We in the Khasi Hills Ministry Team are excited that East Shore’s partnership with Unitarians in the Northeast of India will be featured at the upcoming Share the Plate event on May 5. Rev. Morgan McLean, who heads the UUA’s international partnership program will present. We will learn how the UUA is using inclusive methods to redefine our faith’s approach to international partnerships.
We also thought it would be helpful to tell East Shore’s friends and members some basic information about our partnership.
First off, who are the Khasi people? The Khasis are an indigenous people living on a high plateau between Bangladesh and Bhutan. The Khasis live in an autonomous state in India called Meghalaya with other indigenous peoples. The Khasis are related ethnically and through language to SE Asian peoples.
Why are there 10,000 Unitarians in this remote hill country of NE India? For over 140 years, there has been a thriving and growing union of Unitarian churches in the Khasi Hills. At that time, their founders created a new religion based on a mixture of traditional and progressive values. When they discovered British and American Unitarianism, they chose to call themselves Unitarian and associate with international Unitarian churches.
How did East Shore get involved in a partnership with Khasi Unitarians? In the 1990s, our emeritus minister, Rev. Dr. Leon Hopper, became a founder of the modern UUA partnership movement. He and other East Shore members traveled to visit the Khasi Unitarians. We formed a church-to-church partnership with the Unitarian churches of Kharang and Smit, a village and town, respectively.
Why does East Shore focus on education? The short answer is because we were asked to! In early visits to Kharang, the Khasis participated with us in Community Capacity Building workshops. The Church Council of our partner church in Kharang then asked East Shore to focus on education, and to help them build an English-medium primary school. Watch this 5-minute video for perspectives on why education is so important to them and the history of the Friendship Unitarian School of Kharang.
Is our Khasi Partnership still thriving? Yes, definitely! Over time we have built up an enormous amount of trust, mutual understanding, and ability to cooperate to achieve great goals together. Our relationships have never been stronger, and we are in constant communication through WhatsApp, Facebook, and regular conferences.
What are you planning for in 2024? After the May 5th Share the Plate, our focus will turn to raising funds to support seven teachers’ salaries at the Friendship School. We do this by holding a community-wide rummage sale in East Shore’s sanctuary called Trinkets and Treasures (July 19-20th). It’s a lot of fun and helps East Shore members clear out their closets! We also have a student sponsorship program for over 20 of the most economically challenged students in the village. Our East Shore sponsors have one-on-one relationships with these young students. Exciting news: East Shore’s Youth Group is starting to plan a visit to the Khasi Hills in the summer of 2025!
All of these programs are exciting and serve others. We gain so much of value from our association with the Khasi people. Please attend the May 5 service to learn about why this partnership is a precious asset to East Shore, and to provide your moral support to our hard-working ministry team.
– Doug Strombom and Barb Clagett
Last year the P-Patch Ministry Team (a part of the Grounds Team) had a really great time growing organic veggies and offering them to members, friends, and visitors after some of our summer and fall services.
P-Patch is looking forward to offering the tomato plants again this spring. The online catalog with information and photos will be used again. Be on the lookout for an eblast with details in late March or early April. Pick up of plants at East Shore will begin Sunday, May 5.
Anyone interested in learning more about the P-Patch, either home gardening or participating with the raised beds at the church, please contact Ann Fletcher
Two Earth and Climate Ministry (ECAM) members (Ann Fletcher and Marilyn Mayers) participated in Faith Action Network’s Interfaith Action Day on February 8. They lobbied their state legislators (Districts 48 Bellevue and 5 Issaquah) to advance climate and environmental action and affordable housing. Faith Action Network (FAN) hosts this annual lobbying day, bringing different faith communities together to advocate for justice.
This year, morning workshops prepared attendees on specific legislative actions related to environmental justice & climate change, economic justice, immigrants and refugee rights, incarceration reform & accountability, housing, public safety, hunger and the social safety net and health care access. FAN also set up appointments with our own district legislators to talk with them about specific bills.
Already halfway through this short legislative session, some bills FAN supported had not made it through various committees and were dropped (notably proposals to create transparency for oil pricing, promote community solar, and addressing cumulative risk burden due to pollution). However, other bills were still in play that we urged legislators to support: if passed
HB1368/SB5437 will transition the state’s 12,000 diesel school buses to electric buses.
The Re-WRAP Act (HB2049/SB6005) will reduce plastic and packaging trash by focusing on producer responsibility and increasing curbside recycling.
