News

Save the Dates: Saturday, March 15, in person; or Wednesday, March 19, online

There’s Still Time to Contribute to Our February Second Sunday Plate

Sunday, February 16, 1:15 p.m. in the Dix room and via Zoom

July 14–18 and/or July 28–August 1

Saturday, February 22, 1–3 p.m. in Nathan Johnson Hall Wise Women Connecting will gather on February 22 for an afternoon of games and fun together. Participants are welcome to bring games and finger food snacks to share in Nathan Johnson Hall where we can spread out at tables to play in small groups. Board games and card games that have a shorter play time than Monopoly, and that can be played by 4 to 8 people, will work the best with our time frame. We hope you will come share a game and maybe learn a new one! Questions? Contact Cindy Rose . Wise Women Connecting welcomes all UUC members and friends who identify as women and are retired, contemplating retirement and/or interested in issues of aging.

May 23–26 at the Seabeck Conference Center Registration will open at noon on Friday, February 21

Friday, February 28, 6–8 p.m. in Nathan Johnson Hall

Worship services at 9:30 and 11:15 a.m. in the chapel and via livestream

Sundays, March 2 and 16, 12:45–1:45 p.m. in the King room

Monday, February 10, 7–8 p.m. at St. Mark's Cathedral

Friday, February 14, 6–8 p.m. in Nathan Johnson Hall

Thursday, February 13, 7:00–8:45 p.m. in Knatvold

Tuesday, February 11, 6:15–9 p.m. in Nathan Johnson Hall

Sunday, February 9, 12:45 p.m. in the Knatvold room and via Zoom, by advance registration

All Ages worship services at 9:30 and 11:15 a.m. in the chapel and via livestream

Sunday, February 9, both services

Sunday, February 9, 1 p.m. in the Frazee room

From the Rev. Dr. Doug Wadkins, Senior Minister I am delighted to share that Cynthia Setel has joined UUC staff as Interim Executive for Finance and Operations. This is a full-time position which we anticipate will extend through the next 9-12 months. Cynthia comes to us with more than 20 years of expertise in nonprofit management and consulting. Over the past 4-5 years, she has specialized in interim leadership roles to help guide organizations through complex transitions. Some of her recent positions were with Excelsior Wellness in Spokane as Chief Financial Officer, Golden Gate Conservation District in San Francisco as Interim Chief Operating Officer and Interim Deputy CEO, and King Conservation District in Renton as Interim Executive Director. Prior to that, Cynthia served as the Director of the Housing Choice Voucher Program with the Seattle Housing Authority, CFO of Public Heath of Seattle and King County, Budget Supervisor of the Office of Policy and Management for King County, and Contract Monitor of the Human Services Department for the City of Seattle. She holds a Masters of Public Administration in International Development from the University of Washington and earned her BA in History and Political Science at Seattle Pacific University. During her time with us, we’ve asked Cynthia to focus on the following five priorities: (1) direction and oversight of finances and budget, (2) management of facilities, technology and information systems, (3) support of fund development activities, (4) management of contracts, policies, and human resources, and (5) development of an interim staffing plan, working closely with the Interim Senior Minister and Acting Administrator. Cynthia is also a neighbor, living within walking distance of UUC. Some of her community affiliations include serving on the Boards of the Seattle International Film Festival, the Seattle Collaborative Orchestra, The Defender Association, and Sand Point Arts and Cultural Exchange. She also is a volunteer at Saving Great Animals, dedicated to rescuing dogs and finding them new homes. Cynthia has been an active member and lay leader at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church, and her spouse has been a member of Temple Beth Am. They have four grown daughters. Please join me in welcoming Cynthia to UUC!

Find them in the atrium before Sunday, February 23 Our Lost & Found cabinet in the church office runneth over! If you have lost something at UUC, please come look for it on the tables in the downstairs atrium. We have a variety of water bottles, thermal cups, sweaters and sweatshirts, gloves, hats, kitchen supplies likely brought for pot-lucks, an assortment of shiny things, books, notebooks, and much more. Anything left after Sunday, February 23, will be donated, recycled, or otherwise disposed of.

