August 10, 2025

Rev. Alex McGee began on August 1, 2025 serving as Interim Minister as our Fellowship enters our interim time, following the retirement of Rev. Jill McAllister. 

Greetings UUFC!

What a joy and honor it has been to spend the first week with you.  Thank you for your thoughtful welcomes in so many ways.  I see warmth and enthusiasm here.  Just in a few days I have observed the lovely shared worship leadership on Aug 3; the thoughtful caring of the Coordinating Council; the many hands painting, fixing, carrying, and beautifying the renovated wing.  I have met with the staff and am learning their talents.  

As I look ahead, I am excited to undertake the five tasks of interim ministry with you.  These five areas are a professional standard nationwide, across faith groups, for congregations during a transition time.  They are:

  • Reviewing history
  • Clarifying identity
  • Bolstering leadership
  • Strengthening connections locally and nationally
  • Looking to the future together

You will be seeing these show up in many opportunities throughout the life of the Fellowship.

What is moving in me in my daily prayer as I journey with you at this moment are three themes from our Universalist heritage:  Faith, Hope and Love.  These enhearten me as I honor the unknowns of this new-to-me place, the heartache of the national and international news, and the stories that each of you are holding.  Faith is something I understand from both my Christian and Yoga experience, as something that comes from beyond us to help us trust there is a wider meaning we cannot yet see.  Hope is something we choose so we can step forward.  And Love is a current that flows through us connecting us to others with compassion and joy.  I look forward to hearing from you all what is moving in you spiritually at this time.

—Namaste, Rev. Alex McGee

August 7, 2025

2025-08-10 “Community Wealth Sharing has Positive Impact!”

With the support of individuals, the City of Corvallis, the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition, and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis, Seeds for the Sol has helped over 450 households experiencing low income to reduce their power bills and upgrade the value of their homes. Learn about what you can do, in these times, to make your own home more efficient and to continue to help others in your community! Energy efficiency as a subversive act! We firmly believe that energy efficiency is an important path toward a livable planet.

Julie Williams, Seeds for the Sol

August 3 –  “Lughnasadh, AKA: Lammas” – Diana Titus and the Wheel of the Year Team

August 10 – “Community Wealth Sharing has Positive Impact!” – Julie Williams

August 17 – “Adjusting to the Moment” – Rev. Alex McGee

August 24 – “Dignity of Work” – Rev. Alex McGee

August 31 – NO SERVICE – Join us at the Tuna Roast the next day instead!

Classroom Wing Give-Aways!

FREE RUMMAGE from the classroom wing, located on the curb by the RE back steps and gate. Transportation help available for the free doors or the cabinet. Keep things out of the landfill by taking them home!

There are some extra tools, levels and knee pads left behind. There is also a large rolling platform with a pull cord which will be discarded soon. If these are yours, contact Wolfgang Dengler.

Register for the UUFC Women’s Retreat – Deadline 10/5

If you identify as a woman in a way that is significant for you, you are welcome to join us for our annual Women’s Retreat. It will be held at the UUFC on Friday night Oct. 17 from 6:30 – 8:30 pm and from 9:00 am – 7:00 pm on Saturday, Oct. 18. This year’s theme is “Right Here, Right Now: Peace through Practice”. We will share practices that may help you find peace in your center, peace in your connections, and peace in your community. The $55 fee for the retreat includes two meals on Saturday catered by Forks and Corks.

Please register using this form. https://uufc.breezechms.com/form/wr2025. The deadline for registration is Sunday, October 5!

Payment can be made online or by check to the UUFC with “Women’s Retreat” in the memo line.
Volunteers, suggestions, and questions are welcome at womensretreat@uucorvallis.org. Team facilitators are Heather Thomas, Kimi Mayo, and Priscilla Galasso.

Register Now! – UUFC Men’s Retreat, 10/3-5

Time to register for the annual Men’s Retreat, this year at Camp Harlow near Eugene (only an hour’s drive from Corvallis). We will gather there 5 PM Friday October 3 and end by 2 PM Sunday October 5.  This is an opportunity for those who identify as men to develop and deepen relationships with other men at UUFC. Our theme this year is “Sharing the Story of Your Life Journey.”

Register ONLINE at https://uufc.breezechms.com/form/mensretreatregistration2025.

More information: contact Alan Kirk.

2025-08-03 “Lammas – A Ritual of Ripening and Release”

Join us as we gather at the sacred threshold of Lammas, the festival of first harvest. In this season of fullness and change, we’ll pause to honor the fruits of our lives—what is ripening, what is ready to be shared, and what must be gently released.

Through song, story, ritual, and reflection, we’ll weave together ancestral wisdom and our own lived experience—carrying the grain of our becoming into community and into the unknown future.

Come celebrate the bread we are making with our lives.

Bring a bit of garden abundance to share with others, or nonperishable food for the South Corvallis Food Bank. Let us meet this turning with open hearts and hands.

We’ll also be introduced to our interim minister, Rev. Alex McGee, who started with us on August 1.

Wheel of the Year Team