About WHUUF

Our Mission
Guided by UU principles, our loving community of all ages nurtures each person's spiritual and personal growth and supports our individual efforts in the wider world.
 
Covenant
We agree to build compassionate community, to honor each other’s equal value, and to support one another’s spiritual and personal growth with honesty and love.

Our History
Legend has it that West Hills Unitarian Fellowship (as we called ourselves then) was started in 1955 when a group of parents at First Unitarian Church of downtown Portland decided to break away and form our own association with an emphasis on the liberal religious education of our children.
It was a small bunch in the early days- 33 adults in 1960 - on a small budget. We met in rented spaces: a Grange Hall, several schools, and OMSI, toting our 24 children,teaching materials, and a coffee pot along. From those early years come some of our most cherished traditions. Sunday morning family services and our coffee hours started then: the whole group met together for a message before children went to r.e. classes, and non-teaching adults met for coffee and conversation. Because most of the adults were teaching children’s classes, adults met on Wednesday evenings for our own service, which often resembled a humanist lecture.
As we grew in members, we moved the Wednesday service to Sunday mornings after coffee, and over the years moved the coffee hour and added special music, hymn singing, chalice-lighting, birthday pennies, a choral group, relating of joys and sorrows, visitor introductions, and other sociabilities to the services.
The move toward a home of our own took its first firm step in 1959 when we bought the forested land we occupy today. In 1960, we moved two old church buildings from Garden Home Road, and over time and with many members’ efforts, remodeled, rebuilt, and added the religious education buildings and offices in use today. The Fellowship has continued to grow, in space and in numbers. 
 From 1965 to 1970, we shared a minister with the downtown church. After his retirement we hired our own minister.  He was with us from 1971-75. After he left, we decided to be a lay-led congregation doing much of the work ourselves under the leadership of our elected board of directors, with the assistance of three paid staff members. Sunday services feature outstanding outside speakers, guest ministers, or members, followed always by the sociable coffee hour. The new quarter-time minister, to start August 2011, will be the Sunday speaker six times during the year, will provide pastoral care, and will help guide us in our UU principles in various settings and on assorted issues.
Financially, the Fellowship has had its ups and downs, but has generally been prudent about its funds. Our membership grew to about 175 to 200 a decade or two ago. After a congregational vote in 2007, member expressed a desire to grow to about 300 members and employ a quarter-time minister. Those plans are now underway; the quarter-time minister has been selected and a new chapter has begun.
In 1994, following the lead of the national Unitarian movement we added Universalist to our name, to become the West Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. We decline to call ourselves a church, enjoying the sound and meaning of fellowship in our name and in fact, believe we were the largest UU lay-led fellowship in the nation without a minister. Additionally, we are fellowship in the true sense of the word, getting together for group soups and pancake breakfasts, outdoor activities, sharing suppers, family retreats and camp outs, work parties, and social action activities that all can take pride in.
From our beginning in 1955, our religious principles have reflected the liberal religion of Unitarian Universalists worldwide: diversity of belief, commonality of spirit, belief in nurturing personal and spiritual growth, and support of individual and group efforts to help in the wider world.

Governance
In the Unitarian Universalist tradition of congregational polity and non-hierarchical governance, WHUUF is a lay led fellowship.  The Fellowship's by-laws have delegated governance to the Board of Trustees. The Board develops administrative policy, is accountable for the overall operations of the Fellowship and is the trustee of WHUUF property. The Board is composed of ten adult Trustees and an optional eleventh youth member. The Board selects four officers from its membership: President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. Members each make a three-year commitment to serve on the board with one third of the members rotating on each year.
 

• Board
  
• Staff
  

Non-Profit Status
For IRS purposes WHUUF is convered under the umbrella of Unitarian Universalist Association. The attached documents attest to the status of the UUA and to WHUUF's membership.  WHUUF is also registered as a non-profit organization with the state of Oregon.  Details of that registration are available at the Oregon Secretary of State's web site.