News

Saturday, November 22, 12:30 p.m. in the Knatvold room

Sunday, November 9, 1–2:30 p.m. in Knatvold or Thursday, November 20, 7–8:30 p.m. in Knatvold

Sunday, December 7, 12:30–2:30 p.m. in the King room

Saturday, November 22, 3–5 p.m. at the Idris Mosque, 1420 NE Northgate Way, Seattle

Register now for Saturday, December 6, 10 a.m.–2:30 p.m. Complete the survey by Sunday, November 30

Wednesday, December 3, 7 p.m. in the UUC chapel

Wednesday, November 19, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. in Knatvold and via Zoom

Sunday, November 23, during coffee hours, in NJH UUC's Social Justice Steering Committee (SJSC) met recently to begin its review of proposals for congregation-wide action discussed at last month's Social Justice REVIVAL and potluck. The event was attended by nearly 40 congregants, and generated a variety of exciting ideas as well as tasty chili dishes. Our committee will gather again next month, continue its deliberations, and perhaps return to the congregation with a proposed plan for 2026. One idea that garnered enthusiasm at the REVIVAL was a proposal to partner with neighboring Eckstein Middle School, where a large fraction of students live in lower-income households and need material support. Attendees also expressed interest in mutual aid (rather than charity) as an organizing principle. Specifically, there seemed to be a desire to create (recreate?) a program within the church for congregants to help one another meet various needs—from transportation to clothing, from yard work to meals. SJSC members will be at one of the Learning Stations in Nathan Johnson Hall this Sunday to hear more from congregants about how we all might engage in mutual aid at UUC. Please stay tuned. In the meantime, you can email any questions or comments to Walter Hatch or Catherine Ruha. (See UUC Connect.) Background: SJSC had been hearing concerns that social justice programming at UUC was flagging and/or operating within narrow silos. We met with members of social justice teams, who encouraged us to help the congregation identify projects that the church as a whole might undertake. In response, we hosted the Social Justice REVIVAL and potluck on October 11. We are still deliberating next steps, and are hosting the November 23 Learning Station during coffee hour to gather more feedback.

Sunday, November 23

Sunday, November 23, 1:15–2:45 p.m. in the Dix room and via Zoom

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

UUC at the November 6 Seattle City Council Budget Hearing The Seattle City Council’s early December deadline for adopting a final budget for 2026 looms. That means budget hearings. Last year’s 2025 budget crisis resulted in programs cuts and raiding the Jump Start payroll tax fund passed to support affordable housing, climate justice, and equitable economic development funding to underserved communities. The proposed 2026 budget reverses some, but by no mean all, of those cuts, in the face of insufficient revenue to meet needs. At the Social Justice Revival in October, your Social Justice Steering Committee heard interest from UUC members in having our congregation participate in advocacy at the city council level for Budgets as a Moral Document. On behalf of UUC’s Social Justice Steering Committee, Rev. Victoria, accompanied by current SJSC member Catherine Ruha and past member Debbie Maranville, attended the City Council’s November 6 budget hearing at 5 p.m. Their aim: support faith leaders speaking in favor of the Church Council of Greater Seattle’s vision of the budget as a moral document, a vision rooted in the obligation, foundational to so many faiths, to care for the pressing needs of all members of the community, especially the poor, choosing care and support over surveillance and punishment. Speakers represented a range of community groups, including Share/Wheel and Tent City 4. In addition to focusing heavily on Seattle’s perennial housing crisis, speakers advocated for community needs around mental health care and other social services. A particular criticism of the proposed budget was that it authorizes additional money to expand expensive mass surveillance tools currently being operated by the city (and in some cases shared with ICE): closed circuit TV cameras, Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPR’s) and more. In this challenging time, it is easy to focus on how to respond to our federal government, especially given the recent federal shutdown and pending federal budget cutbacks to social needs funding. However, what happens on the local level will take on increasing weight. As UUC considers the call for Social Justice Now! we will have an opportunity to consider whether and how we might also “Think Globally [Nationally], Act Locally”.

Sunday, December 28, 2025, 2:30 p.m. to Thursday, January 01, 2026, 11:45 a.m.

Tuesdays, November 18 and December 2, 7–8:30 p.m. in the Channing room and via Zoom

Register now for Saturday, December 6, 10 a.m.–2:30 p.m.

