It seems folks have other plans and priorities this year, so the Fellowship is not hosting a Thanksgiving Day meal or gathering. If you are interested inviting others to share some of the day with you at your home, or to go for a walk together, or other activity, please let Rev. Jill McA know – minister@uucorvallis.org.
weekly announcements
Inquirer’s Series 11/12
A series of 9 hour-long sessions designed especially for newcomers seeking more information about UUism and the Fellowship AND open to all others who are interested. Sessions take place every Sunday at 11:45 AM Room 6C. This week: Questions and Answers with Rev. Jill McAllister
Thank You! 11/12
Thank you to Betty Shelley for offering a class on garbage and trash awareness and management (at the services auction), and for all who participated, who can help raise the awareness of all of us.
The annual UUFC Men’s Retreat – Recap
In its first off-site meeting since the pandemic, 22 UUFC men met at the Menucha Conference Center Nov. 3-5 to share stories and deep feelings about their lives. Through the lens of engagement, attendees spoke of connecting and disconnecting with others and the lifelong events that had impact on those choices. We met in small and large groups, sang songs, shared our own music and poetry, and spent time in the beautiful Columbia Gorge consolidating our insights and emotions. The UUFC men’s group welcomes all who identify as men and continues to meet weekly, in person at noon on the first Sunday of each month and via Zoom on other Sundays. Contact Jerry Buthmann for details.
Holiday Fair Volunteers Needed 12/2
Holiday Fair Volunteers. It takes a UUFC village to put on a successful Holiday Fair. We need greenery makers, furniture movers, bakers, greeters, and cashiers. Won’t you volunteer a few hours of your time?
MORE Holiday Fair Help Needed!
2-3 hour shifts.
- Greenery makers – 11/29: 12 MORE. 11/30: 6 MORE
- Furniture Moving – 12/1: 7 MORE. 12/2: 11 MORE
- At-Home Bakers – by 12/1: 10 MORE
- UUFC Kitchen Bakers – 11/30: 5 MORE. 12/1: 5 MORE
- Greeters/Floaters – 12/2: 7 MORE
- Cashiers: 12/2: 13 MORE
Daily Practice: A Weekly Reminder 11/12/2023
In our hymnal, Singing the Living Tradition, reading #468, by George Odell, is this: “We need one another when we mourn and would be comforted. We need one another when we are in trouble and afraid. We need one another when we are in despair, in temptation, and need to be recalled to our best selves again. We need one another when we would accomplish some great purpose and cannot do it alone. We need one another in the hour of success, when we look for someone to share our triumphs. We need one another in the hour of defeat, when with encouragement we might endure, and stand again. We need one another when we come to die, and would have gentle hands prepare us for the journey. All our lives we are in need, and others are in need of us.”
This is a beautiful description of interdependence! If, as we considered last Sunday, we need to acknowledge more fully the facts of our deep and complex biological interdependence, we also need to understand our social interdependence as well. We are, biologically, “wired for connection,” and this need informs and affects how we relate to other people. If we strongly value interdependence, then we also value learning how to live more interdependently. After generations of the veneration of individuality as the highest value, and now recognizing the damage that veneration has caused to the social ties which support us all, it is important begin to take the well-being of the whole community into account as much as the well-being of each individual.
This is the truth at the heart of the South African / Zulu philosophy of Ubuntu: “I am a person through other persons. My humanity is tied to yours. I am because we are.” This week for daily practice, consider listing, reciting, cataloging each day the ways in which your humanity depends on others. (Not just your life, but your humanity). Consider being intentional about practicing interdependence. Re-read the piece by George Odell several times, and see if it helps you in this practice. Then let’s share what we learn.
“Tending Our Grief, Opening to Gratitude”
Rev. Jill McAllister and Susan Sanford
As strange as it may sound, grieving does not necessarily come to us naturally. And, culturally for most of us, it has not been well-modeled or taught. We need each other in order to learn how to tend to our grief, to practice, and to learn to carry it. When we can’t tend to our grief, our capacity for joy and happiness is too often diminished. What can we learn, and how can we help each other?
UU Advent
UU minister Ralph Roberts has created an Advent series to help us learn and delight in the ways that our Unitarian and Universalist ancestors helped shape many of the winter holidays.
You are invited to engage with this offering in 2 ways:
1. Anyone can register HERE to receive a very short daily email from December 1st through the 24th. Each note will contain a sweet piece of our religious heritage to warm your winter days and help you reflect on your place in this long line of justice makers and creative souls.
2. Children who attend the Holiday Fair on December 2nd will be able to make a UU Advent calendar at our craft table with the fun UU history facts attached to a small daily treat bag.
Thank You! 11/5
Thank you to Nick Houtman and Russ Anderson for getting a new, leak-free, skylight installed in the mezzanine of the RE wing. It looks great!
The Secure Housing and Food for all UUFC Team sends a big thank you to everyone who contributed to the South Corvallis Food Bank October collection. Thank you for your support! More than $1,000 was raised to help purchase food for individuals and families who are experiencing food insecurity. To continue helping the community through the winter you could bring a can or a box of food each Sunday and put it in the food basket near the entry to the sanctuary. We will deliver to the food bank. Thank you again!
October Board of Directors Report, from Treasurer Scott Bruslind
When food is involved, we have a full house. Attending the October Board meeting/pot luck were Sheryl Stuart (facilitating), Carl English-Young, Jema Patterson, Gavin Araki, Rev. Jill McAllister, Jamie Petts, Mary Craven, Jack Elder, Michael Hughes, John Bailey and Scott Bruslind; joined by two members of the Committee on Ministry: Nancy Kyle and Gary Barnes.
The focus of our October meeting was to begin a conversation on the Charter of Shared Ministry, and the charge to the Committee on Ministry, which has not been updated since 2014.
What does Shared Ministry look like?
It looks like this:
UU congregations call a Minister to help fulfill the Mission of their beloved community.
OUR MISSION… Explore. Love. Act. We gather as an inclusive religious community to search for meaning, build deep connections, and inspire action toward a better world for all.
In Shared Ministry, some responsibilities fall to the Minister while others belong to the board and to all the members the congregation. The Committee on Ministry parses out the thin line between: a line that’s fluid and contingent on the strengths of the two parties.
What are the roles of the Minister and staff and where do Fellowship members (mostly volunteers) fill in? Shared Ministry means partnership, based on covenant – which is much more than a simple employer / employee relationship. Helping and guiding all of us to understand the balance of this important work is the mandate of the Committee on Ministry. Congregations rise and fall on how well a Committee on Ministry navigates the currents of current affairs. The Board is working with the Committee on Ministry to clarify and document their important work.Minutes of Board meetings are posted here. We’ll meet again on November 21, 2023. Visitors are welcome to observe and share in whatever snacks we rustle up. Let us know if you’d like to attend. You are most welcome.