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"Life is an adventure; it's not a package tour."
~Eckhart Tolle
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| July 17, 10:30 a.m.: "Surely Joy Is the Condition of Life" Rev. Dr. Barry Andrews
I find myself powerfully attracted to the cosmic optimism expressed in the writings of Emerson and Thoreau. Like strings of an instrument that quiver with the same music, their thinking resonates with my own. What I am searching for are the sources of this optimism in their thinking and mine and for some kind of assurance that there is justification for it in the nature of things.
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| July 24, 10:30 a.m.: "Habitable Alien Worlds" Rev. Amanda Aikman
Why are habitable exoplanets bad news for humanity? What would it mean to discover that we are not alone in the universe?
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| July 31, 10:30 a.m.: "The Plight of Black Youth" Dominique Davis
Dominique Davis, is Co Director of the 180 Program--a gang and criminal justice prevention program in the greater Seattle area. Dominique dedicates his life to helping youth "turn around their lives" hopefully avoiding the criminal justice system and its lasting negative consequences. Dominique will offer his own compelling story, share with us the reality of the plight of at risk youth in Seattle and King County--especially young Black men, and challenge us to action as a Congregation that has endorsed the Black Lives Matter movement..
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Minister's Musings Among the Mountains - Rev. Alex Holt
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Greetings again to everyone at Westside UU Congregation.
I want to have some type of weekly presence in the Friday email that has replaced the newsletter of yore. I have suggested that every staff member and Tracy as Board President come up with snazzy titles for their columns that they submit to the email on whatever schedule basis we work out. My title above is one I've used for many years and interims but not here in Fort Worth given there are no mountains for hundreds of miles.
I thought it would be useful to give you an update on my move. I'm leaving here on July 27 and will arrive at my temporary home on August 1. I am house-sitting/renting the home of the MacTavish family at 4834 48th Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98116 from August 1 to October 1. I'll then rent/house-sit at Betsy and Phil's home for a year while they are away.
Read more.
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Does Your Garden Runneth Over?
Rose Sheppard and Regina Brennan have already harvested 14 pounds of vegetables from the raised beds in our church garden and brought them to White Center Food Bank. Lettuce Pray, an organization that picks up garden vegetables from a number of churches in West Seattle on Sunday mornings for delivery to the
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the local food banks, will start picking up at our church starting in August.
Meanwhile, If you have more veggies in your garden than you can eat, please bring them to Westside on Sunday mornings and place them in the basket that they have provided in the narthex. Rose and Regina will take the produce to the White Center Food Bank during the month of July for distribution to food bank clients. Lettuce Pray will take over this task from August 7th through October 2nd.
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| Garden Benches to Donate? Westside landscape team is looking for 2 benches, new or used but in good repair for the Othello side garden and the parking lot corner to be used on nice days. Please contact Rose Sheppard: rose.sheppard@comcast.net or 206.240.9305 |
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Approval of This Year's President and Vice-President on August 14:
Many thanks to the 2016 Nominating Committee for going into overtime to find a president this year. As a result of their hard work, the Nominating Committee recommended that the Board fill the position of President with Tracy Burrows and the position of Vice-President with Jill Jackson. The Board voted to accept the Nominating Committee's recommendations. Consistent with the WSUU By-Laws, the Board's action to fill these vacancies is subject to a vote of approval at a Congregational meeting of the Congregation. This meeting will be held on Sunday, August 14th immediately following the Sunday Service.
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Newcomer Orientation July 17, 12:00 in the Fireside Room. You've found us, you think you like what you see... what's next? Join a Westside member to learn more about Unitarian Universalism, our beloved community, and how you can get connected. RSVP to office@wsuu.org or just show up!
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Healing Meditation Workship: An evening of guided meditations and healing with Nigel Lott: Friday, July 22, 7:00 in Westside's Social Hall. During this workshop you can expect to learn simple meditation and breath techniques that, on the one hand reduce dramatically the stress (a build up of energy) in our lives and on the other, techniques that evolve us spiritually toward the equanimity, the stillness of the heart and the truth it bears, as a daily practice. There will be many other aspects of healing tradition and practice shared in this evenings workshop also. Questions? contact Theresa McCormick at: theresamcco@comcast.net
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Please Bring Diapers to Donate!
Westside UU Congregation will be joining
Westside Baby for the Stuff the Bus Diaper Drive- the biggest diaper drive in Seattle
July 2016! Collection boxes will be by the front entrance and in the social hall.
Any diapers will be accepted, even open packets - however we particularly need the following sizes:
Sizes 3,4 and 6 Pull ups sizes 3T-4T and 4T-5T Wipes, diaper cream, shampoo/soap other hygiene items. Find out more at www.westsidebaby.org Let's Help Stuff the Bus!
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Save these Dates!
Ingathering Sunday Sept 18
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| No Environmental Justice Committee Meeting in July! |
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New Resources for Our Environmental Justice News at Westside
There is so much happening with our very active Environmental Justice Group that it is dif
ficult to include it all in eNews.
Please take advantage of the
se new tools to keep informed and share ideas...
- Click here to view the Environmental Justice Calendar of Events
The Environmental Justice Committee meets monthly on the Third Sunday at Noon in the Sanctuary.
There will be no meeting in the month of July. If you have questions or are interested in joining our mailing list please send an email to Anne Miller:
climate.wsuu@gmail.com
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For information about Recipients of our Sunday Morning Plate Collection click here.
