RE Events

Register for Fall RE!

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Parents and guardians, it’s to register your children for the new year of Sunday morning Religious Exploration!

CHILDREN WHO WERE REGISTERED AT ANY POINT LAST YEAR MUST STILL BE REGISTERED Anew BEFORE ATTENDING RE THIS YEAR.

Please read the following descriptions carefully and register each child for the appropriate space. We acknowledge that school grades are not a perfect proxy for age or development. Nonetheless, we find them useful for determining the most appropriate group for most children. If you feel your child would benefit from being in a different group than the one designated below, please reach out to the Director of Religious Exploration, Skyla King-Christison.

THE RAINBOW ROOM

This space is for new walkers through preschool. We may occasionally be able to accommodate infants if the caregiver-to-child ratio allows; however, your infant may be returned to you in the service if more children arrive and it can no longer be safely accommodated. Children in this space may be dropped off in Room 4 of the classroom wing no earlier than 9:50, and should be picked up before their guardians attend coffee hour.

Please register for the Rainbow Room HERE prior to dropping your child off.

SPIRIT PLAY

This space is designed to meet the approximate developmental needs of beloved children in grades K through three. Children in this space begin in the service with their families, and will depart for room 6c as a group after the time for all ages. Guardians should pick them up before attending coffee hour. This group may occasionally be on the playground, through 6c, at pickup time.

Please register for Spirit Play HERE prior to their first Sunday.

SEEKER SPACE

This space is designed to meet the approximate developmental needs of beloved children in grades four through six. Children in this space begin in the service with their families, and will depart for room 9 (upstairs) as a group after the time for all ages. This group will prioritize outdoor time and project-based exploration, so please ensure that they are dress for the weather all year round. This group must be picked up before attending coffee hour.

Please register for Seeker Space HERE prior to their first Sunday.

OPEN MINDS GROUP (OMG!)

This space is designed to meet the approximate developmental needs of beloved children in grades seven through twelve. Youth in this space will be released to come join the adults in the social hall. They do not need to be checked out by guardian, but they are not permitted to linger in the classroom wing unattended. Please discuss expectations with your youth prior to their attendance.

Please register youth for OMG! HERE before their first Sunday

If you have questions about any of our Sunday morning offerings for children and youth, don’t hesitate to contact the Director of Religious Exploration, Skyla King-Christison at dre@uucorvallis.org.

And don’t forget that we have a variety of Religious Exploration offerings for adults this year, and can often provide free childcare with appropriate notice. Check it out and get the whole family engaged in RE!

Mosaic Antiracism Workshop for Adults! Register by 9/1

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Registration is requested HERE.

WHAT: A fun and connecting communal exploration of radical inclusion through the lens of race and culture.

WHEN: Monday evenings, 9/8 – 10/20 from 6:30-8PM

WHERE: Room 7 @ uufc

WHY: Because the social and political landscape is ever-evolving, there will always be more to learn about how to be inclusive, and this will never be a topic we can check off the old to-do list and call it done. In 2020, the Commission on Institutional Change’s report, “Widening the Circle of Concern” (UUA), the commission recommended that we “hold conversations across generations about issues of inclusion, with the goal of recognizing the evolution in our Living Tradition and that spiritual development needs change over time.” Let’s answer that call in Corvallis!

More details:

Each session will include the following elements:

  • Opening: chalice lighting and check-in
  • Read: audio or video of a book or an article to explore together
  • Watch: video
  • Do: craft, game, or other activity
  • Close: chalice extinguishing words and other classroom rituals to close the circle
  • Take Home: suggested activity and/or conversation starter to encourage further faith development at home

We want to see a majority of our adults engaging with this material. We want to see teams and councils putting this learning to work in all we do in every corner of Fellowship life and beyond. We want to do whatever is needed to help you engage deeply, share bravely, and welcome wildly, so if you want to be included and can’t figure out how, or if you have questions or concerns, please reach out to Skyla King-Christison at dre@uucorvallis.org .

PS Our children will be engaging with Mosaic across the year, too! Below are some pictures of our leaders of the children and youth programs getting ready for the juicy and community-building year ahead!

