Pacific Western Region
June 2026 |
Content
Blogpost
"May Updates from the Coast"
Mx. Sam Pearl, Congregational Life Field Staff
News: Pacific Western Region
PWR Board: Annual Business Meeting Rescheduled to August 29
PWR Board: Your Voice Belongs in Leadership
News: Unitarian Universalist Association
General Assembly 2026: Updated PWR Region Satellite Site Information
From Jan Gartner, Congregational Staffing Practices Director
2026 Bennett Award for Congregational Social Justice
Side with Love
Congregationally Affirmed Minister's Gathering (Formerly the Non-Fellowshipped Ministers Group)
Congregational Announcement
Deep Dialogue Across Differences
Important Resources
PWR Chalice Lighters
Congregationally Affirmed Minister's Gathering
UUA Job Board / UUA Job and Careers
Congregational Incident Form
Community Resilience Hub
Disaster Relief Fund
UU Mental Health Network
Publications
May Publications |
Pacific Western Region Board
Co-Presidents, Bob Miess and Libby Fitzgerald
Secretary, David Sheh
At-Large, Russ Menk
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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
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Blogpost
"May Updates from the Coast" |
As I round out my second solstice into summer on UUA staff as Congregational Life Field Staff, I am reminiscing about where I was last year at this time. I had successfully relocated to the Bay with my son and could drive to his school and the grocery store without getting lost – nowhere else. I had visited a couple of congregations in person and met my Congregational Life colleagues – all 50 of them! – at our annual CLEAR meeting in Phoenix, AZ. I had attended the TRUUST retreat for trans and nonbinary UU religious professionals, a professional network in which I have immense gratitude for its existence and the support it has given me early on in this career.
A year ago in late May many congregations I had worked with in the winter and early spring had blooming relationships with newly hired ministers. Rev. Melissa James and I were rounding out the Treasurers Roundtables before the summer break, and the Pacific West Region staff was preparing for the General Assembly. Individually, I was preparing to go visit the Portlandia congregations for the first time.
So much happens in a mere congregational calendar year. So much joy and grief and joy anew experienced in our congregations, families, communities, and wider world in every single trip around our Sun.
An entire new cycle of search committee formation through settled offers has occurred. Many of us are preparing for the next General Assembly and then perhaps a well deserved summer rest. Today, I can BART, AC Transit bus, or drive to most places in and around the peninsula without consulting a map (though I still have not managed to make sense of the traffic patterns here). I have visited nine congregations in the Bay area alone. I have been up and down the West Coast of this country from Quimper Peninsula in Washington State to First UU San Diego and many UU places in between.
I learn so much from congregants when I travel this region and have the opportunity to witness how Unitarian Universalism is being lived among us. We are living in spiritually daunting times and I gather my fortitude in the stories shared with me from this faith at the frontlines where love is the center. When I try to think of favorite moments of spiritual renewal from this last year I find myself returning to this most recent Regional Assembly, in Sacramento. I was profoundly touched at Regional Assembly – witnessing all us from all of our places be together in a hybrid shared space – finding robust ways to show up for one another as a people and as a faith. As we all embark on our own solstice reflections, may we find hope and each other in this spirit that binds us.
- Mx. Sam Pearl, PWR Congregational Life Field Staff |
News: Pacific Western Region |
PWR Board
Annual Business Meeting
Rescheduled to August 29 |
Dear Pacific Western Region community,
We write to you today with news that our Annual Business Meeting, originally scheduled for June 6th, has been moved to Friday, August 29, 2026. We want to be transparent about why, and we want to do so in the spirit of the values that bind us together as a region.
We are living through a time of heightened anxiety — in our nation, in our world, and in our congregations. UUs across the region are feeling the weight of this moment, and our staff and volunteers are no exception. In naming that reality openly, we are trying to do something we believe matters: resist the false urgency that too often drives organizations to push through at the expense of the people doing the work.
Moving this meeting is an act of care — for our staff, our volunteers, and our members. It is also an act of modeling. We ask a great deal of our communities when we ask them to slow down, to tend to relationships before tasks, to lead from wholeness rather than depletion. We believe our board should practice what we preach and we have noted that we as a board and our regional staff are experiencing false urgency as well.
There is no procedural emergency precipitated by this delay. The board will approve a straightforward extension of our current budget to bridge the gap, and no other business requires immediate action. We have simply chosen to give ourselves and our region more time to prepare — and to breathe.
We are also a small board actively working to grow. Board recruitment is underway, and we are hopeful that more people will step forward to share in this work before August. Giving ourselves this window is part of how we tend to the long-term health of our region.
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In the weeks ahead, we will hold three town halls to give every member of our region the chance to ask questions, engage with board candidates, and review the proposed budget together. These are not formalities — they are the heart of how we practice shared governance. We want to hear from you.
We are committed to frequent, transparent communication between now and August. Watch for updates in this newsletter and through your congregation's leadership. If you have questions in the meantime, please don't hesitate to reach out to the board directly at pwrboard@uua.org.
Thank you for your patience, your grace, and your ongoing commitment to this region. We are grateful to be in covenant with you — and we are glad to be taking this time to do things well.