UUC has partnered with Teen Feed for twenty years, so many of you know that they offer a critical safety net for homeless teens in our community. Eighteen times each year, volunteers from UUC's Meal Team gather to prepare and serve a meal to teens who are unhoused in the University District. These meals are a conduit for the Teen Feed staff to invite conversation with teens who have found it difficult to trust adults in their lives. Over the years, UUC has also hosted Warm Clothes Holiday Giving, to collect donations of coats, sweatshirts, tents and more to benefit the Teen Feed youth. Last weekend, over thirty from our congregation shared their time with Teen Feed, including nine of our youth : On Saturday, nine Coming of Age youth and mentors rolled up their sleeves to give the host kitchen site at University Congregational Church a deep clean. This kitchen gets used by meal teams 7 nights a week, so periodically, the kitchen deserves some extra attention at an OhSoClean event. Think bleach, scrub, spray, rub and organize—and this is the second time our Coming of Age youth and mentors have taken on this important project! On Sunday, twenty-three from UUC were involved in chopping, rolling, baking and serving the nightly meal—two kinds of burritos, Spanish rice, homemade pico de gallo with chips, two choices of fruit, corn and rice krispie treats. The first shift operated an amazing assembly line, with three at-home bakers involved in preparing several pans of Spanish rice, and lots of warm smiles on the second shift to serve it up. The Meal Team prepares 75 meals, allowing for seconds and thirds, including to-go boxes delivered to the Roots Young Adult Shelter with any extra food offered to Tent City 3 residents.

Wednesday, February 5, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. in Knatvold and via Zoom

As in previous years, we ask our members and friends to use the following guidelines for handling winter conditions in relation to scheduled events at UUC. Rely first and foremost on your own best judgment about road and temperature conditions in your area. Only you can decide whether it is safe to travel to and from the church for any service or event. Check the church homepage ( uuchurch.org ) for announcements on changes in times or cancellations of any scheduled services or events. Call the church office at 206-525-8400 to hear a recording about church closures or cancellation of services or events. UUC generally follows the closure or modified hours announcements from the University of Washington, but because travel conditions can vary widely in various neighborhoods, make your travel decisions based on what you see and expect over your commute route, not just what things might be like at UUC.

Wednesday, February 19, 6:30–7:30 p.m. in Knatvold

When we ask for volunteers, what we’re really asking for are congregants to see themselves as integral in running our church. We are asking you to serve knowing that each commitment of time, energy and resources opens a pathway for others and enriches our own lives. Sunday morning services are ideal opportunities to practice welcoming the stranger and coming to know each other more. As part of the Sunday Welcoming Team, the Coffee Crew members, Greeters and Usher seek to individually welcome congregants and guests before, during and after services—helping them feel connected. These roles are key and are important to fill. I (Rebecca) have co-led the Ushers for most of my 21 years as a member of this church. I have found it to be a good pairing of social engagement and helpfulness. In addition to helping people find seats and receiving the offerings, Ushers watch to make sure the services go as planned—ready to help with late arrivals, hearing devices, lost partners and medical emergencies. We need more Ushers, Greeters and Coffee Crew members! Envision yourself in these roles. It’s not just volunteering; it is active engagement in the running of this, our church — helping us become the Beloved Community we seek. If you would like to give any of these roles a try, please contact Rebecca DiNino about ushering, or Janine Larsen about any of the other Sunday Welcoming positions. Rebecca DiNino and Gayle Childers, co-leads for UUC Ushers

