October 1 – “Love As Spaciousness” with Rev. Jill McAllister. A new generation of UUs suggests articulating our values in new ways, beginning with Love at the Center
October 8 – “Not So Like-Minded After All” with Rev. Jill McAllister. We’re learning a lot about the real differences in how brains work – neurodiversity. Turns out we’re more different than we imagine.
October 15 – “What is Transformation?” with Rev. Jill McAllister. Have you ever experienced transformation? How is it part of religious and spiritual growth?
October 22 – “God Is Not One, Neither are We” with Rev. Jill McAllister. One of the unique characteristics of our religious movement is pluralism – the willingness to be different and be together at the same time.
October 29 – Wheel of the Year – All Ages – Samhain / Halloween
Bring water to pour into the common bowl as you name the qualities and commitments you bring for the year ahead. We will commission the board and Interim Minister. We will offer blessings to the guides who will work with children and youth this year and the sermon will reflect on the urgency of helping the world by raising the next generation with UU values.
The choir will be back, and Rev. Alex will preach.
We’ll be holding our annual Parking Lot Rummage Sale on September 20 from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM. Do you have items you no longer need and want to get rid of? Will you kindly donate all the proceeds to UUFC?
Here’s what you do:
Price your items (thrift store prices or less)
Bring you items to our parking lot and “sell” them. Send buyers to the cashier with their items. You don’t have to collect any money
At 2:00 PM take all unsold items home or deliver them to your favorite thrift store.
Tell your friends, neighbors, and OSU folks. The Rummage Sale is open for everyone to shop.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED • At 9:30 AM to bring tables and chairs from our building to the parking lot. • At 2:00 PM to return tables and chairs to the building.
After the Tuna Roast, this Monday, September 1st, join friends of the Secure Food and Housing Justice Team at TAP TALK: SHARE THE LOVE 2 at Corvallis Common Fields.
From 5:30pm – 7:30pm Meet 4 local organizations working to create a better future: South Corvallis Food Bank, Corvallis Housing First, Friends of Outdoor School, and Corvallis Multicultural Literacy Center. Join us for a FREE public event with presentations and info on how to get involved, fun activities, and ways to support their missions.
If you can’t make it while our Justice Team is there, you can still visit and learn about these wonderful local organizations! Enjoy yummy food and drink anytime between noon and 9 pm, and Common Fields will donate 10% of sales to the groups.
All are welcome to participate, connect with community members, and be a part of the solution!
Look at this photo of my office door in the fresh new Religious Exploration wing of the building! How wonderful that all the effort for renovations and fix-up have borne fruit and are ready to welcome youth on September 7. I am grateful to the crew who worked on signage so I have a bulletin board outside the door of the office I use. Perhaps in the photo you can see it is Room 1 – right inside the doors of the RE wing, which are to the right of the parking lot door.
Most important, this photo shows that on my door I have taped a copy of the congregational covenant. Can you see that green piece of paper? The Fellowship covenanted to this in May 2023, and it reminds us of love, respect, listening, celebrating differences, clarifying misunderstandings, and returning to covenant. I have it on the door of my office to remind myself and all who enter here of how we agree to relate together.
One of the reasons I am attracted to Interim Ministry is because it is journeying with people during times of change. And change has so many aspects: excitement, uncertainty, grief, creativity, exhaustion and many more feelings. In fact, there are as many feelings as there are people reading this message. My goal is to honor all those truths, offer compassion for the discomfort, and help you stay true to your deepest values as you navigate this time. Please offer yourself and others spacious compassion and curiosity as this new chapter in the life of the Fellowship is unfolding.
September 7: Gathering the Waters and Beginning a New Congregational Year
Bring water to pour into the common bowl as you name the qualities and commitments you bring for the year ahead. We will commission the board and Interim Minister. We will offer blessings to the guides who will work with children and youth this year and the sermon will reflect on the urgency of helping the world by raising the next generation with UU values.
Choir will be back, and Rev. Alex will preach.
September 14: What’s Wrong and Is It Me?
This sermon will be an exploration of times in life we are trying to fix something…but the best change will come from looking at a bigger picture. Special reflections on the exciting new Mosaic curriculum this year.
Rev. Alex preaching.
September 21: This service will be full of love and creativity, and the topic and speaker are still being arranged.
September 28: Balance and Loving Embrace of Imbalance.
As the days and nights are nearly equal in length this week, we have a chance to reflect on the many meanings of balance.
Through chanting Sanskrit mantra, music, teachings, Q&A, and storytelling, this kirtan intends to awaken the Heart of Love. Sitaram Dass will be joined by Jeannette Kangas (tabla) and Clark Stacer (bass). Friday, September 5 at 7 PM in Room 7.
