The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis
Elders Thriving in Community is hosting a finger-food potluck, book/puzzle/game exchange, and time for getting to know your peers. Wednesday, December 10, 3 – 4:30 PM, in the Social Hall. Please bring cookies, fruit or other easy snacks to share, and 1 – 3 books, puzzles or games to trade.
Free childcare can usually be arranged for any Fellowship event by using this link 1-2 weeks prior to the event.
Update on the holiday trees for sale! SevenOaks Nursery said the 3-gallon Willamette Valley Ponderosa pine are disappointing as Holiday Trees, while the 3-gallon Douglas firs and 5-gallon Ponderosa pine look good. So… The 3-gallon Ponderosa pine option is replaced with the 5-gallon Ponderosa pine. The cost for the 3-gallon Douglas fir is $25, for the 5-gallon Ponderosa pine $30. Trees can be reserved using this form: https://forms.gle/E964qxccpYpRQzJw8 and they will be available on a first-come, first served basis at the Fellowship starting on Sunday, Nov. 30.
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 January 2nd. 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. Know a non-UU parent who could use a break? Feel free to share!
Registration is required for this event, and will close on 12/20.
Guest speaker Hilary Hughes brings the wisdom from her Masters of Divinity and compassion from her Masters of Social Work to help us reflect on mental health during the holidays.
Rev. Hilary Hughes will preach
“Being present” has many layers. What does it mean for us during these winter days?
Rev. Alex McGee will preach
In this all-ages Sunday service, the gifts of children and youth in our congregation will shine as we reflect on Solstice together. Be ready for deep reflection and getting to know your neighbor a little better.
Skyla King-Christison, Director of Religious Exploration, has designed this service and will lead along with children, youth, and Rev. Alex McGee
Invite friends and family to this gentle, reflective service in which we honor the gifts in the age-old message of people travelling with hope. We will enjoy the lighting of candles, with appropriate candle options for all ages!
Rev. Alex McGee will preach
Come enjoy inspiration from poetry as we acknowledge the end of a calendar year and anticipate the beginning of a new year.
Thea Hart is coordinating this service and many members and friends will be readers. Rev. Alex McGee will help lead.
WHAT: A celebration of the human urge to keep trying, and all the necessary failure along the way.
WHEN: December 29th from 5:30 to 8:30 (maybe earlier, but who knows?)
WHERE: The Social Hall
WHO: Any adults who needs to process the things that didn’t work out last year before moving on to plan with hope for the year ahead.
REGISTRATION REQUIRED: HERE by 12/20
There is no progress without failure. Yet, in our culture that is focused on sharing highlight reels, it’s easy to forget that there are no real overnight successes. The road to “what’s next” is littered with beautiful “almosts” and “not quites.” Before you start thinking about New Year’s resolutions, come share in a celebration of this past year’s failures that got you to where you are now.
The evening will begin with a comfort food potluck to ease into togetherness and connection. When we’re feeling full and ready, we’ll reflect on a year’s worth of things that didn’t quite go our way, grieve the dreams that maybe we’re giving up on, and celebrate the new vision that is forming as a result of our failures.
At this event, you can expect some tears, some laughs, and some dancing under disco lights. Best of all, you can expect to walk away with a deeper sense of community because vulnerable sharing and mutual support are an exceptional foundation for new friendships.
Don’t miss it! Come, let us celebrate you and your awesome, brave failures!
2945 NW Circle Blvd, Corvallis
Posted November 10, 2025 – open until filled
Contact – office@uucorvallis.org
We are inviting proposals for price and schedule to clean our church building. The building includes a vinyl-floored sanctuary with free-standing chairs (~2500 sq ft), kitchen (vinyl), social hall (wood), lobby (masonry), six single bathrooms, and 15 other office, library or meeting rooms with carpet, wood or vinyl flooring. We need the building cleaned at the end of the week before our Sunday service and then again early in the week after Sunday service.
