By Rachel Eddy August is approaching and with it, our new settled minister, Dan Lillie and his family will arrive in Washington.
The Lillies plan to spend their first month in an Air B and B near Northgate while they familiarize themselves with the area and look for longer-term housing. They will arrive in Washington on Aug. 9, after a five-day drive from New Mexico.
Minister Dan will start by taking some time to get to know our church, congregation, and lay leaders. He is scheduled to be in the pulpit for the first time for Ingathering on Sept. 13.
There are several opportunities to
get involved in welcoming the Lillies to Washington and WUUC:
>Jane Matthewson is organizing a meal train to provide the family with homemade, frozen dinners that can be easily heated and served while they get settled into their new home. The Lillies do not eat pork, but have no other dietary restrictions that need to be considered. To sign up to provide a meal, contact Jane at jmathewson18919@gmail.com or 425-788-2291.
>Alaine Davis is taking the lead on putting together a welcome basket and cards introducing our congregation to greet the Lillies when they arrive in the new home. To contribute a card sharing a little about yourself and extending welcome, or to help with the gift basket, contact Alaine at alaine.davis@yahoo.com.
>The Building and Grounds Committee (BAG) is working to get our church, and specifically the minister’s office ready for Minister Dan. If you would like to volunteer with BAG, you can contact Tom Richards at tomrchrds@comcast.net.
>There will also likely be a need for help getting the family’s belonging unloaded and moved into their new home. Those interested in helping to meet that need can contact Jane at jmathewson18919@gmail.com or 425-788-2291.
Finally, Minister Dan’s virtual ordination with the First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque is scheduled for Oct. 4. Minister Dan and the Albuquerque congregation have invited us to join them as a co-sponsor of Minister Dan’s ordination, and to share in the ceremony. Ordaining a minister requires a congregational vote, so the board has called for a congregational meeting on Aug. 2, and vote on Aug. 16, recommending that we join in Minister Dan’s ordination. Please plan to attend the virtual meeting immediately following service, and be sure to return your e-mail ballot to Terry Santmann at tasantmann@gmail.com and CC David Simons at djaysimons@comcast.net. To ensure that your vote is counted, both Terry and David need to receive your ballot no later than noon Aug. 17.
Dates to Save:
August 2 – Congregational meeting regarding Minister Dan’s ordination
August 9 – The Lillies arrive in Washington
August 16 – Congregational vote on Minister Dan’s ordination
August 17 – E-mail ballots due by noon
September 13 – Minister Dan’s first Sunday in WUUC’s pulpit
Plans are underway, but not yet
settled for a drive through meet and greet in mid-August – watch for details!
What if you thought of it
as the Jews consider the Sabbath—
the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world
different than it is.
Sing. Pray. Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down.
And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another’s hands.
(Surely, that has come clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.
Promise this world your love–
for better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live.
Copyright Lynn Ungar 3/11/20
About the Author
The Rev. Dr. Lynn Ungar is minister for lifespan learning and editor of Quest for the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Larger Fellowship, an online congregation for isolated religious liberals. Her work is included in the anthology What We Share. …
By John Hilke I bet it has been a while since you thought about railroads, but ideas are stirring in Congress and a group called Solutionary Rail has been thinking about the overlaps between transportation, social justice, and environmental issues for several years. This picture conveys many of the key environmental ideas regarding transportation.
The industrialized world already has a vast network of RR rights of way that are underutilized. And maintenance is an issue in some regions of the U.S.
RR rights of way could be used to upgrade the electricity transmission grid to move clean power to population centers now served by coal and natural gas plants that spew carbon. Using RR rights of way for this purpose also avoids the long, messy, and disruptive process of establishing new electricity transmission corridors.
RRs are already more efficient in moving freight, but they can be even more efficient and less polluting if they are electrified, as they are in many parts of the world.
Separate trackage for freight and passenger RRs could be accommodated within many existing RR rights of way as rail traffic grows.
Short-haul passenger RR service can economically, safely, and ecologically replace airline service in many instances, as it often does in Europe.
By Donna Johnson The Worship Team is making plans to welcome and work with our new minister, Dan Lillie.
Minister Dan joined us for our July Worship Team meeting, and we set a course for the first weeks of his time with us. Worship services for late August and early September have been planned by WUUC Worship Associates and Lay speakers; Minister Dan will participate in those services and provide a ministerial presence. Then, beginning with Ingathering on Sept. 13, Minister Dan will be fully “in the pulpit,” taking on all the worship roles of a full-time minister.
In late September, Minister Dan and the rest of the Worship Team will come together for an extended worship retreat of four zoom sessions over a long weekend. We are looking forward to getting to know each other, talking about worship goals and philosophies, and planning for the future.
By John Hartman When WUUC’s Climate Justice team started WUUC’s get out the vote initiative in conjunction with Vote Forward, they set a goal of writing 1,000 letters. We’re now five months into the initiative and our letter writers have committed to writing 4,200 letters (!) – with about two and a half months left in the campaign.
John Hartman, left, (300 letters) and Hilarie Cash (300)
From left, Blue Forte (150), Carol Taylor (50) and Lou Anne Maxwell (300)
All of our letters are going to registered voters in Texas who have been infrequent voters in past elections. Each of our letter writers insert a personal message in the letter template with their reason for voting in every election.
Clockwise from top left, Holly Beck (50), Cindie Cobb (150), Janice Anthony (300) and Jan Anderson (400)
We currently have 42 people writing letters in the Vote
Forward campaign. Here are pictures of
some of our dedicated volunteers with the letters they’ve written.
Winny Schnitzler (50)
If you’d like to join WUUC’s Vote Forward Get Out the Vote campaign contact John Hartman at ajhjr1001@yahoo.com.
By Donna Johnson This summer, during our time-between-ministers, lay members of WUUC and other local churches will fill our Zoom worship time with inspiring and transformational services.
July 5: Rachel
Eddy and friends will lead us in commemorating Independence Day with music and
a voice choir.
July 12: We will be treated to a unique version
of our annual, always popular, “Joyful Noise” service by Michael Lawson, Brad
Hull, and friends.
July 19: Chuck Fowler will share a paper that he
was invited to give at a national meeting about science and religion.
July 26:
We will join the Puget Sound Worship Collaboration for “church with
neighbors.”
Find more details about our July services elsewhere in this
newsletter.
The worship team will finalize plans for late August soon.
Here’s what the beginning of the month will look like:
August 2:
Cora Goss Grubbs will explore how we might advance our anti-racism work
by examining our shame and rage through a trauma lens.
August 9:
Rachel Eddy will help us to understand the lives of the families she
works with who are Asset Limited Income Limited Employed (ALICE).
August 16:
Jack Brandt will talk about his experiences as a member of the WUUC search
committee.
