News

NOTE: The RE Newsletter that appears in the weekly announcements is slightly modified from the version sent directly to RE families. This year, we are making every effort not to share children’s faces on the public web, regardless of photo release status, and we do not publicly post dates and locations for youth events that take place outside of regular Sunday programming.

If you’re a parent or guardian of a child in RE, please check your inbox for the details you’ll need to help your child get where they want to be and to see your children’s adorable faces in action! If you’re a Fellowship member or friend, or a parent wondering whether UUFC might be what your family is looking for in a religious community, read on and enjoy this slightly abbreviated vision of RE.

“There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew.”
— Marshall McLuhan

Greetings, Families!

We have officially launched into a new year of Religious Exploration, and I am so excited about what we are building together!

This year’s theme is Faith Gamified: Never Quest Alone, and we’ve already been on some epic quests together! Our kids aren’t just dropping into a different lesson each Sunday. They’re building relationships, developing shared language and practices, and in some of our groups, following quests that continue from one week to the next.

That means there are a few new things to know about how RE works this year, along with plenty of opportunities to eat together, play together, learn together, and generally make the Fellowship feel more like a village.

So grab your calendar, and read on!

OCTOBER EVENTS:

10/11 Family Breakfast is BACK! Register HERE each month, as able.

10/18 Child Dedications during the service

DATE UPON REQUEST Cluster-wide Youth Overnight. Registration is required.

10/25 Fellowship Trick or Treat for All Ages, after the service

PLAN AHEAD:

DATE UPON REQUEST OMG! Religious Field Study: Paganism. Registration for travel is required.

FAMILY BREAKFAST IS BACK!

Beginning in October, Family Breakfast returns on the second Sunday of each month!

Come to the social hall before the service for pancakes, bacon, coffee, and a chance to spend some unhurried time with other UUFC families. Bring something to share if that brings you joy and you are able, or simply bring yourselves. There is always enough.

One of our goals this year is to help children build relationships at the Fellowship that extend beyond their individual classrooms, and Family Breakfast is one of the easiest ways to help that happen. Register HERE, if you can, but show up even if you didn’t get around to registering.

Second Sundays | 8:50 AM | Social Hall 

Our next opportunity for Child Dedication will be during worship on October 18.

Child dedication is our congregation’s ritual of welcoming and blessing children within the Fellowship and affirming the community’s commitment to accompany them as they grow.

If your family has a child (or three) you would like dedicated to the care of our congregation, or you’d like to learn more about what dedication means at UUFC, reach out to Skyla at dre@uucorvallis.org by October 11th. 

Please note that this isn’t only for babies! Children of all ages, who wish to be ceremonially dedicated are most welcome to participate. 

OMG! YOUTH OVERNIGHT, DATE UPON REQUEST

Our 7th–12th graders are invited to spend the night at the Fellowship with youth from other congregations around the Willamette Valley! This is our longest running post-covid youth gathering, and it happens right here in Corvallis every year.

We’ll gather in evening for pizza, games, covenant-making, a trip to a fun local haunt, candlelight worship, and probably considerably less sleep than the adults involved would prefer. The next day, we’ll engage in some worship and learning and have some seasonal fun before everyone heads home around noon.

Dates and useful info have been withheld and are available to any parent whose child would like to attend. REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED, so ask Skyla for more details SOON!

TEAMS AND COUNCILS TRICK-OR-TREAT AT THE FELLOWSHIP, OCTOBER 25

Come to church in costume!

After the service, children and families are invited to trick-or-treat through UUFC’s Teams & Councils, collecting goodies while your whole family gets to know some of the people and groups who make our Fellowship awesome! 

It’s candy, yes. But it’s also a sneaky little intergenerational relationship-building scheme. And who knows? You might find the group you’ve been dreaming of joining and didn’t even know existed.

Costumes for children and grown-ups are highly encouraged. This event is for EVERYONE!

PARENT CONNECTION IS GETTING MORE CASUAL

Our beloved monthly Parent Connection Dinner is transforming into something considerably easier to fit into actual parent life: a UUFC Parents WhatsApp group.

Think of it as a low-pressure place to ask a question, share a resource, make plans for a park meetup, say does anyone else’s kid do this?!, offer up outgrown rain boots, or simply stay connected to the other adults raising kids in this community.

No monthly meeting. No childcare arrangements. No obligation to participate in every conversation. Just another little thread connecting our village.

Join the UUFC Parent WhatsApp group by using the link in the email sent to parents, or by talking to Skyla on a Sunday if you’re a new parent at UUFC!

New year, new adventures and a few new logistics!

Each age group has its own space, rhythm, and way of exploring this year. Here are the big things to know:

Wayfarer’s Cache:  We know that kids can’t be here every single week of the year. We have a variety of family arrangements, circulating viruses, and fluctuating energy levels on a Sunday morning. BUT we’re dedicated to delivering the depth of Religious Exploration that can only happen when experiences build week to week. 

