As a foundational story, the Exodus, in the Hebrew Bible, remains one of the most essential for us. It is part of “where we come from.” Our current, modern understandings of social justice and right relations emerged from this story and it has been interpreted again and again in American history. The telling of the Exodus story is at the center of Passover (Pesach) in the Jewish community, which begins this year on Saturday April 12 at sundown. Let’s tell it again, and listen for the wisdom and courage it offers us for the these days we live in now.
With Rev. Jill McAllister
Stay after the service to meet and greet Jamie Petts and share appreciation for her years of service to the Fellowship as our Operations Manager, and to wish her well in her new endeavors.
As I heard Jill speak about the roles and impact that poetry holds in today’s world, a very faint memory arose in my mind, growing stronger as she continued describing how poetry can touch, comfort, and inspire us. My daughter has been watching the delightful animated film “Sing” recently, which opens with a soulful rendition of “Golden Slumbers” sung by a grand old diva, voiced by singer Jennifer Hudson. Anyone with children knows how a favorite movie will be played on repeat again and again, and will understand why this song would be floating around my head! But until this morning’s poetry “sermon”, I had forgotten that the lyrics of this wonderful work by Paul McCartney have roots in a very old poem by Elizabethan dramatist and writer Thomas Dekker. In his youth, Paul found the above poem set to music sitting on his father’s piano; unable to read music notation at the time, Paul sat down and created his own melody for the poem, adjusting the text to fit his tune.
“I liked the words so much. I thought it was very restful, a very beautiful lullaby, so I just sat at the piano and started playing with it.”
—Paul McCartney (from Many Years From Now, Barry Miles, 1997)
Such a universal and timeless sentiment, wanting to soothe and urge rest for those we love, especially in times of trouble and discord. Upon recalling this memory, I couldn’t not play this piece of music with poetic origins for the offertory, especially when it paired so beautifully with our choir anthem, Billy Joel’s “Lullabye”.
Congratulations to Kim D for completing all 9 Inquirers Series session! Kim asked to be presented with her finisher’s gift of a home chalice within the circle of her final Inquirers Series session rather than in front of the congregation. She attends services primarily online, and hopes to start helping with the Fellowship grounds. If you bump into her while she’s working on the property, be sure to introduce yourself.
As an introduction, Kim says:
“In 2025 I am going to continue growing and learning and finding myself after four plus decades with my husband in my life, 30 years of which he was very sick, and I was in a caregiver role. My new life is both scary and exciting, but I am up to the challenge of finding the adventurous me I was in my 20’s, combined with decades of life experience and wisdom added on, which will equal the New Me!”
Welcome, Kim! We’re so glad that you found your way to our community!
There is so much positive energy in RE these days. Can you feel it? Read on so that you don’t miss any of the good stuff!
UPCOMING EVENTS for FAMILIES
2/9 Family Breakfast, 8:45-9:45
2/20 Parent Peer Support Group, 6:30-8PM
3/16 Seeds of Generosity pitches from children, youth, and Families, noon
6/1 River of Life Sunday with children’s performance and rituals
UPCOMING EVENTS for YOUTH
2/2, 2/16 OWL regular workshops
2/15-16 Eugene youth overnight and Non-romantic Ball
3/14-16 Coast Retreat
More information about our events can be found below, and info for all RE events can be found at uucorvallis.org by clicking “News” in the menu bar and then selecting “RE Council” from the drop down menu.
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Our friends in Eugene have invited us to an overnight at their place. Come check out how other UUs “do church” and have fun helping with the non-romantic Valentine Ball. There will be food, opportunities for service, dancing, and midnight worship. Register directly with Eugene HERE by February 5th and don’t forget to email me and let me know you’re registered so that I can arrange for sufficient transportation.
Due to the joyful increase in attendance at the monthly RE Family Breakfast, (last month saw 30 participants!) our gracious hosts, the Polinders, kindly request that parents fill out THIS registration form each month a few days before the breakfast. If you forget, please do come anyway. All are always welcome! Registering simply allows us to be better stewards of the RE budget by helping us prepare adequate amounts of food without over-purchasing. We are grateful for your support as this warm gathering continues to grow!
