Pacific Western Region
January 2026 |
|
Content
News: Pacific Western Region
Regional Assembly 2026
Regional Assembly 2026 Program Proposal Invitation Letter
Regional Assembly - Call for Logo
DRUUMM CA
Texas UU Justice Ministry
News: Unitarian Universalist Association
Journeys of Deeper Joy: Roleplaying Curriculum - AVAILABLE NOW!
The Media Scares Me!
UUA Faith and Development Co-Labs RE Meet Up
Building Beloved Community Beyond the Binary
March is Small Congregation Month
Sermon of the Month Series Available
Multi-Site and Shared Staff Learning Community
What Webs Require: Restorative Approaches to Conflict
Congregational Leaders Conversation
Side with Love
Sparks RE and Music Leadership
Congregation Announcement
Church of the Larger Fellowship and the Commission on Social Witness
2026 Pacific Southwest Assembly, April 24-26, 2026
Important Resources
PWR Chalice Lighters
Non-Fellowshipped Ministers Gathering
UUA Job Board / UUA Job and Careers
Congregational Incident Form
Community Resilience Hub
Disaster Relief Fund
UU Mental Health Network
Publications
December Publications |
Pacific Western Region Board
Co-Presidents, Bob Miess and Libby Fitzgerald
Treasurer, Lisa Lake
Secretary, David Sheh
At-Large, Russ Menk, Ramon Urbano
|
Pacific Western Region Staff
PWR Lead
Rev. Sunshine J. Wolfe
PWR Program Staff
Rev. Summer Albayati
Rev. Sarah Gibb Millspaugh
Rev. Tania Y Márquez
Mx. Sam K. Pearl
PWR Administrator and Bookkeeper
Hara Madera
Melanie Buck
Youth and Emerging Adult Ministry Staff
Mylo Way |
Pacific Western Region Links
|
News: Pacific Western Region |
Pacific Western - Regional Assembly 2026 |
Regional Assembly Details
Location: UU Society of Sacramento, CA or Online!
The event will be multi-platform.
Dates: April 10-12, 2026
Theme: Rising Resilient |
Registration will open soon. |
Regional Assembly 2026
Program Proposal Invitation Letter |
Dear UU friends,
Our Pacific Western Region is gathering, both online and in-person in Sacramento, for a time of interconnection, worship, learning, and fun: our bi-annual Regional Assembly, April 10-12. We are looking for program leaders! Apply online using our program proposal form by January 31.
We have a wonderful keynote in store from a truly fantastic human being (name will be announced soon!) and an opportunity for participants to play the brand-new multigenerational role-playing game Pathways to Deeper Joy together. The rest of the programming… that’s what you make it. What practices, wisdom, knowledge do you have to share with Unitarian Universalists of the western US on how to live into 2026 with beauty and life-affirming power? Propose something here! We expect adults and youth to participate in our programs, so you can propose something for either or both age groups. (There will also be a kids’ program led by professionals.)
Our RA theme is Rising Resilient:
In times like these, what does it mean to be a spiritually
resilient Unitarian Universalist?
Times of rising authoritarianism and dehumanization call us to lean into our
UU Values more than ever: not just to protect those targeted, but also to
protect our ability to stay grounded, interconnected, and spiritually alive.
We hope you will mark your calendar to attend, either in Sacramento or from the comfort of your own home, and that when the registration form goes up, you’ll register to join us. Questions? Contact regional administrator Hara Madera at pwr@uua.org.
With love and appreciation,
Your Regional Assembly Program Circle Antoinette Scully Hollamon (Los Angeles, CA), Marena McGregor (Walnut Creek, CA), Scott Youmans (Longmont, CO), and Sarah Gibb Millspaugh (Pacific Western Regional Staff) |
Regional Assembly - Call for Logo |
We are excited for our first official Regional Assembly as a new nonprofit organization. We are calling for logos that can be used in advertising, announcements, swag, and banners – both digital and physical. We encourage you to include the shape of a hexagon as the architecture at UU Society of Sacramento relies heavily on this shape. Our theme is “Rising Resilient,” including imagery and/or those words is also encouraged. The event will be multi-platform.
Please submit your artwork by Sunday, January 18, 2025 at 11pm PT.
For more information, contact PWR Regional Administrator Hara Madera at hmadera@uua.org. |
Texas UU Justice Ministry |
Help the Texas UU Justice Ministry reach its goal -- which comes with a match from the UU Funding Program -- and your donation will be doubled! This Faithify campaign supports a crucial year ahead for TXUUJM! (Click here to read about the great work they did this year!) In 2026, the UU state action network for Texas will use Faithify support to bring their minister/executive director to full-time and bring on a dedicated UU the Vote organizer. TXUUJM has trained up many facilitators for the UUA's Mosaic anti-racism program, Trans Inclusion course, and SACReD reproductive dignity curriculum. Your doubled donation will mean significant Get Out the Vote and justice work in Texas during a pivotal election year. The TXUUJM staff and board send gratitude to UUs around the denomination for your deeply felt support! |
News: Unitarian Universalist Association |
Journey of Deeper Joy - Roleplaying Curriculum
AVAILABLE NOW! |
The curriculum combines imaginative play, reflection, and a focus on community-building. Participants journey through Covenantia—discovering the Deeper Joy we can create together. No Roleplaying Game experience required to facilitate or participate!