Navigator for Energy Cost Savings and Access (HB1391) and Building Energy Labeling (HB 1433) will help households and communities identify needed home improvements and access subsidies to transition to cleaner energy.
Rent Stabilization (HB2144) will help retain affordable housing in our communities.
A citizen initiative (Initiative 2117) to repeal the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) was another important topic of discussion. CCA was a groundbreaking bill approved by our legislature in a previous session. Its multi-faceted initiatives are designed to boost our state toward significantly impacting climate change in the next decade.
Anyone can send a message to their legislator about these or other bills or issues at leg.wa.gov/
Both Ann and Marilyn found participation in IFAD rewarding and encourage others to consider coming next year! We learned about the legislative process and challenges legislators face in trying to advance change. We also had a chance to meet with wonderful attendees from other faith traditions who share the same fundamental concern: to advocate for environmental and social justice. If you are curious, we’d be happy to talk with you about this legislative session and what you might expect by participating next year!
East Shore Kids Ministry is Partnering with Porchlight (formerly Congregations for the Homeless) for a Winter Supplies Drive for unhoused Men. Join us! Please bring all items to East Shore now through Sunday February 25th. Place in the donation box. Drop off hours are Sunday-Thursday 9:30-2:30 or by appointment. Questions? [email protected] 425-747-3780 x 104
The Earth and Climate Action Ministry (ECAM) has started to talk with groups around church to hear ideas, concerns and hopes about taking better care of the earth.. We are gathering East Shore’s passions and perspectives and we need YOURS!
We would appreciate the opportunity to have a short conversation about:
What are some positive outcomes you dream about for the Earth and climate?
What relevant issues or activities do you think are important for ESUC to address?
Our goal is to gather as many perspectives as we can, pull them together, and celebrate our joint passions and ideas at a church service and special event near Earth Day (April 21).
Either Zoom or in-person meetings would be possible. If your team meets regularly, perhaps we could have a short time on an agenda for this activity. We are also open to individual conversations and written input.
Hope to join you sometime soon for this important church-wide conversation! Please contact Kristi Weir or another member of the ECAM Team below who may reach out to you to get started.
ECAM Team: John Chmaj, Karin Elofson, Ann Fletcher, Ron Lovell, Marilyn Mayers, Jill McGrath, Mark Norelius, Kari Ann Hailey, Kristi Weir
Connect with 350 WA
Here is an easy way to support bold, sound, and just climate legislation in the Washington state during this year’s short session (Jan 8-Mar 7).
Join the 350 WA Civic Action Team (CAT) which will send you two easy-access emails per week which are tailored with options for how much time you have (from 5 to 20 minutes). The bi-weekly email lists the climate bills with top priority for the week. After the brief explanation of the bill, click on a link to register your Pro or Con position on a bill. You may add a comment, but it is not required.
350WA says: “We recognize that folks don’t always have time to get all the way through our actions, and that is okay! Every little bit helps. We just ask that you get through as many sections as you can and then scroll to the bottom and click the orange “Done” button to submit. This way we can keep an accurate tally of how many actions the CAT campaign takes this session. Here is the link to join the CAT: https://www.350wa.org/cat
FREE TREES for Eastside Residents from 300 Trees!
300 Trees will hold its Spring 2024 Tree Giveaway on March 15-16 at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in South Bellevue.
For the first time since 300 Trees began distributing free trees in 2020, we are opening our program to all Eastside residents, schools, faith communities, and small businesses!
Order Trees: Our goal is to distribute at least 1000 trees during this event. Each participant may request 1-3 trees using our online order form: https://300trees.org/freetrees/.
We will accept orders until February 25, but we have limited quantities of some tree types, so don’t delay!
The trees can be picked up at the church parking lot on March 15-16. All trees will fit in normal passenger vehicles, and our volunteers will can load them for you.
Volunteer: If you would like to volunteer to help us during the event, sign up on Sign Up Genius here.
Every year, Faith Action Network hosts an Interfaith Advocacy Day (IFAD) during which faith communities across Washington state organize to advocate for state policies reflecting our values. FAN arranges meetings with your district legislators preceded by workshops to prepare you for these visits. For more information on IFAD, advocacy workshops and legislative previews, visit Faith Action Network website: fanwa.org.
Let us see a good turnout from East Shore members this year! If you are interested in carpooling down to Olympia on February 8th or would like to know more about what to expect of the day, please contact Marilyn Mayers. It’d be great to have an East Shore contingent make our voices and concerns heard with our various district representatives!