Please Register for the Ice Cream Social, 8/24

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Registration is requested HERE

WHAT: Free ice cream, games, and quiet tables

WHEN: Sunday, August 24th at 7PM

WHERE: Fellowship lawn

WHY: Because it’s connecting to spend time playing together!

All ages are invited to join us for a cold treat and meet ‘n’ greet on the Fellowship lawn on Sunday, August 24th at 7 PM, hosted by the RE Council and teams!

Have a casual chance to welcome Rev. Alex, find out what’s coming up in RE for adults, families, children, and youth in the year ahead. Discuss your brilliant ideas with members of the RE Council and special teams. Catch up with old friends and maybe even meet your new Fellowship bestie over a sundae bar!

We’ll have gluten-free and vegan options available, as well as board games to share.

It would be super helpful in our planning if you would REGISTER HERE, but if you forget, please do come anyway!

See you there!

UUFC Night at the Corvallis Knights! 6/29 @ 5

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Buy your ticket and meet us in section 2 of Goss Stadium on June 29th for a night of scream singing Sweet Caroline and cheering for the home team!

Opening pitch is at 5:00. Come a little early so we can all sit together! By registering HERE, you’ll help us know how many seats to try to save, but there’s no guaranteed seating in general admission. If enough people register to buy a discounted block of tickets together, I will let you know the week before.

Creative Lament Workshop, 7/7

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“Welcoming our sorrow eases the hardened places within us, allowing them to open and freeing us to once more feel our kinship with the living presence around us. This is deep activism, soul activism that actually encourages us to connect with the tears of the world. Grief keeps the heart flexible, fluid, and open to others… Our activism is directly connected to our heart’s ability to respond to the world. A congested heart, one burdened with unexpressed sorrow, cannot stay open to the world, and consequently, cannot be fully available for the healing work so needed at this time.” – Frances Weller, The Wild Edge of Sorrow:

REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED

WHEN: July 7th @ 6:00-8:00

WHERE: Social Hall

WHAT: Workshop offered by Skyla to explore lamentation — the ancient practice of passionately expressing sorrow through language and art. Participants will engage with a formal structure for writing a personal lament and artistically express their grief in the format of a small zine. No artistic skills are needed, and all supplies will be provided.

This workshop was generously provided to religious professionals around the nation by Rev. JaKaren Bell and the UU College of Social Justice, with the invitation to teach this practice in our home congregations. It is our hope that this spiritual practice will provide spiritual sustenance to fuel your justice work.

All youth and adults are welcome.

Crossing Thresholds Group

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Register for this 9-month group HERE by September 8th.

One of the sacred tasks of being human is making meaning of our lives, our identities, and the ever-unfolding story we are part of. In these threshold moments—when something ends and something new begins— ritual, reflection, and community provide needed grounding. 

As Unitarian Universalists, we are blessed with a tradition rich in honoring life’s passages, especially for our children and youth. Yet too often, adults must navigate profound change without the spiritual scaffolding of ritual or the comfort of shared witness.

If you are living through a major life transition— loss of a beloved, birth of a new beloved, retirement, new job, gender transition, new relationship commitment, divorce, recovery, or any other significant turning point—you are not alone.

We invite you to join Crossing Thresholds, a 9-month spiritual journey beginning in September. Together, we’ll explore the depth and complexity of personal transformation through three cycles of reflection.

What to Expect

Each cycle will include a rhythm of ritual, reflection, communal support, and creative exploration guided by a team of facilitators:


At the beginning of each cycle (September, December, March), Susan Sanford will lead a simple, grounding ritual that honors the turning of the Wheel and the thresholds we are crossing. Through embodied practices, evocative imagery, and gentle reflection, you’ll be invited to locate your personal story within the greater rhythm of Earth’s seasons.

