UUFC Holiday Fair, 12/6

Save the Date

It’s that time of year again to start thinking about the Holiday Fair! This year’s fair will be on Saturday, December 6th from 9 AM to 3 PM at the Fellowship. All are welcome – UUFC members, friends, and the larger community (including Albany, Adair, Independence, Lebanon, Alsea, and Philomath). This event builds connections between UUFC and the larger community, plus it’s a ton of fun!

UUFC Vendors Wanted

Are you interested in being an artisan vendor for this event? If so, please email holiday.fair@uucorvallis.org and tell us what you wish to sell by October 5.

Many Volunteers Needed

We will need people to post flyers around the community, bakers for the baked goods sale, swag makers, people to donate pots of soup for the café, greeters, musicians who will play for one hour in the foyer, cashiers, respite givers for the vendors, and people to help out with kids activities. Sign up opportunities coming soon.

Join the Signs of Solidarity team

We stand with immigrant families sign
We stand with immigrant families sign

Members of the Democracy Action Team are collaborating with Benton County Indivisible and Standing Up for Racial Justice to place signs of solidarity supporting immigrants around Corvallis. If you would like to join this effort, contact Karen J. Or you can print out your own copies of the posters and take them to local businesses! You can find the digital poster files here: https://brandfolder.com/indivisibleproject/signs-of-solidarity.

Speaking of Democracy Online Discussion Series (Sept 16 – Oct 21)

The Statewide UU Advocacy organization, Oregon UU Voices for Justice is sponsoring weekly online gatherings for UUs to meet to share and learn about actions that each of us can take to save our Democracy. Beginning Sept. 16, we will gather on zoom each week on Tuesday evenings at 6:30 PM. There will be time to acknowledge what we are experiencing in the moment and also to get resources and information about topics concerning our current moment of democratic backsliding.

Email Robin Lancaster for the link or join the Democracy Action Team in person for a watch party in the Fellowship Library. We will continue to learn and listen about how our Fellow UU Congregations are responding to this difficult moment in American civic life.

Sept. 16 The UUA Action of Immediate Witness: Faithful Defiance of Authoritarianism

Sept. 23 Characteristics of Successful Pro-Democracy Movements

Sept. 30 Boycotts and Economic resistance

Oct 7 Digital Safety

Oct. 14 Mis and Dis information

Oct. 21 Advocacy

Celebrating the Wonders of Faith, 10/5

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, the Corvallis Interfaith Network and the Interfaith Kirtan Band are hosting the event “Celebrating the Wonders of Faith” on Sunday, October 5 at 3 PM in the Sanctuary and Social Hall. We invite members of any religious affiliation, faith community, or spiritual path to join us. We welcome members who are non-affiliated spirit seekers as well. Each presenter is encouraged to share their individual ways of living their spiritual lives, not in an attempt to convert another, but as a way to seek the universal truths alive in all people.
Please join us for an evening with members from many faiths as they share their music and wisdom!
Enter with an open mind, listening ears and a gracious heart — leave in faith, trust and LOVE.
Strengthening UNITY
In our CommUNITY!

Connect Up Fall Festival, 9/27

The Corvallis Fall Festival takes place on the last weekend of this month in Central Park. Saturday, September 27, 2025, 10 AM-6 PM.
Saturday Night Street Dance: 6 PM-9:30 PM
Get your steps in as you visit the artist booths and dance the night away! There will be UU friends there – check out the Benton County Historical Museum booth, for example.

There will be no Connect Up hike this month.

Vendors spots available for Holiday Fair, 12/6

It’s that time of year again to start thinking about the Holiday Fair!  This year’s fair will be on December 6th from 9AM to 3PM.  All are welcome – UUFC members, friends, and the larger community.  This event builds connections between UUFC and the larger community, plus it’s a ton of fun!

This event commemorates the start of the holiday season featuring handmade goods from vendors and artisans, gently used children’s items, greenery swags, and baked goods.  The café will also be open selling delicious soup, bread, fruit, and drinks.  There will be live music and activities for kids.

Are you interested in being an artisan vendor for this event?  If so, please email holiday.fair@uucorvallis.org.  There are spaces available, and we would love to have you.  We will also be posting volunteer sign-ups closer to the event.

Aging Successfully in Community Program Kick Off, 9/17

Aging Successfully in community
Aging Successfully in community

Join the Aging Successfully in Community team for our kick off event for this year. Wednesday, September 17 at 3 PM in the Social Hall.

Think about what YOU are doing to stay connected, engaged and thriving in this time of your life. We’ll provide some questions to prompt discussions in small groups. We’ll also review last year’s topics and discuss what you’d like to see in the coming year. Look forward to a fun announcement, too!

Men’s Retreat – Last Week to Register!

This is the LAST WEEK TO REGISTER for the Men’s Retreat, Friday-Sunday, Oct. 3 – 5. It’s a great opportunity for men at the Fellowship to get to know each other better and build connections. Camp Harlow near Eugene (only an hour’s drive from Corvallis) offers space for pickle ball, mini-golf, disc golf, bocce ball, and creative activities. We’ll also meet in large and small groups to reflect on our theme: “Sharing the Story of Your Life Journey.” Check out the flyer with details at this link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f6YJIxzCbjXZdWaI45a5bDxtDZsJoCsv/view?usp=sharing

Register ONLINE at https://uufc.breezechms.com/form/mensretreatregistration2025.

More information: contact Alan Kirk.

Secure Housing and Food for All meeting, 9/21

The Secure Housing and Food for All team meets on September 21 in Room 7 @ 11:30 AM.

We’ll discuss what is happening for unhoused folks. Join us to share what you know, ask questions and determine how you/we can support the unhoused in Corvallis. We’ll also have information for supporting school needs for students. 

Currently the Room at The Inn at First Methodist is housing 50 men and 50 women considered most vulnerable to living outside. Volunteers are needed at ‘The Inn’. 

In November separate night housing could open at the Men’s shelter. You can sign up online and get training for the kinds of support needed. 

“What can I do?” Resource Fair 9/13 at 2pm

These are challenging times. As Universalist Unitarians, we covenant, in part, to inspire each other to be our best selves by clarifying misunderstandings and embodying healthy relationships as a living practice of our faith and beliefs. We will honor everyone’s gifts, with the intention of learning from diverse perspectives. Recognizing the interdependent web of all existence, together we will build a better world.

These values demand that when we are faced with intolerance and injustice, we cannot sit idle. Yet, it is difficult to know where to start, how to help, what will be enough. Nevertheless, we must start somewhere.

We invite your to start with asking the question, “What can I do?”

Join the Immigrant and Refugee Support, Democracy Action, Secure Food and Housing For All, Climate Action, and Sexuality and Gender Diversity Justice Teams on Saturday, 9/13 from 2-4pm at Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan, 333 NW 35th St, Corvallis for a Resource Fair. This event brings together Mid-Valley community organizations working for peace, justice, democracy, human dignity and rights, a clean environment, mutual aid and more. This event aims to build bridges and weave ever more tightly the bonds of fellowship, belonging, and care that our Community will need to face the days to come.

We invite you to take this small step and once again: accept our shared responsibility to commit, again and again, to lovingly return to this, our sacred covenant.