In faith and in community,
The PWR Board |
PWR Board
Your Voice Belongs in Regional Leadership |
The Pacific Western Region Board is recruiting — and we’re looking for you.
Across 13 states and more than 180 congregations, the PWR Board is the connective tissue of our regional UU community. We handle governance, fiscal stewardship, congregational support, and the events that bring us together — like Regional Assembly. But what makes this board distinctive isn’t just what we do. It’s how we do it.
We govern using sociocracy — a model of shared governance where authority is distributed, decisions are made by consent, and every member’s perspective shapes the work. No hierarchy. No one person in charge. Real equivalence, in practice.
This isn’t governance that asks you to sit in the back and defer. It’s governance that asks you to show up as yourself. |
We are especially seeking board members who bring:
- BIPOC and LGBTQUIA+ identities and lived experiences.
- Geographic diversity -- particularly from underrepresented parts of our 13-state region
- Experience with smaller or historically underserved congregations
- A willingness to learn sociocratic governance (experience welcome but not required)
- Skills in financial oversight, conflict resolution, or inclusive leadership
Ready to Serve?
Applications are open. We welcome nominations, self-nominations, and questions.
For any questions, email pwrboard@uua.org. |
News: Unitarian Universalist Association |
General Assembly 2026
Updated PWR Region Satellite Site Information |
Hello PWR Region,
Please be advised that the number of satellite sites in our region has changed from three to two. UU Congregation of Salem, OR is no longer a satellite site. The two designated satellite sites are Mt. Diablo UU Church in Walnut Creek, CA and First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles, CA. In addition, we have one volunteer satellite site: Unitarian Universalist Church of Las Cruces, New Mexico.
For more information about Mt. Diablo UU Church and First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles, click here.
For more information about the Unitarian Universalist Church of Las Cruces, click here.
- Hara Madera, PWR Regional Administrator |
From Jan Gartner, Congregational Staffing Practices Director |
You may know me from my work in the Church Staff Finances (Benefit Plans and Services) group at the UUA. Well, I’m still equipping congregations as employers, but now through a position on the Congregational Life team.
I'm delighted to introduce you to our new Growing Administrative Capacity pages in LeaderLab. Check out this 3-minute introductory video! And if you’re attending General Assembly, look for the Grow Administrative Capacity prerecorded workshop in the Whova app. Also at GA, I’d love to have you join me for a 3-hour online cohort about Staffing Sustainably and Faithfully.
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2026 Bennett Award for
Congregational Social Justice |
Nominate Your Congregation for the Bennett Award for Congregational Social Justice!
The Bennett Award for Congregational Action on Human Justice and Social Action honors Unitarian Universalist congregations that have done exemplary work in social justice. It is accompanied by a $1,000 cash award.
Nominate your congregation by May 31st! Tell us about your congregation's justice ministry, program, or organizing effort and how it embodies our UU values. Share the way it is connected to your community so we can celebrate its impact!
Learn more and find the nomination form by clicking here. |
Upcoming Gatherings
Opportunities/ Announcements
Resources
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Congregationally Affirmed Minister's Gathering (Formerly the Non-Fellowshipped Minister's Group) |
This monthly gathering is for ministers who are serving Unitarian Universalist congregations that do not currently hold Fellowship from the UUA, and is open to congregational ministers form all five UUA Regions. Hosted by Rev. David Pyle, the Regional Lead for the MidAmerica Region of the UUA, the gathering seeks to create both a community of accountability and care among ministers who often do not have access to other forms of ministerial community. We also share resources and news from the UUA as well as share resources and experience among one another. If you are a minister serving a UU congregation, but do not currently hold ministerial fellowship with the UUA, this group may be for you. Learn more. |
News: Children, Youth, and Young Adults |
There is no Children, Youth, and Young Adults news for 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). |
Deep Dialogue Across Differences |
Is there an approach to conflict resolution that can lead not only to the resolution of particular difficult issues, but also shift the culture of a congregation, making it more conflict resilient going forward?
Yes! Deep Dialogue Across Differences is both a stand-alone live webinar and also can be an introduction to an in-depth workshop series with leaders. This work offers practical embodiment for our core Unitarian Universalist values of love, inclusion, generosity of spirit, equity and transformation! It draws from well-established models for transcending seemingly intractable differences, including both Non-Violent Communication and Spiral Dynamics. It really is possible to create solutions (almost!) everyone can support.
My work in this field been evolving over 25 years of ministry as a UU spiritual director, guest preacher, workshop leader and congregational consultant. I have presented at over 40 UU congregations and also have offered this work at numerous GA and District Assemblies, and, for 10 years, on the Senior Staff of Pacific Central District’s Leadership School. Most recently I have been working in-depth with the UU Community of the Mountains, and recently offered a half-day workshop to CER Lay Ministry Credentialing Program. How might I be of service to you and your congregation?
Learn more about Deep Dialogue Across Differences, click here or contact Rev. Cat Cox at revcat1213@gmail.com. |
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. |
Congregationally Affirmed Minister's 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.
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Pacific Western Region - UUA
P.O Box 567
Brighton, CO 80601
United States |
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