Hello! Lots of church members belong to Women’s Alliance (WA), but more could: maybe you! So, as this year’s co-chair, I thought I’d describe the range of what we do and invite you to consider joining in. (You do not need to be a church member to belong to WA.)

Our Mission Statement:
The Mission of the Women’s Alliance is to enable Unitarian Universalist women and those who share our values to join together for mutual support, personal growth, and spiritual enrichment. Through our combined strength and vision, we work toward a future where all women will be empowered to live their lives with a sense of wholeness and integrity in a world of peace that recognizes the worth and dignity of each individual.

We start the year with a Welcome Back potluck lunch on Thursday, September 21 at 11 a.m. in the church garden. Meetings are typically on the first and third Thursday of the month between September and May. In case you would like to attend, here is a list of our activities.

The plan is to have multi-platform (both in-person and on Zoom) meetings with snacks and our own bag lunches at noon, as we did before the virus.

In case we are new to you, let me tell you some of what we do:
In the spring, our dues fund our Social Responsibility donations. Our members vote on the recipients.
-The WA Bequest Fund augments various church programs, including Sunday service flowers.
-We also provide Christmas Eve dinner for the residents of POWER in Swissvale. (That’s the PA Organization for Women in Recovery.)
-Annie Stunden’s Sewing Circle has allowed us to make beautiful pillowcases for the patients at Children’s Hospital.
-WA members, along with other members of the church, worked with JFCS’s (Jewish Family and Community Services) leadership to be the pilot group of their Welcome Home Program. This allows a team to prepare the permanent home of a refugee individual or family by collecting essential items for the home and setting it up to create a welcoming environment when the clients move in. We have helped settle 3 families, and the program is expanding.

We already have speakers for our October meetings lined up: on October 5, Becky Studer, about her important work with UUJusticePa and UUTheVOTE, and how we can all help; and on October 19, Erica Shadowsong, our church’s Lifespan Religious Education Director (LRED), speaking about her recent trip to Kenya. We also have other presentations by our own members, as well as speakers from the Pittsburgh community.

Sound enticing? Please join us because, most importantly, we make new friends and support each other as part of our church community.

– Denice Galpern (email me, dgalpern47@gmail.com) and
Mary Schinhofen, Membership Co-chair (mary@schinhofen.net)