UUFC Giving Tuesday, 12/2

by

UUFC’s Giving Tuesday is an opportunity for us celebrate and put into practice our UU values of Generosity and Justice. For 2025, our contributions will benefit the South Corvallis Food Bank, where the need is greater than ever. Video: <https://kval.com/newsletter-daily/need-for-food-reaches-all-time-high-in-corvallis-food-bank-says>

You can contribute

  1. via Breeze by selecting Giving Tuesday from the Give To drop-down menu
  2. via check payable to UUFC with memo “Giving Tuesday”
  3. via cash in an envelope marked with your name and “Giving Tuesday”

Thank you.

Questions: treasurer@uucorvallis.org

Show Your True Colors

by

“The highest virtue among church greeters is their willingness to express human kindness… suggest, lead, guide, or do anything that is an extension of the human smile.” – Leslie Parrott, author

UU’s live out our faith through our service to others. True spiritual growth, in ourselves and in our Fellowship, arises, in part, through our connectedness with others. You are the smiling, welcoming face of the UUFC.

If you would like to join this Team, please contact anyone at the Greeter desk or contact the Heather E. at this link. We can all use a helping hand. See you Sunday!

Evacuation Drill Followup

by

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Evacuation Drill on November 2.
A number of issues were identified that need to be addressed to improve our overall plan.

Do you have expertise or interest in Emergency Preparedness at UUFC?
Please contact Wolfgang D. or Rev. Alex to join a team of 3-4 people to evaluate and revise the Evacuation Plan and address other important UUFC Safety Issues.

Grief and the Holidays

by

Dear congregation:

We are approaching holidays. This means different things to different people. But what it likely means for all of us is memories of years gone past.

The memories may take a very sensory form: the scents of special foods, the sights of special lights, the sounds of special songs.

But sometimes the holidays can be tender if things have changed in painful ways.

It likely means memories with people who may not be here anymore. That could be family members. Friends. A beloved clergy person.

Part of our spiritual life is to honor our grief. In the midst of holiday festivities, I hope you can find time for quiet moments, for tears, for talking about the people you are missing right now.

Surely this Fellowship itself will have a different tenor because the minister of 11 years is not here. People are finding new ways to do things and stepping into new roles. It will look different, feel different, sound different. This is all a natural part of a grief and change process. I honor that.

May all of us find wholeness as we live into the fullness of all our emotions in all the chapters of our lives.

In peace
Alex

Rev. Alex McGee is serving this Fellowship as Interim Minister and is available to be contacted at rev.alex.mcgee@uucorvallis.org.

UU Advent Daily Email Series: Register by 11/27

by

Rev. Ralph Roberts created a UU version of an Advent calendar, with little factoids about the influence that Unitarians and Universalists in history had on the winter holidays. We will once again be converting these tidbits into a daily Advent email series to land in your inbox every morning from December 1st through the 24th. You can register to be on that limited-run mailing list HERE by November 27th. Please note that, due to technological limitations, we will not be able to add any recipients to the list after the 27th.

Worship Web offers the following disclaimer about the Advent series: “Due to its temporal nature, many of the historic milestones in this Advent calendar aren’t necessarily recognized on the precise day that they’re celebrated (for example, Kwanzaa is recognized here on December 2nd instead of December 26th, and the December 12 image recognizes Clara Barton’s birthday (December 25, 1821). More than perfect historic accuracy, then, this Advent calendar is offered in the spirit of holding up and delighting in the ways that our Unitarian and Universalist ancestors had a foundational role in many of the winter holidays and the innumerable ways they’re celebrated by people everywhere.”

November 16, 2025 – Desire in the Spiritual Life

by

Throughout history, humans have expressed a sensual desire for the divine in such texts as Song of Solomon and the Bhagavad Gita. And, many spiritual autobiographies record longings of the heart. How can we be alert to the role of desire in our spiritual lives?

Rev. Alex McGee will preach

Reflections on a week of Care and Planning

by

This past week at the Fellowship has continued our focus on safety as a way to care for each other.  Our fire drill on Sunday showed many learning opportunities.  If you are interested in helping carry this foward, please be in touch with Wolfgang Dengler.  On Monday, 20 UUFC leaders spent three hours learning about how to respond if ICE comes to the building.  This was emotionally draining but gives us concrete information to begin to implement plans.  

