Our faith is a Living Tradition, which has evolved over the years to meet the needs of our changing world and it’s been almost 40 years since the last significant revision to Article II. After careful consideration, the WUUC Racial Justice Task Force is endorsing the draft proposed changes to Article II with confidence for the following reasons:
The updates reflect WUUC’s mission to support racial justice efforts, as clearly stated in the statement from the board on the WUUC website. “WUUC reaffirms our commitment to eradicating racial injustice.”
The revised Article II also explicitly calls out Justice and Equity as core values, which is essential for promoting a fair and just society.
We believe that these changes are timely, given the ongoing systemic injustice and violence that disproportionately affects marginalized communities.
We also recognize that underrepresented UU groups have expressed concerns and called for changes to make our faith communities more welcoming. By incorporating the spirit of the 8th principle and revisiting our practices of diversity and inclusion, we are taking concrete steps towards dismantling racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions, including our faith communities.
We acknowledge that language is never perfect. The UUA has solicited feedback from many UUs to refine the proposed changes. We believe that modernizing the language will speak more clearly to a younger, broader audience, including the specific values (interdependence, pluralism, justice, transformation, generosity, and equity.)
Change can be challenging, at the same time we firmly believe that social justice requires us to evolve and adapt to new ways of thinking and speaking. We are confident that these changes will help us create a more just and inclusive community.
Since the startup of our Mahjongg Learning Group, we’ve enjoyed a wonderful response. Some folks joined in for an introduction only, and some caught Mahjongg Fever. All new players now aren’t so new, and regularly supersede the skill of the teacher. It’s safe to say that we now have four cool Mahjongg enthusiasts who are able to guide others into Modern American Mahjongg.
It’s wonderful to get together for casual conversation, relaxation and suspense; a relief from deep philosophical issues and pressures.
That being said, another question has been on the Mahjongg table: What about the folks who want to learn regular Chinese Mahjongg?
We actually have a creative effort in gear, thanks to Rosie, to include Chinese Mahjongg at WUUC. More news will be coming. Stay tuned and refer all questions to Blue at fieldandlight@gmail.com,
The WUUC Totes to Go program is going into the final stretch for the 2022-2023 school year. I just made the April delivery, so there are just two months to go. Our donations go to students at Maywood Hills Elementary who are at risk of missing meals on weekends, when the school is closed. Each month we deliver supplies for 15 students and the school is SO appreciative. We know that hungry kids can’t learn well, so we’re making a big difference for “our” kids. Many thanks go to all who have supported them!
As we get to the end of the year, please check our messages about what is needed. We clear out everything we have in June, but that’s a short month for the school and some of our supplies won’t hold over the summer if they can’t be sent home before school’s out. Maywood Hills has not had a summer program since I’ve been coordinating this program.
Please think of Totes as you shop over the next month or so. We need individual servings of shelf-stable milk, cereal, snacks, fruit, juice (look for 100% juice), 1-dish meals and granola bars. We also need mayonnaise, canned meat and fish, and crackers. How much? Look for those messages!!
John Hartman will be handling our May delivery. Grace Simons will be away, so direct questions or comments to John after April 15th.
Again many, many thanks to all who have brought food for this program. I don’t know exactly who you are – that’s one of the cool things about Totes. There’s a generous, mysterious spirit here. How wonderful that is!
WUUC Discernment, Dialogue, and GA 2023 Delegate Plan
Your WUUC Board wishes to foster the development of healthier congregational communication and interactions, aiming to grow mutual understanding among the diversity of perspectives and beliefs represented and build a community where all belong together.
To that end, the Board has developed a plan to support our congregation’s discernment, dialogue, and delegate selection process for the coming UUA General Assembly (GA) June 21-25, 2023. A simple majority vote by delegates at GA will be required to move the proposed UUA Bylaws Article II language forward for further discernment within the UUA in the coming year.
These are the components of the Board Plan:
An Article II Resource List landing page is being compiled with links to content supporting and opposing the proposed changes to Article II. Lori McConnell is managing the list. lorimcco@gmail.com Content is contributed by WUUC members/friends. Link to the Resource List
Rev. Dan Lillie will facilitate two discussions about the proposed Article II amendments. Two 2-hour sessions will be offered: a. Sunday, April 23 rd , from 12:30-2:30 p.m. in-person in the WUUC Sanctuary, and b. Wednesday, April 26 th, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. on Zoom.
