“We are a Justice Seeking People” This last three months or so in the Unitarian Universalist Association of congregations has been intense after a strong reaction to the hiring of a colleague for a regional lead staff position in another region. That person was white, male, and a minister. Another
Continue reading“Walt Whitman: ‘Be curious, not judgmental.’” Last Sunday was Mother’s Day. I tried to explore some of the threads of the women’s movement from the 19th century to today. A theme I hoped would stand out would be about male supremacy in American and most world cultures. This Sunday will
Continue readingThis morning (Wednesday) I was looking out over the Sound to the Olympic Mountains. Today they are partly concealed by clouds and occasional rain. When the search process was in full forward gear this winter I often got calls or video chats with potential candidates for settled minister at Westside.
Continue readingCandidating Week is a week of mutual discernment. It is an exciting and stressful process as a congregation and a ministerial candidate think deeply and reach clarity about whether the match and the opportunity are right for both. The Search Team put a lot of emphasis on the congregation’s role
Continue readingTo what do you align your heart? Ultimately, that is the quest of religious exploration. The formation of our children’s spirituality comes through story, art, lessons, wondering, questioning, and discussions. Exploring their feelings and understandings of UU, their personal expression of this faith, develops and evolves. Children and youth are
Continue readingThe final preparations have been going on all week, and we are finally going to meet our ministerial candidate, Rev. Carlos Martinez, next week. We will put our best selves forward to welcome him. We are going to learn a lot about Rev. Carlos and, perhaps more importantly, we’ll learn
Continue reading“May you live in interesting times” Many of us have heard this wise expression over the years. It sounds astute and supposedly it comes from Asian proverb sayings. The saying has been widely shared especially in these difficult days in America and the world. Another expression that says the Chinese
Continue readinghttp://www.blacklivesuu.com/uuwhitesupremacyteachin Some of you may have read the information I put in the e-news last Friday about UUA President Peter Morales resigning effective April 1. His resignation was in major part an outcome of a highly controversial hiring in the Southern Region of the UUA. The compilation of the sequence
Continue readingSome of you have asked questions about the why’s of the next steps in the selection of the new minister and what happens thereafter. I’d like to try to answer some of them but will defer to the Ministerial Search Committee and Paula vanHaagen as chair of the team for
Continue readingThe following letter, endorsed by Westside’s Board of Trustees, has been sent to Senior Rabbi Daniel Weiner of Seattle’s Temple De Hirsch. Read letter here.
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