PWR Webinars

Webinars offer a convenient way to engage in online collaborative learning across the Pacific Western Region (PWR). Participating as a learning community in your congregation gives your team a starting point to gain insight, discuss with religious leaders, and focus your congregation’s learning community on what matters.

This year, the PWR staff provide a variety of exciting offerings with individual webinars at $20 per connection. A connection is one link that is viewed by as many as desired from one place, such as your congregation.

View the PWR Webinar Archive 

Questions about PWR Webinars: Contact PWR Congregational Life Staff, Jonipher Kwong at jkwong@uua.org.

Multicultural Religious Education for Children

Feb. 15, 2018 at 10:00am Pacific - Rev. Sarah Gibb Millspaugh

You want to create a more inclusive, more multicultural children's program in your congregation, but there's no roadmap. This webinar 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

Policy-Based Governance Tune-up

Feb. 27, 2018 at 7:00pm Pacific - Rev. Helen Carroll

The successful transition to Policy-Style Governance is a multi-year process, marked by change, reflection, adjustment, and assessment. In this webinar, we'll address some of the common experiences of congregations in the first 3 years of that transition and explore strategies that help smooth the way toward governance with confidence.

Register for Policy-Based Governance Tune-up

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.

• January 27 at UU Society of Sacramento (Sacramento, CA)
• February 3 at Granite Peak UU Congregation (Prescott, AZ)
• March 3 at Olympic UU Fellowship (Port Angeles, WA)
• March 3 at UU Fellowship of Redwood City (Redwood City, CA)
• March 17 at Edmonds UU Church (Edmonds, WA)
• March 18 at Two Rivers UU (Carbondale, CO)
• April 14 at UU Fellowship of Bozeman, MT (Bozeman, MT)

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.

PWR Congregations in the News

Taking a stand in Edmonds - Edmonds Beacon
"The return of the Rev. Cecilia Kingman to the Edmonds Unitarian Universalist Congregation in her new roles has revitalized our faith development offerings for children and youth, and has opened new, exciting energies and vistas for social justice engagement in our congregation," Rev. Eric Kaminetzky said. "Cecilia's focus on justice work as a ministry that is accessible to everyone is bringing new people through our doors and into our programs, justice-oriented and otherwise. And the emergence of her justice ministry at the church is helping us hone our efforts and get our message out to people who are hungry to make a difference now, in this moment, in the community. That is priceless."

Boulder church welcomes Peruvian immigrant seeking sanctuary - Daily Camera Boulder News
In the meantime, she will be the first immigrant to take sanctuary at Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder, which voted in October to open its doors to immigrants seeking to avoid deportation. "It is a key part of our religious exercise," Rev. Kelly Dignan said. "When sanctuary is offered, there is no intent to hide a person's whereabouts. We are open and honest with the authorities regarding our activities and intentions and the fact that we feel we are performing our religious duty."

Las Cruces group calls for release of detained Mexican journalist Emilio Gutierrez Soto - Las Cruces Sun-News
Tuesday's news conference was organized by a group of Gutierrez's friends and supporters who are calling themselves La Alianza. Led by local activist Elisa Sanchez, the group gathered at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Las Cruces on Solano Drive and demanded the immediate release of Gutierrez and his son.

When The Fire Comes And There's No Home To Evacuate And Nowhere To Go - Huffington Post
Among the invisible victims of the fire are hundreds of homeless men and women living in the area. While the fires have been burning in the surrounding foothills, the effects on the streets of Santa Barbara are dramatic. "There’s ash blanketing everything. It looks like a snowfall," the Rev. Julia Hamilton, head minister of the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara, told HuffPost on Thursday. "Imagine lying down to sleep in the middle of this toxic ash. There’s nowhere to go."

Vandal confesses, finds forgiveness from Fort Collins church - Coloradoan
Foothills Unitarian Church leaders have decided against pursuing criminal charges against a man who vandalized the church in an act they originally feared might be an angry political message. A man threw a rock through a window of an auxiliary building at the Fort Collins church on Saturday night, leaving a hole in the inside wall.

Davis resident might avoid deportation - Davis Enterprise
The felony Melchor referenced was "for joyriding as a young man," according to Kathy Robertson, a Davis resident and member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis. Robertson explained in an Enterprise opinion piece earlier this month that "in 2002, (Kong) accepted a plea deal that sentenced him to a year in jail — one day over the limit for deportation — without being told the agreement would adversely affect his immigration status."

Support the Promise and the Practice of Our Faith

On November 12, many Unitarian Universalist congregations engaged in the UUA’s campaign to support Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism. If your congregation has not yet made a commitment to support The Promise and the Practice of Our Faith Campaign, please consider doing so. Unitarian Universalist religious professionals of color created powerful worship resources to help worship teams navigate our history of upholding white supremacy and how we can collectively work to dismantle it within the UU faith. Visit The Promise and the Practice website for campaign information and worship resources. If your congregation already started exploring what it means to fulfill the promise and practice of our faith, we’d love to hear from you! Submit your stories of impact from the perspectives of congregants, lay leaders, ministers, or staff to bluu-campaign@uua.org.