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Religious Exploration for Children and Youth
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Do you want to know what's happening in our vibrant RE programs? Click
here
to read about RE Program News and Events (
www.wsuu.org/re_news
)
If you are a parent, teacher, RE volunteer, or would just like to be included in the
weekly RE news that is emailed on Fridays, please contact our Director of Religious Exploration, Cynthia Westby
dre@wsuu.org).
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Joys Sorrows and Gratitude
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Congratulations to Jean and Alan Mendel - their daughter Amanda gave birth to a healthy 9 lb. 4 oz., 21.5 inch baby girl, Aria Marie Carrubba, on Tuesday July, 12. Mother and babe are doing very well!
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Rummage Sale Success and Gratitude:
Thanks to the best volunteer team ever assembled,
we cleared out our storage room and made $2660
for the congregation. All the volunteers stayed beyond
the scheduled time. Some worked miracles.
Thank you to: Steve Burrows, Greg Brancati, Steve Finney, Steve Scheurich, Mary Ann Massie, John Fawcett-Long, Karin Cumming, Sandra Rudd, Charlotte House, Peggy Abby, Ruth Herman, Ellen West, Bonnie Mariconda, Ursula Ham, Rose Sheppard, Norene Ott, David Cycleback, Barbara Burke, Janet Cermak, Regina Brennan, Carolyn Matthews, Cherie Tucker, Jill Fleming, Phil Mariconda, Lisa Reitzes, Jill Jackson, Marie Kaz, Barth Sherwood, Paul Pemberton, Laura White, and our administrative advisor and Sweetpea Preschool liason, Shannon Day. Apologies if we have forgotten to name someone. It takes a village and you are much appreciated nonetheless!
With deep gratitude from Eileen Duffy and Amy Hance-Brancati
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| Thank you to Westside Member and Realtor, Joe Nabbefeld for generously donating 10% of his proceeds from the sale of member, Nikki Roberg's home! Thank you to Nikki for reaching out to Joe! Please consider contacting Joe for your real estate needs as he offers this fundraising opportunity to any Westside Community member. |
Westside's Pastoral Associates:
Westside has continued to grow in a variety of ways over the past several years. With that growth comes a need for increased attention to the pastoral needs of our members. To help address those needs three of our members have completed training as Pastoral Associates and are now available to serve our members and friends,along with our Chaplain, Mark Newton. They are: John Britt, Marie Hoover, and Fred Matthews.
Requests for pastoral support may be made by email at
pastoralteam@wsuu.org
or directly with an Associate on Sunday mornings.
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| Need some help navigating our growing congregation? here are some available resources: |
WSUU Women: Mark your calendars:
The next meeting of the Women's Group will be on Saturday, July 23, from 10 am to noon at Candy Sullivan's condo (1140 Alki Ave SW, #505). Our free-flowing discussion topic will be humor. Please email her at
candacesullivan@comcast.net
for directions.
Our annual summer picnic is now scheduled for Saturday August 27th. Once again, it will be in a member's lovely garden and porch overlooking Puget Sound. Details will follow.
The next Thursday meeting will be on September 8th at 7 pm in the Fireside
Room.
For more information and to get on the mailing list, please email Peggy Abby
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Partner Church Ministry Team: Meetings are 1st Sunday of the month, 12:15-1:15, Westside north classroom, lower level. We build and maintain cross culture friendships through on-going communication with our Unitarian Partner Congregation in Transylvania. We are doing this through Pilgrimages/exchanges, emails, cell phone & skype calls, and now pen pal letters with interested kids. We welcome all who are interested in knowing more. Visit our Partner Church table during social hour the 2nd & 3rd Sundays or pop in on our meetings.
www.UUPCC.org for the international partner program. For Westside -
jcslatkin@comcast.net
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The Spiritual Study Group:
We break for the summer & will take July & August off. But never fear, we'll start up again in September! Attention people who have Monday night conflicts, (including our choir): we've changed our meeting night! In September we'll start meeting on Thursdays evenings. Everyone is welcome. Stay tuned for more! For information contact Cynthia Townsend at 206-261-5141 or cynthiastownsend@gmail.com
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Men's Group:
The Way of the Peaceful Warrior: 2nd and 4th Tuesday nights,
7 - 9 p.m. Westside Social Hall.
The Way of the Peaceful Warrior. Join the Men's Group for an evening of grounding, which starts with a short meditation. "We check in by describing our time since we last met. Then we share stories: we tell about experiences with facing success and difficulty; stories of new starts, work, travel, health-care, and creative expression. These are the beginnings of personal histories. They are the age-old tradition around the campfire."
Contact Richard Clark:
richard@secondroot.org
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Vashon Island Unitarian Fellowship wants to extend a big welcoming invitation to the Westside Community to attend our Summer Garden Dinner Party, Saturday July 23rd. It will be held in the gardens of Beth White (yours truly), with food catered by James Beard award winning chefs Dan and Shauna Ahern. Cocktails will be provided by Seattle Distillery. Come enjoy the tranquil beauty of Vashon Island on a lovely summer evening!
This fundraiser supports the Vashon Island Unitarian Fellowship. $75 per person.
If interested, or have questions, please respond to Beth White,
4bethwhite4@gmail.com
.
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Free Recliner:
Free to a good home or rummage sale one black faux leather reclining chair. It's a little beat up but very comfy and the reclining and massaging mechanisms are in good working order. You pick up. Contact: Robert Pacht @ 938-3612
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Looking for a carpool from Ballard on Sunday mornings for services - Katie Ruf, kmrufx@gmail.com
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Jack Of Many Trades, Russ Weber 206-291-3066 Painting, Yard Work, Landscaping, Organizing, Minor Fix It, $15.00 Per Hour, $20/hr for small jobs under 4 hrs. References: John & Alice Britt
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