The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis
The Brilliant Minds Workshop on January 20th, will invite participants to explore and share their personal experiences with neurodivergence and psydivergence. Please consider taking this very brief survey to assist the planning team in their efforts to meet the most immediate needs of our community.
Our Fellowship youth group will be traveling to Eugene after the Trick or Treat event on October 29th to join other regional UU youth in a Corn Maze Social.
If you plan to attend, please register ASAP at https://uufc.breezechms.com/form/ecbe1e2
No one has responded to an invitation to help organize a Thanksgiving Festevent Supper, so far. Therefore there is no plan for a Fellowship event on Thanksgiving Day. Are there other ideas? A morning walk? Hosting small groups in homes? Sharing leftovers on Friday? Or? Please contact Rev. Jill if you’re interested in helping make plans.
~Thank you to Alison Smith for donating a new glass-topped stove and oven for the main kitchen, replacing the oldest of our two old ovens.
~Thank you to Jamie Petts, Ginny Gibson, Steve Ferrell, Michael Hughes, and Scott Bruslind for obtaining and installing a new refrigerator/freezer to replace the small freezer in the social hall which stopped working.
~Thank you to John Myers and Louise Ferrell for making a start on an oral history project for the Fellowship.
Once a week on Sundays, we enter together into a time of reflection and centering, as we prepare to share and hold sorrows and joys among us. I often note, as we begin that practice, that centering involves discerning what is most important and what is not most important. Perhaps that distinction is obvious, but more likely it is not. Worship, for us, in general, is an ongoing practice of this aim – to discern and lift up what is most important.
It is easy to believe that what we think is important in any given moment is actually important, because we think it is! We know that is not always true. How often do we carried away with an idea – such as “I have to clean the house before I can invite friends over,” or “I have to get this project done, and then I’ll rest,” or “I have to send these few emails and texts before I give my full attention to my child,” or many other similar ideas which we assume are the most important things – but really aren’t?
The tendency to give most attention to things that are not really important is common among us, and well-practiced. It is accentuated in turbulent times such as these, when it feels easier and safer to focus on making dinner plans, or criticizing a spouse for small things, or complaining about friends or relatives, than to pause and acknowledge war and more local forms of destruction. Of course there are the small things of daily life and personal preference to deal with, and they do have consequences! The challenge is in assuming that they are the most important things.
This is part of the human condition, to be sure. We are not the first nor the last humans to avert our eyes and ears and hearts from much of what is truly important. We are not the first to be afraid, or worried, or eager to let ourselves be distracted. As in every generation, the work is ours to do – to learn to distinguish the most important things, and then to respond as well as we can. We begin again every day – the daily practice.
One of the unique characteristics of our religious movement is pluralism – the willingness to be different and be together at the same time. Historically, this meant we did not require allegiance to a specific theological creed or doctrine. Now it is a much wider effort. The main question is not whether or not we are different from each other, but how we manage our differences while staying true to shared values.
Rev. Jilll McAllister
Join us this 4th Sunday, October 22nd, after the service a little before noon in Room 7 for Young Adult Pizza Hour. Get to know your fellow young(er) adults at the UUFC while chowing down on free pizza. (GF and vegan pizza, too!)
We’re trying out a new online version of the weekly announcements here at uucorvallis.org/news. It contains all the same information as the pdf version of the Weekly Announcements that is emailed to you, but in a little different format. This page also includes easy links to the latest information about everything that’s going on at the Fellowship here in one place.
In the spirit of the theme for this year, “Building a new Way,” we are working on building new ways of communication to help everyone stay connected.
If you have questions, comments, or ideas about this format for the weekly announcements, or about the website, please email David Servias.
Wear your costumes to the service on Sunday, October 29th for the intergenerational Samhain service, and stay after for some fun!
All ages are invited to come play games and eat treats while you learn about what our various teams, councils, and board of directors are up to at our third annual Teams and Councils Trick or Treat!
The Fellowship is now a part of the Fred Meyer Community Rewards Program. What’s needed from you?
Please visit: https://www.fredmeyer.com. Once logged into your Fred Meyer account, search for Unitarian Fellowship of Corvallis either by name or FN605 and then click Enroll. New users will need to create an account which requires some basic information, a valid email address and a rewards card.
*You must have a registered Fred Meyer rewards card account in order to link to the Fellowship.
*If you do not not yet have a Fred Meyer rewards card, they are available at the customer service desk at any Fred Meyer.
Once your rewards card is registered, then purchases will count for your the Fellowship!
A reminder that participants must swipe their registered Fred Meyer rewards card or use the phone number that is related to their registered Fred Meyer rewards card when shopping for each purchase to count.