Thanks to a generous endowment from the Bob Ozretich Memorial Fund and the creative minds on the UUFC Endowment team, we will soon launch a year-long program to cultivate a spirit of generosity in our children and youth.
The Seeds of Generosity program will involve 3 rounds of guest speakers sharing during Sunday morning RE about their experiences with generosity, and a pitch party at which families will enjoy food and drinks while children and youth make pitches for how they would spend $100 to make a difference in our community. Attendees of the pitch party will vote on who gets that round’s $100, and everyone who pitches goes into a drawing to win $50 to spend generously toward community betterment.
More details about the program will come home from RE with your child in late February, but for now, mark your calendars for our first Seeds of Generosity Pitch Party, after the service on March 16th and plan to be there to help us develop a culture of generosity!
I know it’s a long way off, but a LOT of preparation goes into our River of Life Sunday at the end of each church year. In order to pull off something meaningful for our children and youth, we need your help.
First, this year, we’re aiming to have the Spirit Play children offer a very short performance of the JETPIG song we’ve been using to learn the UU shared values. It would be so helpful if parents went ahead and made a plan to be in attendance on June 1st AND listened to the JETPIG song at home or in the car once in a while to help the children gain confidence with the words and motions.
Second, each year we honor children who are transitioning between classrooms with a stepping stone ritual on River of Life Sunday. If your child will falls into any of the following groups, please email me!
1. A new walker — meaning they’ll be planning to be join Chalice Children in the nursery in September.
2. Going into 3rd grade in September. We *may* have the capacity to split into 2 different elementary spaces when the classroom reopens, and if we do, we’ll be stepping the older kids into their own space! 🤞
3. Going into 6th grade AND planning to step into youth group. Because there is a wide range of development in 6th grade, we invite families to decide whether their 6th graders attend youth group (middle and high schoolers) or remain in the upper elementary group.
The Fellowship depends on community members like Russ Anderson and Brian Egan, who arrived with their tools and smiles bright and early just about every day for weeks last month so that our building would be ready in time for official construction to begin. We’re lucky to have their knowledge and skill so freely given! If you see them in the social hall, don’t forget to thank them for their service. They are two of the many volunteers who keep this place moving forward!
If you have any questions about what’s happening in RE, send them my way. And if you’re someone who enjoys being out of the loop, and you want to be removed from the monthly RE Newsletter list, let me know. Wishing you a love-filled February!
All Volunteers who serve in RE in any capacity — whether you lead a Sunday morning class, facilitate one of our family gatherings, or attend the RE Council meetings — are invited to pop by the library on Sunday morning between 8:45 and 9:45 for a warm drink, connection with fellow volunteers, and a chance to tell Skyla anything you want her to know about how things are going in RE.
Cappuccinos, lattes, hot chocolate, and tea, as well some some baked goodies will be available during that time as long as supplies last. Volunteers with dietary restrictions are encouraged to contact Skyla in advance so that your needs can be provided for.
Don’t forget to wear your costumes to church on Sunday, October 27th for our 4th annual Teams and Councils Trick or Treat event! All ages are invited to gather treats while they learn about all the cool things happening in our teams and councils.
This year’s event will take place outside on the patio, and so will be weather dependent. Even if we get rained out, you are WELCOME to come in your Halloween finery! We want to see those costumes!
Families, it’s time to register your children and youth for the new year in RE! I know it may feel like you just registered them yesterday (if you’re new, you might have!) but each new Fellowship year brings a new registration form so that we can keep your younglings safe with the most up-to-date information while they’re in our care!
Thanks for helping us out by registering in advance of September 15th, when the new year in RE kicks off.
This year, to make things easier for you, we have one form for all three age groups. So whether your child is in Chalice Children (nursery care for new walkers through preschool), Spirit Play (grades K-6), or YRUU (youth group for grades 6-12), the form is the same.
If you have any questions, please contact Skyla King-Christison (dre@uucorvallis.org)
Who doesn’t love a good story time? Many adults delight in reading to their children or finding their child curled up with a good book. We know that there is so much for our children to learn and be inspired by, but we could never teach it all ourselves. Books are a magic portal to worlds, cultures, and values beyond what we’ve gotten to explore yet with our own life experiences.
