Beth Sandige, President, Board of Trustees president@westsideuuc.org
Fellow Congregants, I am proud to call myself a member of Westside. As I observe our calendar of rentals, activities, and happenings, it is evident how involved we are with supporting each other and our community. One aspect of our community I am pleased to see us actively assisting is the family. Not just the traditional family, but all types of post-modern families. With our current programs of Family Promise, potlucks, game nights, movie nights, Spectrum Cafe I see us lifting up and celebrating new types of families and those people in search of family. I am pleased to be experiencing and participating in this aspect of Westside with my daughters.
Your board has had a busy and productive month We held our annual retreat and were able to discuss the problems we have come through, the challenges of the future, our strengths, and how to move forward for the future of this church. We set three goals for the coming year:
Educating and motivating the congrega-tion regarding the remaining process to search for and call a new minister.
Finalizing the new mission and vision of WUUC. Adding strategies and goals that focus our efforts.
Reaching out to members past to resolve conflicts and strengthen our church community.
We are currently working on identifying the objec-tives for these goals and how we will measure our successes. There will be a congregational meeting in the coming months. You will be given the opportunity to review the new mission and vision statements. Your opinion matters.
I am thankful again and again for the help and guidance Rev. Morris is giving us. I am also thankful again and again of the work Lorraine Darwin did in finding him. We are fortunate to have him as a resource and guide through this transition of our church. It is important that we listen to his guidance and use what we can to im-prove our congregation so Westside may continue to be the wonderful home that it is for us all.
The Building and Grounds Committee has been on top of things. They are busy making our location more welcoming to visitors and members alike. Some recent activities have included Dave's Thursday B&G meetups for mowing, shampooing the carpets, and Marcene Zeigler's generous donation to have the dead tree and the playground tree pruned. Without manpower and money we could not get these activities done.
Terry Tyler and Craig Brandt continue to work on how our finances are going to support our mission and vision here at Westside. The budget's strength is dependent on and pledge drive. Through our member-ship, we commit to supporting the endeavors of Westside. If you have not taken the time to complete your pledge, please do so. Our community and our activities depend on us working together and giving in this most important way.
Duane Kraeger has been working through the planning stages of a new water feature for our grounds in honor of his wife, Linda Kraeger. He has done excellent research and is very close to getting all the information finalized so that this honorable project can begin.
I would like to extend a big thank you to Lorie Allion for her years of service as our newsletter editor. She is now returning to school and will not have the time to compile and edit this information. Because of our new investment in our online presence, the board has decided to eliminate the monthly newsletter altogether and establish areas on our website for members to get the information they need. If anyone is in need of printed matter for reference, please don't hesitate to see Brad Kurtz. He will print out information as needed.
Rev. Carol is pulling together and planning what seems to be a wonderful new year in RE. Her ideas for our youngest members are fresh and engaging. She has won over my two daughters with her style of teaching.
I would like to conclude by recognizing the members who put in many hours of volunteering and support of the ac-tivities here at Westside. Our programs such as Family Promise, movie night, First Fridays & Potlucks, Game Night, and Spectrum West, to name but a few, are not pos-sible without the involvement of our people. A big thank you is deserved to Linda Chavez for organizing Westside's participation in the Family Promise Pasta Cook Off. She pulled together a great team of members and vol-unteers who created a delicious pasta meal to help raise funds for Family Promise. Through these programs we are taking our Principles and making them a presence in this community. With these actions we can build understanding and collaboration with people and spread the goodness that is Unitarian Universalism and Westside.
“How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.”
― William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
Keep throwing your beams, little candles.