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Classroom Wing Renovation Begins in January!

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Our builders are scheduled to begin their work the third week of January. Between now and then we have LOTS to do – including packing and moving everything out of that part of the building, and doing some removal and demolition.

You can help! Here’s how:

SPACE — Do you have unused, dry, rodent-free attic space, garage space, shed space with easy access to store boxes for 5-7 months?

PACKING MATERIALS needed (donations) — Medium-sized cardboard boxes, Medium-sized plastic tubs with sealing lids, large-size bubble wrap HELP MOVE – Can you loan the use of a pickup truck or open trailer? ~Move boxes and load vehicles in parking lot Saturdays January 4th and January 11th ~Move furniture and load vehicles in parking lot : end of December, Saturdays January 4th and January 11 ~Transport boxes and furniture from parking lot to private and commercial storage locations

VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP SHEETS will be in the foyer under the bulletin board, or click the button below to sign up online:

Volunteer to Help

Stay tuned for more information about this big project.

Services in December

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Dec. 1 “Be Not Afraid” Rev. Jill McAllister
Dec. 8 “Yes, Joy” Committee on Ministry
Dec. 15 “Wintering” UUFC Choir and Readers
Dec. 16 Blue Holiday Vespers Susan Sanford and Rev. Leslie Chartier
Dec. 20 Winter Solstice Service Rev. Jill McAllister
Dec. 22 “Stories of Christmas” Rev. Jill McAllister
Dec. 24 Christmas Eve -two services Rev. Jill McAllister
Dec. 29 Holiday Brunch and Sharing Rev. Jill McAllister and all

“Be Not Afraid” 12/1/24

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We enter into the traditional “Christmas Season” in the Christian tradition, with the first Sunday in Advent, Dec. 1. Part of that story, of Mary the mother of Jesus, is a common teaching that is mostly overlooked – the encouragement to “be not afraid.” It’s an old encouragement, part of many other stories, archetypal in many ways, given how much we humans tend to be afraid, and what we tend to do with that fear. So let’s start there this season, and see what we can learn.

With Rev. Jill McAllister Special music from Tim Hardin.

December Holiday Services and Events

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December is a busy month, with a wide variety of services and gatherings. You can begin to plan ahead now – more details will come soon.

Annual Holiday Fair – Saturday Dec. 7, 9 am – 3 PM
Sunday Services: Dec. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 – 10 AM
Blue Holidays Vespers – Monday, Dec. 16, 6 PM
Winter Solstice Service Dec. 20 – 7 PM
Christmas Eve Services – Tuesday, Dec. 24 5:30 PM Family Centered Service
9 PM Meditative Service
Fail Fest 2024 – Friday, Dec. 27 6 PM
Christmas Sing-a-Long – date TBD

Giving Tuesday, 12/3

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Giving Tuesday is a global generosity movement. It was created in 2012 as counterpoint to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, days of immense commercialism. Its founding and guiding idea is simple: a day that encourages people to do good.

On Tuesday December 3 we ask you to consider making a donation, large or small, to the UUFC. Giving Tuesday donation will specifically be used to help the Perla family with citizenship application- related legal fees. The UUFC has supported the Perla family since their arrival in March 2021 (during the height of the pandemic) from El Salvador. As you may have heard, we were successful recently in helping the family once again obtain affordable housing in Corvallis. We are now looking for additional funds to help them obtain legal status. Nancy Kyle has been and continues to be the Perla’s UUFC sponsor and guardian angel. Nancy or other members of the UUFC Immigrant and Refuge Support Team can give you more information about the Perlas.

To donate, click on the button below. When the form opens click on the arrow next to “Give to …” and select “Give to Giving Tuesday” from the drop-down menu. Enter your donation amount, whether the gift is recurring or one-time, and then choose debit/credit or ACH payment.

Give to Giving Tuesday Now

Alternatively, you can mail a check to the UUFC (2945 NW Circle Blvd, Corvallis OR 97330) or drop a check in the Sunday collection basket. Please write “Giving Tuesday” on the memo line of all checks. Your gift can make a real difference in the lives of the Perla family and their immigrant success story – which it truly has been over time – in the US.

Please ponder this affirmation we make each Sunday – together we can do more than any of us can accomplish alone – and give generously.

Live Holiday Trees Sale, 11/24 to 12/9

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After-service sale of live Holiday Trees and runs from Sun 24 Nov through Sun 9 Dec. Trees will also be available during the Holiday Fair on Sat 7 Dec. Trees are $20 each, and we’re offering Grand Fir, Willamette Valley Ponderosa Pine, Doug Fir, and Sitka Spruce, all in #2 pots. i.e. Table-top size. After the holidays, you can plant your tree yourself, or return it for us to plant. We’ll accept returns on Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings in January.

You can reserve a tree by clicking the button below:

Reserve a Tree Now

Drop-in purchases also welcome.

“Tea, Cookies, and More,” 12/11

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Join “Aging Successfully in Community” team members & friends to enjoy tea, coffee, cookies & snacks in the social hall 2-4 pm, 12/11.

Bring a plate of cookies or other snacks to share, if you like.

November Connect Up Hike, 11/30

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Meet Saturday, Nov. 30 at 9:45 am at the Midge Cramer trailhead to Bald Hill at the west end of the Fairgrounds parking lot. We’ll start hiking at 10:00 am. This will be a “lollipop” trail with different ability options. Join us for all or part of the journey. We’ll head west on the paved path, then north to the barn, and around the west trail to the top of the hill. Then we’ll make our way back downhill to the barn via whatever trail is less like a mudslide. Then back to the parking lot via the paved path. This is an easy to moderate hike of about 4 miles with about 300 ft. elevation gain. Dress for the weather, bring water, shoes with traction, poles if you like, but NO DOGS PLEASE.

From the Minister — The Coming Holiday

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This week a letter from the UUA General Assembly Office included this reflection, below. It is a beautifully compact and eloquent statement of the coming holiday weekend, so I share it here with you, to help us enter in:

“A Thanksgiving Reflection: Honoring Connection, Gratitude, and Responsibility

As we approach Thanksgiving, we pause to reflect on the complexity of this holiday and its varied meanings. For many, it is a time to gather in gratitude with loved ones. For others, it is a somber reminder of the painful history and ongoing impact of colonization on Indigenous peoples and their lands.

This season invites us to hold these truths together: the need for gratitude and connection, and the imperative to honor justice and repair. We encourage you to take time to learn about the histories and cultures of the Indigenous peoples who stewarded the lands we now call home. Consider how your gratitude can inspire actions that support equity, solidarity, and healing.”

May we enter into this week, and our plans, with consideration. With openness to learning, with willingness to understand ourselves, our ancestors, and our abilities to contribute to needed justice and repair, in our own homes, families and communities.

See you Sunday!

“Connection, Gratitude, and Responsibility” 11/24/2024

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The coming season is always a challenge, more and more each year. We find ourselves in-between in so many ways – between proclamations of peace and ongoing war, between holy days and (often mindless) accumulation, between stories of freedom and realities of oppression, between giving thanks and perpetuating pain. And this year, with heightened fear.

How do we begin to enter in, to be part of nourishing and helping, of both gratitude and responsibility? There are no easy answers, but we can enter in nevertheless.

With Rev. Jill McAllister