Early last fall, a WUUC Holiday Planning Team came together with the goal of building community through meaningful holiday activities and events, especially those that would welcome families.
Here are the highlights of the 2024 holiday season:
Postcards mailed to all friends and members with the key events that would happen between Thanksgiving and the New Year
Children’s gifting fair, where new and gently used gifts were donated so that children could choose and wrap gifts for their family and friends
Cookie exchange in the WUUC foyer.
Craft activities for creating handmade gifts
Holiday gifts for 20 youth and children donated through Friends of Youth
Collective contributions of supplies and time to make 50 (!) Kits for Neighbors in Need that included essentials, such as socks, gloves, flashlights, handwarmers, tissues, personal care supplies, ponchos, food treats, throat lozenges, wipes, and personalized cards
Solstice labyrinth meditative experience with beautiful luminaria for 38 of our friends and neighbors.
All-church brunch with quiche, pancakes, fruit, and community for over 60 members and friends
Christmas Eve caroling complete with cookies and hot beverages.
And of course, worship services, complete with families lighting advent candles each week, the candlelight Christmas Eve service, and the Burning Bowl service to greet the new year.
At least 50 WUC members and friends volunteered to make these holiday events successful.
Our deep thanks go out to all of you.
WUUC Holiday team co-chairs,
Donna Johnson and Jan Radoslovitch
PS We will be talking about what worked, what didn’t work and what we would like to do better in the coming months. Please let us know your thoughts about our holiday events this year. Also, we will be starting to plan next year‘s events sometime in the late summer or early fall. Please let us know if you would like to be part of the Holiday Planning team at WUUC.
This month’s collection helps fund the Na’ah Illahee Fund which supports and promotes the leadership of Indigenous women in the ongoing regeneration of Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest. Their work addresses climate and environmental justice, food security and food sovereignty, civic participation, youth leadership, and advancing regenerative economies from a personal to systemic level. The Na’ah Illahee Fund serves as a bridge builder, facilitator, and resource partner as we work to catalyze a movement toward positive futures. We are deeply committed to honoring and revitalizing the wisdom and practices rooted in Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Traditional Ecological Knowledge, ensuring a sustainable and vibrant future for generations to come.
The ASJ Committee thanks WUUC members and friends for their generous support of our monthly special collections, which take place during services on the third Sunday of every month (November 17th). Instructions for giving are posted during the service, and you can also donate anytime at https://onrealm.org/wuuc/-/give/now, or by sending a check to WUUC at P.O. Box 111, Woodinville, WA 98072. Please make checks out to WUUC and write “ASJ Special Collection” in the notes. Visit wuuc.org/collection.
WUUC volunteers were working on two fronts this fall writing letters and postcards to Get Out the Vote in key swing states and to help defeat I-2117. Initiative 2117 is on the Washington State ballot this fall and, if passed, would repeal the State’s Climate Commitment Act- landmark climate legislation passed by the State Legislature two years ago.
WUUC volunteers joined the Sunday evening letter writing and postcard writing group at Duvall, organized by Betsy MacWhinney. The volunteers helped the Duvall group write 2100 letters for Vote Forward, 1000 postcards for the Environmental Voter Project, 500 postcards for No on I-2117, and 1,000 postcards to swing states. The WUUC volunteers are:
Cora Goss-Grubbs, Carol and Coenrad Taylor, Hilarie Cash, Pam Green, Dawn and David Blomberg, Tami Petrie and Betsy MacWhinney.
WUUC volunteers also wrote over 2,000 postcards to help defeat I-2117 in four postcard writing sessions at WUUC and in their own homes. Volunteers who wrote No on I-2117 postcards include:
Beth Kress, Susan McBain, Steve Jung, Grace Simons, Kathy Fosnaugh, Lanny Commeree, Cora Goss-Grubbs, Barbara Brachtl, Johnna Ebanks, Leslie Morton, Stephana Ditzler, Pam Green, Lou Ann Maxwell, Charlotte Benson, Hilarie Cash, David Locke, Donna Johnson, Dawn Blomberg, Laurie Rockenbeck, Margaret Rockenbeck, Azure Forte, Stephanie Young, John Hartman.
Thanks to all the WUUC volunteers for their time, effort and good cheer.
Summer may seem a long way off, but it’s time to make reservations for the 2025 WUUC annual campout! The campout will be Thursday, July 24 to Sunday July 27, at Deception Pass State Park. Reservations open 9 months ahead, so on Thursday, October 24 at 7:00 a.m. we will reserve our preferred spots, which go very quickly.
The campout is the longest-running activity at WUUC. It’s a great weekend getaway, for people and families of all stripes, and includes campfires, a potluck, games, hikes, music, swimming, beach walks, and of course lots of informal hang-out time with your WUUC campers, in one of the most beautiful state parks in Washington.
We especially welcome newcomers and first-time campers – it’s a great way to get to know our church community, and there’s lots of sharing and support for your camping experience.
For questions or more information, please contact Jack Brand at jackbrand@gmail.com . We will be coordinating reservations prior to October 24, via the “WUUC Camping” email list. Contact Brad Hull at bkhull@gmail.com to join that list.
