Over the past year, Seattle Atheists has been undergoing a phenomenal amount of growth. We’ve gained new membership (our membership has increased 100% over last year alone!), garnered tons of positive press, started new programs, revamped the organization, and done lots of charity work in the community. Atheism in Seattle is truly flourishing.

Here’s a recap of what Seattle Atheists has done this year, since Dec. 2008:

• Gained 82 dues-paying members in one year. A year ago, we had 143 members — now we have 225.
• Run two sets of bus ads, which have garnered national and international media attention
• Placed a holiday greeting sign on the state capitol grounds
• Welcomed new Members-at-Large Wendy, Mike, Randy, Sam, and Layton, and our new Secretary, Rebecca, to the Board. They are all doing an absolutely phenomenal job!
• Started new giving programs, including Operation Paperback and the SeasonLESS food drive
• Adopted a new mission and vision, and reorganized our committee structure
• Launched our first-ever fundraiser mailing for a new bus ad campaign
• Hosted free public talks by Dr. Valerie Tarico, Chris Rauch, Jim Corbett, comic Jeremy Whitman, and Matt Griscom
• Raised more than $1,000 for Childrens hospital
• Had our new and improved Flying Spaghetti Monster featured on Venganza.org, and the FSM Wikipedia page
• Begun planning for exciting new events, like the winter gala, a film series, and a cable access show
• Celebrated Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday
• Donated more than 35 pints of blood

All of this is only possible because of you, our members, supporters and volunteers.

It’s been so gratifying to be a part of this organization, to meet all of you, and to take even a small part in making the atheist community in Seattle grow! The board would like to extend its appreciation to everyone who donated their time, money and hard work to our programs, and we hope to see even more of you in the coming year.

Happy solstice, and a very happy, healthy and fulfilling new year to you all!

Sincerely,

Amanda Banerji, Vice President of Seattle Atheists

In this holiday season let us remember that kindness, charity and goodwill transcend belief, creed or religion. Happy Holidays, Seattle Atheists”

Matt Griscom will be giving a talk entitled ‘Science vs. Religion.’

Membership will vote to choose 5 members-at-large for the coming year, so please update your membership prior to the meeting. We have a pretty big field of new members-at-large this time.

Don’t forget to check out the candidate statements here:

Wendy Britton
Mike Gillis
Randy Rumley
Richard Trimble
Sam Mulvey
Layton Sumpter

The positions on the board open at this time are for members-at-large. According to the Seattle Atheists constitution and bylaws, “The five Members at Large shall assist the officers in conducting the business of the Board and serve in positions appointed by the Board.” This is a one-year appointment.

The candidates:

Wendy Britton
Mike Gillis
Randy Rumley
Richard Trimble
Sam Mulvey
Layton Sumpter

I’ve twice participated wrapping gifts to raise money Children’s Hospital, I marched with the FSM at the Fremont Fair and have tabled for Seattle Atheists at Seattle Pride and other events. I most recently wrote press releases for the Metro bus ad campaign.

Our organization is growing on a wave of increased visibility, and I want to serve on the board to channel that wave to confront anti-atheist persecution and popular misconceptions about non-believers.

I plan on doing this by working to creating a public access call-in show for the organization with a rotating group of co-hosts. Not only will this help promote Seattle Atheists and all of their activities to a far larger audience, like charity gift-wrapping, the season-less food drive, the FSM at parades, or donations and memberships.

It would also help counter-balance the glut of religionist programming available on TV with a skewed views on non-believers. It would create an opportunity for us to assert our own views rather than have them put in our mouths. And I think the call-in content on public access will make for some good TV and comedic gold. The rotating hosts will help avoid creating any sort of cult of personality and highlight the vast range of opinions in our community. Don’t think we disagree? Christopher Hitchens. Discuss.

I am also willing to be a representative for the group if needed for TV, news, and radio interviews with board approval of the ‘company line’ on certain topics, and I have past experience with this.  It would also be my goal to seek out future talents for the board by proactively meeting with members and prospective members to help them feel comfortable enough to step forward and to get involved in a more active capacity with us.

As a founder and lifetime member of Seattle Atheists it is and always will be very important to me to have a new ideas on the board while still maintaining the integrity of our original mission statement. I possess both a foundational view as well as a progressive one at this time and I would like to work with the board to further develop the many new organization goals that have been proposed and need to be implemented.

We’ve got a lot of exciting projects going on at the moment, so it’s sure to be a full meeting. If you’d like to contribute or simply watch the administrative process in action, feel free to join us!

Freighthouse Square
2501 East D Street,
Tacoma, WA 98421

We’ve got a lot of exciting projects going on at the moment, so it’s sure to be a full meeting. If you’d like to contribute or simply watch the administrative process in action, feel free to join us!

We will be holding this month’s board meeting at the Shoreline Library. If you’d like to contribute or simply watch the administrative process in action, feel free to join us!