The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis
As we get closer to a ministerial transition – a major event in the life of the Fellowship – let’s consider what ministry is in the UU tradition, what roles a minister plays in congregational life, and what that means for the lives of members and friends of the Fellowship.
With Rev. Jill McAllister, and special music from Johanna Beekman
When we’re afraid, when we’re angry, when we are confused and wonder what to do, here’s a possibility. Return to love. Return to love again, and again and again. The more we are willing to return to this starting point, the more we learn about it. Love can mean courage. It can mean kindness and concern. It can mean justice and perseverance and compassion. When I began (again) at the Fellowship in 2013, our first theme was Love. Let’s start there again and consider what we’ve learned. With Rev. Jill McAllister
UUFC’s Queerly Beloved group and Sexuality and Gender Diversity Justice Team host this Pride Month Sunday Service, and welcome guest preacher Rev. Lazarus Justice Jameson. The service will include remembering some Fellowship history around LGBTQIA+ welcoming and justice work, and embodying our commitments to LBGTQIA+ welcoming and justice in these days of increased danger. It will also include a blessing of chosen names and families. Please join us!
What kind of identity do we choose to embrace to meet the moments that life, events and circumstances throw at us? It is not just to know who we are but to decide who we need to be and become. A place where our chosen identity, fueled by our behaviour will lead to a world of our values. Come reflect with Rev. Mwibutsa
The ‘regular’ church year – or the church year as it corresponds to the school year – is drawing to a close. Once again it is time to reflect on and celebrate the gifts and responsibilities of being this beautiful multi-generational congregation.
We will honor and share blessings with children and youth who are moving into new areas of religious exploration. We’ll honor and share blessing with our bridging high school senior on her way to becoming a young adult. We’ll renew our commitments to support one another at every bend in the river of life. Please join us! With Skyla King-Christison and all.
Join us to welcome to the Fellowship Peter Betjemann, the Executive Director of PRAx at OSU. The new Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts aims to spotlight intersections between the arts and all other disciplines at the university. It focuses on connections, both classical and innovative. Patricia Reser herself understands it this way: “The arts invite us to see, to think, to listen, to feel, and to reflect. I can’t imagine a more urgent path for humans and for humanity.” Peter Betjemann will reflect with us on this first year of PRAx and the vital role of the creative arts in these times in the world.
The UUFC choir, under the direction of Steven Evans-Renteria, presents a service of beautiful music with readings and contemplation, to nurture us inside and out. With the added artistry of Lauren Servias at the piano and George Beekman on percussion, and Rev. Jill McAllister in support. Come ready to indulge and appreciate, then stay afterward for our Annual Meeting – all UUFC members are needed and encouraged to attend.
Parenting (from mothers, fathers, siblings, others) is an important part of the process we call “growing up,” though it is only one part, and perhaps not always the most important part. If we have received good enough parenting to have survived to adulthood, what are the further steps and sources for growing up? (It’s pretty clear that many so-called adults still have a long way to go… for example, most current US government leaders?) Let’s consider religious learning and growth as the next steps.
With Rev. Jill McAllister
PS – Come greet and welcome visitor Rev. Lynn Gardner, former UUFC member.
We sing this every Sunday: “We are here together in this holy moment, and we’re grateful for the winding road that brought us to this place.” They are lovely words, and they are more important than most of us can imagine. They speak to the profound human need for gathering, for collective wisdom and encouragement, for being a worshipping community – a congregation. “Worship” is a word, and an idea, that has taken generations for UUs to return to. We need a shared understanding of the movements and the consequences of worship, now more than ever.
With Rev. Jill McAllister
On the wheel of the year, Beltane comes between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice. Spring is in full bloom, new growth is all around, and the days continue to lengthen. The Earth calls us to give attention, to rejoice in beauty, to keep moving with the season. Join us for a Beltane of Homecoming—not to the past, but to relationship. When the world feels uncertain, Earth still turns. Let us turn with Her.