sermon summaries

Habits help a person get through life with ease, but sometimes those habits don’t serve us when we encounter new situations.  Many people are experiencing new situations in public safety, national economy, and also right here in the Fellowship.  What spiritual practices can guide us to be present and act skillfully – both as individuals and community?  
Rev. Alex McGee will preach.

With the support of individuals, the City of Corvallis, the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition, and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis, Seeds for the Sol has helped over 450 households experiencing low income to reduce their power bills and upgrade the value of their homes. Learn about what you can do, in these times, to make your own home more efficient and to continue to help others in your community! Energy efficiency as a subversive act! We firmly believe that energy efficiency is an important path toward a livable planet.

Julie Williams, Seeds for the Sol

Join us as we gather at the sacred threshold of Lammas, the festival of first harvest. In this season of fullness and change, we’ll pause to honor the fruits of our lives—what is ripening, what is ready to be shared, and what must be gently released.

Through song, story, ritual, and reflection, we’ll weave together ancestral wisdom and our own lived experience—carrying the grain of our becoming into community and into the unknown future.

Come celebrate the bread we are making with our lives.

Bring a bit of garden abundance to share with others, or nonperishable food for the South Corvallis Food Bank. Let us meet this turning with open hearts and hands.

We’ll also be introduced to our interim minister, Rev. Alex McGee, who started with us on August 1.

Wheel of the Year Team

As we near the end of a year filled with threshold moments, cultural upheaval, and deep transformation, we gather to reflect on the journeys we’ve taken. Through brief stories offered by members of our community, we’ll explore what has challenged us, what has grounded us, and what has brought joy amid uncertainty. Together, we’ll honor the resilience, practices, and wisdom that have helped us navigate these shifting tides.

The world has gotten smaller and we’re affected more strongly than we have been before. The truth is we have always been connected and change has been a constant. It seems so accelerated now. What can make it easier? Come and find out!

Hosted by Rev. Leslie Chartier

We come to the end of a chapter in the life of the Fellowship – a chapter covering twelve years of ministry shared between us. Twelve years of immense change in the world, twelve years of leaning into it all together.  I have so much gratitude – it would be impossible to thank you enough, but I will aim in that direction.  Now we move toward the future  – two new chapters: the ongoing life and health of the Fellowship, and my transition into retirement.  We will move in different directions, but the connections we’ve made and the love we’ve shared will remain.  Let’s share blessings for each other as we take these new steps.   

With Rev. Jill McAllister

After the service, stay to dance! Adriel Molk will lead several easy folk dances. Room TBD, depending on temperatures….

In the end, all the elements of a religious and spiritual life – the practices and beliefs, the things we learn, the ways in which we change, what we yearn for and need, and more – lead into how we exist in relation to ourselves, others and Life.  What we do, think and feel, affect what occurs between us.   For thirteen years this has been my framework, shared in writing and preaching.  This morning let’s think about interdependence, and I’ll aim to summarize what I’ve learned with you and from you.    

We’ll also take time to reflect on the huge project of renovation of our classroom wing, now almost finished.  We’ll extend our thanks and appreciation to the volunteers who made it possible, and invite all to have a tour of the renewed spaces after the service. 

With Rev. Jill McAllister

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!