SeaTac

SeaTac Missional District News

The SeaTac Missional District of United Women in Faith held its first in-person Annual Meeting on Saturday, September 30, 2023, at Kent United Methodist Church. This was our first in-person gathering since our Annual Meeting in 2019. Everyone who attended was excited to see old faces and make new friends. We had 48 women who attended, more than we had when we held these meetings on Zoom for the past three years. Our District was well represented with women from Auburn First, Beacon, Des Moines, Federal Way, Haller Lake, Kent, Mason (Tacoma), Riverton Park, St. Peter’s and Trinity. Additional church women had registered but were unable to join us.

We chose Climate Justice as our social justice focus. Our theme, “For the Beauty of the Earth,” was shared by our Keynote Speaker, Rev. Laura Baumgartner, Pastor of Haller Lake United Methodist Church in Seattle and Board Chair of Earth Ministry: Washington Interfaith Power & Light. Her program was interactive and gave us opportunities for discussion with others during the presentation and reflection on the topic. We would encourage you to contact her to present at your unit.

We had a wonderful continental breakfast and soup luncheon from the women at Kent UMC. It is essential for us to have time for socializing and discussing the happenings as the meeting progresses.

Awards were made for Mission Today Units, Racial Justice Unit, Reading Program, and 5- and 7-Star Units for Giving.

We retired two Officers: Ileeda Denman, who is the President of the Federal Way Unit and has served as the District Membership Nurture and Outreach Coordinator since 2018, and Marilyn Glasscock, who is the recent past President of Auburn First unit and has served as our Spiritual Growth Coordinator from 2018-2019 and Social Action Coordinator since 2019. We thank both of you for your service. They received Special Mission Recognition Pins.

We also recognize Linda Mills, our past President of the SeaTac Missional District, for her years of service from 2019 until 2023. She has graciously agreed to continue on the board as the Membership Nurture and Outreach Coordinator. Diana Wilson has stepped up to be President of the SeaTac Missional District and continues as Communication Coordinator. Diana has been a member of the board in various capacities since 2012.

We had a very moving and inspirational remembrance ceremony and recognized 30 women from our various churches who passed in 2023.

We had positive evaluation comments. One note of interest is in the past, the women have asked for more singing. This year, we sang a lot of hymns. Their comments included “too many hymns.” That brought forth a good chuckle. I think we were trying to make up for lost time.

Unit Happenings:

St. Peter’s UMC Unit has been conducting a warm clothing and bedding drive to support Riverton Park UMC, which is hosting a large group of asylum seekers. They started with 50, and that grew to 180, and at the latest count, they are serving 300 people. Our local news has followed the story, and FAN (Faith Action Network) and others have encouraged all local Methodist churches to participate. These people have come from warm weather countries, so this may be their first winter with freezing weather in the Pacific Northwest.

I look forward to working with the SeaTac District and the Conference Boards this year to promote United Women in Faith.

Blessings to all,
Diana Wilson
SeaTac Missional District President


2023-2024 Officers

President: Diana Wilson
Vice President: Marilyn Hoff
Secretary: Pam Cunningham
Treasurer: Rachel Hall
Communications Coordinator: Diana Wilson
Education & Interpretation: Open
Membership Nurture & Outreach: Linda Mills
Program Resources: Carol Sprague
Social Action: OPEN
Spiritual Growth: Janice Bronkema
Committee on Nominations: Open


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