by WUUC | Nov 29, 2021 | Announcements
Whether you are at home or in the WUUC building, there are so many ways to be involved. Please check the website www.wuuc.org for information on social groups, classes or volunteer opportunities.
As we are now offering Hybrid Sunday services, there are several way you could help out on Sundays:
Online/Zoom:
If you are comfortable Zooming, and expect to be worshipping from home sometimes, we need a couple of Zoom-worship support people. Not hard if you’re a Zoomer.
In Person:
Ushering – contact Chuck Fowler at Chuck & Jean Fowler fernhaven@comcast.net
Greeting arrivals – contact Karen Hyams engage@wuuc.org
Sound Tech – contact Linda Sherry lindasherry@wedges.com
Camera Operator – contact Linda Sherry lindasherry@wedges.com
AND
LOVE TO SING??
The Virtual Choir will be transforming into the Hybrid Choir, and will be performing in the Sanctuary when the Covid Safety Team says it is safe.
by WUUC | Nov 28, 2021 | Announcements
WUUC’s 2021 Giving Tree
WUUC will once again host a Giving Tree for families living in Greenleaf needing extra support with gift giving during the holiday season. WUUC collaborates with the Greenleaf housing community in Kenmore through our Black Student and Families Fund project. Our ongoing contributions to Greenleaf families provide a safe environment for Northshore students to explore and express their identity as they navigate the racial constructs of their world. Watch the WUUC email lists for more information soon about how to contribute to the Giving Tree.
Black Student and Family Fund (BSAFF) Friendsgiving success
On Nov. 22 the Kenmore Community Club transformed into a celebration of gratitude for friends and family for the Friendsgiving/Harvest Festival put on by the Greenleaf families and Root of Our Youth leaders. The kids planned the decorations and activities during the Mentor Monday sessions (that happen every Monday after school at the Kenmore Community Club) and everyone worked together, including our WUUC BSAFF team, to create the potluck event with face painting, cupcake and cookie decorating (thanks Alaine and Lane), musical chairs, and a youth-led fashion show. The kids had a great time and are excited for the next event on Dec. 20.
Thank you Carol Taylor, Steph Young, Lisa Villasenor, Alaine Davis, Lane Owsley, Cora Goss-Grubbs and thanks to everyone for your ongoing support of BSAFF
Monthly Special Collections
Many thanks for donating to our October ASJ special collection. Your support of $695 went to Honor the Earth, a native initiative to create awareness and support for Native environmental issues and to develop needed financial and political resources for the survival of sustainable Native communities. Among other activities, Honor the Earth is currently supporting actions of Water Protectors to oppose pipeline 3 in the Midwest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a98gUC53NYo&t=90s.
On Dec. 19 the ASJ special collection will benefit 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 Monthly Collection” in the notes.
by WUUC | Nov 28, 2021 | Announcements
Mahjongg or mah-jongg is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China, and it has now spread to WUUC!
Several folks have seriously come on board and taken the steps to learn. Beginners are becoming routine players at a fine pace. We are having a great time in offering our brains this colorful and suspenseful alternative to the usual demands of a day’s thinking. Will anyone catch Mahjongg Fever? Probably, but it only helps. It can’t hurt.
Our regular weekly meeting is set for Mondays from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. listed as 1:30 p.m. just in case we need the extra time to pack up the tiles and all equipment. Beginners are welcome. Anyone who has never played before will be given individual special time. Contact Blue with questions or interest in joining in by texting 413-768-9120, or email azforte@gmail.com
by WUUC | Nov 28, 2021 | Announcements
Hi, my name is Justin Gertler. When I was a very young child, in elementary school, I remember participating in the March of Dimes Walkathon to raise funds to improve the health of mothers and babies. It was so long ago that I don’t remember how I got involved in that worthy cause … I only remember walking for miles and miles for what seemed like forever, and I felt proud every step of the way.
Fast forward 20 years and I was looking for new opportunities to help out in the community when I came across the Community Services for the Blind and Partially Sighted, which worked with individuals, families and communities to restore, maintain and enhance the independence and well-being of people with impaired vision, and specialized in working with age-related vision loss. I am not even sure if they are still around, but at the time they partnered me with an elderly lady named Dorothy who lived alone in an apartment in Seattle. I remember visiting with her, helping her read her mail, pay her bills, balance her bank statement, and lots of talking, since she was all alone most of the time. It was truly a special time.
My next adventure was Team Captain for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life event https://www.cancer.org/involved/fundraise/relay-for-life.html. “At Relay For Life events teams camp out overnight and take turns walking or running around a track or path at a local high school, park, or fairground to raise funds for the fight against cancer. Events are up to 24 hours long, and because cancer never sleeps, each team is asked to have at least one participant on the track at all times.” I was involved with this cause for many years and have wonderful memories of these overnight events, walking the tracks after midnight with luminaria lighting the way.
More recently I have helped at Friends of Youth https://www.friendsofyouth.org/, setting up the sleeping areas for homeless youth, and serving meals. I then shifted from working with youth, to helping the elderly through Eastside Friends of Seniors https://eastsidefriendsofseniors.org/ and also the Full Life Care https://www.fulllifecare.org/services/elderfriends/ programs. In addition to providing rides when needed, I was also partnered with folks whom I checked in on via phone calls and visits, and in some cases bringing groceries and helping with other needs. Not only did I feel that I was providing an important service in the community, but I also developed wonderful friendships along the way.
I have also been very fortunate to volunteer with WUUC’s Cares and Concerns Committee, United Way, and Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County https://dvs-snoco.org/ . Last week I signed up to volunteer with the International Rescue Committee and am very excited to start! https://www.rescue.org/united-states/seattle-wa
Please take a moment to checkout these excellent programs, or look online at other options to find one that is meaningful to you and one which you may want to volunteer for! https://www.volunteermatch.org/
by WUUC | Nov 28, 2021 | DRE Blog
It has been my practice for the past few years to share something I am grateful for each day in November. And in December, I post a virtual Advent Calendar of Kindness. Each day in December, I post something small that people can do to make the world a better place.
This year, as I posted my daily gratitude posts, I was very aware of how much I need to practice being thankful. Gratitude has been essential to my mental health and has helped me have enough motivation to continue my work. In this busy time of the winter holidays, I encourage you to take some time to remember what you are grateful for. Share your gratitude with others and, if you can, give other people something to be grateful for as well.
If you are having a hard time feeling grateful or joyful, here is a meditation that may help.
Meditation on Gratitude and Joy
By Jack Kornfield (https://gratefulness.org/resource/meditation-on-gratitude-and-joy/)
Let yourself sit quietly and at ease. Allow your body to be relaxed and open, your breath natural, your heart easy. Begin the practice of gratitude by feeling how year after year you have cared for your own life. Now let yourself begin to acknowledge all that has supported you in this care:
With gratitude I remember the people, animals, plants, insects, creatures of the sky and sea, air and water, fire and earth, all whose joyful exertion blesses my life every day.
With gratitude I remember the care and labor of a thousand generations of elders and ancestors who came before me.
I offer my gratitude for the safety and well-being I have been given.
I offer my gratitude for the blessing of this earth I have been given.
I offer my gratitude for the measure of health I have been given.
I offer my gratitude for the family and friends I have been given.
I offer my gratitude for the community I have been given.
I offer my gratitude for the teachings and lessons I have been given.
I offer my gratitude for the life I have been given.
