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Since the beginning of our fundraising drive, we have been receiving occasional donations from Unitarian Universalists in the United States, and we are very grateful for these. A few months back, I received an email from Karen Van Hoy of the West Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Portland, Oregon, who learnt about the Dublin church from our website and is keen to develop a relationship between her church and ours I am an active member of the West Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Portland, Oregon, otherwise known as WHUUF, or the only church named after the bark of a dog. There are many in our congregation who love and have travelled to Ireland. I would like to create a means whereby congregants from the 2 congregations can connect via e-mail with each other, and share interests and our work into the greater world. I am a textile artist and am particularly interested in connecting with women from your church, particularly those that might be interested in textile arts. Can you help me? I have a vision of this connection creating a "sister church" relationship between your church and WHUUF West Hills Unitarian was started 50 years ago this month, and we just last week celebrated the fact with a big celebration with music from the choristers(choir) and our own barbershop quartet, performances by our "dance choir" and drama lab, and wonderful food and sharing of stories. After meeting in a room at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in the 1950's, an opportunity came up to purchase 5 acres of woodland in the Southwest side of Portland in a village suburb called Garden Home. One family of 7 donated their entire savings to the Fellowship to purchase the property. An unused United Methodist church was "desanctified" and moved to the property and became what is now our sanctuary. There was an old building on the property that was affectionately referred to as "Toad Hall" which became the RE (Religious Education) wing. It was replaced in the 1970's with a wing to the North containing a large meeting room, additional bathrooms and kitchen. A new RE wing was added to the South. WHUUF has been without a minister for over 25 years and we seem to like it this way! To my knowledge we are the largest Fellowship in the UUA with around 170 members. Sunday services are lively or serious with a variety of speakers on topics ranging from the impact of America's "War on Drugs" and its impact on families to "Good Guilt VS. Bad Guilt." Besides the board, a variety of committees keep WHUUF moving forward. I hope this very brief overview helps explain a bit more who we are. I would really like to know more about Irish culture and what it's like to be a Unitarian in Ireland, and so I would like to correspond with some of your congregants and perhaps start an active exchange between our members as "sister churches." I thank you in advance and wish you the best in your restoration efforts. Karen Van Hoy If anyone would like to correspond with Karen, you can contact her at : Isseymiyakefan@aol.com . You might also like to take a look at her church’s website http://www.whuuf.org Do let us know how you get on. Doireann Ní Bhriain, Restoration Committee dnib@eircom.net
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