Sometime in early May, a survey of the WUUC congregation will be conducted to guide WUUC delegates to GA 2023 to vote on whether to support or oppose moving the Article II proposed language forward for further discernment within the UUA in the coming year. Terry Santmann and Carol Taylor will work together to create the survey. Results will be shared with the congregation without attribution to individual respondents. Only Terry and Carol will know the names of people responding solely to determine eligibility to participate. Both members and friends will be eligible to participate. A survey format has been chosen instead of a formal congregational vote because the final form of the Article II proposal will not be determined until the review and revision process occurs just before the vote at General Assembly. The survey results will provide general guidance to the delegates.
Terry Santmann, Board Secretary, will invite WUUC members to express interest in being a WUUC delegate to GA 2023. Based on membership size, WUUC can select three delegates for voting at GA 2023. The invitation will be sent in the early April timeframe. Delegate selection will be made consistent with the WUUC Bylaws.
WUUC members/friends are asked to join the WUUC Denominational Affairs e- mail group to participate in in-depth e-mail exchanges and discussions about Article II only. The address is denom@wuuc.org Other discussions will remain on the main list. Contact Terry Santmann at TASantmann@gmail.com or Brad Hull at bkhull@gmail.com to join this group.
The Board invites WUUC members/friends who have specific questions related to Article II or want a one-on-one discussion with a Board member to send questions/concerns to Board@wuuc.org.
The Board and Rev. Dan encourage WUUC members/friends to take advantage of this variety of opportunities for respectful listening and sharing of information, thoughts and feelings regarding the UUA Bylaws Article II proposal. If you have additional suggestions/ideas, please get in touch with any of the Board members or Rev. Dan by e-mail at Board@wuuc.org or via individual e-mail addresses.
The Board is looking for members interested in representing WUUC as a delegate at the 2023 General Assembly to be held June 21-25, 2022.
WUUC is eligible to send three delegates. Registration options are available for full virtual (online) participation. The church will subsidize the entire $300 registration fee for virtual participation. If you are interested in serving as a delegate or have questions, please email the board at board@wuuc.org by April 17th.
Please remember as well that anyone, whether an official delegate or not, can attend GA. Further information is given below.
The responsibilities of a WUUC delegate to General Assembly include the following: 1) Familiarizing yourself with the business items on the GA agenda and staying adequately informed to make a knowledgeable voting decision, 2) Notifying the WUUC congregation of those items that require a delegate vote, 3) Attending GA business meetings and casting your delegate vote.
This year’s GA will be multi-platform, held online and in-person in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Virtual attendees will enjoy robust programming and enhanced delegate discussion tools. The final business agenda is expected to be available to congregations by May 23, 2023. There will be many opportunities to inform yourself about the business items on the agenda.
Registration options are available for in-person or virtual participation. In-person registration includes events scheduled to take place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and everything available to virtual registrants. Full virtual registration includes access to the GA app, as well as all on- demand programming, live webinars, and live-streamed events. For voting delegates, there is also a business-only virtual option. Although a delegate can register for the business-only virtual option, we encourage assigned delegates to register for the full virtual experience. The church will subsidize the full $300 registration fee for virtual participation, but we invite delegates to return the subsidy to the church if they can. Complete registration information is available at this link. https://www.uua.org/ga/registration
Virtual participation requires high-speed internet access and a desktop/laptop computer. Smartphones and tablets can be used as supplemental screens for streaming video, voting, or chatting, but they do not accommodate a complete user experience. You will also need a webcam if you want to be seen during Zoom Sessions when speaking. Headphones are recommended.
Further information regarding being a delegate at the General Assembly can be found at https://www.uua.org/ga/congregations/delegates. WUUC board member(s) will be available to help you in any capacity where you may need assistance. Thank you for considering this important task in service to our WUUC community.
In Community, Terry Santmann, Secretary for the WUUC Board of Trustees
Are you passionate about a particular social justice cause? The Advocates for Social Justice is a council made up of leaders of multiple ministries at WUUC. Anyone who feels strongly about a particular social justice movement is welcome to join our quarterly meetings to hear what other ministry leaders are up to and how you might harness the passion of other church members to multiply your efforts toward positive social change. Current active ministries include racial justice, economic justice and indigenous rights. If you’d like to head up efforts toward women’s rights, climate justice, or anything else, please join our next Zoom meeting on March 18! Contact Cora Goss-Grubbs at cgoss-grubbs@wuuc.org for more information.
On March 19 ASJ will be sponsoring a Special Collection during the service for Camp Ten Trees, the Pacific Northwest’s only residential summer camp programming for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth and their allies, and for children/youth of LGBTQ or non-traditional families.
On January 15th we collected $363 for our Special Collection which will go toward Advocates for Immigrants in Detention Northwest, which serves immigrants in detention and when released, through welcoming services focused on transitional support and connection to vital resources for resettlement.
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.
