For many years, WUUC has participated in the Totes To Go program. What is that? It’s a system through which schools in our general area identify students who are at risk of missing meals over weekends, when school breakfast and lunch programs aren’t available. We provide a variety of food items that are placed in a backpack for each of those students to take home with them each Friday. They are mostly single serving items as the living situations of the students may be unstable.
The WUUC program started up again with the new school year. We packed bags for each student after the Sept. 1 service and our first delivery was made on Sept. 5. Deadline for collection of October supplies is Oct. 2. Here’s the link to what we need: inventory
This year we are supporting 15 students in two Bothell schools. We’ve had a strong response from our congregation and are so grateful for your participation! Those 15 students send a big ‘Thank You!’
Please remember the ‘Totes’ program when you get your groceries. Everything goes more smoothly when we don’t need last minute calls for still-needed items. We are making a difference!
By Linda Sherry Based on Soul Matters Materials Relationships are not just about people. We have relationship with many aspects of our lives. While this month’s theme primarily focuses on connections with people, might I suggest we also consider our relationships to what nourishes us, and what stresses us, and how we cultivate the garden that is our lives.
As the seasons change, we cultivate the soil; we choose what to plant we carefully feed and water; we delight in the first sight of a new green sprout; we cull the garden to allow space for healthy growth; we pull weeds; we relish the flowers that delight; and eagerly enjoy the fruits of each. Each season of our life is a little different.
What do you want and need in your garden at this time of your life?
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ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEOPLE
The precious people in our lives know we love, appreciate and adore them, but there’s something about giving voice to the reasons for our love that makes that love tangible. When we identify the specific ways our lives are enriched by another, saying it out loud breathes life Into our connections.
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What relationship in your life needs to be restored? What connection have you ignored for too long?
Is it time to stop cultivating a relationship and instead walk away from it?
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ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS AND THE COVID PANDEMIC
How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected your relationships? Have you had more time or inclination to think about them?
Have you experienced unexpected closeness with anyone?
When you’ve felt lonely or isolated, who have you yearned for most?
What was the most nourishing new relationship you cultivated during the pandemic time? Was it with an unexpected person? A new habit? A new part of yourself? And what’s your plan to intentionally nourish that relationship moving forward?
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ABOUT RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR BELOVED COMMUNITY
Building community is to the collective as spiritual practice is to the individual. Grace Lee Boggs
We are like aspen trees – who have mistakenly thought that since we look like many trees that we are separate beings – but under the ground, our root system is one – we are fully alive when we are connected because we are, we were always, part of one another. Rev. Hilary Krivchenia
What do we live for if it is not to make life less difficult for each other? George Eliot
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ABOUT CONFLICT IN RELATIONSHIP
How Do You NOT Cultivate Relationship? It’s counterintuitive but true: arguing well can strengthen relationships unlike almost anything else. Those skilled at navigating the tense waters of a fight know that it’s not the fight itself but the way one fights that tears the threads of relationship. To have had a fight with someone that “fights fair” is to know that you can trust them when things get rough again. It leaves one clear that what matters most to the other is not winning but the relationship itself. Here’s the good news: we can all get better at arguing well, at fighting fairly! And a great place to start is with recognizing the ways in which you don’t fight fairly.
Each month WUUC embraces a theme that we carry into our Worship, some of our small groups, and hopefully into our quiet conversations and personal reflections. These themes are offered and supported by the UUA’s Soul Matters program.
Below is a summary of the programs that we are planning on offering for the children and youth this year at WUUC. If you have any questions or would like more information on any of these offerings, please let me know.
Elementary and Preschool Programs:
Mini-worship: Mini-worship is an online 15-minute worship service geared toward children that takes place at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings prior to the large WUUC worship service.
Twice monthly in-person (outdoor, masked) events: These events will feature a main project as well as other options for the kids. They will primarily be a chance for the kids to connect with other kids and families, and will not utilize a specific curriculum.
PNWD Collaborative Online RE: The leaders from several churches in the PNWD are collaborating to offer a weekly online RE class for students in Kindergarten – Fifth grade. This will offer our children a chance to be in class with more than just one or two students. And we will be able to take advantage of resources from several congregations. The elementary class will explore UU values and identity through stories and discussion while building caring community with one another.
Middle School Programs:
1. Monthly in-person (outdoor, masked) events: These events will primarily be a chance for the youth to connect with one another, and will not utilize a specific curriculum. The youth may choose to do some fundraising events, social justice projects or other community projects, or they may just want to get together to have fun.
