District Business Meetings

The District Annual Business Meetings will convene at 4:00 Saturday afternoon, April 28, during the 2018 Pacific Western Regional Assembly. If your congregation wishes to have delegate representation at your district’s annual meeting, please have a minister, board officer or their designee submit the Delegate Certification Form by April 20.

Many of the materials for your district’s meeting are now available, and are posted in the District Business Meetings section.

Banner Parade for the 21st Century

Get your photos in by April 20!

The good news is that banner bearers will be packing considerably lighter this Assembly! We are moving to a video of our banners that will be shown throughout the assembly. You can send an additional picture representing your community, too. We are collecting all pictorial contributions until April 20 at 2018 Regional Assembly Banner Parade. Questions? Contact Tandi Rogers.

Let the Banner Parade begin!

Choir at Regional Assembly

Regional Assembly Choir is a high profile, intense and short-term commitment. We are enormously excited to have Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout as Choir Director, bringing dynamic energy to our work and worship.

Mandatory rehearsals are:
Friday rehearsal: 5:45pm-6:30pm
Saturday choir/band rehearsal: 4:00pm-5:30pm
Sunday choir/band rehearsal: 8:00am-9:00am

If you are interested in participating in the Regional Assembly Choir on April 29th, please complete this form.

Regional Assembly is a fragrance-free event

Help us make this event accessible to everyone. Many presenters and attendees have dangerous and debilitating reactions to chemicals. We ask that all participants avoid using perfumes, scents, body sprays, essential oils, scented laundry products, and any products that produce a smell (even if you like it).

Facebook Group for Regional Assembly Attendees

One of the common questions that folks ask after submitting their registration for Regional Assembly is, "How do I find someone who might like to rideshare or be my roommate?"

We've set up a Facebook group for Regional Assembly participants who want to share information or try to arrange ride/room sharing. We'll also be posting updates about the programs there as we have them.

Stay a little longer

Members of the Mid-Columbia UU Fellowship (MCUUF) are offering home stays for a few days either before or after RA. Stay in Hood River, with easy access to shops, restaurants, wineries, and brew pubs. Or spend a few nights out in the countryside, with stunning mountain views, abundant wildlife, and starlit nights.

Either way, your friendly UU host will offer you a clean, comfortable bed, breakfast, and lots of expert advice. Cost is $70 single/$80 double sharing a room. We are also happy to accommodate kids. All proceeds will benefit MCUUF.

View the MCUUF flyer [PDF]

PWR Webinar: Multicultural Religious Education for Children

Apr. 18, 2018 at 10:00am Pacific
Rev. Dr. Sherri Prud'homme and Laila Ibrahim

You want to create a more inclusive, more multicultural children's program in your congregation, but there's no roadmap. Join educators Rev. Dr. Sheri Prud'homme and Laila Ibrahim for this webinar that helps us know where to start, exploring essential questions like: How do we create culturally-inclusive spaces? How do we bring in cultures other than our own without committing cultural misappropriation? How do we help children develop intercultural competency as they grow up in our faith?

Register for Multicultural Religious Education for Children

Board Development Days

A day for congregational teams (board members and clergy) to explore and learn together. Note: This day may supplement your traditional Board Retreat, serve as part of it, or provide the foundation for it.

• April 7 at South Valley UU Society (Cottonwood Heights, UT)
• April 14 at UU Fellowship of Bozeman, MT
• May 19 at Pagosa Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (Pagosa Springs, CO)
• August 4 at Unitarian Church of Los Alamos, NM

Register Now

There are still opportunities to bring a Board Development Day to your area. If you are interested in hosting a Board Development Day in the coming year, let your PWR Primary Contact know.

Talking About Money as Pastoral Care

A call-in conversation on May 14 from 6:45-8:15pm (Pacific) with Kay Crider, Stewardship Consultant with Stewardship for Us, and Rev. Jan Christian, PWR Congregational Life Staff

Our wounds are often deep when it comes to money and our sense of inherent worth and dignity. The power of money in our own lives often goes unexamined. This plays out in our congregations in all sorts of ways. What would it mean to your congregation to be able to talk about money in ways that are life-giving and healing?

