Friends in the Pacific Northwest District,
At our recent virtual Regional Assembly, on Saturday, February 13, PWR Staff led a workshop about regionalization in the Pacific Western Region. “Regionalization” refers to the process of restructuring that happened across our Unitarian Universalist Association, which moved us from many districts into five large regions. The hope with this different way of organizing ourselves is that we are better able to utilize the resources of staff and volunteers, throughout our Association.
Each region, and the districts that fall within those regions, has approached this process differently. In the Pacfic Western half of the United States, we are served by regional staff and our governances and finances remain in Districts. We have a Memorandum of Understanding, among the Pacific Northwest District, the Mountain Desert District, the Pacific Southwest District, the Pacific Central District, and the staff, which describes our relationships with one another.
In the past several years, as congregations and members have gained technical skill, and as our cultural priorities around long-term volunteering and church membership have shifted, it’s become clear that this is no longer a model which serves us. You may have heard at Regional Assembly that in the Pacific Southwest District, there are no nominees to fill any of the upcoming vacancies of either the Nominating Committee or the Board of Trustees. Across districts, everyone is facing similar challenges. And, we know that there are less convoluted, more relational ways that we can work and vision together for our Unitarian Universalist faith tradition.
So, collectively, the Four Boards in the Pacific Western Region are exploring together what interdependence could look like in our Region moving forward, what it means to be in partnership with our neighboring districts and UUA. We encourage you to join these conversations through the Love Right Through forums, generously facilitated by our PWR Staff. There will be six of these forums, each one focused on a different aspect of regionalization, where participants will be able to ask questions, share ideas, and experiences. Information about upcoming Love Right Through forums and about any other questions you may have can be found on the Love Right Through Hub-page. You are always welcome to submit written feedback and ideas to us and the regional staff through the new Love Right Through Feedback form.
We’re not sure what this means yet for the Pacific Northwest District. We are in a liminal space, exploring what is possible and wrestling with challenges. It can be an uncertain and sometimes uncomfortable space to be in, but our strong relationships with one another ensure that it is also joyous, generative, and invigorating.
We will share more information with you, as this continues to develop. You can expect a thorough update at our next Pacific Northwest District Annual meeting, on May 16, 2:00-4:00 p.m. PST. Registration and delegation certification will be available 30 days before our meeting.
We hope you can join in on the conversation.
In service,
Aria Curtis, Co-President
Susan Howlett, Co-President
Craig Cyr, Vice-President
Susan Christie, Secretary
Joseph Bednarik, Treasurer
Christina Davitt, Member at Large