WUU News

by Helen Hansen, Board President My personal theme for the year is “CONNECTIONS” – and many of the connections that give meaning to my life happen at WUU. Sunday morning services and coffee in the gathering hall are core interactions, but there is so much more: serving on committees and the Board, Soul Matters small groups, WUU Circle groups, community outreach, social justice activities, and informal interactions with WUU friends in all kinds of ways. Because WUU has given me so much in my 15 years here, I agreed to take a turn on the Board – and it has…

by Helen Hansen, Board President Board Happenings The Board held an all-day retreat August 10 that included team building, visioning, goal setting, updating our Board Covenant, learning each other’s leadership styles, and discussing the role of the Board. Board goals for this year are: Set developmental goals for the next 5-7 years. In September and October small groups will meet with a facilitator in person or on Zoom to share their feelings about WUU now and their hopes and dreams for WUU’s future. The Board will determine goals based on that input from congregants. Examine the congregation and assets in…

by Austen Petersen, Director of Religious Education Your Religious Education Committee is pleased to announce that this year we will provide Soulful Home packets to families. Are you too busy to make it to a Sunday morning worship service, but would still like to be connected? This packet is for you! Would you like to have ways to explore your family’s Unitarian Universalist faith together? This packet is for you! Printed September packets are at WUU for you to take home. Would you like to access the electronic version? WUU Members can access packets by clicking on the link in…

by the Soul Matters Sharing Circle team Do not try to save the whole world or do anything grandiose. Instead, create a clearing in the dense forest of your life and wait there patiently, until the song that is your life falls into your own cupped hands and you recognize and greet it. Only then will you know how to give yourself to this world so worthy of rescue. -“Clearing,” by Martha Postlewaite There is so much saving needed in this world of ours. Especially in this moment. Which is why this call for clearings and cupped hands seems so…

Welcome back! As we return from the quieter, reflective days of summer, we are invited to embrace a season of invitation—both as individuals and as a community. The practice of invitation is more than a simple gesture; it’s a profound spiritual discipline that calls us to be open, welcoming, and curious about what lies ahead. As individuals, each of us is invited to listen deeply to what our lives and our world are calling us toward. Perhaps you’re being invited to connect with a neighbor, to explore a new passion, or to dive deeper into your own spiritual journey. What…

Dear WUU Community, Your Religious Education (RE) Committee has been hard at work planning fun and engaging RE opportunities for your child for the year ahead. Starting Sunday, September 8, at 10:20 am, we’ll offer a one-room schoolhouse model based on the Soul Matters curriculum. The nursery will be open most Sundays, as will the preschool class. Lower elementary through high school students are all invited to join the one-room schoolhouse model on Sunday mornings. On Sunday mornings, the teens will be invited to either join the one room schoolhouse group in the RE wing, or they can choose to…

by the Soul Matters Sharing Circle team We are renewed by so many things: nature, each other, memory, music, play, solitude, silence, and – of course – our faith. Through small groups, calls to justice work, worship, caring for one another, covenant and accountability, our faith breathes new life into us. But it also renews us in a way that often goes unnoticed: through questions! Or to be more precise, our faith has a sneaky way of changing our lives by changing the questions we ask. Questions around renewal are a great example of this. For instance, the “renewal questions”…

by Helen Hansen, Board President I am honored to serve this congregation as Board President and have spent my first month appreciating the collegiality, seriousness, and dedication of this Board; new members Deb Fabian, Linda Cole, and Eva Burke, and continuing members Les Solomon, Franz Gross, Phoebe Kent, Linda Lane-Hamilton, and Angela Surber. I also thank the “retired” members of last year’s Board who led us through the transition from Rev. Laura to Rev. Michelle – Pat Russo, Kerry Mellette, Melissa Stump, and Katrina Landon. The Board has some important and exciting work to look forward to this year. Board…