Supporting solidarity and sanctuary at UUCB on Faithify

Support our UU siblings in Boulder, Colorado by donating to this Faithify campaign. When the Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder voted to become a Sanctuary congregation, their largest tenant walked away, taking 10% of the church's annual budget with them. They know that courageous love isn't courageous unless it involves risk, so they moved ahead anyway. We have the opportunity now to join them to close that budget gap. Donate now to continue to make Sanctuary possible in Boulder. We are better together!

The White Memorial Seminary Scholarship 2018

The White Memorial Scholarship is a one-time annual scholarship of $1000 available to help support Unitarian Universalist Ministerial students, with preference given to those who have a connection to the Pacific Southwest District. Any seminary student with connections to the PSWD is encouraged to apply online.

More information can be found on PSWD’s White Memorial Scholarship page. Applications for the scholarship are due by Feb. 4, 2018 and can be submitted online.

The winner of the 2018 scholarship will be announced at the PSWD business meeting at Regional Assembly in Portland at the end of April, and be given a check for $1000 to use to defray costs of their schooling. Applications are now open!

If you have any questions regarding the scholarship or the application, please contact pswdwhitememorial@gmail.com.

PWR Job Postings

• Acting Faith Development Educator - UU Congregation of Las Vegas, NV
  Applications open until the position is filled.
• Part-time Interim Director of Religious Education - UU Congregation, Santa Rosa, CA
  Applications open until position is filled.
• Music Director - Throop UU Church in Pasadena, CA
  Applications open until the position is filled.

Are you a leader in UU Youth Communities?

We are now accepting applications for Goldmine staff for 2018. Our 2018 leadership school is going to be a little shorter, July 7-12, at a location TBA soon in the Pacific Southwest District (likely Southern CA or AZ). Staff will arrive for training and meetings on July 5th or 6th.

We’re excited this year to hold our youth and adult leadership schools at the same place at the same time. The Russell Lockwood Leadership School and the Goldmine Leadership School will be distinct programs with some opportunities for shared learning and shared worship. We’ll be at a university or a retreat center, rather than a congregation, so we can be more accessible and offer everyone more comfort and privacy.

If you have extensive youth ministry experience, please consider applying to serve as staff! Complete the online application.

Wishing you all the best,
Adult Dean, Rev. Sarah Millspaugh and Youth Specialist, Eric Bliss

Summer Regional Mission Trip for Youth and Adults

• Do you have a passion for environmental justice?
• Have you been interested to partner with grassroots organizations to create a lasting partnership in solidarity with local communities?
• Have you ever wanted to make a real difference while learning hands on skills and concepts?

Pacific Western Region Justice Journey: Roots, Reflections and Relationships - An Environmental Justice Journey. A week long immersion experience focusing on Environmental Sustainability through service, learning, and through a meditation practice designed to be reflective and to sustain future justice work.

Logistics: Sat. night, July 14 - Sunday afternoon, July 22, 2018 at Throop Unitarian Universalist Church 300 S. Los Robles Ave. Pasadena, CA 91101

You are invited! 25 multigenerational participants - youth (rising 9th - rising 12th graders), YA’s and adults. Families with youth, YA’s and adults welcome. Cost is $550.00 per person for 8 days. All meals, lodging at the church, local transportation. (Air and ground Transportation to the Throop Church is not included.) Staff: Eric Bliss, PWR Youth Specialist, Rev. Jaelynn Scott, Buddhist minister and U.U. Religious Educator, Katie Covey, PWR Mission Trip Lead.

The Pacific Western Region Mission Trip provides an opportunity to practice environmental sustainability in the unique permaculture urban garden at Throop, as well as a variety of community projects and events. In addition, the group will engage in centering meditative UU and Buddhist practices as developed by Rev. Jaelynnlynn Scott’s Mutuality Movement as a way to build a lifelong foundation for justice work and compassionate understanding. Register online.

Contact: Katie Covey, PWR Mission Trip Lead at katiecovey@gmail.com. Find more information about the PWR Mission Trip.

Upcoming Youth Events

Conferences

• PNWD Inheriting the Flame Con
  January 14-15, 2018
  East Shore Unitarian Church, WA
• ​MDD MLK Con
  January 13-15, 2018
  First Universalist Church in Denver, CO
• MDD Colorado/Wyoming Cluster Middle School Con - UU To The Core
  February 23-24, 2018
  UU Church of Boulder, CO
• PNWD Spring Youth Con
  March 23-25
  Camp Cispus in Randle, WA
• MDD Bridging Con
  April 6-8, 2018
  Los Alamos UU Church in Los Alamos, NM
• PSWD Youth Cons
  Coming up! We'll have more details soon!

Trainings

• PNWD Youth Leadership Development Con
  February 9-11, 2018
  Woodinville UU Church, WA
• PSWD Youth Advisor Training
  Spring 2018
  Arizona
• Roots, Reflections, Relationships - A UU Justice Journey - Pasadena, CA
  July 14-22, 2018
  Throop UU Congregation in Pasadena, CA
  Only 15 youth slots available
  Register Now
• Thrive West (For Youth and Young Adults of Color) July - August TBA
• Summer Seminary Late July - Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago, IL.