The next month of each cycle, Dorrie Board will provide a casual and light-hearted approach (mostly, but sometimes laughter evolves into tears, and that’s ok, too) as you travel through your “seasonal” transition. The bulk of this session will be open discussion and sharing/listening, and lots of laughing, and there might be room for related media and movement. Participants will help to create the flow of each experience as Dorrie is the guide on the side. (October, January, April)

At each cycle’s close (November, February, May), Skyla King-Christison will guide hands-on creative art sessions, including altar making (with Ginny Gibson, as a bonus in September), sigil creation, personal history scrolls, and ancestor collage. These projects were chosen to help us engage with the discomfort of transformation through creative exploration. No art skills needed.

Ongoing Practices
All participants will be invited to:

  • Create a personal altar to live in the UUFC atrium
  • Schedule solo meditation time in the atrium space
  • Join monthly nature-based meditations and socials

Our time together will culminate in the River of Life Service in June, where participants will be lovingly witnessed by the congregation as they cross into what comes next.

If you have any questions, please contact Skyla King-Christison at dre@uucorvallis.org

We’re excited to go on this journey together!

RE Info Session 5/25

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Wondering what’s up in RE? Got some great ideas to share? Well, then you’re invited to a casual RE info session after the service on Sunday, May 25th!

If the weather holds, we’ll gather out back on the concrete benches while the kids frolic, and if its yucky… well, we’ll hang in the back corner of the social hall and speak loudly.

If you can’t make it, but you have questions or ideas, my inbox is always open or you can book an appointment with me here.

See you Sunday!

~ Skyla King-Christison, Director of Religious Exploration

Easter Sunday Values Egg-stravaganza 4/20

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WHAT: UU Values Egg Hunt

WHEN: 4/20 at 11:45

WHERE: Fellowship Lawn, rain or shine!

WHO: children and youth, toddler through 18 year

Friends, hundreds of plastic eggs were found when we moved out of the classroom wing, and we’re excited to put them to good use with a UU Values Egg-stravaganza on Easter Sunday. This is a cooperative rather than competitive hunt, so our youngest kiddos will not risk being overtaken by longer legs. Parents are most welcome to help, as well.

Bring your baskets or use our paper bags. I will give instructions all at once at 11:55 — because this isn’t your ordinary egg hunt! — and set them free to gather and eggs-change on the dot at noon. The hunt will take place, rain or shine, so please dress your children accordingly!

I could still use a couple more volunteers to staff tables and monitor eggs-changes, so if you’ve got some time to give after the service, please contact me at dre@uucorvallis.org! I will set up market tents for volunteers, so don’t let the rain keep you from helping!

CANCELLED: Event Series: Conscientious Objection 4/10, 4/24, 5/8

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FILM SCREENING & DISCUSSION: Soldiers of Conscience, open to all adults, April 10th at6:30 PM in the sanctuary

Informational Session & Q&A: Nuts and Bolts Look at Conscientious Objection for Families, open to all, April 24th at 6:30PM in the sanctuary

YOUTH WORKSHOP: Open to parents and youth with parent’s permission, May 8th at 7 PM in the sanctuary

REGISTER HERE by 4/4!

Questions about conscientious objection, what it is, and what role it plays in Unitarian Universalism are bubbling up more often as the world feels increasingly destabilized. In an effort to address this interest and support our families during uncertain times, a small team has formed to offer resources. Our aim with these offerings is not to convince anyone that Unitarian Universalism has a definitive stance on military service (it does not!) but to help parents and young people collectively explore how their deeply held values and religious beliefs may inform their decisions in the future, and what steps they can take now to safeguard their right to choose should the time ever come when they are compelled into service.

The first 2 offerings in this series are open to any interested adults, with parents strongly encouraged to attend. The film contains graphic footage from war zones and is not suitable for young children. The presentation and Q&A does not contain graphic images or descriptions, but the very reality of having to register for selective service is one that many find disturbing, so please monitor your own and your child’s readiness for those conversations when making decisions about attendance. And finally, the third offering is a workshop to assist youth and their parents in the practical steps of documentation. This session is ONLY open to parents and/or youth who have the written consent of a parent to participate.

If you have any questions or are interested in joining the CO Awareness Team of the RE Council, please contact Skyla King-Christison at dre@uucorvallis.org.