The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis
dre@uucorvallis.org 
Are you feeling the tender ache of absence as the winter holidays approach? Or perhaps feeling lonely, anxious or depressed? Join us for an online Blue Holidays Vesper Service, followed by an optional time of sharing, at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 16. Rev. Leslie Chartier and Susan Sanford will facilitate. Please register in advance so we can send you the zoom link and suggestions for preparing your space for our time together. Contact Susan for more information.
Catherine Whiting has been a pediatric occupational therapist for 41 years and specializes in sensory processing and self regulation at home and in schools. She is offering a workshop geared towards parents (grandparents also welcome) about how to identify the sensory needs of a child and to help them by modifying the environment for self regulation. Dynamics of family members having different needs will also be explored.
January 2nd at 7PM in the UUFC social hall.
Please help us plan by registering here by December 30th.
The members of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis ceremonially welcome babies and older children into this world, and into the community which holds them, offering our lifelong commitment to the nurture of each child. This dedication is a joyful ritual which affirms that each young soul is a gift, and which celebrates the covenant of family and community. Each child will receive a decorative certificate as a record of their formal welcome into this circle of care.
While we are happy to provide a child dedication any time a family requests one, it is our custom at UUFC to perform this communal ceremony on our near Christmas Eve.
This year’s child dedication will be offered during the service on Sunday, December 22nd. If you would like to have your child dedicated in this ritual, please contact Skyla (dre@uucorvallis.org) no later than December 18th.
This time of year can be a lot for parents as we try to maintain all the rituals, magic, and meaning of the season. To honor all you do, we’d like to offer you a break! Drop off school-aged (k-8) children in the social hall from 1-4 on December 27th. We’ll have a thank you card writing workshop (with helpers for those who haven’t mastered the pen yet), eat snacks, and settle in for a movie while you take a few hours to recover from the holiday hustle. To make the most of the thank you card workshop, please send your child with a list of specific people & gifts for which to offer thanks.
Thanks to a generous grant from the Benton County Foundation, this event is free and open to the public, so invite your friends and family to take advantage of this opportunity!
Registration is required for this event, and will close on 12/20. Space is limited.
You’ve probably noticed that there are more and more families in our midst each week. Hooray! We love seeing faces of all ages in our sanctuary. With this uptick in family participation, we are experiencing a higher demand for childcare. At the same time, our list of able Grandfolks is dwindling due to illness and factors such as night driving.
A parent’s ability to engage in small group ministry and special events plays a large role in determining whether the family unit as a whole can continue to participate in the life of the Fellowship. If you are an adult of any age who has been with the Fellowship for more than 6 months, please take a moment to consider whether you would be able to give even one hour a month to care for children so that parents can have that time to commit to their own spiritual enrichment.
All Grandfolks will be interviewed, trained, and complete a background check before service.
If you want to help families stay engaged, please contact Skyla at dre@uucorvallis.org for more information.
Using values, communication skills, and spirituality as starting points, this program explores sexuality issues for adults of all ages. OWL(Our Whole Lives) builds an understanding of healthy sexual relationships, affirms diversity, and helps participants accept and affirm their own sexuality throughout their lives.
It’s not too late to experience the healing and healthy sex ed you wish you’d had back then!
This series is facilitated by trained guides. Dawn Dirks is trained for all ages of OWL, and Skyla King-Christison is trained for adult OWL with an emphasis on older adults.
Join us on Sundays 1/5- 3/9 from 2:30 to 4 in the social hall.
Pre-registration is required for this series, and space is limited.
Contact Skyla at dre@uucorvallis with questions.
We are living in strange times, and strange times call for more art and more dedication to doing our part to keep that arc of the moral universe bending toward justice!
Join Skyla on December 27th from 6-8 PM in the social hall, where we will cast our vision across 2025 through a Stoic lens known for its capacity to galvanize hope. Then, each participant will create a mini art journal to document concrete actions they can take to foster peace, justice, and self-care in the year ahead. No art skills needed!
Preregistration HERE is requested for this event!
Bring a snack to share, and I’ll put the kettle on for tea.
All supplies will be provided, but you are more than welcome to bring your favorite scrapbook paper, pens, markers, stencils, etc.
Below are two examples of the style of pocket-sized art journal you will create. They are perfect for exploring bite-sized concepts, so you may find yourself making more once you know how. Yours will be completely unique and on a different topic from the ones pictured.
Thank you so much to everyone who contributed winter accessories, hothands, and cash to support our children and youth service project of creating winter care kits. Having some small action to take when you see a need is one way that we can overcome feelings of hopelessness, and put our shared values of generosity, interdependence, and love into action!
Thanks to your generous donations, everyone in Spirit Play and YRUU created a winter care kit to keep in their car to offer when they cross paths with someone in need. Each kit contained a warm hat, gloves, and 2 ten-hour hothands pouches, along with a note of love and encouragement in a waterproof bag. Some of them also included scarves and artwork from the children. In all, 21 kits were made and a few leftover items were given to the Corvallis Daytime Drop-in Center.
We couldn’t have pulled this off without the support of our amazing community of adults, so thank you!
We’ve got an addition to the Inquirers Series! The Chalice Circle team will now offer an entire session on their special format for small group ministry as the fifth session in the series. That means, if you’ve attended the whole series, you’ve got something fresh to check out!
If you’re one of our participants who has your eye on completing the series and getting your very own home chalice, don’t fret! The old sessions count toward your progress. We hope that you’ll consider attending this new offering as you are able because chalice circles are a distinctly UU way to build deep connections here at the Fellowship, and we want everyone to know how to get plugged in.
If you are interested in checking out the new session, their first offering is scheduled for December 1st at 11:45 in room 8.
The Inquirers Series is an ongoing series of sessions that you may attend in any order, as you are available. Whenever there is a 5th Sunday in a month, Skyla King-Christison will offer UU Roots, which is a deeper dive into UU History.
The updated rotation flyer has been posted beside the welcome desk, but here’s a preview!
On November 14th at 7:15 PM, the RE Council is offering a spiritual enrichment opportunity for our volunteers, and we have some space left for volunteers from other Fellowship teams! If you regularly give your time for the good of the Fellowship and could use some deep relaxation in the form of a 90-minute private sound bath offered by the talented Mark Clem of Sonic Journey, please REGISTER HERE and join us.
Because space is limited, you MUST PREREGISTER, and once the event is full, the registration form will be disabled. Additional instructions for what to bring and what to expect will be emailed to all registered participants on 11/10.