Dec. 6 Immigration Film

Event information and photo of mother and child smiling

A special showing of the highly regarded documentary about an asylee family that fled violence in Honduras and made a new home in West Seattle will be in Fellowship Hall December 6 from 6 to 8 p.m. The film, All We Carry, is being sponsored by Hazelwood School and the Immigration Task Force. Refreshments will be available, and donations will be accepted on behalf of the ITF and the film producers.

All We Carry tells the story of the family of Mirna, Magdiel and their children as they flee persecution—migrating in cargo trains across Mexico, claiming asylum at the US border, and enduring separation in detention before being released in Seattle. There, the West Seattle synagogue Kol HaNshamah based at Alki UCC sponsors the family for two years while they await the final decision on their asylum case. As the family tries to settle into their new home, they navigate countless life-altering and every-day moments where memory, joy, and grief collide.

Magdiel as a local businessman is well known to many here in West Seattle and he has aided the Immigration Task Force in the past. One of their children attends the Hazelwood Pre-School, which initiated the local showing.

A trailer can be seen here. https://www.allwecarrydoc.com

In this time of unprecedented attack on immigration this film offers both hope and promise on how Seattle and America has been protecting asylees. The Immigration Task Force has begun exploring how it can step up efforts to help refugees in the coming years.

Fauntleroy Fine Art & Holiday Gift Show

The 15th annual Fauntleroy Fine Art & Holiday Gift Show hosted by Fauntleroy Church will showcase the creativity of 18 local artists and artistic crafters. Find the list of artists below. Ten of them are new to the show this year and several have a talent for making beautiful art from found objects. Prices will range from special art for the home to the perfect gift for grandma. Show hours will be Friday, Nov. 1 (5-8 pm), Saturday, Nov. 2 (10 am-4 pm), and Sunday, Nov. 3 (11 am-2 pm) in Fellowship Hall.

2024 FAUNTLEROY FINE ART & HOLIDAY GIFT SHOW PARTICIPANTS

Diane Bellisario - Marquetry collages

Brian & Tara Brenno - Blown glass & sgraffito ceramics

Alice Britt - Hand-dyed silk & felted creations

Tom Costantini - Fine watercolors, prints, cards & shadowboxes

Gretchen Curtis - Hand-knit wearable art

Natalie Fobes - Photography & glass art

Rance Holiman - Everyday sightings in oil

Yuchen Lin - Artisan soaps

Johanna Lindsay - Sculptural beaded jewelry

Jenny Mandt - Mosaic art from found objects

Angie Marcelynas -Jewelry & accessories from found objects

Sara McMahon - Hand-cut paper art

Kristen Miller - Shadowboxes & quilted usable art for the home

Ryan Milles - Aeriums & earrings

Martina Noble - Wearable art from found objects

Jacquie Perry - Art from reused materials & objects from nature

Tricia Seery - Cut & painted functional art

Rhiannon Simmonds - Felted hats, scarves & sculptures

Order Christmas Wreaths Today!

We invite you to participate in this important church fundraiser! And, be sure to tell all of your family, friends and neighbors about this opportunity to hang such beautiful wreaths on their doors for the holidays! They look great, smell wonderful and last a long time!

The 14” wreaths are made of noble fir with incense cedar and juniper accents topped with pine cones. These wreaths are great for decorating your own home and/or to give as a gift. Wreaths will be sold from now until November 8. The cost is $30 each. Shipping boxes are available for $5.00. To order, please email info@fauntleroyucc.org the number of wreaths and boxes you would like to order along with your contact information. Wreaths need to be picked up on Saturday, Nov. 23, (the Saturday before Thanksgiving) between 9 AM and 11 AM, in the church parking lot. If you can’t pick yours up, please make arrangements for someone else to do that for you.  

You have two options to pay for your wreath:

  1. You can pay online here. Leave a note about the number of wreaths and boxes you are ordering.

  2. You can pay by check. Please make checks payable to Fauntleroy Church UCC with “Wreath” on the memo line and mail to or drop by the church office. Payment must be made when ordering.

