by WUUC | Jan 28, 2022 | Announcements
Monthly Special Collections
Many thanks for donating to our November and December ASJ Special Collections. The November collection of $505 went to Lavender Rights Project, a grassroots organization providing legal services by and for trans and non-binary people, with a focus on serving the Black and Indigenous gender diverse community. The December collection of $830 benefitted the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, a nonprofit, nonsectarian organization advancing human rights together with an international community of grassroots partners and advocates.
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. Instructions for giving are posted during the service, and you can also donate anytime the following week 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.
by WUUC | Jan 28, 2022 | Announcements
By Linda Sherry
Worship Support Specialist
Each time I read this, I find that the questions deepen and take on more complexity and significance in my mind and heart. I invite you to take the time to settle in to read and re-read this offering from the Soul Matters theme for February.
The author is not credited.
Welcome to Widening the Circle
Is it possible that
being on the inside
leaves you out of the loop?
What if the margins
aren’t narrow?
What if that space of exclusion
is also a position of perspective?
What if being shut out
allows you to understand the insiders
better than they understand themselves?
Why do so many seek the safety
of that inner circle anyway?
Don’t we know that the circles
not only keep others out
but also the air?
Haven’t we learned that
it’s on the edge of circles
that hate makes its home?
So even if you weren’t among the ones
who put the circle in place,
by allowing it to linger,
don’t you carry the burden
of responsibility as well?
What if who we are
doesn’t end at the barriers
of our own skin?
What if sin is believing
that you can put the puzzle together
with only the pieces that belong to you?
What if heaven is the moment you realize
that none of us can get there alone?
What if the only true freedom
lies in the willingness to
fight against that which imprisons
someone else?
And what if these all questions
are a matter of life and death?
Or is it a matter of dying to live?
After all, didn’t the Nazarene say
we must lose our life in order to find it?
Haven’t all the sages said the solitary self
must perish for the larger We to live?
If that is true
then let’s widen the circle
until it breaks!
For as long as the circle exists
pieces and parts of ourselves
will always lie on the other side
of the line.
So let us push, pull,
twist and tear,
dig underneath
and climb over the top,
do whatever it takes to meet each other
face to face.
And having found each other,
let us stare
and struggle,
fight and forgive,
call in and call out,
until “me” and “you”
dissolves into “us.”
Is there any other way we become whole?
Find the February Soul Matters packet here.
by WUUC | Jan 24, 2022 | Announcements
By Carol Taylor
What’s the difference? ComCom is the group that manages our internal-facing communication channels: our google docs site where we securely share documents and our church @wuuc.org email aliases. You use your @wuuc email address to log into the secure site. It is up to each committee to manage their own secure documents and share permissions for group members. Contact ComCom@wuuc.org to set up or get added to an email group, to access your @wuuc email account, or to learn more about using google docs.
MarCom manages our external facing communication channels: currently our www.wuuc.org web site. If you have something that needs to be added or changed on the site, contact MarCom@wuuc.org. You will need to provide the written content needed and be able to answer these questions: Who is the content intended for? How will you let people know it’s there? Is it replacing existing content, or something new? It is up to everyone at WUUC to review the site content related to their specific area periodically to make sure it is up to date.
Join us after service on March 20th at the monthly Getting to Know WUUC presentation to learn more.
by WUUC | Jan 24, 2022 | Announcements
Do you wish more people could hear about all the amazing things happening at WUUC? Would you like to help share our stories? We need people to help lead and run our WUUC Marketing activities (Web site, Social media, Signage, Public Relations), both those with Marketing and Communications skills and those willing to do the leg work to help run more activities (right now our lean team just runs the Web site). If this sounds interesting and you’d like to help, please contact marcom@wuuc.org.
by WUUC | Jan 24, 2022 | Announcements
By Grace Simons
WUUC has long supported some Maywood Hills elementary students who are likely to miss meals on weekends, when school meals aren’t available. We’re currently helping 15 kids every weekend. Many of our members and friends have generously supported the Totes program – it surely takes all of us!
Donations may be put in the shed on the west side of the building or in the bins across from the kitchen. Hopefully, we’ll be gathering in the building again soon and you’ll be able to get a look at the kinds of things people bring. We collect individual servings of shelf-stable milk, hot and cold cereal, snacks, fruit, juice, granola bars and 1-dish meals. We also gather regular sized peanut butter, canned fish & meat, and crackers. Some of our folks do targeted shopping; some pick up something when they shop for their families. Every bit helps!
We keep an on-line inventory that I update after I check for new donations. You can check it here
The school is very appreciative of our efforts and we have good communication with a designated staff member there. We know that hungry kids can’t learn well, and we’re making a difference week by week! Thanks so much to each of you who’s helped! Co-coordinators for the Totes program are John Hartman and Grace Simons. Contact either of us with questions, comments or kudos!