2. Crossing Paths: WUUC is offering a year long class on Sunday evenings called “Crossing Paths.” Crossing Paths was designed for middle school students, but we will open enrollment to all members of the congregation ranging from Middle School to Adult. We will learn about nine faith traditions: Unitarian Universalism, Judaism, Catholicism, Protestant Christianity, Evangelical Christianity, the Quaker tradition, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Each section is made up of four weekly classes and will include a visit (virtual or in person) to another faith community and/or a discussion with a faith leader from that tradition.
3. PNWD Collaborative Online Junior Youth Group: The leaders from several churches in the PNWD are collaborating to offer a weekly online middle school youth group. This will offer the youth a chance to be in a youth group with more than just a few students. They will get a chance to know UU Youth from other congregations around the region and form connections. During our time together, our focus will be on building community and having fun together while deepening our understanding of how we live our values in the world and how we answer the “big questions” for ourselves.
High School Programs:
1. Monthly in-person (outdoor, masked) events: These events will primarily be a chance for the youth to connect with one another, and will not utilize a specific curriculum. The youth may choose to do some fundraising events, social justice projects or other community projects, or they may just want to get together to have fun.
2. Crossing Paths: WUUC is offering a year long class on Sunday evenings called “Crossing Paths”. Crossing Paths was designed for middle school students, but we will open enrollment to all members of the congregation ranging from Middle School to Adult. We will learn about 9 faith traditions: Unitarian Universalism, Judaism, Catholicism, Protestant Christianity, Evangelical Christianity, the Quaker tradition, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Each section is made up of 4 weekly classes and will include a visit (virtual or in person) to another faith community and/or a discussion with a faith leader from that tradition.
3. PNWD Collaborative Online Youth Group: The leaders from several churches in the PNWD are collaborating to offer a weekly online youth group. This will offer the youth a chance to be in a youth group with more than just a few students. They will get a chance to know UU Youth from other congregations around the region and form connections. The first few sessions will focus on getting to know one another and exploring meaning making and our beliefs. Youth will have the opportunity to choose what they would like to explore for the remainder of the year after the first couple of months.
4. Trip to GA in Portland in June: The youth will have the opportunity to travel together to Portland, OR in June for the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly. Fundraising and preparation meetings for that trip will also happen throughout the church year.
By Bridget Laflin Congregational Intern You all know me as the Director of Religious Education, but I am also a seminary student in my last year of my Master of Divinity program at Seattle University. My ultimate goal is to become an Unitarian Universalist minister. As a graduation requirement for my Master’s program, I need to do a congregational internship for two quarters. Rev. Dan and the Board of Trustees at WUUC were kind enough to let me do my internship here in addition to my work as DRE. A few things to know:
I only have 10 hours per week in this position, and will only be wearing my intern hat between the end of September and the end of March, so the scope of my internship will be limited.
The amazing Rev. Grace Simons will be acting as my internship supervisor and mentor. I am incredibly grateful to her for her generosity and wisdom.
I will be offering an adult religious education class at WUUC from November – March called “Improv as Spiritual Practice.” More info to follow.
I will be working with the worship team for the next several months and will be helping to create and lead several services between now and the end of March.
I will be working with the Lay Pastoral Associates to learn more about providing pastoral care within the church community.
I can’t wait to spend more time with you all in my new role as a congregational intern. Let me know if you have any questions!
This summer, WUUC combined with several other congregations in the Pacific Northwest to offer online summer camp opportunities for our children. I had the honor of being a “professor” at the Wizarding camp for ages 5-13 and leading the Rainbow Path camp for grades K-2. There was also a Minecraft Camp for grades 3-5. Each camp was a week long. We learned so much and had so much fun!
My take-aways from our Zoom Summer Camps:
As always, I was amazed by the creativity of the campers as they created art, music and skits.
The youth counselors (high school students from the congregations) were so fabulous! They brought excitement, technical expertise, compassion, joy and so much leadership skill to the job of guiding the younger campers.
The collaboration of the DREs, volunteers and other congregational leaders was such a blessing. When plans had to change at the last minute, or unexpected things arose, there was a network of wonderful people who seamlessly picked up the pieces and put them back together. It was a true group effort.
The young people in our congregations exhibited so much kindness and patience during camp. They were understanding of tech issues, varying levels of education and skill, and so supportive of one another in ways that warmed my heart.
The campers’ intelligence and willingness to learn brought me so much hope.
The joy and laughter we experienced together reminded me that we can still share meaningful moments if we are willing to open ourselves to the silly, the strange, try new things, and are willing to bring our whole selves to our interactions with others.
Hopefully, next year we can hold camps and summer activities in person, but in the meantime, let us follow the example of our youngest congregants and embrace the joy and fun in the times that we can be together, whether in person or virtually.