No need to register. Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/594750233, or telephone at +1 669 900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656. Meeting ID: 594 750 233.

Stewardship Resources

Budget Shortfall?

Watch this recorded conversation on Creative Solutions to Budget Shortfalls and then contact Rev. Jan Christian if you would like to discuss your congregation’s situation.

Stewarding Loans for your Projects

Join Barry Finkelstein & Kay Crider of Stewardship for Us for a webinar on loans. We’ll cover best practices for how to calculate the right size loan for your congregation, discuss UUA versus private loans, and address when and how member loans can be effectively solicited and managed.

April 23, 2018, 5:00-6:30pm Pacific • Register now to participate!

The Yearly Stewardship Calendar

Just what does a stewardship team do the rest of the year, outside that 4-6 week annual campaign? A good stewardship team does a lot, as a matter of fact, throughout the year, and all that effort pays dividends when it’s time for the annual campaign. Join Bill Clontz and Mark Ewert of Stewardship for Us as we discuss how best to use your time and energies throughout the year so that your team is not overworked, and the campaign arrives as the culmination of well-developed preparation.

May 22, 4:00-5:30pm Pacific • Register now to participate!

May 30, Noon–1:30pm Pacific • Register now to participate!

Our Shared Future: Legacy Giving in UU Congregations

Would you like to learn how to encourage your members, friends, and supporters to shape the future of Unitarian Universalism and to make a difference through legacy giving? Join us for a webinar to be presented once a month beginning in March!

Jay Pacitti, UUA Legacy Gifts Officer will present the basics of legacy giving and best practices for building a healthy legacy giving program in your congregation, and Laura Randall, Legacy Campaign Director will discuss the Wake Now Our Vision Legacy Challenge.

All are welcome! There is no fee to attend this workshop. This workshop is designed for board members, ministers, fundraising volunteers, legacy giving committee members, and finance committee members who want to learn about soliciting, managing, and stewarding legacy gifts to ensure that Unitarian Universalism is answering the call of love for generations to come.

We will be hosting this free webinar on the following Saturdays from 10:00am-12:00pm Pacific: April 21, May 12, and June 9, 2018

The material presented will be the same at each webinar; this is not a series. Each workshop will consist of a presentation followed by Q&A.

Each webinar will use the Zoom video conference platform. To join a webinar, click here, or to join by telephone, call 408-638-0968 and enter the meeting ID number, 651 592 1651.

Support Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism with Promise and Practice Sunday

Dear Congregational Leaders,

I am writing to ask you to participate in the Promise and Practice of our Faith Campaign.

If you have not already held a Promise and Practice Sunday and made a pledge or gift to support Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU), we hope you will do so before General Assembly in June 2018. You can enter your pledge and congregation’s campaign online at uua.org/bluu-campaign.

Your contributions will be matched dollar for dollar if you make a gift or pledge of at least $10 per member. Please do not miss this wonderful opportunity.

Back in September 2017, I sent out a special ask for all congregations and fellowships to participate in The Promise and the Practice of Our Faith Campaign.

This campaign calls us to align our financial resources with our theological values of justice and equity by honoring our Board of Trustees’ commitment of $5.3 million to Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism.

This congregational phase of the campaign is your opportunity to invest in Black lives, Black leadership, and the uplifting of Black voices within our faith.

Since the 2017 New Orleans General Assembly, over 170 of your sibling UU congregations, fellowships, and organizations have participated in this special campaign!

They have held services and utilized the incredible worship resources for the campaign, which were written by UU Religious Professionals of Color.

They have reflected on the history of Black Empowerment within our faith, and have held special fundraisers and collections in honor of Black Lives of UU.

We ask you now to join in this movement.

Now, more than ever, we are being called to a deeper practice of the promise of our faith. In this country, we see systemic racism and discrimination being embolded in rhetoric and in policy. And in this moment, we are called to do more to invest in Black lives, Black leadership and resources to move forward the vision of a radically inclusive, justice centered faithful practice of the beloved community within and beyond our faith.

