by Joe Cross, Facilities Manager Last spring, we focused on the Sanctuary interior; this year, we are focusing on the Sanctuary and Gathering Spaces exterior, last painted in 2011. We received proposals from several local painting companies and learned two things: painters were expensive and painters working high up were more expensive because of the lift needed to reach places even ladders cannot. The CIT Committee saw an opportunity to save money and perhaps obtain a better job by using WUU members who enjoy painting. We were surprised at the contractor’s price for a lift. So, we sought out our… by Joe Cross, Facilities Manager Celebrating Earth Day has become a now 50+ year occasion. And while it is hard to believe, WUU is now in its 25th year in our present building. We celebrated by having a work day to spruce up the campus lest we pine away nurturing only weeds (bad pun intended). Covid-19 restrictions limited participation, but we still had fourteen members celebrate by removing brush, weeds, and volunteer trees. Work actually began a week earlier when Julie and Franz Gross restored the flower and herb garden in the playground area. Our Ironbound Road clean-up team removed roadside litter, a second… As your WUU board, we have devoted a lot of time and effort to developing a framework for our on-campus activities based on “Levels of Concern” determined by criteria based on metrics of disease prevalence, spread, and other factors. Within each level of concern, our guidelines will identify acceptable degrees of physical gathering, alternative means of carrying out our WUU mission, and required precautions to limit spread of the virus. We developed these guidelines based on very helpful guidance from the UUA and our Public Health Advisory Task Force. We approved this framework at our April meeting last week. We encourage you… Dear WUUs, Last Sunday I preached on the Chauvin verdict and what’s next. Today I’d like to share an expanded version of part of that sermon. Thanks for reading! After George Floyd’s murder in May 2020, WUU leaders felt it was urgently important for WUU to signal our support for racial justice in highly visible ways. We set up a group of Black Lives Matter signs along Ironbound Road. In worship, we organized a summer series of From the Hearts on racial justice. In response to a request from a Black UU ministerial colleague, I also began the experiment of naming the racial/ethnic background of… by the Journey to Asylum team We are pleased to share that M recently received her work permit and started her first job in the U.S. She is working as a dishwasher at a downtown restaurant. We are also incredibly grateful to all the WUU volunteers who have stepped up to provide childcare. Without their help, M would not have been able to accept this job. Although we have found weekday childcare for her son, her daughter is on the waitlist for daycare and both children need care on Saturdays. More volunteers are needed! Please consider signing up here. The… by the Soul Matters Sharing Circle team Stories don’t just embellish our lives; they make and even dictate our lives. This might be the most important reminder of this month. Indeed, who of us hasn’t felt controlled by a story? Stuck in a story? Hopeless about the way our story will end up? Simply put, our stories often write us as much as we write them. For instance, the author Rachel Naomi Remen talks about how her family clings to the childhood story of her being “the clumsy one of the family.” Ask all her friends and colleagues and they will describe her… by the Soul Matters Sharing Circle team It’s become popular in our society to talk about spiritual journeys as a process of living into your full or true self, of letting the authentic seed inside you unfold. We UU’s agree. We even enshrined it in our principles that celebrate each of our unique seeds (inherent worth) and unique journeys (a free and responsible search). At the same time, there’s something deep within UUism that pushes in the opposite direction. Historically, we’ve been “leavers” – people who struggled not so much to find ourselves but to untangle ourselves from the religious identities we were given…. Dear WUU Community, Spring is here! The daffodils and forsythia are in full bloom, and the dogwood buds peeping out. On my porch, the pot of oregano I thought had died over the winter is already springing up green and fresh again. Each year the spring always seems like a miracle, but maybe never more so than this year when life has been so hard and sad and lonely. May it gladden your heart as it does mine. I’m happy to share some good personal news with you too: since Virginia moved to classify clergy as eligible for the Covid vaccine as part of… by Ariel BenYishay The spirit of our WUU congregation centers on caring for one another and the world around us. As the national vaccine rollout accelerates, I am feeling some hope. Yet, even as we imagine a not-too-distant future where many of us can safely gather physically, we aren’t there yet. For the time being, we must continue to prioritize the health and safety of our members and our broader community as our congregation’s first priority. Though we must continue to limit physical contact, we are grateful that technological advances permit us to maintain contact, to express love and support for one another, in other ways…. Dear WUU Community, It’s hard to believe that nearly a year has passed since the pandemic hit. I remember those early days of confusion, fear, and tumult—worried for loved ones who were falling ill, shocked at how suddenly we were forced to quarantine and upend our lives, scrambling to make the best decisions we could in a frightening situation. Sadly, in the past year we have learned how to live with a staggering national and worldwide toll of illness and death, along with the simmering parallel epidemics of racial inequity, mental health crises, educational gaps, unemployment, poverty, hunger, and homelessness. But we have…
WUU Sanctuary Repainted
WUU Earth Day a Success
Planning Our Return to Campus: Update from the Board
Notes from the Minister, May 2021
Journey to Asylum Update – How Hard it Is to Work in the US
What Does It Mean To Be a People of Story?
What Does It Mean To Be a People of Becoming?
Notes from the Minister April 2, 2021
Planning Our Physical Togetherness: Update from the Board President
Notes from the Minister March 1, 2021