 

Putting up your wreath is a wonderful way to start the holidays! If you have any questions, please contact the church at info@fauntleroyucc.org. Thanks for your support!

WIN’s 1st Annual Fall Chili Cookoff

Westside Interfaith Network (WIN) will be hosting their 1st Annual Fall Chili Cookoff, October 19th at 6 pm at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Admiral next to West Seattle High School. Faith communities will be entering their best chili recipes for sample accompanied with cornbread, salads, beer and wine for a fun evening of socialization, community and impact.

WIN is an interfaith group of people across West Seattle-White Center area who are working together to address the needs of neighbors through service compassion and action. The fundraiser will benefit their yearly projects which primarily includes a weekly community meal in White Center every Saturday called the Welcome Table where essential commodities such as hygiene, clothing and food are distributed to those experiencing food insecurities and hardships. Tickets are $15 each. During the event, purchases available will be Chili Voting Tickets, Dessert Dash, and commodity packages to supply the Welcome Table outreach program.

Where: St. John’s Episcopal Church, 3050 California Ave SW

Tickets: https://secure.myvanco.com/L-ZM9Y/campaign/C-153VN

Fauntleroy Church & Y Chili Fest Cook-off

On Wednesday, October 16, we will kick off celebrating our 100 years with the Y with a chili fest/cook-off in Fellowship Hall. Come for the fun, enjoy the chili, engage some friendly competition and participate in a worthy cause! All proceeds for the event will go to a joint campaign of Fauntleroy Church and the West Seattle/Fauntleroy YMCA to buy and eliminate medical debt through "Undue Medical Debt," an amazing nonprofit doing great work to lift the burden of unpaid medical bills off the backs of struggling individuals and families. 

 Many UCC conferences and churches have engaged similar campaigns with Undue Medical Debt (formerly "Rest in Peace Medical Debt"), as well as other organizations, city and state governments. Check out the amazing work this nonprofit is doing at www.unduemedicaldebt.org  As followers of Christ, we look forward to engaging this shared economic justice effort with the YMCA as our missions align to lift burdens off the backs of the disadvantaged and make our world a better place!

 Register for the event here: https://tinyurl.com/FauntleroyChiliFest

2nd Time Sale - 9/14 & 15

Our wildly popular 2nd Time Sale will be Saturday, Sept. 14 (9 am - 4 pm) and Sunday, Sept. 15 (11:30 am - 3 pm) in and around Fellowship Hall. This event is much anticipated by the whole community, from those who really need bargains to those on the hunt for collectibles. See the full scope of what will be on offer below.

If you have quality items in working order to donate, see the list of what we cannot take here. We'll be accepting items at the back door of Fellowship Hall weekdays 10 am - 2 pm Wednesday, Sept. 4, through Monday, Sept. 9. Call the church office with questions or to arrange a special drop-off or pick-up.

All-Church Potluck/Picnic

Join the Parish Life Ministry for a Potluck/Picnic after worship on Sunday, 9/8.  Pulled pork sandwiches, veggie burgers, chips and beverages will be provided.  Please bring something to share (salads, side dishes, desserts). Suggestions for what to bring and answers to frequently asked questions found below.

Volunteers are needed to help setup, prep the food and beverage tables, to assist those with mobility challenges, and to clean up. Contact the church if you can volunteer!

Announcing Bronwyn Edward's Retirement

Some of you already know, but I would like to officially announce that Bron, our Music Director Extraordinaire (we should add that to her title, I think), has shared that she will retire at the end of June 2025.

While Bron plans to remain in our congregation as a member, plans at present are for her to shift her music involvement and reengage as a supportive volunteer and participant.

I want to acknowledge that most of you probably just took a deep breath in and let it out with a long sigh. We all knew this day would come, but we hoped it could be put off for as long as possible. And it has. Bron actually first began talking to me about retirement eight years ago, and I'm eternally grateful to her for what will be 17 years of service to Fauntleroy Church in 2025.

