Fifth Annual Street-Tree Planting, 12/6

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On the morning of Sat. 6 Dec., UUFC, through the Climate Action Team, will do our fifth annual collaboration with the City of Corvallis to plant street trees. In the past, we have twice planted along NW Conifer Blvd and once each in Willamette and Avery Parks. This year we will plant eight deciduous trees along the north side of SE Goodnight Drive between Collins Pl and Aldrin Pl.

We need a dozen volunteer tree planters. Please email treasurer@uucorvallis.org to sign up for a couple of hours of fellowship and righteous physical labor on the morning of Sat 6 Dec, rain or shine.

Childcare is available!

Free childcare can usually be arranged for any Fellowship event by using this link 1-2 weeks prior to the event.

November 9, 2025 – Why It Matters to Come Together

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While Unitarian Universalism welcomes many ways of believing, we have agreements about membership in this congregation. The sermon will explore how commitment to a religious community can be rewarding and what mutual relationship looks like. New members will be publicly welcomed.  In anticipation of Veterans Day on Tuesday, we will have time in our service for sharing and reflection.

Rev. Alex McGee will preach

OMG! (Open Minds Group, grades 7-12)

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OUR PHILOSOPHY

Our youth programs are designed to prioritize the immediate needs of the youth above the regularly scheduled programming, recognizing that these can be turbulent and fruitful years with a high degree of need for compassionate mentoring and social support.

Our formal programming aims to help participants notice their experiences with the sacred, clarify their own personal values while learning what it means to be Unitarian Universalist, and gain practice expressing their own religious convictions through action toward a better world.

It is our goal that these aims be accomplished through adult/youth partnerships rather than direct teaching, so as capacities develop in our youth for leadership, space is made for a greater portion of our time together to be directed by youth, while adults lean into a mentoring and advisory role.

Check our what to expect in YRUU (Young Religious Unitarian Universalists) below!

HOW TO REGISTER

Before the service, we ask that parents register their children for OMG!. You can do this by scanning the QR code outside of room 10 (upstairs) or at the Welcome Desk OR by using this link. Registering helps us create the safest possible learning experience for your child!

While youth are permitted to check themselves in and out of OMG!, we ask that you and your children be aware that we do not permit children or youth to linger unsupervised in the classroom wing. This provides a layer of safety for both our children and adults, and helps us ensure that our youth are an integrated part of our larger congregational community. Thank you for your support in this area.

WHERE TO GO AND WHEN

Youth should obtain a nametag, just like their parents, either at the welcome desk or from the nametag racks, depending on how long you’ve been attending.

Youth begin with their families in the sanctuary for shared worship. It is important to us that our youth know that they are part of a larger community than just what takes place in the classroom wing. We want them to know and be known by all the members of the Fellowship, and understand their importance in our community.

After the time for all ages, our Junior Worship Associate will light the classroom lantern from the chalice, and the congregation will sing Go Now Children. At this time, all children and youth will follow the lantern to their classrooms.

THE EXPERIENCE

When youth arrive in room 10, we will always start with a chalice lighting and brief check-in about how things are going in life, to help get centered in a spirit of community and worship. If appropriate, we move into the lesson for the day. After the session, we’ll have some closing words, extinguish the chalice, and youth are invited to join the wider congregation in the social hall. Light snacks are provided during the session, and donations for the cause of the month are accepted in the social hall after services.

This year, the youth are using the Mosaic antiracism program provided by the UUA. Each week they will review their group covenant, play games, engage in exploration around topics relating to our shared values and the curriculum, and have a chance to engage in shared leadership with their advisors.

Please send any questions about our children’s and youth programs to the Director of Religious Exploration, Skyla King-Christison at dre@uucorvallis.org

Connect Up: Rich Hosting Thanksgiving at the Fellowship, 11/27

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Rich is organizing a Thanksgiving dinner at the Fellowship! He needs to know how many people plan to attend, what side dishes they’ll bring, and if they want to help do some of the work leading activities. You can RSVP to Rich in-person after Sunday worship service (which starts at 10 AM), call Rich, or fill out the form linked below.

RSVP

The schedule for the festivities is:

10:30 a.m. Set up at UUFC.
4:30 p.m. Social hour at UUFC.
5:30 p.m. Turkey dinner with vegetarian/vegan alternatives. $5.00 suggested.
Please RSVP.
7:30 p.m. Conversation, table games, and clean up. Please stay and mellow out,
visit, or bring a favorite board game. Is anyone interested in doing charades?

Adopt-a-Highway Cleanup, 11/8

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Our next Adopt-A-Highway litter pickup will be on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025 9 AM – 12 noon.

Meet in the BiMart parking lot at the corner of 53rd and Philomath Blvd.

Wear sturdy shoes, clothes for the weather, and gloves. Reflective vests, pickers and bags will be provided.

Newcomers are very welcome. If we get 8 people, the total route breaks down to 1 mile per pair of pickers.

Use the SignUpGenius form https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0C4AAFA723A6F85-60108683-fall or email Scott Bruslind.

Childcare is available!

Free childcare can usually be arranged for any Fellowship event by using this link 1-2 weeks prior to the event.

