Each month WUUC explores a theme suggested by the UUA’s Soul Matters program. We will engage with the topic in some of our Worship services, some of our small groups, and we encourage you to engage in any other way you’d like! For June, the suggested topic is Play.
What does it mean to be a people of play?
We all are playing.
Playing it up, playing it down, trying to play fair.
Playing for keeps, playing favorites, playing it safe,
sometimes too safe.
He plays hardball; They’re playing house; I’m playing it by ear,
or at least learning to play it by ear.
She’s tired of playing second fiddle; He’s playing right into their hands.
Please God, can’t we all just throw out the playbook and start again?
Sometimes we’re just played out; it’s not always bad to play possum.
And what about playing with fire?
Let’s hope so friends.
Don’t you want to feel again that burning within,
and let it loose?
Welcome to the month of play. May we all take it seriously!
I volunteered at Kenmore Elementary for over 10 years, until the virus hit. I worked with second- and third-graders who were having difficulty in math.
After I retired in 2009, I was looking for meaningful volunteer opportunities. I tried volunteering at food banks and senior centers as well as Kenmore Elementary. I like volunteering at Kenmore Elementary because I feel a partnership with the teachers and I also love the enthusiasm, energy and honesty of children at this age. I also can see, in the course of a school year, the impact I have made on children’s lives.
I’ll never forget working with a particular second grader. It was obvious that he had a very unsettled home life. But he was a genius, for his age, at math. He could add and subtract a string of two digit numbers in his head. While I was trying to get the answer on paper, he already had the answer. Unfortunately, he had other emotional issues so his genius didn’t translate to the classroom. I worked with him for a year and then his family moved away. I often think about him and hope that his gift will be identified and nurtured.
There is such a need for volunteers in the classroom, especially now. So many young people will need help after schools reopen. The schools especially seem to appreciate older volunteers who have no connection to the school except that they want to help. Kids like older adults as well. The cross generational conversations are intriguing and fun.
By John Hartman Everyone knows about the American Dust Bowl. Tons of topsoil were blown from west of the 100th Meridian to places east — lost forever. It was lost due to poor farming practices. Taking grasslands, which prospered, and converting it, via the plow, to crop land. It didn’t work. When the droughts came in the ’30s, there was no grass to hold the soil when the wind blew.
We are facing another crisis in farming practices that will greatly affect climate change. Conventional agricultural practices such as plowing and tilling release carbon dioxide from the soil by exposing organic matter to the surface and thus promoting oxidation. It has been estimated that roughly a third of the increase in CO2 in the climate has been due to the degradation of soil organic matter because of poor farming practices.
Regenerative agriculture which includes no-till farming, rotational grazing, mixed crop rotation, cover cropping and the application of compost and manure have the potential to reverse this trend by sequestering CO2 in the soil. With widespread application of regenerative agriculture it is possible to offset a significant amount of the C02 currently being emitted. This approach is one tool which could be used with many other tools to reduce carbon emissions.
For much more information on regenerative agriculture check out the excellent movie “Kiss the Ground,” currently streaming on Netflix and rentable for $1 on Vimeo.
In July and August WUUC will explore different approaches to worship and worship service themes. The Worship Team hopes to encourage our members and friends to contemplate the meanings of worship and the worship experience. We welcome feedback about what works to make worship meaningful for our community.
The overall theme for July will be “Exploring Worship.” The month features an introduction by Rev. Dan, our WUUC Joyful Noise band in a celebration of UU music, and an all-poetry service with Chuck Bean. For the final service of July, we will “worship like UU youth.” This service will be organized and led by Ava Priest, who served as Worship Co-Lead for PNWD Youth in April 2021.
The theme for August will be “UU Values in Work and Education.” Rev. Dan will lead off the month again, followed by Chuck Fowler. In the last half of August, we will hear from WUUC teachers, families, and students about their experiences during the time of Covid.
By Donna Johnson Worship Team Chair In March 2020, WUUC jumped straight into virtual Zoom church services with two days’ notice and a can-do spirit. This “show must go on” attitude kept us together as a congregation during a scary time, but resulted in some craziness from week to week.
Now, in the not-too-distant-future, when the time is right, WUUC will begin to offer worship services and other events in the church buildings again, and this time we can take our time to plan this new version of church. It is likely that most gatherings will be offered as both in-person and virtual events, so people who are not able to come to church will still be able to participate.
Many things will need to happen to make this “hybrid” and “multi-platform” future possible. An ad hoc, livestreaming group has been considering all the technology and people that will be needed to broadcast from the sanctuary while some people attend services in person and others participate at home. WUUC staff and volunteers are planning and working to get the building ready for people again.
A survey will be sent to WUUC members and friends to gather information about personal choices and preferences for worship services, social gatherings, and committee and team meetings. Stay tuned, there will be more to come and more opportunities to participate in reinventing church in the coming months.
