In July 2022, we ran this article of Carol Pitman’s reflection on her career. Carol passed away this month.
“The ultimate source of spiritual and transcendental experiences
Teaching music has resulted in many unspoken rewards for me. However, I always kept in the back of my mind, what a L.A. teacher once wrote in the L.A. Times. She said, “Get your lovin’ somewhere else!”
In my early years, I gave young children piano lessons at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston where I was part of the Young People’s faculty. Many teaching skills needed to be developed such as choosing music suitable to their age and developmental stage. At the same time, I was studying music education at a local university.
My favorite school district was in Long Beach, California where they had a very well developed music program, because of the consultants in the music department who had an outstanding vision of what a school music program could be. I was a traveling vocal music teacher, visiting classrooms in K-6.
Classroom music was important, but it was in the glee clubs that selected students learned the value of hard work as they prepared 2 and 3 part songs for festivals and PTA programs. They learned the importance of perseverance and cooperation in achieving a higher musical goal. Every spring, the L.A. philharmonic performed for 5th and 6th graders. These classes were given special listening lessons to prepare them for the concert experience. Important listening skills were developed.
My volunteer work began when I moved to Kirkland in 1991. I discovered our new church and began to participate in the choir. The group needed a soprano so I sang with them until they needed an accompanist. Later on, I served on the music committee when the church was ready to hire a choir director and accompanist. I also helped the search committee discover our beautiful grand piano.
To me, a life in music reflects the ultimate source of spiritual and transcendental experiences. I feel much gratitude for having made a small contribution this source. Perhaps not very practical, but ESSENTIAL.” – Carol Pitman
This year’s all virtual UUA General Assembly (GA) will be held June 20-23rd. WUUC will have 3 members serve as delegates for discussion and voting during GA General Sessions. Delegates must register for GA to vote on business and agenda items. At the 2024 Virtual GA, delegates will cast votes on qualified amendments and whether to adopt the proposed new version of Article II of the UUA Bylaws. In February, look for an Announce e-mail message from the Board, asking for your interest in serving as a WUUC delegate to GA. Per the WUUC Bylaws, voting members have the exclusive right to elect or dismiss…delegates to General Assembly. Once the Board knows how many members are interested in being a delegate to GA, we’ll communicate the process for delegate selection. For more information on the 2024 Virtual GA, please click on this link: General Assembly: The Unitarian Universalist Association’s Annual Meeting | UUA.org
Even through this past holiday season, Board members have been working on several important governance items. Here are some highlights of our work:
We completed and submitted to the UUA Ministerial Fellowship Committee (MFC) our Evaluator Form for Rev. Dan’s 3rd and final Preliminary Fellowship year. We partnered with Rev. Dan in evaluating seven areas of ministry: worship and rites of passage, pastoral care and presence, spiritual development for self and others, social justice in the public square, administration, serves the larger UU faith, leads the faith into the future. This process also gave us the opportunity to articulate goals and action steps for the coming year related to each of the above ministries, an excellent roadmap for our collective futures.
Our treasurer, Kermit Sprang worked with the Finance Committee to create the WUUC Budget Worksheet for FY 2024-2025. This involves collecting and collating information on all potential sources of income as well as the many categories of expenses including ministerial and staff office, committee/team, building and grounds, utilities, dues, etc. The congregation will have the opportunity to preview this budget at the February 11th Town Hall.
A Board sub-group (Trina Roulet, Azure Forte, Jan Radoslovich) has been hard at work on the Board goal to organize, update and refine the WUUC organizational infrastructure (governance documents such as policies/procedures) in a sustainable form. This will be a multi-year project. With a herculean effort by Trina Roulet, we have completed most of the assessment phase of this project and are kicking off the next phase by asking the Board, Ministry Council, Committees and Teams to create or update their charters. In the WUUC church bylaws – Section 4: one of the Board charges is the establishment and chartering of such committees as it may deem appropriate. The charters will provide the congregation with a clear and current description of the purpose and functions of WUUC committees and teams, which will benefit our understanding of each other’s work.
