The inaugural meeting of WUUC’s Eco Connect committee will be held on December 6 at 7PM in the sanctuary.
Eco Connect (Ecological Connection) Mission: To protect the web of all existence and prevent climate anxiety by mitigating the impacts of climate change through personal actions and changes in behavior, political and policy advocacy, and increased education about and exposure to nature. Committee Emphasis 1) Members share information on and model personal actions that reduce their impact on living things and the earth’s ecosystems that support them. 2) Members share information on and advocate for political candidates and policies that support climate change mitigation and protection of living things on earth. 3) Members share information and participate in educational opportunities and direct experiences of nature that increase their understanding of and empathy for the natural world and reduce their climate anxiety.
What the Committee is NOT. We will not spend a lot of time focusing on the impacts of climate change which can lead to depression and inaction. Our focus will be positive actions we can take as individuals as well as technological and other advancements which are being implemented to mitigate the impacts of climate change. We will focus on Hope and Education rather than Grief.
At the meeting on December 6 we will lay out options, discuss preferences and set a rough timeline for meeting topics and committee actions for the coming year.
October Greetings from the Board! The board has spent the first two months of the church year bonding and developing our working relationships and assessing where WUUC is at and what will be next. As a long-time member of WUUC, and a member of the board, I am personally very excited as WUUC continues to develop in depth and numbers as we work together in faithful community.
The focus of our September 20th meeting was to develop and commit to the Board’s goals for this church year. Below is a link to the actual document, and here is a quick overview:
Many/most of these goals will not be fully achieved in the course of one year, and all will include development of teams and task forces to accomplish.
CONTINUING GOALS:
Build a Safer Congregational Culture. The board is continuing the recent work on a) sexual safety, b) conflict resolution and c) working through potentially destructive behaviors, and will expand the focus to a wider variety of safety recommendations based UUA guidelines, from child safety in our programs to building safety procedures for emergencies.
Enhance Board/Congregation Communication We will work to have continuous engagement with members in all matters of church life, and are committed to not only transparency, but also to sincerely listening to concerns as they are raised and discerning responses in the best interests of the entire community.
NEW GOALS for 2023-2024
Complete Rev. Dan’s Final Fellowship Process. Rev Dan is in his third and final year of application Full Fellowship as a Unitarian Universalist Minister. This requires a great deal of input from the Congregation in respect to many areas of church life and ministerial leadership.
Organize, Update and Refine Organizational infrastructure, WUUC Policies, Procedures, Bylaws, Organizational Chart/Structure etc – are overdue for revision. The board is dedicated to establish cohesive andSunstainablemanagement and leadership practices into the future.
Initiate a Visioning and Mission Development Process AS a congregation – This will help understand WUUC’s Identity and Purposes as we boldly move through the future. This process will be designed with the entire congregation’s involvement, and will take quite some time. This will provide not only in guidance for our activites, programs, social involvement etc, but also enable us to iterate more clearly who we are and what we’re about.
In the spirit of our loving and meaningful community,
by Jack Brand Summer may seem a long way off, but it’s time to make reservations for the 2024 WUUC annual campout! The campout will be Thursday July 25 to Sunday July 28, at Deception Pass State Park. Reservations open 9 months ahead, so on Thursday October 26 at 7AM we can 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 26, via the “WUUC Camping” email list. Contact Brad Hull at bkhull@gmail.com to join that list.
We we are welcoming an exceptional group of people as our members who are already very much a part of our community. Amongst this group, we have folks who are participating on the board, on BAG, in the choir, on the RE team, on the worship team, and apart of MarCom team for our communication to the congregation. We are excited to honor them as our new members, get to know them by reading the bios below!
From left to right: Revanth (Rev) Rameshkumar, Barbara Brachtl, Alec Akers, Laura Akers, Susan McBain, Steve Jung, Marylen Haines, and Jeff Anderson
Jeff Anderson
Jeff is a 62 year old fresh retiree who lives in Marysville and has lived in Snohomish County for 30 years with his wife Kim. He previously worked in the field of geographic information systems (GIS) as a “Digital Office Geographer” for Snohomish County Sound Transit, and Community Transit. For the last five years he traversed the country commercially driving 18-wheeler semi-trucks as what he calls a “Mobile Transportation Geographer”. He’s been a UU in some form for about 20 years. He enjoys scuba diving and traveling and taking care of his home with his wife and their schipperke dog Cerci. Together, Kim and he have 4 grown children (a daughter, son, foster daughter, and Godson) that they stay connected to in the best way that they can.
Susan McBain and Steve Jung
Susan and Steve lived on Orcas Island for 12 years after living in the Bay Area for 40 years. They now live in senior housing in Woodinville, and they have two adult children, one living in Seattle and the other still on Orcas. Susan spent 30 years as a writer and editor for nonprofit scientific research firms. Steve is retired chief audit and compliance executive at Stanford University. He enjoys travel, walking, volunteering for nonprofit organizations.
Barbara Brachtl
Barbara is a mother of two, grandmother of four, 81 years old, and shorter than she used to be! She retired from newspaper and freelance writing work and also working for LWSD and Gray Barn Nursery. She lived at Trilogy for almost 10 years, then moved to Silver Glen, an over-55 co-op in Bellevue, where she lived until a few weeks ago, when she moved to the SHAG community in Bothell. Barbara left WUUC when she moved to Bellevue but reaffiliated during the pandemic, when distance was no obstacle because ZOOM was everywhere. Barbara has even participated in a couple of live work parties when she decided this fall that she should affiliate with Eastshore, seeing as how perhaps 20 of Silver Glen’s 160-some members go there and she could ride to choir practice with a fellow board member. But now that she is living in Bothell, Barbara feels the pull of WUUC, where her heart always has been.
Revanth Rameshkumar
Rev was born in India, grew up in Georgia, and now lives in Woodinville with his partner Anne and their wonderful animal friends. He is currently pursuing his research interests in artificial intelligence and linguistics, focusing on semantics and reasoning. He also loves woodworking, gardening, exercising, and music of all kinds. You can usually find him at Sidekick Coffee with his dog Ranger, or running up and down the Sammamish River Trail…also with Ranger!
Marylen Haines
Marylen has been widowed for over 40 years – she raised her daughters by herself. She started over in college in her late 30s and started teaching at-risk teenagers in her early 40s. Retired at age 70 and moved up to Washington 3 years ago. She lives in a senior community in south Bothell.
Laura & Alec Akers
Laura is a lifelong educator, having taught her first classes in AppleBasic to 2-3rd graders at age 14, English and American literature in the US and Europe, and now working in corporate training. She loves virtually all things geek, and regularly writes for geek media outlets doing analysis of TV and film, focusing on all the things you aren’t supposed to talk about in polite company. Laura is blessed that she was able to become a mother late in life to Alec. Being his mom is such a daily source of wonder and joy and adventure.
As we start October, ”Totes”, our program to help ensure that kids don’t go hungry over weekends, is in full swing. We had a great response to the idea of signing up to make a specified donation every month. Twelve WUUCies have committed to these monthly contributions. Fabulous! Thanks SO much! If you are interested in being a “scheduled” donor, just ask! Opportunities still await you!
And for those who would rather be ad hoc contributors, we always have gaps that need to be filled. Watch for messages on the chat that explain what is still needed for the current month. Those last few items save a lot of last-minute stress.
As always, please leave your contributions in the baskets across from the kitchen. Questions and concerns? Contact John Hartman or Grace Simons.
