Due to the shifting nature of our Sunday morning services, several of our RE leaders have requested that we have a designated pickup time rather than trying to monitor the service progress and quickly wrap up at various times. We would like to experiment with having parents pick up their children from their RE spaces at 11:30, even if the service wraps up earlier than that. If it runs longer, you do not need to step out to pick up your children. We would simply like to have at least until 11:30 to move through our materials and enjoy each other’s company.
If you have any questions about the plan, please contact Skyla at dre@uucorvallis.org.
We are delighted to announce that the Inquirers Series is finally moving home to Room 7!
If you’ve been attending, you’ll be happy to know that your new space in the classroom wing will come with more comfortable and available seating, and far fewer interruptions. Why? Because Room 7 is a meeting space and not an administrative space.
If you’re wondering why our group was meeting in an office instead of a meeting space, it’s because our beautiful classroom wing was under renovation for the last 6 months and was unsafe for our purposes.
If you’re wondering what the Inquirers Series even is, I’m so glad you’re seeing this! The Inquirers Series consists of 8 regular sessions (outlined in the image below), offered 15 minutes after the Sunday service ends, and designed to help visitors and newcomers understand who we are, what we do, and how to plug into life at UUFC. It’s also an excellent space for folx who have been around for decades to jump in and reconnect with the way we describe ourselves and some of the newer ways of working in concert with others engaged in similar efforts. Whenever there’s a 5th Sunday in the month, Skyla King-Christison offers a special session called “Roots,” which is a deeper dive into our Unitarian and Universalist heritage.
Sessions can be taken in any order, and those who complete the entire series will be recognized with the gift of a lovely ceramic chalice for home or office use.
If you’re new and considering whether to become a member, the Inquirers Series is for you! If you have any questions about the series, please contact Skyla King-Christison at dre@uucorvallis.org.
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.
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!
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!
The Inquirers Series sessions held every Sunday will now be starting 15 minutes after the end of the worship service. This change is to prevent a long wait after service on those days when the worship service ends before 11:30.
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.
We made it through another fabulous Fellowship year! 🙌 With some of your favorite RE activities on summer hiatus, you might be wondering what other opportunities are coming for children, youth, and families. Well, wonder no more!
Grab your calendars and get ready for summer goodness you won’t want to miss!
SUMMER EVENTS for FAMILIES
6/8 Family Hike at Lewisburg Saddle, 1-2PM, register here
6/23-27 Play to Your Values summer camp, 8:30 to 11:30 on the Fellowship Lawn
6/29 Corvallis Knights Game, 5-8ish at Goss Stadium, register here
7/6 Sunday Morning Kids’ Lemonade Stand, during and after the service
7/13 Family Hike at Fitton Green, 1-2PM, register here
8/3 Sunday Morning Sidewalk Chalk Values, during the service for kids Canceled
8/10 Family Hike and Splash at Mary’s River Natural Area, 1-3PM register here
8/16 Outdoor movie night and camping on the lawn, 9PM register here
8/24 Ice Cream Social, 7PM on Fellowship Lawn, register here
SUMMER EVENT for YOUTH
8/24 Youth kickoff river float, noon to whenever, register here
More information about our events can be found below, and info for all events can be found at uucorvallis.org by clicking “News” in the menu bar and then selecting “RE Council” from the drop down menu.
The second Sunday of each month, June through August, we’ll be hosting a family hike. We ask that families preregister so that we know who to wait for at the trailhead, and hikes with fewer than 2 registered families will be canceled via text.
We’ll be starting with Lewisburg Saddle and a little visit to the spot my family calls Salamander Heaven because there are tons of salamanders to see. Then we’ll hit Fitton Green in July. We’ll wrap up the summer with a short walk followed by a splash in a bend in the river that has shallows for little humans and a deeper pool for our confident swimmers on the back side of Mary’s River Natural Area.
Exciting news! The youth will have a dedicated youth room in September and they’ve chosen a wild accent wall to paint themselves. We will begin painting this Sunday and continue on Sundays until the job is done. Please have youth arrive in clothes that can get paint on them.
On the first Sunday of each month, we will have a multiage activity for the kids. In July, we’ll prepare a lemonade stand again to raise money for the charitable organization that the children vote to give to. In August, we’ll spend some time on the playground talking about our shared values and what they mean to us, and then sidewalk chalk the heck out of firwood entrance with 6 word statements about our values.
If you’re nervous about having the kids in the sanctuary again, know that you’ll have relief on the first Sunday of each month!
In addition to hikes and during-service activities, we have a couple of night time activities that are open to the entire congregation, and geared specifically toward families.
On June 29th, we’ll have a ballpark night with the Knights. Buy a ticket and join us in section 2 so we can sing and cheer and eat junk together. Register for that event HERE.
And on August 16th, we’re going to show the classic My Girl on an outdoor movie screen and you’re invited to camp on the lawn and show up to the service in your jammies the next day. Registration for the movie night with camping is HERE. You do not have to camp to come enjoy the movie!
It’s been so much fun getting to know your children over the course of this last year. They are delightful in all the ways and it’s the biggest honor to get to spend time with them week after week and get to know their quirks and gifts.
Thank you for raising such amazing humans and for being committed to doing it in community!
Before you go, some parents have requested to be contacted about RE happenings via text. Our church management software allows for that, but only once you’ve opted in. If you are interested in receiving things like this newsletter via text, please use this form to opt into that service. And please communicate with me about how it’s going if you opt in. Breeze can be a bit fussy, so this will be a new experiment. I’ll be counting on your feedback!
And as always, if you’d like to stop receiving updates about Fellowship RE activities, email me and let me know.
“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:
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.