This call means investing more fully financially, spiritually, faithfully, and collectively in support of Black Lives.

In the next few weeks, your Board of Trustees along with UUA staff members will be reaching out to congregations to thank you for your support in this special call and to ask you for your support if you have not already pledge to the campaign.

Now is the time to lead and become the change we want to see in our communities across the world.

Please visit the campaign’s webpage for resources and materials at uua.org/bluu-campaign. If you have further questions, please contact our Campaign Coordinator, Cheri Taylor, at ctaylor@uua.org.

Thank you for all you do for our faith,
Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray
UUA President

PWR Congregations in the News

Believers: When A Church Becomes A Sanctuary - KUER.org
Rev. Tom Goldsmith’s church, the First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City, has been in the news recently. In January, his congregation welcomed in a young Honduran mother, Vicky Chavez, and her two young children. Chavez was facing deportation, but rather than head to the airport she came to Goldsmith's church to seek asylum. Goldsmith said their decision to shield Chavez was informed, in part, by Unitarian beliefs.

San Diego church opts to offer immigrants sanctuary - San Diego Union-Tribune
The First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego, has voted to become a sanctuary for immigrants who are trying to fight their cases in court. "This isn’t a political decision," said the Rev. Kathleen Owens, lead minister of the church. "This is a humanitarian crisis that we’ve created, and we need to be responding to it."

More than 1,500 local students walk out to protest gun violence - Corvallis Gazette-Times
"This walkout is not a vigil. We are calling for action," said Kari Gottfried, a junior [and member of the UU Fellowship of Corvallis], to the crowd. "We don’t need more moments of silence. We need action." She said she hopes the national walkout convinces Congress that students are not joking. "We will all be voting in a couple years, and we will vote out of office the people who oppose what we want," she said.

ICE Deports Man With Rare Genetic Condition Who Had Been In U.S. For 30 Years - HuffPost
Attorney Dee Sull believes that their determination to carry out the deportation stems from Chavez-Macias’ decision to seek sanctuary in a church last April, an attempt to evade deportation. He lived at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Northern Nevada until the deportation order was lifted several months later.

Hate group targeting L.G.B.T.Q shows up to Walnut Creek church, members sing songs in solidarity - Fox KTVU
More than 150 members of a Walnut Creek church sang songs and held up signs in solidarity against a small protest by the Westboro Baptist Church. Congregants of the Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist received word that members of Westboro Baptist Church planned to picket in front of their church Sunday morning. See also Interfaith Council Makes Preparation for Impending Hate Protesters - East County Today

Poor People's Campaign

A Message from the UUA Multi-Cultural Growth and Witness Office: Greetings UU clergy and lay faith leaders! Are you participating with the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for a Moral Revival? Can you engage in mass moral non-violent direct action? The UUA is counting up our commitments and want to be sure to include you. Please fill out this short form if you want to be counted in! Note: We'll be organizing a call for UUs about the campaign and UU involvement soon once we hear from you.

Monthly Annual Program Fund (APF) Webinar

Do you want to know more about how APF works? Please bring your questions to our monthly APF Webinar, when you’ll get to meet with staff from our Congregational Giving Team and ministers, treasurers and congregational leaders from around the country. Our APF webinars will take place on the second Tuesday of every month.

Dates: April 10, May 8, and June 12. Each webinar takes place at 2-3pm Pacific, 3-4pm Mountain

Learn more about the webinars.

Matching Gifts for the Friends of the UUA

Thanks to a generous matching gift challenge from the UU Veatch Program at Shelter Rock, all gifts to Friends of the UUA made by April 30 will be matched, up to a total of $125,000. Thank you for your generous contributions that keep our UU faith healthy! Make your gift online or call us at (888) 792-5885 to contribute by phone.

UU World Seeking News on Damages and Developments

If a UU congregation’s property has experienced flood damage this winter, UU World would like to hear about it. Congregational leaders are invited to send a short description of what has happened and how they have adapted to it, along with contact information to uuworld.org/submissions. They also encourage congregations to let them know about major building initiatives: completion of an expansion, new building, building dedication, environmental awards, etc.