The Board is dedicated to the health of the congregation and sincerely wants to hear what you think about how things are going.
Send email to any Board member: President Jan Radoslovich, Vice President Jeff Lu, Co-secretary Jeff Anderson, Co-secretary Linda Sherry, Treasurer Kermit Sprang, Azure (Blue) Forte, Trina Roulet.
Submit an Online Feedback Form. This form will be read only by the Board Secretary who will respond to you and share your input with the appropriate person(s). Please note that including your name makes it much easier to clarify and follow up, but is not required.
The first service was held in our finished church building on September 7th, 2003. Bob Ditzler, founding member of WUUC and general contractor for the church building, dedicated 2 years of his life to the building of this church. From May, 2002 to September, 2003 he worked all week with his professional crew, then he greeted his weekend volunteer crew of church members/friends and other people who came to help with the building of the church, with bear hugs, assignments, instructions and his patient supervision. On that opening day over 20 years ago, Bob said:
“This congregation has been a very strong, loving and can-do group from the beginning. We have a wonderfully diverse set of talents. What we have done here together is a little short of a miracle. Yesterday was about the most exciting day of my life, right up there with realizing that I would spend the rest of my life with Stephana. To see all the plans and preparation come together in one day – to transform a construction site into a living, breathing incredibly beautiful spiritual home, had me on the verge of tears all day.”
Rev. Dan led the congregation in the dedication of Ditzler Hall during the service on January 21, 2024. In addition to church members/friends and visitors, many WUUC alumni attended the service and there were tearful reunions and many memories shared during and after the service. A special Celebration program was held immediately after the service, and Chick Sweeney, Chair of the Church Building Committee, shared a moving reflection on his memories of the church building experience:
“Bob challenged us to do things outside our areas of expertise and comfort zones, taught us the necessary skills and empowered us to do the work. “Yes you can! Yes, we can!” were his mantras. He gave us the gift of being part of building something greater than a mere building. In all more than 200 volunteers logged over 14,000 hours participating in almost every phase of construction work, preparing a monthly construction newsletter, managing budgets and paying bills, feeding volunteer workers, cleaning the site, and many other tasks. Many of us who worked alongside Bob, now 20 plus years later, look at what we were doing as one of the single most important things we have done in our lives. We were building a community that still stands as sturdy and beautiful as the structure we stand in today. Why did he and we build this place and community? Was it for us? Yes, but it was mostly for you who were not yet here and those that will follow you!” Larry Bridges compiled a 5-minute video of church building scenes he shot 20 years ago, including the many words of love and hope written on the framework of the church building for those who would be a part of this community in the ensuing years. Stephana Ditzler read Bob’s reflection from Sunday morning, October 27, 2002 “And I say YES”. The WUUC choir sang, “I am saying Thank You” to round out the celebration. After Rev. Dan’s closing words, the new Ditzler Hall sign in the foyer over the double doors leading to the sanctuary, was revealed. The Ditzler Hall dedication and celebration was a fitting tribute to “Bob the Builder” who will be forever remembered by the people whose lives he touched in so many ways. His smile and hugs, his energy which saw no bounds, his concern for those who were in pain, his vitality which showed up in dance, playing with children, and his construction work. He always seemed to have time and energy for whoever and whatever needed him. We will forever be grateful we had the opportunity to walk with this man
Each month your Advocates for Social Justice team arranges a collection for a non-profit organization working for change in our communities. We look for groups that intersect across more than one justice area where possible (e.g., climate AND poverty, racial AND reproductive) and of a size where our relatively small contribution can make a meaningful difference. Can you take a minute to complete this brief surveyto help us select our organizations for the coming year?
The Advocates for Social Justice (ASJ) special collection for February will support the Citizen’s Climate Lobby – Eastside Chapter. “CCL empowers everyday people to work together on climate policy. Our chapters help build support in Congress for a national bipartisan solution to climate change. Globally, we support international chapters on six continents.” We will hear from a local CCL representative in our monthly Justice Service on Sunday, February 18th.
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.