Want to learn more about the curriculum? Join curriculum project lead Ember Oak on February 4th for an introductory training exploring how the curriculum works and how it can support connection in your community. Register for the event here. |
February 5th at 8am PT
Part 2 of the UUA Communications Foundational Webinar Series
Does the idea of talking to reporters fill you with dread? What’s the difference between Instagram and TikTok, anyway? In the midst of social instability and other challenges, are you wondering how you and your congregation’s public presentation matters? The UUA’s Communications Staff Group is presenting a Communications Foundational Webinar Series to help your congregation build your communications skills and capacity, share your stories, and manage crises. This series is designed to help Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations and communities promote UU values, highlight your mission and work to audiences inside and outside of Unitarian Universalism, and cultivate relationships with local media. Register today. |
UUA Faith and Development Co-Labs RE Meet Up |
Tuesday, January 20, 9-10:30 am PT
Kind, Clear and Heartful: Effective Boundaries In Faith Development
In all relationships, boundaries help guide our interactions, understand expectations, define our roles, and build connections that are experienced, by all involved, as respectful, safe, and valued. Boundaries are part of the soil that can nurture our relationships and help our ministry thrive. Our Winter Religious Education Meet-Up will focus on boundaries for religious educators in their communities. We will explore the topic together through a series of presentations, breakout groups, and interactive activities. Religious Education Meet-Ups are open to all professional and lay leaders engaged in the work of faith development in our congregations. Registration is open. |
Building Beloved Community
Beyond the Binary |
Save the date for April 18, 2026! Building Beloved Community Beyond the Binary
An upcoming online event including a keynote presentation given by a transgender/gender nonconforming person, workshops from and for the trans community only, as well as additional workshops for cisgender people who are ready to learn more about how to be an ally. This event creates a space and time where transgender people, allies, advocates, and accomplices can bravely (and with more safety than usual) explore, learn and grow, bear witness, and be witnessed. Attendee registration details coming soon.
Interested in being a host site for this event? Sign up on the interest form for more information. Signing up on this form is neither a commitment to host nor approval to host, but an expression of interest in hosting. We will forward your information to your regional staff, and they will reach out to you with next steps. |
March is Small Congregation Month |
The UUA’s Congregational Life Small Congregations Team is hosting a month of learning for small congregations. This year’s theme is Small Congregations: We’re Doing the Work. Four webinars over 4 weeks on these topics:
- Container for Justice
- Digging Deeper Into Green Sanctuary
- Redefining Welcome
- Holding the Sacred, with the Congregational Leaders Conversation.
Webinar dates are March 3rd, 12th, 18th at 8 pm and the 24th at 4:30 pm PT and will last 75-90 minutes. The webinars will be recorded and available to everyone who registers. Registration is on a sliding scale with a maximum cost of $20. Registration will open in late January. |
Sermon of the Month Series Available |
Designed for small congregations, lay-led congregations, congregations with part-time ministry, and any congregation that is seeking resources for worship, Congregational Life’s Sermon of the Month Series is a monthly subscription service that provides recorded sermons congregations can download and use for worship. Along with a transcript of the sermon, each month’s offering will include suggested readings and hymns. You can access all the recordings from earlier in the year if you register now.
|
Multi-Site and Shared Staff Learning Community |
This is to gather people who are serving more than one congregation to learn together and make connections. In addition to staff, we welcome lay leaders from congregations who are doing this intentionally as a "yoked" ministry. Please designate one -- if you have a "shared ministry" team, for example, select someone from that group. If you are interested in participating, please complete this form and we'll be in touch with a date. |
What Webs Require: Restorative Approaches to Conflict |
Learning Sessions — 2nd and 4th Thursdays in February and March (February 12 + 26, March 12 + 26)
Explore how we can mend the bonds that connect us, experience accountability with compassion, and feel connected in disagreement with one another. In this four-session introduction, we’ll look at what it takes to move from a paradigm of right and wrong to one of responsibility and care for how we impact and are impacted by one another and the world. Together, we will explore how we can trust our relationships in the face of disagreement, rely on them to support us in conflict, unlearn punishment, and experience accountability that feels humanizing. Learn more and register here! |
Congregational Leaders Conversation |
Tuesday, January 27, 4:30-6pm PT
Glitter Blessing What is Sacred
Rev. Sean Neil-Barron and Rev. Jami A. Yandle will explore what is sometimes perceived as the gulf between cisgender/heteronormative and transgender/queer communities. They’ll also lift up the roles of creativity and sacredness as grounded, life-giving responses shaped by queer history and lived experience. Together we’ll engage in a timely conversation about what’s unfolding and what is most needed in this moment. Register today. |
Upcoming Gatherings
30 Days of Love 2026
Love At The Center: Reimagining the World As It Could Be.