PWR Job Postings

• Acting Faith Development Educator - UU Congregation of Las Vegas, NV
  Applications open until the position is filled.
• Congregational Administrator - All Souls UU Church in Colorado Springs, CO
  Applications open until the position is filled.
• Director of Religious Exploration - Evergreen UU Fellowship in Marysville, WA
  Applications open until the position is filled.
• Director of Religious Education - Pacific UU Church in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  Applications open until the position is filled.
• Choir Director - UU Church in Livermore, CA
  Applications open until the position is filled.
• Choir Accompanist - UU Church in Livermore, CA
  Applications open until the position is filled.
• Membership Coordinator - UU Fellowship of San Dieguito, CA
  Applications open until the position is filled.
• Interim Director of Religious Education - UU Church of Boulder, CO
  Applications open until the position is filled.

2018 Walk the Talk Award Winner - Heide Cottam

The MDD "Walk the Talk" Award is given to a Unitarian Universalist lay person for living a life which best exemplifies Unitarian Universalist principles. For 2018, the award goes to Heide Cottam of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ogden, Utah. Heide Cottam has lived such a life and continues to give her time and energy to her local church and the larger community.

Read more about the award and the recipient.

Sanctuary Film Features First Unitarian Church in Salt Lake

KUER in Salt Lake City has produced a 10 minute short film about the family that is in sanctuary at First Unitarian Church in Salt Lake. "In January, Vicky Chavez was facing deportation to her native Honduras. Chavez is mother to two young girls and had fled domestic violence at home. So, instead of the airport, she went to Salt Lake City’s First Unitarian Church. The congregation was offering her sanctuary. That kind of protection is an ancient idea associated with holy places from Greece and Rome to Medieval Europe.

Watch the short film

MDD Chalice Lighters Spring Call

The Mountain Desert District's spring call is to assist the Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder (UUCB) with a building project.

On October 29, 2017, UUCB voted to offer Sanctuary to immigrants facing deportation. For several months prior to the vote, the congregation entered into a process of discernment and education within the congregation. They reached out to the tenants, including the largest tenant, a pre-school, and communicated in good faith and with substantial notice to them about sanctuary. UUCB offered to fund changes to the rental space to assure smooth operation of their childcare center and also renegotiate the monthly rent.

The week after the vote, the tenant elected to terminate the lease and walked away with 10% of the church’s budget and two months’ rent in arrears. The congregation knows that courageous love means taking risks, and they rose to the occasion and decided to go ahead anyway. Their sanctuary guest, Ingrid Encalada Latorre, arrived on December 16, 2017.

They are raising funds to fill the budget gap, but also need to renovate the building space quickly and professionally so that it can be rented again. This Chalice Lighter’s Grant will be used to replace flooring in the rented space.

You can read the full call letter on the MDD website and make your contribution at the online donation page through May 7. Or mail your check, payable to MDD Chalice Lighters to: MDD Chalice Lighters, 7511 Greenwood Avenue North, #414, Seattle, WA 98103-4627. Please write MDD CL on both the memo line of your check and on the payment envelope.

We're hiring a PCD Coming of Age Coordinator!

Support vibrant youth ministry in PCD congregations by helping to ensure well-organized, covenantal, and healthy Coming of Age focused conferences for 11-13 year-old Unitarian Universalists. Find the full job description.

Email resume, cover letter, and references to ebliss@uua.org. Deadline for applications is April 16th, 2018.

PSWD Chalice Lighters Spring Call

Sky Island UU Church, located 80 miles southeast of Tucson, has a vision that includes creating community through a caring ministry and building bridges with people from all backgrounds and beliefs, joining forces for the common good. The funds from Chalice Lighters like you will help their congregation move forward in that vision. The funds raised will go toward expanding their minister’s time from ½ time to ¾ time, increasing the capacity of their building by adding a minister's office and providing expanded RE space, and addressing a few safety issues like adding emergency doors.