I also want to assure you: I and other leaders of Fauntleroy Church know the value of the powerful and vibrant music programs Bron has built with the help of members and friends of this church. The Personnel Committee has been in conversation with Bron and has put together some plans. They have identified that a search committee was needed (because this task is bigger than Personnel can handle alone while still engaging other needed work). A search team has now been appointed and is preparing to have their first official meeting. We thank the team for saying "yes" to serving on that Search Committee. It's a good group with a breadth of experience that will serve us well in the year to come.

There is much more that I could share and that will be shared in weeks and months to come, but there will be time for all of that. For now, I'd ask of you two things: 1) to trust the search committee that has been formed and give them space to begin their good work, and 2) to focus our energy and efforts on enjoying our final programmatic year with Bronwyn Edwards in her role as Music Director. Come join the choir or the ukelele band! Enjoy worship in person where the sound is so much better than online! And mark your calendars now for the next Sweet, Sweet Music (Friday, November 8) and Christmas concerts (December 21st at 7pm and 22nd at 4pm)!

Right now, I'm enjoying planning with Bron and Karyn toward the lovely year that lies ahead for worship at Fauntleroy Church. It's going to be awesome and joy-filled!

God-willing and us-determined-people following the Spirit's lead, what lies ahead will be phenomenal too!

Onward we go,

Pastor Leah

Fellowship at the Fish Sticks Game

On Saturday, July 13, 45+ people from our congregation enjoyed a fun evening at the DubSea Fish Sticks baseball game in White Center. It was quite the intergenerational activity with those in attendance ranging in age from two to 80-something. Each fellowship group in the church (Sojourners, Sisters, Crock Pots, AFG, Solo Seniors, Monday Lunch Bunch, Knitters, and Youth Group) was represented! And…the Fish Sticks won!

Annual School Supply Drive

With summer activities in full swing, school may be the furthest thing from your mind but now is the time for the annual school-supply drive coordinated by our Homelessness Task Force. We are partnering with West Seattle Rotary's Pencil Me In for Kids campaign and the West Seattle/Fauntleroy Y to equip elementary and Head Start programs in this area with supplies their students will need come fall. Find the list of high-priority items HERE. Look for donation boxes in the narthex and lobby OR make a cash donation HERE. The drive will run through Aug. 4.

Immigration Book Author is Coming

The author of a new book examining the immigration crisis on the southern U.S. border will discuss her experiences at Fauntleroy Church on Monday June 10 at 7 p.m.

Sarah Towle’s book, Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands, expresses her outrage about U.S. immigration policies and how she believes that they have led to a retreat in commitments to protect human rights. Through a series of interviews and visits to the U.S. Mexico border she describes conditions there, especially focusing on 2018 when immigration officials forcefully separated migrant families from their children.

The book has drawn praise from commentators, including filmmaker Ken Burns who declared “Sarah Towle has obliterated today’s dead-end arguments about immigration and transformed them into riveting, human stories.”

Towle, based in London, is an educator, researcher and writer who can be found online on Substack. The book is being published by She Writes Press with release on June 18.

The talk is being hosted by the Immigration Task Force at Fauntleroy UCC Church and Alki UCC Church.

More information about Towle and her book can be found at https://sarahtowle.com. More information about the talk can be found by contacting Bob Wyss at bobwyss@gmail.com

Guatemala Mission Trip

“Team Fauntleroy” will soon be off to Guatemala to install stoves and water filters in 110 impoverished homes in the Mayan village of Esperanza Blanca Flor.   We have now exceeded our fundraising goals!  Tremendous thanks for the generosity of friends and family of Fauntleroy Church, as well as generous contributions from twelve Rotary Clubs in Western Washington and Los Angeles.  With these excess funds we’ll be able to fund additional needs for the village, including school desks, whiteboards, books for the school library, paint and a tin roof for the school, and various school repairs.  

Seven members or friends of our church will join our team of sixteen people to depart on May 23rd.  We’ll travel to the Hands for Peacemaking Mission House in Santa Cruz Barillas, receive training on stove assembly, and then work in the village for 5 days before returning to Seattle on June 2nd.