Sitaram Dass (he/him) spent several years serving his beloved teacher Ram Dass on Maui, where he was shown the path of Bhakti, the yoga of service and devotion to God. He is an author, teacher, kirtan singer, spiritual therapist, and lover of God. As the director of the Sacred Community Project, he works to lower the barriers of access to contemplative and devotional practices.
Consider attending the “Workers Over Billionaires” protest rally on 4th street, taking place from noon to 3 PM on September 1. Just before our Tuna Roast!
Traveling to and from the protest (and parking nearby) is an obstacle for many people. To alleviate that problem some kind people at the Fellowship are offering a shuttle service to the protest. Those who would like to use this service should show up at the UUFC parking lot to get rides to and from the front of the Corvallis Library. We will be available, as needed, to pick up at half-hour intervals, leaving UUFC at 12:00, 12:30, 1:00, 1:30, and 2:00; and doing return trips from the Library at 1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 2:30, and 3:00.
For any who are interested in using the shuttle service, please contact Jack Elder by email, phone, or text, and give him your name and the times you would like get rides in both directions.
We could also use a few more volunteer drivers. With more drivers, each individual will need to drive fewer trips, and can spend more time at the protest!
Want to experience what a Chalice Circle session is like? We’re trying a different format this year that will hopefully lower the barrier to make it easier for YOU to check out if joining a Chalice Circle is for you.
Chalice Circles are an opportunity to deepen your ties to others in this community. We do this by meeting on a regular basis with the same small group of people to share how we each navigate the journey of being human. This is done via thoughtfully designed “topics” that offer ideas and questions for reflection. Through authentic sharing and listening, we learn how to voice what deeply matters to us.
Never been in a chalice group? “Test the waters” by signing up for a Chalice Circle Pop-up Session offered this Fall. If you want to continue, we’ll help set up new groups that will continue through the upcoming liturgical year (through June). You’re also welcome to sign up if you’ve been in a group in the past or even if you’re already in a group! Come see what’s changed or just experience chalice with a different group of people.
Three sessions will be offered (2 hours each), and you can choose to attend 1, 2 or all 3 (different topic, different people but same format). Sign-ups are online via this Google Form (https://bit.ly/fall25chalice). The dates of each session are specified in the form.
Have more questions about chalice circles? Attend the next Inquirer Series featuring them on October 5, or read our FAQ at: https://uucorvallis.org/chalice-circles/.
If “work” is the body exerting physical and/or mental effort to affect change in one’s environment, and if “labor” is work that we are paid to do, how can we live our lives so that work is sacred and labor is just? These are questions that Rev. Alex posed to us, and below are the piano selections from today’s service connected to the dignity of work. These pieces hail from different eras and genres, but all speak in their own way of finding meaning, wellness, or peace in our work and labor.
While many of us are familiar with Fields of Gold, Sting’s pop/rock song about love and the passing of time, I find myself drawn to Eva Cassidy’s stripped down and vulnerable folk rendition rather than the original. Regardless of which version is preferred, once one looks past the surface ideas of love and the passing of time, this song is rooted in imagery of scenes from a certain type of work: fields, laboring outdoors, harvests. When listening to Sting croon about the shared time and effort of a romantic relationship, parallels can be found with the meaning in collaboration and valuing others within our work and labor. And of course, the lyrical melody and lovely harmonies of Fields of Gold are a gentle, lovely way to welcome our community into the sanctuary on a Sunday morning.
Coldplay’s “The Scientist” is filled with a number of poignant lyrics, but the most crucial words of all are “Nobody said it was easy”. We encounter this concept every day, in both our personal and professional lives. Even if the task at hand is “easy”, there are always challenges and struggles that can arise, be it with work or labor, practical or creative endeavors, large tasks or small. The song’s message to persevere, be accountable for our mistakes and pursue growth is an important one.
Normally a buoyant, upbeat song from Pete Seeger, If I Had a Hammer is a piece of music that inspires us to clap our hands, tap our toes, and sing along – but it’s also a call to action. As we sing about a hammer, a bell, a song, we are really singing about standing for justice, fairness, and hope, and our singing serves as a reminder that what we do matters most when it builds equity and uplifts others. (David Servias was originally slated to play the piano today, and If I Had a Hammer was originally his idea for the offertory!)
Let the River Run was not the planned postlude for today – some of the options I considered was to play the more traditional version of If I Had a Hammer or perhaps the Beatles’ Come Together! But after hearing Rev. Alex’s sermon, a different song came to mind, a song that represents possibility, dealing with disappointment and injustice, striving for change, and the hope for personal peace. While a lively finale of “If I Had a Hammer” would have been fun, “Let the River Run” just seemed very right for the end of today’s service.