Sunday, November 16, during both coffee hours and 2–5 p.m. in the UUC parking lot

All Ages Worship services at 9:30 and 11:15 a.m. in the chapel and via live stream

Saturdays, November 15 and December 13, 1:30–3 p.m. in Knatvold

Glad you asked! This is a team effort. You can join the efforts of members of UUC who are addressing food insecurity in several ways: Expanding our long-term partnership with Lake City Partners by offering meals at the new Winter Shelter. Sign up here . Giving to the Second Sunday Plate Collection on December 14 for the University District Food Bank. Be ready to make your contribution! Supporting UUC neighbors who care by hosting a Pop-up Food Bank in our parking lot this Sunday, November 16, 2–5 p.m. Bring requested items, listed here . Inviting your small group or committee at UUC to join you in volunteering or giving in any of these and in other ways. We are all in the care of each other. Let's nourish hope, together. With gratitude, Rev. Victoria

Get on the waitlist for December 11-14 at Rainbow Lodge in North Bend, or attend via Zoom

Thursday, November 13, 7:00–8:45 p.m. in the Knatvold room

Tuesday, November 11, 8:30 a.m. and/or 3:00 p.m.

Sunday, November 9, 1:00–2:30 p.m. in Knatvold Come and learn about the new connections we have developed with two other UU churches. We have new volunteers and potential hosts from both! You can meet some of them at our meeting. The Pink Haven Coalition is a national coalition responding to the baseless and severe discrimination against trans and non-binary individuals in red states who need assistance in moving to blue states. Our UUC group is part of this effort, in partnership with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, to create a welcome network for trans/non-binary individuals and their families who are fleeing their homes in order to live freer lives and, if needed, to obtain gender affirming care.

Sunday, November 9, both services (9:30 and 11:15 a.m.)

A Reminder About Phishing Emails and Text Message Scams

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

Do you draw, paint, print, make prints, or take artistic photos? Do you create collages or fabric art? The Art Committee invites you to participate in our upcoming Members’ Art Show . This is your chance to show off your talents and share your work with others in our church community. Church members and friends may submit one or two pieces to be hung as part of a group exhibit in the chapel in early January, 2026 . You’ll bring the pieces to church on Saturday morning, fill out a little paperwork, and the Art Committee will take care of the rest. We’ll host a reception on Sunday afternoon for all of our artists. Watch the website News or our Gateway enewsletter for more information later this fall.

Saturday, November 8, 10–11:30 a.m. in Nathan Johnson Hall

Exciting news! Starting this Sunday, we will be trying out a new bulletin board in Nathan Johnson Hall on Sunday mornings. We hope that this will be a way for active, recognized groups at UUC to share information about events and opportunities for involvement. The bulletin board is on wheels and has a dry erase board on the other side. During the week, it will get flipped over and used as a rolling whiteboard available for meetings and events. All flyers on the bulletin board must be approved and posted by staff members. To submit a flyer, email it to office@uuchurch.org or leave it in the labeled box in the church office. We will remove any flyers that have not been submitted to the office. See below for more details about what can be posted on the bulletin board. Questions? Email office@uuchurch.org or stop by the office. All flyers must be approved and posted by a staff member. To submit a flyer for posting, stop by the office or email office@uuchurch.org . Space is limited and approval of flyers is up to the discretion of the Community Engagement Coordinator, in consultation with the executive staff team. Flyers will remain on the board for up to one month. Staff will remove any flyers that have been on the board for longer than a month Flyers must be submitted by an active, recognized team or committee at UUC and must be directly related to their acknowledged mission and focus. If a flyer promotes an event that is happening at UUC, it must be on the UUC calendar before it can be posted (i.e., space must be reserved and confirmed). If the event is happening outside UUC or as part of another organization’s program, the time, date, and venue must be known and preferably on a public calendar somewhere. We will not usually post flyers that promote another organization’s events or fundraisers unless a current UUC team or committee is actively participating and inviting others to do so as well.

