Oregon. Anyone may attend! Delegates vote on our behalf, but everyone is encouraged to attend GA! Information about financial aid can be found here. Our GA Delegate Policy, which was new and improved last year, charges the Nominating Committee with presenting the congregation with a slate of Delegates to vote on. This replaces the informal policy

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Board Update for November 2021

Hello friends. You read the subject correctly – although it is now early December, I (Kristina) am writing to provide a November update from the WSUU Board of Trustees. This is often a busy time of year even in normal circumstances; so much has been happening that this month we thought the most sensible thing to communicate would be a summary of the various things we’ve been working on the past few months. Because I am a librarian and I can’t pass up a chance to share resources, I will take this opportunity to remind everyone (or let you know if you didn’t

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Meet the Committee on Ministry

Dearest Westside members and friends, We, the Committee on Ministry, are pleased to introduce ourselves. We are Simon Knaphus, Roseanne Lorenzana, John Fawcett-Long, Naomi Bradfute, Peggy Abby, and Rev. Christopher. We were chosen by Rev. Christopher with input from last year’s Board of Trustees, and have been affirmed by the Board of Trustees this year. Although we have been meeting since May 2021, we took awhile to find our rhythm with each other and to build our container. In fact, we are still polishing our mission statement and will share it soon. In general, a Committee on Ministry (CoM) is

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A Qigong and Meditation Morning

Saturday, January 8, 9:15 – 12:45. In person at the Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation Social Hall.Start off the new year with practices that can add vitality and calmness to your life!  The morning is suitable for beginner and experienced meditators. For beginners, we will cover the basics of sitting meditation with an opportunity to practice and ask questions. For more experienced meditators, incorporating movement into your meditation practice can deepen and integrate your practice into your life. Meditation instruction will be given by Jill Boone, a Buddhist Lay Minister who leads the West Seattle Buddhist Sangha. Qigong is an ancient Chinese system

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Aging to Saging Scheduling Survey

Members of the Aging to Saging group at Westside are invited to complete the form below to help determine the best times for meeting for the remainder of the church year, and also to provide some feedback on how/if folks are interested in participating in in-person gatherings in addition to online ones. The current plan is to offer one in-person meeting and one online one each month on a consistent schedule. Thank you for sharing your availability and we look forward to sharing the results of the survey with the group soon.

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Evaluation of Rev. Christopher

Last month, we indicated that the board is working to establish a supervisory relationship with Rev. Christopher and will implement an annual performance review. Here is some more information about the process and how you can participate if you wish to provide input. Approach to Ministerial Supervision & Evaluation Since Rev. Christopher is in a period of preliminary fellowship, there is a process in place which requires annual evaluations to support Rev. Christopher’s ministry. The board is working with the Committee on Ministry to provide Rev. Christopher with feedback that will allow him to grow as a minister and better

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