This morning Reverend Alex invited us to reflect on desire as a spiritual quality. How can we learn to recognize and trust the spiritual desires within ourselves? When we learn to notice how our spiritual longings take shape as well as to honor the spiritual desires of others, our lives and the lives of those around us will become richer with meaning and purpose.
Massenet’s famous Méditation from Thaïs has been played at weddings, funerals, and all manner of occasions that call for a moment of beauty, emotional depth, and reflection. The opera Thaïs is centered upon Thaïs, a hedonistic courtesan whose life is filled with shallow pleasures and transactional relationships. Thaïs is jaded and nihilistic, living for luxury and the moment, without any substantial meaning to her existance. The monk Athanaël – whose motives aren’t entirely altruistic – warns Thaïs that only focusing on the good life and other superficial indulgences is ultimately empty and destructive. Thaïs is resistant to Athanaël’s urging, but while the intention behind his words isn’t pure, his message forces her to take a look at herself and as the Méditation is performed, Thaïs comes to the realization that she wants something deeper and real. After this revelation, Thaïs abandons her old life and her soul feels fulfilled when she dies at the opera’s conclusion.
Carolyn McDade’s beloved UU hymn “Spirit of Life” carries an astonishing amount within its six brief lines and can be sung in connection with compassion, justice, community, freedom, nature, and the mystery of being. Today, it served as an expression of desire in the form of openness and receptivity, especially in light of Alex’s explanation that desire sometimes comes in a form that we don’t recognize. The original hymn is beautiful as written, but for this service I used slightly altered chords to evoke a stronger sense of yearning, along with an open-ended cadence that suggests hope and continuation rather than a neat and tidy conclusion.
Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” is such a wonderful example of really good song-writing. The melody is lovely and actually goes somewhere (rather than a repetitive phrase that depends on the lyrics or artist’s voice to make it enjoyable), the text is honest and vulnerable, the beautiful harmonic progressions underline the meaning of the lyrics, and the stark transparency of the accompaniment lets the well-crafted melody, words, and harmonies shine, rather than gilding the lily. I can think of no song that better expresses desires that are wistful and deeply human with this level of emotion and simplicity.
Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky” served as today’s postlude and while fast and fun, it still highlights a different facet of spiritual desire: a bright, declamatory longing for connection with something larger than ourselves. Greenbaum wrote this song after being inspired by a gospel music performance; he didn’t share the theology behind the music, but was profoundly moved by the joy and conviction he experienced. “Spirit in the Sky” captures a particular sort of desire so wonderfully – an energetic pull toward meaning, invigoration, and clarity – not to mention a wildly catchy guitar riff! May this postlude serve as a reminder to move toward hope, toward transformation, and toward whatever “sky” or horizon holds meaning for you.
There has never been a better time for us to dig into our spiritual toolbox to center our souls, engage in a practice of self love and self compassion, and connect to our souls so that we can engage with each other from a space of love and joy. Dr. Bird will talk about storytelling as an act of persistence and how we can walk the good road to support our community.
Dr. Melissa Bird will preach
Ron Wrolstad was a long time member of UUFC. He and his wife Kathy raised their two daughters here. Ron was known for his steady attendance, he played the piano, was a longtime member of a book club here, and contributed in many other ways. Ron died here in Corvallis on Saturday, October 11th, 2025 from complications related to Alzheimers disease. Members of the Fellowship have described him as leading an exceedingly meaningful life as a husband, father, grandfather, scientist, teacher, colleague, student mentor, bicyclist, story-teller, and good friend.
The recording of the service can be viewed below, or on YouTube at https://youtu.be/Zly12v7-73g. It will stay available on our UUFC website and UUFC YouTube page for future viewing.
UUFC joins our Unitarian Universalist Association in honoring Transgender Remembrance Day on November 20, and a reading will be included in our service this Sunday. May we continue to do the work for safety and well-being of all people.
Read the press release from the UUA and 9 other faith groups here.