Saturday, November 8, 1:30–3:30 p.m. at Shoreline Unitarian Universalist Church

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

Margaret Francis Overman Mercer celebrated dinner with her family at Horizon House where she lived on Saturday, October 25, 2025 then suddenly passed early the next afternoon. Her family was with her. A Celebration of Life was held at Horizon House on October 27. Her family and friends, UU and others, participated with music by Rev. Sharon Nicholas and David Nicolas and co-hosted by Rev. Linda Purdy, Horizon House Director of Inner Wellbeing and Spirituality. May Francis Mercer Rest In Peace. Francis Mercer was ordained a Baptist minister at Union Theological Seminary in 1990 with a Masters of Sacred Theology. She served in many ways including with the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office. She was one of the founders of the Every Child is Our Child Program in Ghana. Fran Mercer was a member of Clara Barton Sisterhood of the UU Women’s Federation in 2017. She was also active in civil rights and women’s rights and every Friday would join 20–35 others to protest for Black and Minority Rights in downtown Seattle. Her family encourages each one to speak up and get involved with your neighbors and community.

Sunday, November 2, 2 a.m.

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

Before Monday, November 3 Missing something? Help us clean out our UUC lost and found! There are lots of items trying to find their way home. Starting today, there is a table downstairs next to the Emerson room with everything currently in our lost and found. Anything that is not claimed before Monday, November 3 , will be donated.

Saturday, November 1, 1–3 p.m. in the Channing room

Many opportunities, beginning October 5, by registration

Tuesday, October 28, 12–12:45 p.m. in the chapel

Sunday, November 2, both services (9:30 and 11:15 a.m.)

Sunday, October 26, 1:15–2:45 p.m. in the Dix room and via Zoom

Saturday, October 25, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. at Magnuson Park Register in advance here

Accompaniment Training on Sunday, October 26, 2–5:30 p.m. in North Seattle

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

Sunday, October 26: Exhibit Opening and Reception

LAST DAY: the survey is open through October 19, 2025

Sunday, October 19, 1:00–2:00 p.m. in the Fahs-Mann room

All Ages Worship services at 9:30 and 11:15 a.m. in the chapel and via live stream

Saturday, October 18, various times and locations

Thursday, October 16, 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall Seattle In the Spirit of Right and Respectful Relations Launch event at Town Hall https://townhallseattle.org/event/in-the-spirit-of-right-and-respectful-relations/ We recently invited everyone to join us at the Woodland Park Zoo event sponsored by the Lummi People and climate justice partners, which featured a gift of the book, In the Spirit of Right and Respectful Relations: Conversations about Indigenous Wayus of Knowing and Being in Nature , as told to Kurt Russo. This book invites readers into a conversation rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing and being in nature. The vision of the project is to draw on ancestral knowledge to further empower and inspire Indigenous-led environmental campaigns with non-Indigenous allies and partners to the benefit of Mother Earth and all her relations down to the seventh generation. Come be a part of the celebration of this inaugural project, with a night full of powerful Pacific Northwest speakers. Facilitated by Jeff Renner , engaging public speaker and meteorologist, the talk will include Jay Julius Xw’tot lhem (President and founder of Se’Si’Le, previous Lummi Nation Chairman), Lynda Mapes (Pacific Northwest Journalist, reported with the Seattle Times for 27 years), and John Vechey (Cofounder of groundbreaking technology companies, and board member of Se’Si’Le). Saturday, October 18 No Kings Rally and March, 12–4 p.m. at Seattle Center https://seattleindivisible.com/events/nokingsOct18/ Additional No Kings events throughout the region: https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/map/?lat=50.56685150654936&lon=-118.31188389853291&tag_ids=27849&zoom=2.967071041979075 We invite you to gather with our team & other UUC folks by meeting up at the South end of the Armory building on Thomas Street near the entrance to the Mural Amphitheater at 11:30am (look for yellow Side with Love sign) , as we join with those in the larger community to stand up for our UU values of centering love, justice and equity. The Unitarian Universalist Association Side with Love group shares this message with us as UUs regarding the No Kings Rally & other October nationwide justice events: https://sidewithlove.org/ourstories/2025/9/26/step-into-the-season-of-change-october-2025-update-from-side-with-love?emci=ab12fbd1-109b-f011-8e61-6045bded8ba4&emdi=4b2fb4fa-109b-f011-8e61-6045bded8ba4&ceid=8755269 (Side With Love is the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Organizing Strategy Team.)