Friday, February 7, 6–8 p.m. in Knatvold and via Zoom

Registration open for Saturdays, February 8 & 15, 9:30 a.m.–noon

Tuesday, February 4, 7–8:30 p.m. in the Knatvold room

From Rev. Doug Wadkins, UUC Interim Minister An essential part of our intentional transition period involves thoughtfully balancing tradition with the opportunity for meaningful change. It's important to approach this process with curiosity and patience, recognizing the natural anxieties that change can provoke. I will carefully invite changes that support our congregational work, and look for ways to practice flexibility and resilience in the reality of change. I am often guided by consistent areas of focus for clergy in search in recent years so that you will better engage the patterns of ministry that have evolved since last you were in search. Starting in February, we'll introduce a "Time For Ages" at the beginning of one service each month , typically the first Sunday. This complements our existing All Ages Service and aims to enhance multigenerational connections in worship. Most ministers that have followed me, include at least a couple of multigenerational times in worship a month and seek for them to help more of the congregation feel more integrated as a community. This Sunday will begin our first Time for All Ages in worship. Aria and I will continue to explore different ways to enhance this experience and learn from it, so stay tuned for updates. Additionally, we will explore thematic ministry. Since my interim service began in 2012, each minister who was called as the settled minister to those seven congregations, all but one mid-sized or large, enthusiastically embraced themes because they experienced that they fostered depth and connection. Beginning this month, we will introduce a unifying monthly theme that will be used in worship and family ministry, we will utilize the theme resources and expand beyond them when it is needed. I invite you to experience themes with curiosity and a sense of adventure over the coming months and see what we learn about them together here at UUC. Over the past 25 years, I've found that themes can, indeed, deepen connections within the congregation and in our larger movement. Mindful use of themes helps us create cohesion by addressing complex, essential aspects of life and foster connections across the generations in our congregations. For now, we will use the theme materials of Soul Matters that consult with congregations to set and shape themes and curate resources from UUs all over the globe. We will begin with the theme of Inclusion and see what we learn together through this exploration. Gratefully, Doug Upcoming Themes: February: Inclusion March: Trust April: Joy May: Imagination June: Freedom​

Worship services at 9:30 and 11:15 a.m. in the chapel and via livestream

Sunday, February 2 and/or February 16, 1–2:30 p.m. in the Channing room

Wednesday, February 19, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. by appointment in Nathan Johnson Hall

Sunday, February 16, 2–3:30 p.m. in Knatvold

Click here to register through UUC Connect

Register by January 27

[Ed: Aria Curtis, our Director of Family Ministry, ran this last week in the UUC Family Ministry Newsletter she sends out each week. I am offering it here as well.] I offer this blessing to myself and to you, adapted from "for when you're tired of broken systems" out of The Lives We Actually Have by Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie: Spirit of life, I am done with broken systems Let me harness this anger; channel it into worthy action. Blessed are we, who choose not to look away. Empower us to see and name what is broken, what is ours to restore. Let us find coherent and beautiful alternatives that foster life, hope, and peace. Blessed are we who choose to live in anticipation, of the world we hope to create.

All Ages worship services at 9:30 and 11:15 a.m. in the chapel and via livestream

Next week, 2024 Annual Giving Statements will be sent to all donors who gave at least one gift between January 1 and December 31. (Donors without email addresses on record will receive statements via U.S. mail.) These statements include details and totals for potentially tax-deductible gifts that you made to University Unitarian Church during the 2024 calendar year. You will also find included with your statement a summary of deductible and non-deductible gifts given per fund and the balances of any fiscal year pledges in effect between January 2024 and December 2024 to which your gifts were applied. This information is for your reference when considering future giving to UUC. If you have questions about any of the fund or pledge information included in your statement, or if you see any discrepancies between the church's records and your own, please contact the church office at churchoffice@uuchurch.org or 206-525-8400 to discuss. If there are corrections, a revised statement will be re-issued to you. If you did not receive a statement in email or U.S. mail by Monday, February 3, please contact the church office to review your giving records and determine if a statement should be issued to you. Before contacting the office, please check your spam or junk mail folders to see if the emailed statement was filtered out of your inbox. Thank you for your continued support of University Unitarian Church.

