Dear UUCW Members and Friends,

I’ll be back home not long after you receive this issue of our West Wind (or read this column in our awesome eNews), but I’m writing it from a lovely cottage on the Oregon coast in the town of Manzanita. I’m enjoying a week of vacation after an exciting week of work and learning with the UU Ministers Association and the Unitarian Universalist Association’s General Assembly in Spokane, Washington!

General Assembly (GA) is four days of sun-up to sundown activities: general sessions, workshops, lectures, worship services, concerts, meetings and more, shared with thousands of Unitarian Universalists from across the continent and some from across the globe. This year’s GA theme was “The Power of We.” The idea was that in this time of great challenge and heartbreak in our world, we need to find our path together as UUs, engaging with the question, “What does our faith demand from us?” Our UUA’s work in dismantling white supremacy culture was at the forefront in every possible way — it was inspiring to be led by lay and ordained leaders who are people of color, indigenous people, women, and LGBTQIA+ and non-binary or genderqueer people. It was also inspiring to join in with other UUs in small groups to reflect on questions put to us by the UUA Commission on Institutional Change:

  • What sustains you and your faith community in efforts towards inclusion, equity, and diversity?
  • What limits you from living out our faith’s promise towards liberation and transformation?
  • And, What should we expect from ourselves and one another in living out our covenantal relationships?

Many of the core events of this year’s General Assembly are available in video or text form online at the UUA website, www.uua.org/ga  I would particularly urge you to see (or read):

The Black Lives of UU (BLUU) Promise & Practice campaign completion http://bit.ly/blacklivesUU You may recall that we gave $4000 to this campaign to fund resources to serve Black UUs — and the whole campaign was successful!

The Service of the Living Tradition, with a powerful sermon on the climate crisis by my friend and colleague the Rev. Lindi Ramsden: http://bit.ly/revlindi

The report from our inspiring UUA president, the Rev. Susan Frederick Gray:  http://bit.ly/UUpresident

Scroll down in the Sunday worship service, http://bit.ly/GAsundayworship to “The Meditations of My Heart: It Is Time Now,” by the Rev. Marta Valentin. Some of you will recall sermons of mine where I’ve asked us to expand our “We,” — to think deeply about who is included and excluded from our UU understanding of “We.” Rev. Valentin speaks to this eloquently and powerfully!

There’s so much more to share — but in the meantime, I look forward to seeing you soon!

With love,

Suzelle

The Rev. Suzelle Lynch, Minister