Pacific Western Region
July 2026 |
Content
Blogpost
"It's Been an Honor: Goodbye from Rev. Sarah Gibb Millspaugh"
Rev. Sarah Gibb Millspaugh, Congregational Life Field Staff
News: Pacific Western Region
Support First UU Church's Recovery Effort
News: Unitarian Universalist Association
UUA Common Read
Fall RE Kickoff: New Ways of Being Together
Woven Faith: A New Lifespan Curriculum
DRUUMM - Beloved Gathering 2026
Children, Youth, and Young Adults
Fall 2026 - Deep Dive Child and Youth Safety Training
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
June 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
"It's Been an Honor: Goodbye from
Rev. Sarah Gibb Millspaugh" |
On July 1st, I’ll celebrate ten years of ministry on UUA Pacific Western Regional Staff. On July 2nd, I’ll complete my service to the UUA, moving on to a new ministry with Palomar UU Fellowship in Vista, CA. I face this transition with a heart full of gratitude for the ministry I’ve been privileged to do with you, the people and congregations of the Pacific Western Region, during these strange and unprecedented times.
Nothing in these last ten years felt like business-as-usual. From my first congregational visit in August 2016 to visit a grieving UU Church of the Desert after their minister had died, to my last congregational visit, to attend a satellite of an online GA at First UU Church of Los Angeles, little has felt “normal.” In the last ten years, we’ve gone through the devastations of Trump’s first term, a worldwide pandemic, rising cultural division and anxiety, and the blatant fascism of Trump’s second term. We’ve experienced big changes at the UUA, when one year into my tenure with the PWR, a national conflict led to positive antiracist transformations and a huge upheaval on our staff. The UUA had its first elected woman president, and its second. Even those good things had hard parts. And then, hard things happened to many congregations. Many of you experienced painful and divisive conflict, professional misconduct, violence and destructive behavior, traumatic events, sudden deaths, losses of trust, losses of capacity, and more. It’s been a lot.
Through all of this hardship and heartbreak, big and small, I have seen Unitarian Universalists show extraordinary courage, generosity, creativity, and resilience. I’ve seen congregations grow in their understanding and spirit, transform and heal, grow in numbers, innovate, and partner with each other in meaningful ways. I’ve seen congregations that were stuck get unstuck, and leaders who got hurt find healing. That first congregation I visited, that was at such a low point in 2016, is thriving today. I have seen the faithful partnership of regional UUA staff really make a difference to congregations facing perilous times.
The way I’ve been able to see all of this is that you’ve invited me in. You, congregations, have been authentic, open, and trusting with me and your regional staff. When I started this role in 2016, our former Regional Lead Rev. James Kubal-Komoto was also brand-new. He instructed our team to focus first on building relationships with congregations. To build trust. Because relationships make everything we do possible. My experience might give me a lot of ideas about how to make things better in a congregation. But it’s not going to make a difference to a congregation if we’re not in a trusting relationship. Looking back, I feel proud of the ways I’ve been able to contribute to the weaving of a web of trust and partnership, not just with individual congregations and UUA regional staff, but between and across congregations with our events and gatherings. The biggest message I kept coming back to is “you’re not alone. Other congregations have faced similar things. We can connect, and learn together.” It is so true.
As I leave the staff on July 2nd and start my ministry with Palomar Fellowship on August 1st, know that I carry you with me. The ministry we did together has changed me in beautiful ways, and I trust that it has changed you as well. Whatever comes in the next ten years, may we all lean into the web, lean into relationships, partner with grace, and rise, together.
- Rev. Sarah Gibb Millspaugh, PWR Congregational Life Field Staff |
News: Pacific Western Region |
Support First UU Church's Recovery Effort |
On May 26, 2026, our church, First Unitarian Universalist Church of Stockton suffered a devastating fire that caused significant damage to the front entrance of the church and extensive smoke damage throughout the building. Although we do have insurance, we do foresee that there will be other expenses associated with the cost of repair and restoration. We cannot be sure what will be covered and what will not, so we will be setting up a Restoration Fund to help pay for the costs associated with repairing our nearly 100 year old historic building.
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News: Unitarian Universalist Association |
Fall RE Kickoff: New Ways of Being Together |
For the third year, gather in a live, facilitated space with UUA faith formation leaders to help you and your congregation kick off your RE year! Choose ONE of three dates below. You'll learn whats working in other congregations and hear about UUA's latest resources for faith formation to meet the moment. We encourage you to attend as a team: professional Religious Education staff (if any) with key RE lay leaders. Get aligned, resourced, and set intentions for your RE program in changing, unpredictable world.
- Tuesday, August 4 from 10:30am to 12:00pm PT
- Tuesday, September 22 from 4:30pm to 6:00pm PT
- Tuesday, September 29 from 6:30pm to 8:00pm PT
Registration coming soon. |
Woven Faith: A New Lifespan Curriculum |
Join us for an orientation to the new Woven Faith pilot materials. We'll start by grounding in an approach of whole church faith development, cover tips for preparing your congregation, and provide an overview of each component, feedback mechanisms, and have time for Q&A.
Register to be a pilot congregation now! An orientation is coming in August; those who register will be notified of dates and other important updates. |
DRUUMM
Beloved Gathering 2026 |
September 17-20, 2026 | Thursday to Sunday
Unity Village -- Kansas City, Missouri
In September 2026, we will gather at Unity Village, just outside Kansas City, for 4 days of worship, conversation, learning, and celebration among Unitarian Universalists of color and our communities of care.
- Renew relationships across generations within the DRUUMM community
- Deepen spiritual grounding
- Celebrate our cultures, music, and traditions
- Share skills and wisdom across ministry, organizing and justice work, and community leadership
- Build DRUUMM's future together
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News: Children, Youth, and Young Adults |
Fall 2026
Deep Dive Child and Youth Safety Training |
This three-part series will look at child and youth safety standards and protocols and dig into real-life scenarios to best equip our congregations to create spaces where our young people can thrive. There is approximately 90 minutes of pre-work (including a 50-minute video and resources to explore) and then each session will dive deep into a different topic covering things like resourcing ourselves well enough to address our own triggers, expanding confidentiality/mandated reporting, and safety in multigenerational space. Sessions are facilitated by members of the Congregational Life and Lifespan Faith Engagement Teams at the UUA. The target audience is religious professionals and lay leaders with extensive child and youth interaction.
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Congregational Announcement |
There are no congregational announcements this month. |
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). |
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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