History, Leadership, Connections, the Future…and a fire drill

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From Interim Minister Rev. Alex McGee October 31, 2025

Dear Fellowship:

This week I have been learning history of the congregation through one-on-one conversations.  John Bailey gave me a tour of the memorial gardens and memorial plaques.  Rich Brainerd shared about the tradition of the Thanksgiving dinner.  Russ Karow described his children attending RE before the two buildings were connected. In Fellowship Care and Support meeting, I learned about long term members who receive visits from other members.  In the Facilities Council, we sorted keys that go to doors that reflect various chapters from the past decades. In all these stories, I hear dates going back to the 1970s and 80s.

Through these conversations, I hear about leadership in the form of stewarding our facilities, stewarding connections, stewarding the next generation.  I observe this congregation’s rich history of shared ministry.

I encourage you to find conversation partners who will share with you about their history in this place and what they celebrate.  

What I know is that the history of this congregation reveals the many gifts of leadership and shared ministry.  One of my goals in the coming time of interim ministry is to help you celebrate these gifts.  Another goal is to help you look together at what needs are current today.  And ask each other what history you want to create in the coming decades — with love and courage that builds a future that is relevant and risks new life.

Let us all listen for how leadership and shared ministry needs to look in the coming years.  In fifty years, what will members say about how the congregation stepped boldly into the future in 2025?

And:  this Sunday we will practice evacuating the building at the end of service.  This is important, caring work so that parents and kids can practice our plan for connecting up at the evacuation site, and so that we can identify ways to improve accessibility for all types of mobility.

Peace and love,
Rev. Alex 

Rev. Alex McGee is serving as Interim Minister and can be reached at rev.alex.mcgee@uucorvallis.org.

Oh – the Joyful Noise!

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You’re invited to join the Choir and get your heart pumping, your lungs expanding, and your feel-good hormones triggering. Plus, the choir is a place to improve memory and creativity and to improve social connections and confidence.

Under the direction of Steven Evans-Renteria, we are preparing songs for the holidays at UUFC and elsewhere. These are exciting times.

We meet every Wednesday at 7:00 PM in the Sanctuary. Contact Director Steven Evans-Renteria for more information at this link or just come for rehearsal. Hope to see you.

Reserve Your Holiday Tree

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The number of Holiday Trees is limited this year. To reserve yours, please use the Order Form. Your reservation will be confirmed once payment is received and recorded. Payment can made be via Breeze to “Unpledged Donation” with note “Holiday Trees,” by check to UUFC with memo “Holiday Trees,” or by cash in an envelope marked with your name and “Holiday Trees.” The Breeze option is recommended because checks and cash will not be recorded until the Monday following receipt, and your tree will not be reserved until payment is recorded. The form will be updated daily to show trees still available. Unreserved trees will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information on Holiday Trees, click here. Questions: treasurer@uucorvallis.org.

Important Information for Evacuation Drill, 11/2

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Important information for congregants to know about the Evacuation Drill happening November 2 at the end of the 10 AM Worship Service

As soon as the fire alarm is triggered, five pre-designated volunteers move into action to assist in the rapid evacuation of everyone in all parts of the building. One at Primary Evacuation Meeting Area, one at Backup Evacuation Meeting Area, one Evacuation Manager at the Firwood glass double doors, one at the entry driveway, and one to manage the babies and infants in Room 4.

The Primary Evacuation Meeting Area (PEMA) is at the upper end of the parking lot; signs identify the area. To reach this meeting area, from the sanctuary, exit through the wooden double doors into the Foyer and then out the glass Firwood double doors; or walk out the single sanctuary side door onto the sidewalk and then on to the parking lot.

There is a designated Backup Evacuation Meeting Area (BEMA) located on the back deck patio by the Ampinefu Oak tree. It is preferable for EVERYONE to meet at PRIMARY meeting area, but mobility issues or other difficulties may make that impossible. To reach the Backup meeting area, exit from the Social Hall onto the deck, then down the ramp or the steps and meet on the oak tree patio. A volunteer wearing a high-visibility emergency vest will be waiting there and will have a radio to communicate with the volunteer at the Primary Evacuation Meeting Area.

For people sitting in the Sanctuary Gallery: it is best to exit through the Sanctuary’s main double doors, or to walk through the Social Hall into the foyer and out to PEMA. Though there is a Back Exit Door in the Gallery, this is not a preferred exit because there is a possibly-slippery ramp, gravel and grass walkway leading to the BEMA.

People in the Social Hall, Kitchen, Office, and Library should all exit through the foyer to the PEMA. If the path is obstructed, or an individual is unable to travel the distance to the PEMA, then they should evacuate to the BEMA.

While the Sanctuary, Social hall, and attached spaces are being evacuated, a simultaneous evacuation will happen in the Classroom Wing. All children will evacuate out of Rooms 6A and 6B onto the deck, then down the ramp and through the gate to the PEMA, where they will be reunited with their parents. NO ONE IS TO ENTER THE CLASSROOM WING DURING THE EVACUATION, THE METAL FIRE DOORS ARE TO REMAIN CLOSED TO HELP SUPPRESS ANY FIRE AND SMOKE.

In a true evacuation emergency people are advised to not waste time retrieving possessions like jackets. For this drill, we advise people to keep their jackets with them during the worship service if they wish to have some protection for the 15-20 minutes we will be outside. People trying to access the closet would cause considerable congestion during a real evacuation.

November 2nd is also Time-Change Sunday: remember to move your clocks back one hour at midnight!

Wolfgang D., Emergency Response Coordinator