The interim ministry process of reviewing history and clarifying identity continues to show up in many ares of Fellowship life.  In many conversations, new members are learning from long term members about the dreams, efforts, and successes in this congregation.  One example is the congregation’s strong work to get volunteers to help with staffing programs for people who are unhoused.  Another example is the strong history of supporting food access programs.  And now, even more, these programs are being bolstered.  If you would like to help, please be in touch with Mike Jager, Roberta Smith, and Roz Keeney.

A wonderful book called In the Interim has been created by the Unitarian Universalist Association for congregations to understand more about the opportunities to use this time well — after a Settled minister leaves and before another arrives.  Three copies of the book are in our library – please check one out and see what insights you gain.  Staff, board, and the Transitions Team each have a copy and report they are getting relief from seeing how other congregations have thrived in their interim time.  A wonderful conversation starter!

Also, in the past week, I have seen the many quiet ways members of this congregation care for each other during hospitalizations and in nursing homes.  These connections happen through cards, phone calls, texts, and visits.  Much sweetness is exchanged in these supportive moments.  This is one more way the spiritual life shows up and nourishes us, as we give and as we receive.  

Looking forward to more joy, connection, and justice,
Looking forward to more listening, learning, and growing,
Looking forward to more history and honoring the past,
With gratitude for the marvel of this amazing Fellowship — how it touches inward and outward,
In peace
Rev. Alex McGee

Connect Up: Rich hosting Thanksgiving Dinner/Potluck, 11/27

by

Thanksgiving will be here in just a few days: why not celebrate it with eighty or more people at UUFC?   Members, friends, family, and out-of-town guests are welcome.  Instead of staying home and doing all the work and cooking, come here and do just a little work (if you are willing and able), a little cooking, and with little expense.  The Fellowship provides turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, beverages, and the Social Hour appetizers.  Also a five pound tofu turkey, vegan and GF.  Each family unit (of 1 or more humans) brings a potluck dish (salad, bread, dessert, veggie side dish, vegetarian/vegan main dish, cranberries, potatoes/yams, stuffing, etc.) or cooks one of the 4 turkeys (cost reimbursed).  The suggested donation is $5.00/person to cover costs, but no one is turned away for lack of funds.  Any surplus money will go to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund, or the South Corvallis Food Bank.

We need to know how many tables and chairs to set up for dinner, so sign up after Sunday service (starting at 10 AM) on 11/23, or call/email Rich, or sign up on Breeze, by Wednesday night, November 26, and also tell him what food you will probably bring, and if you are able to volunteer for a job.

Schedule:
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.  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?

HELP! As of newsletter deadline, I still need people to sign up for clean up, and putting away the tables and chairs, and to help with the social hour.  Also, many people signed up to come but gave no indication of what they might be bringing to the potluck.  At the moment we have only 4 desserts, and two vegetable side dishes.

Childcare is available!

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

Volunteer for Holiday Fair, 12/6

by

The Holiday Fair team is looking for volunteers to help prepare for and run the event. We need help with various tasks leading up to the event, including baking goodies to donate to the event, posting flyers in Corvallis and nearby communities, organizing donated items for the recycled gifts room where children can shop for inexpensive items for themselves or gifts for family and friends, and making fresh greenery swags for people to hang on their doors. We also need a baked goods coordinator to accept and package/price baked goods on Friday and organize running the table on Saturday. And on the day of the event, we need volunteers to act as greeters, cashiers, musicians, and helpers to restore the sanctuary when the Holiday Fair is over.

The UUFC Holiday Fair is open to the public and is a great place to purchase unique handmade crafts as gifts for friends and family and yourself. The craft vendors retain most of the purchase price of their crafts, and a portion goes to the UUFC as one of our annual fund-raising events. If you are able to help, you’ll enjoy being part of a team that is working to support local craftspeople as well as the UUFC.

Sign up to help at one of the links below.
Volunteering Before the Holiday Fair
Volunteering During the Event
A document describing the different volunteering positions can be found here. Please reach out to holiday.fair@uucorvallis.org with questions.

Do you have small holiday decorations that we can add to the greenery swags? Bring them with you when you next come to UUFC and place them in the red holiday swag box in the foyer.

Do you have inexpensive gift items that a child could purchase for no more than $2 to give to a friend, sibling, or other relative? Bring them to a Sunday service at UUFC and give them to Judy Westlake, Rachel McGrath, or Bonnie Morihara.

Childcare is available!

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