At a time when fear, violence, and extraction dominate our politics and our planet, we practice another way. We believe love is not fragile; it is fierce. It grounds our organizing, fuels our imagination, and sustains our communities. Over five weeks, we will move through a journey from imagination to action, rooting our freedom dreams in faith and bringing them to life in our world. Each week, we will have a written reflection from Side With Love staff; a conversation with a UU theologian; a multigenerational family activity; reflection questions for journaling; a meditative body practice; and a coloring sheet connected to the weekly theme. Sign up to receive an email and/or text when each week’s content is live. |
Sparks RE and Music Leadership |
The Spark RE and Music Leadership Professional Development Programs provide for Unitarian Universalist Religious Professionals learning communities where they can easily access applicable skills and tools for religious leadership. Courses are also open to interested lay leaders. Check out the lists of classes, these are great resources! |
News: Youth and Young Adults |
There are no Youth and Young Adults announcement this month. |
Congregational Announcement |
Important Note: If your congregation would like to share an event in the PWR Newsletter, please email pwr@uua.org with the following: event poster (if available), brief summary of the event, and any relevant links. Please note that events listed in this section are sponsored by local congregations and have not been reviewed or endorsed by the UUA or the Pacific Western Region (PWR). |
Church of the Larger Fellowship and the Commission on Social Witness |
The Church of the Larger Fellowship and the Commision on Social Witness would like to get the word out that the CSAI that passed at the 2025 General Assembly now has workshops and congregational resources. We are urging every congregation to engage in the topic of "Abolition, Transformation and Faith Formation".
Monthly gatherings and materials for study can be found on the CLF website on Abolition, click here. |
2026 Pacific Southwest Assembly
April 24-26, 2026 |
|
Let's Celebrate 65 years of Unitarian Universalism!
Pacific Southwest Assembly
April 24-26, 2026
Hosted by Pacific UU Church in Rancho Palos Verdes
An annual gathering of the congregations/fellowships located within the
Pacific Southwest Area (formerly PSWD)
Come celebrate 65 years of UU accomplishments and help formulate your
congregation's role in the next 65 years of empowering and uplifting people!
Enjoy keynote speakers, a variety of workshops which include immigration policies, pressing social justice issues, meaningful dialogues, spiritual enrichment, music and more. Take a guided walk and enjoy bathing in nature. Experience tranquility with meditation, peaceful music and stories.
Learn how CLUE Justice cultivates a network of more than 900 religious leaders, partnering with allied community organizations and labor unions to advocate for better working conditions and improve standards of living for workers and their families.
Participate in a wide range of social justice activities providing a framework for positive engaging projects. Church leaders attend the Friday Leadership Luncheon with a speaker and time to share your successes and concerns!
Sponsored by Camp de Benneville Pines as a means to bring all churches in the Pacific Southwest Area together in community and uphold the traditions
of the ever-popular annual district assembly of the PSWD.
The annual business meeting for the Camp will take place Saturday morning and all stakeholders are encouraged to attend. |
Chalice Lighters is a program to help fund the growth of the member congregations and communities of the Region.The program provides grants to communities to help them cross a major threshold towards growth. For more information, click here to visit the website. To contact them directly, please email pwrchalicelighters@uua.org. |
Non-Fellowshipped Ministers Gathering |
Ministers who are not fellowshipped with the UUA and are serving UU congregations are invited to gather monthly with the MidAmerica's Regional Lead. We will share information, experiences, and resources with one another and explore questions concerning the UUA and Unitarian Universalism. Register now. Meets are second Tuesday of the month beginning September 9th. Details at the UUA website. |
UU Job Board / UUA Job and Careers |
Congregations are hiring, check out the UU Job Board to see what is available.
The UUA is hiring for several positions. Find job descriptions and application information at their Job Openings webpage. |
Congregational Incident Form |
The simple Congregational Incident Form provides a way for congregations to inform the UUA of a threat or disruptive incident that comes from outside the congregation itself, helping us track trends and create resources.
All forms come to Safe Congregation Program email, safecongregations@uua.org. Please let us know if you have any questions. |
If your congregation is struggling with how to respond in this moment, please check out the UUA's Resilience Hub. This is a location where we are gathering resources to help congregations build strong, connected, and resilient communities. |
The UUA has a Disaster Relief Fund for those who want to make a donation to help congregations who have faced losses due to tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires and more. Please donate if you can. Learn more about the work of the Disaster Relief Fund. We are Better Together. |
The UU Mental Health Network, is driven by a single goal; to empower the Beloved Community in honoring each individual 's unique mental health journey towards wellness..
We envision a world where the Beloved Community: is a place where all members feel welcomed, understood, and held in love; engage in respectful curiosity to understand emotional distress; welcome open, authentic, and fearless sharing about mental health; and passionately commits to mental health justice. For more information, click here. |
Pacific Western Region of the UUA Newsletter |
This email was sent to congregational leaders, committee chairs and staff.
|
Pacific Western Region - UUA
P.O Box 567
Brighton, CO 80601
United States |
|
|
|
|
|
|