Below, you’ll find some ideas for selecting books and reading with your children.
Historically speaking, a lectionary is a collection of scripture, studied and revisited in a cycle for various seasons or occasions. This traditional understanding of a lectionary isn’t common to Unitarian Universalist practices, but many UUs and UU leaders have their own version of a lectionary; a curated set of books or passages that they know they can return to again and again to fill their spiritual cup or be challenged anew. Revisiting a poem or book seasonally gives us an opportunity to dive deeper or to notice what has changed in us since our last reading. Highlighting or underlining in a different color each round can help you notice how the inner landscape of your life changes how you experience the same passages year after year.
Curating a collection of meaningful reads is a great summer project to engage in with your children. Make a list of topics you’d like to dive into, and then hit the library and look for titles to bring home. Bring home more than you think you need, because you want to be able to put down a book that isn’t a good fit and still have more to explore.
Try expanding your exposure to age-appropriate reading materials that have a deeper layer of meaning, and spend time together reflecting on whether it’s worthy of revisiting and why. The process of adding to your list never had to end. Any time you find a book or poem or essay that feels rich with meaning, propose adding it to your family lectionary, and discuss where it fits. Do you want to come back to it every solstice? Is it one to reach for when you’re feeling lonely? How will it serve your spirit?
Finally, consider how you will organize your family lectionary. Will it be a book list by topic or occasion? Will you own a coy of each? Will you have a dedicated shelf in your home? There’s not right or wrong as long as the books that feel worthy of your family’s time and attention are organized in such a way that you can find the words you need with the time is right.
The idea of lectio divina dates back to the fourth century, and means sacred reading. It’s a way of diving deeper into sacred texts, with the idea being to spend time listening intently for what God (or the universe or your intuition) is trying to communicate with you. While this is traditionally practiced with scripture, this way of approaching a text with intention can be highly engaging for almost any kind of text. Okay, maybe it’s not gret for Captain Underpants, but it’s still fairly universal.
Lectio Divina has four parts that work for any age, but here’s a way to think about those four parts with your family.
Read the passage you’ve selected several times. You and your child will mark or write down any words or phrases that jump out at them. No need to know why. Just notice which bits you notice and make note.
2. Reflect on the passage, and in particular, the bits that stood out. Ask yourself questions about what meaning or lessons it might have for your life. Look up the dictionary definition or root words of the key terms that stood out to you. Would you have worded it differently? How would you live differently if you took the possible lesson of the passage seriously?
3. Respond by inviting something bigger than yourself to give you guidance. This could look like prayer or talking to a mentor about your experience with the passage.
4. Rest for a while, living thoughtfully with the passage in mind, giving yourself time to process what you learned not only from the passage, but from your own reflections on it and from your prayer or mentoring experience. Don’t just set the passage aside and move on with your day. Give it time to sink in.
Good Choices for Lectio Divina with Kids
Zen Shorts and Zen Ties, by Jon J Muth
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, by Charlie Mackesy
Hope for the Flowers, by Trina Paulus
Cry, Heart, But Never Break, by Glen Ringtved
The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
When God Was A Little Girl, by David Weiss
HOMEWORK FOR CAREGIVERS
As a parent, creating my own core of useful, spiritually challenging reads has been invaluable in helping me squeeze more meaning out of the seasons and replenish my soul when enduring a period of great challenge. I look forward to gifting my children with a complete collection of my personal lectionary as they become adults. I remember being a teenager and listening to Des’ree sing “read the books your father read,” and wondering if my father read any books at all. I wanted to know what was important to him, what was shaping his ideas.
Consider nourishing your own spirit by working on a separate lectionary for your caregiving heart. Ask people who inspire you which books they return to over and over again and start building your own list. As Rev. Jill turns our attention to the holy days and holidays that are important to us as individuals and as a community, consider what words you need to read over and over again to deepen your connection to the season and occasions that help you mark the passage of time.
As always, if you want help finding inspiring books or anything else relating to your family’s faithful life, my door is always open!
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