We’re grateful for those who have supported us in this journey – it truly takes a village!

Esperanza Blanca Flor

Holy Week and Easter @ Fauntleroy Church

MARCH 24, 10:00AM, PALM SUNDAY WORSHIP 

Worship will begin with joyful palm waving. We welcome all children (and their parents with child-like hearts) to join in a palm processional with the choir. We process down the center aisle with joy, leaving our palm branches on the chancel steps. Then children can return to join their parents in the pews until Sunday School. Children who would like to be involved should look for Carol Gilderoy in the Narthex about ten minutes before worship.

MARCH 29, 7:00PM, HOLY FRIDAY WORSHIP (in-person only) 

We will gather in the sanctuary for a contemplative Tenebrae service to remember the moments surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion. This is a worship of readings and songs, and candles will be extinguished as the service progresses to signify Jesus’ death approaches. Many say that the experience of community in the deepest shadows of this moving worship is what causes their hearts to soar on Easter morning.  

HOLY WEEK VIGIL 

The sanctuary will be open for a Vigil from 9:00PM on Friday, March 29 (Holy Friday) to 3:00PM on March 30. You are invited to choose an hour to “keep watch” during this stretch of time before Easter morning’s resurrection. Materials to help guide some reflection will be available, and someone will be at the church all night for security. Look for an opportunity to sign up during the coffee hour or reach out to Sarah Ackers (sarah.ackers@fauntleroyucc.org).  

MARCH 31, EASTER MORNING WORSHIPS 

Three opportunities to celebrate Easter!  

  • 6:30AM, we’ll join Alki U.C.C. and Admiral U.C.C. for a sunrise service on Alki Beach (look for a bonfire near 57th Ave SW). A simple communion will be served. Rain or shine! Dress warmly.   

  • 9:00 and 11:00AM, identical Easter worship services will take place, with the 9:00AM livestreamed. We’ll transform a simple wire cross with beautiful spring flowers at the start of worship, so bring a favorite flower to add. Both services will include a Time with Children, and we’ll conclude with a joyous rendition of the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah. Sunday school is available at the 11:00AM service for elementary-age children, and childcare is provided at both services for infants thru age 3 in the nursery.  

EASTER BREAKFAST Enjoy some wonderful Easter fellowship and a delicious breakfast from 9:30-11:00 on Easter morning in Fellowship Hall! Pancakes, egg casseroles, fruit, ham and sausage…! ($10/adults & $5/children suggested donation.) 

EASTER EGG HUNT 

After the 11:00AM worship (about 12:20PM) children are invited to enjoy an Easter Egg Hunt! Our youth will hide lots of eggs filled with treats around the church property. We’ll set aside the narthex/patio area for younger children and the front of the church for older children to enjoy this fun. (Dress for rain or shine!) 

EASTER FLOWERS IN MEMORY/HONOR OF LOVED ONES 

If you would like to give toward flowers used to fill our outdoor flower cross, beautify our breakfast tables, and supplement flowers brought for our wire cross, you can do so online or with a check marked “Easter flowers” + “In memory/honor of NAME.” These names will then be shared in our Easter bulletins if submitted by March 25.   

For Our Neighbors at The Welcome Table

Guests come to the free Saturday Welcome Table in White Center for nourishing food, socializing, and whatever is out on giveaway tables. Our Homelessness Task Force enthusiastically supports this weekly community service by enabling members and friends of this congregation to contribute food, volunteer during the meal, and donate these much-needed items that are clean and in good condition:

  • camping gear

  • linens (blankets, sheets, towels)

  • pants

  • jackets

  • t-shirts (L, XL)

  • sweatshirts/hoodies (L, XL, XXL)

  • socks

  • gloves

  • stocking caps

  • baby wipes

  • laundry pods

  • paper towels

  • toilet paper

  • first-aid supplies

  • full-sized hygiene & menstrual products

  • cough drops & other cold products