Do You Like the New Look?

By Elizabeth Corbett, Programs & Membership Coordinator

Can you just feel all the good energy happening around Westside? Let me take a few minutes to tell you some of what’s going on.

A rendering of our lobby idea.

If you were at church physically on Sunday you noticed a new look to the lobby. This is just an experiment! Brad used AI to “redesign” the lobby and I kinda liked the new look. We talked about some of the pros and cons of making this change in a recent Marketing Committee meeting, and we decided to experiment with chairs we already had (so we weren’t purchasing anything new) and making do with a temporary greeting set-up. After a few weeks of getting feedback, our hope is to purchase a few more items (new chairs with a more contemporary look, a little table to place between them, and a new rug), hang artwork for the walls, and work with Alice Thornton (master greeter) to figure out what she needs, and to go from there. As you also saw, we moved the hutch into the left corner of the sanctuary, and it’s currently empty. I’d love your feedback on so many things: do you like this new look (with the idea that the actual furniture will be different)? Is the hutch in the right spot or do you think it would be better someplace else? We also moved the cabinet with all the hymnals. Should that go in a different spot? Email me at membersip@westsideuuc.org with your thoughts!

Speaking of greeting responsibilities, being a greeter is an important part of what we do at Westside. The greeter is one of the first people visitors (and members!) interact with on any given Sunday. Being a greeter is not that difficult–getting to church early is required, but the only other necessity is a smile and a happy face. See Alice Thornton for more information and a 5-minute training. (Edited to add: after the training, you can sign up to volunteer at our signup.com page.)

Some of us Westsiders have been attending an anti-racism workshop (led by Reverend Carol) for a few months now, and we are slowly working our way through the book Do The Work. I’m really happy to announce that Kalil White, Director of Operations at The Bottom and who recommended Do The Work, will be at Westside on Sunday, May 25, to lead any interested Westsiders in an afternoon workshop entitled Challenging White Supremacy and Internal Biases. You do not have to be doing the Do the Work classes to participate in this Sunday afternoon workshop. Kalil does ask that if you’re interested in doing the afternoon workshop that you complete a quick survey via Harvard’s Project Implicit. Please select the test specifically for race, and bring the results with you to the session. Here’s the link to the Harvard survey:

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

The Justice and Generosity Partner for the third quarter that started in April is Knox Pride. This organization, located in south Knoxville, provides a multitude of services and programs for LGBTQIA people: it offers a lovely Thriftique (second-hand store) with many clothing items; a food pantry (sometimes with refrigerated items) that’s open to anyone; and fun/social and educational classes for the community. Help support KnoxPride by donating through our Justice and Generosity Partner program!

Thanks for listening! And if you have any other questions or suggestions, email me at membership@westsideuuc.org.