Sunday, February 9, 12:45 p.m. in the Knatvold room

Since the Board of Trustees approved UUC’s participation in the Faith Land Initiative (FLI) in October, our FLI cohort team (comprised of Gayle Childers, Patricia Graesser, Dave Mentz and Rev. Beth Chronister) has participated in two day-long training sessions along with teams from two other congregations. Applying a faith- and racial equity-rooted model, the cohort team has started mapping out a process for the congregation to discern how our building might be used to benefit the community. The FLI tools are helping the team to plan how to broaden our workgroup, how to best involve the wider congregation in discussing ideas, and how to learn from those in our neighborhood and beyond about existing and/or anticipated needs in our community. For UUC, the Faith Land Initiative process is intended to be synergistic with and supportive of our interim ministry work. The team anticipates offering opportunities for congregants to share ideas in venues and ways that benefit the FLI process and interim discernment process at the same time. Work in February through June will include conducting learning sessions with our church and external communities, refining criteria for screening future action options and drafting a short- mid- and long-term plan for using our facility. Many congregants have expressed a desire for UUC to use our extra capacity for the benefit of the community. FLI, an established program offered by the Church Council of Greater Seattle, offers cohort teams a process and tools to use to lead a discernment process that aligns with congregational values, interests, and processes. We are excited to share more about the FLI process and how we can all contribute as we proceed in our learning. If you have any questions or would like to share any input relating to this process, please contact Patricia Graesser , Gayle Childers or Dave Mentz .

Many UUCers who attend services in person became friends with Catherine Ruha’s dear service dog, Lily, over the years. Lily passed away on Thursday, January 16. This past year, Lily had been living with a heart condition and in the past week, her health declined precipitously. She stopped eating or being able to keep anything down. Her body was telling her it was time to let go. An in-house hospice vet came to Catherine's home to help aid in Lily's passing, which was easeful and held in the comfort of Catherine's arms. Her sister, brother-in-law and Rev. Beth were there to help hold them both. Lily has been a dear friend to Catherine for the past 17 years as her diabetic service dog and has been a friend of many in the communities where Catherine took her. For many of us, Lily was high up there in our book of favorite UUC members. She will be missed by her friends, but most acutely by Catherine. If you would like to send a card, you can find Catherine's address in the UUC Connect Directory.

Thursday, January 23, 7:00–8:45 p.m. in Knatvold

Save the Date: Friday, February 28, 6–8 p.m. in Nathan Johnson Hall

Worship services at 9:30 and 11:15 a.m. in the chapel and via livestream

Monday, January 20, 2025

Saturday, January 18, 1–3 p.m. in the Knatvold room

Sunday, January 19, 1:15 p.m. in the Dix room and via Zoom

Sunday, January 19, 1–3 p.m. in the Chapel Gallery

From Janine Larsen, Acting Administrator UUC has contracted with Third Sector Company, a national group headquartered in Seattle, to help us secure a qualified Interim Executive for Finance and Operations to follow Byron Krystad, as he retires January 31 from his 15 years as our Director of Operations. We made this choice given the tenure, breadth, complexity, and critical nature of Byron's position. We are not able to absorb all of these duties with current staff over the time period required for an open search process. This decision will expedite the hiring process and help us identify someone who can not only come up to speed quickly to meet the many requirements of the position, but also assist us in reviewing and updating our overall staffing structure at this time of transition for the congregation. We've identified these five priorities for this position, which we anticipate will be in place for the next 9-12 months: (1) direction and oversight of finances and budget, (2) management of facilities, technology and information systems, (3) support of fund development activities, (4) management of contracts, policies, and human resources, and (5) development of an interim staffing plan, working closely with the Interim Senior Minister and Acting Administrator. Over the next 2-3 weeks, we expect to interview candidates and select a well-matched professional to join our staff. The interview team will include representatives of the congregation and senior staff. We will keep you informed of progress and hope to introduce you to this new employee no later than early February. We will honor Byron and thank him for his service during each Sunday service on January 26 , his last Sunday with us. You are welcome to bring cards and messages of support and well wishes to the church office before his last day, January 31. 

UUC's Care Shawls group recently received this lovely thank you from a shawl recipient, relayed by the Care Team. Thank you so much for the beautiful, beautiful shawl and for putting it around my shoulders. I do feel the caregivers: you, the Care Team and those who did the knitting and support the knitting, Thank you so very very much for supporting my journey of healing within a healing community. And please extend my thanks to all involved. Our Care Shawls Knit and Crochet group meets the third Sunday of each month for handwork and conversation. We make shawls that are then distributed by the Care Team. We welcome all handworkers, from beginners (some coaching available) to masters. We are meeting this coming Sunday, January 19 .