Jill McAllister

Porta Potties!

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With thanks to our building team and Gerding, we now have the use of two portable toilets on Sunday mornings, during the classroom wing reconstruction. They are located in the playground area on the west side of the building, behind the fence, accessible by going out the Firwood doors and turning left at the parking lot. Umbrellas are available for use when going to the toilets – find them under the name tag racks.

It’s our watch now.

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The writer Anne Applebaum calls what is happening in our country “regime change.”  That it has happened before in many times and places gives context but not comfort.  The question “what can we do?” feels both feeble and strong.  Like people before us, to the extent we can, we have to now figure out how to keep the flames of love and justice and compassion alive, within us and between us.

This week our justice teams will gather to talk with one another and all who are interested in the conversations.  What work is emerging in the areas we already work in  —  for example immigration and refugee support, equity/diversity/inclusion, and climate action?  What new areas will need our support now?   What do we need to learn?  I hope you’ll be part of the conversation.

Most of our shared values as Unitarian Universalists are at stake. We are the ones who have to carry the flame.  It is our watch now.  

“When Comfort Zone Principles Don’t Apply” 2/16/25

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Fellowship member Blaise Ntakarutimana (now Kevin Shimineza) joins Jill McAllister to tell about his journey as a UU refugee from Burundi, where he was active in a humanist organization and in the newly-established Unitarian congregation in Bujumbura, and was thinking about the possiblity of ministry. Then his life changed when he had to flee Burundi. He’ll talk this morning about his life as a new US citizen in these troubling times, and his hopes for what his experience can offer to others.

Building Renovation Project Update

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Due to many walls needing to be opened for asbestos abatement, we can now add more electrical outlets and cut down on the use of extension cords. Small wall-heaters are being removed, and will be replaced by mini-split air handlers making our HVAC system more efficient overall. The large dumpster in the parking lot will be replaced by a smaller dumpster next week, taking up fewer parking spaces. Extraneous and outdated land-line phone cables are being removed, and a new more efficient water heater has been installed. Our project liasons, Brian Egan and Nick Houtman are very pleased with the care being taking by the Gerding crew, to communicate with us and to contain costs!

Green Apple Award: Support Sustainability Learning in the Corvallis School District

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In January, UUFC Climate Action Team member John Swanson gave a brief presentation about an opportunity for UUFC members and friends to support sustainability learning in the Corvallis School District by helping to establish the Green Apple Award. Presented annually, this award will celebrate and reward staff members who make significant contributions to implementing sustainability learning in the district. In addition, it will shine a spotlight on sustainability initiatives each year, and help integrate sustainability into the ongoing district culture.


Through sustainability learning *“students become lifelong stewards of their environment and community, willing and able to exercise the rights and responsibilities of environmentally literate citizenship, and choose to interact frequently with the outdoor environment.” * Last spring the Corvallis School Board included sustainability learning in its five-year goals. As one step to meet this goal, the district adopted science curricula for grades K-5 and 6-8 grades that include sustainability concepts, making this learning a part of the regular science program.


In addition, through school Green Teams, students are engaged in a variety of hands-on projects like carrying out waste audits; growing and maintaining school gardens; composting; planting native species on school grounds; researching and “adopting” endangered species through the World Wildlife Fund; and learning about the impact of plastics on the environment and encouraging others to reduce its use.


The Green Apple Award Project was developed through a partnership between the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition’s Education Action Team and the Corvallis Public Schools Foundation. Modeled after the district’s Golden Apple Awards, which were established by Mario Pastega in 1996 to recognize outstanding educators, the Green Apple Award will be funded through an endowment managed by the Corvallis Public Schools Foundation and will include a cash award to the recipient. To establish the award in perpetuity we only need to raise $20,000 dollars one time.


We are over halfway to the goal of $20,000. Help us cross the finish line by donating now! As a special incentive, John Swanson will gift a homemade apple pie for donations of $1000 or more!


Donate online to the Corvallis Public Schools Foundation at cpsfoundation.org. In the drop-down list, indicate that you are donating to a “Specific school, program or fund,” and type “Green Apple Award” in the box that appears.


Donate via check to the Corvallis Public Schools Foundation, 1555 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333. Make your check payable to CPSF, and write “Green Apple Award” in the memo line to ensure that your donation is directed.


Let’s show our support for the district’s commitment to sustainability learning while at the same time creating a lasting legacy by establishing the Green Apple Award!

Peter Mayer Returns to the Fellowship, 2/23

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Well-known, and loved, singer-songwriter Peter Mayer is coming to the Fellowship on Sunday, February 23. He’ll be with us for the Sunday service, which will include more than just a few songs. He’ll also be doing concerts at the Eugene UU congregation on Friday night Feb. 21 and at the Salem UU congregation on Saturday night Feb. 22. Plan now to join us on Sunday, and attend either of the other concerts as well.

“What Do You Know?” 2/9/25

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And how do you know you know it? But even more important is “what difference does it make? Martin Luther King Jr said “shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.” And that “nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” The minister/writer Frederick Buechner once said “faith is not being sure where you’re going, but going anyway.” Which leads us to consider the relationship between knowledge and faith, which isn’t as simple as we might assume.

Between Us

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As Unitarian Universalists we greatly value learning and growth. Rev. John W. Brigham, quoted in our hymnal “Singing the Living Tradition” captured this value well: “Go your ways, knowing not the answers to all things, yet seeking always the answer to one more thing than you know.” Our Transcendentalist ancestors called this process of learning and growth “self-cultivation” and they saw it as an essential part of the religious life. So the question “What do you know?” has significance for us.

Using it as a frame, or a prompt, for Black History Month, the questions could include these: What do you know about “The War Before the War?” What do you know about the Harlem Renaissance? The Combahee River Collective? The women of the civil rights movement? The work of Octavia Butler, or Audre Lourde, or Bayard Rustin? What do you know about Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “Case for Reparations”? What do you know about the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, or the St. Luke Penny Savings Banks, or Black Wall Street? How many massacres of African Americans in American cities in the 1900’s can you name? The list goes on and on.

The larger question – the more important for our religious lives, is this: what difference does knowing or not knowing make? Especially now?