Join us for the this program presented by the Aging Successfully Together in Community team, on Feb. 5. Two die-hard DIY seniors will share their journey of recognizing their need for home, yard and personal assistance, with results of their research into what it takes to hire help legally and ethically. Four approaches will be discussed: government programs, licensed firms, becoming an “accidental employer”, or paying cash and accepting risks.
david
Dance Planet, 1/18
7 to 8:30PM
Dance Planet is a monthly opportunity to dance/move/listen together. This month’s Dance Planet will start with a special live-singing set by Johanna Beekman, flow into DJ’ed music from around the world and across the decades by DJ Geo, and end with more songs by Johanna. Admission to this family-friendly event is a suggested $5–$15 donation, but nobody is turned away for lack of funds. Proceeds go to local Earth-friendly causes.
Festival of Resistance, 1/20
Mid-Valley Solidarity Coalition
Festival of Resistance
Rise, Resist, Love, Create
People’s Inauguration for Social Justice
Come to explore how we build community and find common ground across multiple social justice issues. What does rise, resist, love, and create mean to you in democracy?
Save the Date!
Monday, January 20th
Westminster House 101 NW 23rd Corvallis, 11 AM – 5 PM
UUFC became a member of Mid Valley Solidarity Coalition when it began soon after the 2017 Inauguration. It’s essential that we grow local community connections going forward into 2025. This is not just information. You and your input are needed, your thinking and experience, on how to respond, protect and thrive this year.
Thanks, Karen Josephson Democracy Action Team
Questions?
Email stearns_cm@yahoo.com
“Janus: Looking Back and Ahead ” 1/12/25
One the Roman calendar, the foundation for the Gregorian calendar we now use, every January was a crossroads between past and future – the end of the old year and the beginning of the new. The month is named for Janus, the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. (Wow – that’s a lot of responsibility!) The Fellowship is at a crossroads in this January; to begin with, with the rest of the country (and much of the world) we’re about see what new government leadership will mean for our lives. And we’re renewing part of our building in preparation for…. the future! Some of this will be hard, some of it will be nourishing. All of it will be change. What tools, practices and skills do we already have for navigating these changes, and what do we need to learn?
Magic Flute in the Social Hall and Kitchen
The pre-school has moved into the Social Hall and Kitchen on weekdays. 7:30 AM – 5 PM. They also use the foyer for coming and going.
So far, they’re feeling comfortable about how the space works for their program. And together we are still figuring out some of the details. One big detail for us to be aware of: Fellowship groups do not have access to the kitchen on weekdays or evenings, EXCEPT for Fellowship events that make reservations to use the Social Hall and Kitchen on weeknights. For those events, moving of furniture and kitchen equipment is needed on both ends of the event, and that requires orientation and communication. Again, during this temporary change in building use, Fellowship events do not have access to the kitchen except by reservation and with orientation. Thanks for your help with this! Some permits are still under review for the work in the classroom wing, however work will begin on January 13, starting with asbestos abatement.
Post-Inauguration Reflections, 1/21
Jan. 21 6:30 PM
On the day after the inauguration, gather on Zoom with other Fellowship folx for reflection and conversation on “how we’re doing now…”
Daily Practice – A Weekly Reminder
In these winter days, which seem filled with catastrophes, there are also invitations. The invitations can be subtle, often silent, mostly missed while we’re hoping for something else. (That’s the thing to be aware of – we’re almost always hoping for something else.) Some of the invitations are always present: the invitation into silence, the invitation to trust, the invitation to be faithful, the invitation to live by generosity. Though always present, these invitations are particularly poignant in these hard days, it seems to me.
Some invitations are more particular to this season: the invitations of darkness and rest and remembering the gifts of cold and rain. The invitation to learn the lessons of fog and to hear messages in the calls of owls and the encouraging honking of geese. And what is an invitation? Maybe it’s a kind of greeting, sometimes a beckoning, like the slight opening of a door with some light shining through. An invitation can be a small voice speaking from your own understanding – from your own ideals, from a conviction you haven’t forgotten – not shouting (usually not), not criticizing, mostly trying to be kind.
The thing is, we’re always hoping for invitations, wishing to receive them, imagining the joy of an unexpected offer to join, to be seen, to be needed, or simply to come a little farther. And yet we miss so many that are present and calling, day after day.
Today, perhaps we can help ourselves by taking time to be quiet enough to imagine, and perhaps begin to hear, the voices of kindness and courage within us. Maybe we can close our eyes and relax into our breathing and begin to be aware of doors that are ready to be considered, possibly half-opened already, inviting us into places the world needs us to go.
1st Quarter Birthday Celebration, 1/12
We’re celebrating all who have birthdays in January, February, and March birthdays after the service on January 12. Join us in the Social Hall for cake or gluten-free desserts. All are welcome! And, all are invited to celebrate your birthday by joining the UUFC Birthday Club with a donation of one dollar for each of your years.
When you donate, be sure to click on the arrow to choose the fund “Birthday Club.”
Outreach Offering for January
We Care is a local coalition of faith communities, businesses, foundations and other non-profit organizations which provides emergency assistance for Benton County residents. Each week, We Care helps people pay for rent, utilities, and other expenses to prevent evictions and homelessness or the shut-off of water or electricity. The Fellowship has long been a supporting partner.
LEGATO potluck, 1/8
Join the choir and band for a meal of laughter, goodwill and perhaps song! Love is the power that holds us together. Let’s share that feeling over a meal. Our debut LEGATO potluck is Wednesday January 8 at 5:00. Come a little early if you can help set up tables. Bring a dish to share (please identify all ingredients). We will navigate sharing the social hall with Magic Flute daycare. Clean up is at 6:30. Choir practice is at 7:00.
This is a Connect Up Event with the purpose of building community within the UUFC congregation.