Sky Island UU Church thanks you for your donation. You can read the full call letter on the PSWD website and make your contribution at the online donation page through May 21. Or mail your check, payable to PSWD Chalice Lighters to: PSWD Chalice Lighters, 7511 Greenwood Avenue North, #414, Seattle, WA 98103-4627. Please write PSWD CL on both the memo line of your check and on the payment envelope.

Youth at Regional Assembly!

Regional Assembly (RA) has a Youth Assembly: three days of faith, frivolity, and fun for Unitarian Universalists in grades 9-12 from all over the western United States.

To make this experience affordable, the cost is only $90 per youth. That's $30 off the regular registration price!

The program runs from Friday, April 27 at 5:00 pm until Sunday, April 29 at noon.

Youth are invited to participate in the RA programs with the rest of our community when the Youth Assembly isn't gathered.

PWR RA Youth Assembly's focus is on Making CoUUrageous Connections! Icebreakers, games, community building activities, workshops, identity caucusing, small group ministry (touch groups), and worship will all be featured as youth from across the Pacific Western Region—Kari Gottfried, Elliot Ferrell-Carretey, Byrne Crandell, Zoe Johnston, Tanner Linden, Harriet Wright, and many more—will lead transformative youth ministry experiences in the context of the broader Assembly.

Workshops will be led by members of the YaYA office, the PWR Multicultural Team, PCD MUUG's (middle school) ministry, and others!

Learn more and register!

Goldmine Youth Leadership School 2018

July 7-12, 2018 • Seattle, WA

Goldmine Youth Leadership School is a week-long community building and training space for high school youth interested in leadership, activism, and spiritual growth. The model is one of intentional community building created and nurtured by paying attention to and bringing forth what makes spiritually and socially conscious communities work.

In the process of deeply listening, through exploration and learning, students and staff examine Unitarian Universalist Covenant, Religious History and Values, Worship Skills, Spiritual Practices, Leadership Development, and Counter Oppression, with each lesson purposefully incorporating the lenses of activism, advocacy, and the building of Beloved Community.

Goldmine admittance is competitive, as we have a limited number of spots. Deadline for applications is May 15, 2018.

Apply to attend Goldmine now!

Activate Tucson - Immigration Justice

August 5-12, 2018 • Tucson, AZ

Don’t just learn about justice — do justice! This one-week training for high school youth offers interactive social justice education and meaningful work engaging in the pressing issue of immigration justice. Based in the borderlands of southern Arizona, we’ll learn about the issues, and engage in powerful life-saving work like renewing water caches for migrants in the desert. In a program grounded in UU values and practices, participants will develop skills for producing social change through community engagement, reflection on issues of race and class, and advocacy in their home communities.

Youth who attended high school during the 2017-2018 school year are invited to attend. Generous financial aid that can cover up to 75% of the program cost is still available.

Learn more and register.

Thrive Youth West

August 1-5, 2018 • Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach, CA

Join other Unitarian Universalist Youth of Color (People of African Descent, Caribbean, Native/American Indian, Asian and Pacific Islander, Latina/o and Hispanic, Middle Eastern/Arab, and Multiracial) for a five-day gathering to deepen our faith, lift our spirits, and build critical skills for leadership in the face of our uncertain, broken and beautiful world. Thrive participants will be guided by experienced co-facilitators as we worship, feast, play, explore our racial and ethnic identities, practice transformative leadership skills, and create authentic, supportive community. Thrive Youth is for any youth of high school age who is in 9th-12th grade during the 2017-2018 school year (or the equivalent for homeschooled). It’s also open to any youth who bridges into young adulthood in the summer of 2018.

Learn more about Thrive Youth

Upcoming Youth Events

Trainings

• PWR Goldmine Youth Leadership School 2018
  July 7-12, 2018 - Seattle, WA
  Participant applications are now open.
• Thrive Youth West (For UU Youth of Color)
  August 1-5, 2018
  Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach, CA
• Summer Seminary
  July 24-30, 2018
  Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago, IL