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!
by WUUC | Jan 24, 2022 | Announcements
By Jan Radoslovich
The WUUC church building was finally able to open for hybrid services on Dec. 5, 2021 after being closed due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions since March 2020. Members and friends of WUUC made extraordinary efforts to bring the church to life in December during this opening period. The Board of Trustees would like to thank all those who made December so special for our WUUC community.
Giving Tree
Thank you to everyone in the congregation and beyond who participated in it, from small to large donations; the BSAFF Team for stepping up to last minute tasks; Denesha McCoy as our Greenleaf liaison; and Pam Green and Cora Goss-Grubbs for overall coordination of the program. Thanks to Carol Taylor, Lane Owsley and Alaine Davis for helping decorate the Kenmore Community Club for the Dec. 20 Greenleaf Holiday celebration. Over $3,000 in money and gift donations was collected.
Church Decorations and Christmas Tree
Chuck and Jean Fowler provided the wreaths to decorate the church portico columns and decorated the front doors, donated the Christmas Tree and poinsettias, and put up the Advent banners (made previously by Laurie Rockenbeck) on the pillars inside the church. They also organized the Choir in decorating the Christmas Tree.
Worship Services
The hybrid services in December were work-intensive to organize the service elements as well as the human resources needed to put on the services. Much effort was put into having two Christmas Eve services. There were many people who contributed significantly to the hybrid services held in December:
WUUC minister and staff: Rev. Dan Lillie, Bridget Laflin, Karen Hyams, Lori Varosh
Guest Speaker: Rachel Eddy (for Burning Bowl)
Worship Leaders: Steve Okun, Winny Schnitzler, Donna Johnson, Jan Radoslovich, Jean Fowler
Music: WUUC Choir, Matt Smith, Johnna Ebanks, Terry Levitt, Kambria Tabor, Seth McGaw
Zoomkeepers/Zoommates: Erika Jackson Kirkendall, Holly Beck, Winny Schnitzler, Jane Flood, David Goss-Grubbs, Lanny Commeree
Camera/Sound/Lighting: Kermit Sprang, Lori McConnell, Linda Sherry, Phil Archibald (in training)
Worship Support: Linda Sherry
Ushers: Chuck and Jean Fowler, Connie Berkowitz, Kate Smith, Dottie Simpson, Norm Hostetler, Ann Lu
Greeters: Kate Smith, Ann Lu, Amelia King
Online Engagement Coordinator: Amelia King
LPAs: Chuck and Jean Fowler, Marian Johnson, Hilarie Cash, Dewey Millar
A special thanks to Jane and Tevina Flood who provided dinner between services for the Christmas Eve Worship Team.
Labyrinth
The Labyrinth was revived this year on the Solstice, Dec. 21. The Labyrinth path was lined with luminarias: lighted candles set inside a paper bag. This year, the paper bags had starry cutouts, which made them shine even more beautifully. The set up was designed and coordinated by Kambria Tabor with assistants: Theresa Rensimer, Jessica Belmont, Donna Johnson, Suzanne Dunn-Plaza, Lori McConnell, Kerrie Vespaziani, Winny Schnitzler, Ann Lu, Brianna Lawrence. Karen Hyams and Lori Varosh created the sign-up sheets and vaccination statuses.
The Earth-based Spirituality Group also wanted WUUC to know that, unlike previous years, very few of the materials used to create the labyrinth ended up in the garbage at the end of the night — the bags were folded and saved to use again next winter, the sand was collected and will find use on the farm, and even the leftover candle bits were saved, re-melted and repurposed. They were able to create a sacred space in a way that was more closely aligned with their Earth-centered beliefs. Thanks to all who walked the Labyrinth, approximately 40 people.
Circle Suppers
Two Festive Circle Suppers & White Elephant Gift Exchanges were hosted by Chuck Bean at his home in Duvall on Dec. 11 and 18. Chuck’s home was brightly decorated with a beautiful Christmas tree and many lights and holiday decorations. The potluck dishes contributed by those who attended were fantastic and the gift exchanges were a hoot as always. Thanks to Chuck Bean for opening his home to 23 WUUC members over the 2 weekends.
Helping Hands Fund
The Christmas Eve offering went to our Helping Hands Fund. This important fund supports immediate need for those in our WUUC community and in the extended community to which we belong. We all need a little help sometimes, and we don’t always know when, or what, or how. Having the Helping Hands fund ready to provide immediate support in a variety of circumstances is an essential tool in ministry. Christmas Eve donations to the Helping Hands fund totaled $781.
COVID Response Team
We are grateful to the COVID Response Team: Barbara Ramey, Joni Brand, Kerrie Vespaziani, Lane Owsley and Leslie Morton. They have had to make difficult decisions regarding timing and type of opening that was safe for our congregation. We appreciate their decision to open the church for hybrid services and selected other activities in December. We understand the fluidity of the COVID pandemic situation and are grateful that this team will continue to make decisions in the best interest of the community.
by WUUC | Jan 21, 2022 | Announcements
By Carol Taylor
WUUC Racial Justice Task Force
The national UUA has conducted extensive research into the long-term cultural and institutional changes that would make our faith more inclusive to all. The result was this in depth WCC report which we encourage members of our congregation to read and reflect upon.
Your Racial Justice Task Force will be facilitating a pilot session on Widening the Circle of Concern: Report of the UUA Commission on Institutional Change starting in February with a small group selected to represent different areas of ministry at WUUC. We will share our learnings and reflections along the way and plan to host sessions for the broader church community in the fall.
Our country and our UU faith have been awakening to the disparities faced by people of color (see UU World Fall 2021). Many companies and organizations are now embracing new diversity and inclusion practices that include examining how their systems and culture can unintentionally and negatively impact people outside the dominant culture. And the UUA and some UU congregations have recently adopted the Eighth Principle as part of their practice as a response to this new understanding.
Our WUUC community has an opportunity to learn from the voices of our own UU members of color carefully captured in the recent report, and from other UU communities that are actively doing this work. We believe this is important for the long-term viability of WUUC and the UU faith and offers a timely opportunity for us to grow into a more welcoming culture.
If you have questions, feel free to contact ctaylor@wuuc.org.
In Community,
Carol A. Taylor
On behalf of RJTF
