sermon summaries

Our guest speaker is Ben Martens, who serves as Community Engagement Coordinator at Jackson Street Youth Services, which offers youth a safe place to live and resources to work through crises and towards a brighter, more stable future. Founded to fill a gap in housing for homeless youth, they now serve youth throughout Linn and Benton Counties.

This sermon will be an exploration of times in life we are trying to fix something…but the best change will come from looking at a bigger picture.  Special reflections on the exciting new Mosaic curriculum this year.

Rev. Alex preaching.  

Bring water to pour into the common bowl as you name the qualities and commitments you bring for the year ahead. We will commission the board and Interim Minister. We will offer blessings to the guides who will work with children and youth this year and the sermon will reflect on the urgency of helping the world by raising the next generation with UU values.

The choir will be back, and Rev. Alex will preach.

There is no worship service on Sunday, August 31, 2025. Instead, come join us at our annual Tuna Roast in Avery Park on Monday, September 1.

As we look ahead to Labor Day next week, let’s explore the many meanings of work and labor.  What do various spiritual traditions have to say?  What does our Unitarian Universalism have to do with the Labor Day solidarity action planned in Corvallis this year?

Rev. Alex McGee will preach.

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