Enter, the Wayfarer’s Cache! On the table outside of the RE Office (or somewhere in that vicinity, when the table is needed for other things) you’ll find printed Home Quests for our children and youth who occasionally quest elsewhere. These summarize what happened in each age group and are written to be engaging at the dinner table or while waiting in traffic. Parents who occasionally come without their children can grab home quests while you’re here. If all of you missed, email Skyla for a digital copy. This is not meant to feel like homework! It’s a quick, hopefully fun way to minimize the impact of absences while still taking our explorations on a deep dive, with a side benefit of family spiritual engagement!

Junior Worship Associates and Chalice Lighting Families:

Many of you signed up to be a chalice lighting family or for your children to be the Jr. Worship Associate and light the lanterns for us on a Sunday morning. THANK YOU! 

And if you’re in an overwheming moment (who isn’t right now?), you might suddenly be wondering whether you signed up, and if so, what dates you signed up for. Not to worry! I’ve got you covered! Everyone who signed up during the Great REspawn will receive an automated reminder 3 days before your scheduled service. If the day arrives and you think, “oops! We’re totally out of town on Sunday!” or “There’s no way we’re going to be fever-free by Sunday!” just send me a text and let me know. We’ll get you for a future round. And if you’re a planner who forgot to put it into your calendar, reach out! I’m happy to tell you when you’re scheudled!

If you could do me a favor and click that blue RSVP button in the reminder text/email, it would be so appreciated! That helps me relax on Sunday morning and know that you know you’re on the schedule. 

If you haven’t signed up yet, I’ll be reaching out soon. And we only have Jr. Worship Associates scheduled through November, so I’ll be asking for another round of sign ups soon!

Religious Field Studies for OMG!: This year’s youth programming involves leaving the comfort of our familiar space and learning about other faith traditions on their home turf. To make it less scary, we get to go together! If you’ve ever wondered about another faith, but been intimidated to ask questions or just show up alone, this is a magical opportunity!

It will, however, require some additional logistics for us at the Fellowship and for you as a family unit. These field studies will take place just about monthly, and I will add a link to the next month’s registration in each RE Newsletter, as well as in a text to parents and guardians. We ask that you register your youth at least a week prior to the field study to help us plan for transportation that complies with our Safe Congregations Policies. Occasionally, travel will take us a good distance because little ole Corvallis doesn’t have formal communities for all the different traditions we will explore.  

We’re kicking things off with our most approachable field study, a visit to the woods with a familiar face, practicing Pagan Rachel Kohler, who some of you know as your former DRE and others know through theater at the Majestic! Go ahead and register for that first Religious Field Study using the link in the emailed version of this newsletter!

We’ve added lots more information for families to the website, so go check out the “Learning” tab in the menu and find more information about things like our safety policies, our resources for families, and more!

AN IMPORTANT NOTE FROM YOUR SEARCH COMMITTEE!

Hello RE families, the Ministerial Search Committee needs your help. Our Congregational Survey is one of the opportunities members AND friends of the congregation have to weigh in and be heard regarding our search process. Please fill it out here: https://forms.gle/cRfurPUXLKyXq4vE7. It should take about 10-15 minutes and if you have the time, your kids and youth can fill it out too! Also, please keep your eyes peeled for an announcement about a Cottage Meeting focusing on parents and guardians.

Thank you!

The MSC

I promise we had parental approval for this!

Kylee is always such a joyful helper around the Fellowship! Most recently, she showed up to help set up for the ice cream social, which is an event that called for the temporary return of the social hall disco ball, if you ask me! What’s party music without a disco ball? Could I reach the disco ball hook? Nope. Was there a ladder close by? Also, nope. Thankfully, Kylee was not at all opposed to being hoisted on my shoulders after her mom gave permission, and all was well in Disco Town!

She did do other, more ordinary helping like hanging signs, holding doors, and being a welcoming presence. She even walked a child back to their parent for care after the fell down. What a fabulous example of our values in action!

Thank you, Kylee, for always being a ready help to those in need!

RIDICULOUS FUN HAS ALREADY BEEN HAPPENING!

We had so much fun with those of you who were able to come to the Great REspawn! 40 gallons of slime were sprayed and dumped on heads and, well, how often do you get the chance to clobber your minister with hot pink slime? I dare say few have had such an opportunity!

And we enjoyed seeing some of you at the ice cream social for games and a little too much sugar!

Kids who attended these events have already acucmulated power-up stickers on their avatar sheets to commemorate the fun!

If you missed the Great REspawn, you might have no idea what I’m talking about when I say power-up stickers or avatar sheets! If you would like a parent orientation packet to help you get the lay of the land in RE this year, let me know!

A NOTE FROM SKYLA

We’re doing some exciting curriculum work this year, but the most important thing we’re building is community.

Children develop a sense of belonging when they know who will be in the room, when someone notices they’ve arrived, when they have inside jokes and shared stories, when adults outside their immediate family know their names, and when Fellowship begins to feel like their place rather than somewhere their parents bring them.

So when you can, come!

We know families have sports and illnesses and multihousehold schedules and vacations and exhausting weeks when getting everyone into pants is victory enough. This isn’t a plea for perfect attendance.

It’s simply an invitation to think of showing up as part of your child’s faith formation. Relationships need repetition.

And when you can’t come? Grab a home quest and have the fun together, as a family!

YOU never quest alone. We’ll keep your place by the fire until we see you again in RE!

Be well, Y’all!

~Skyla
Director of Lifespan Religious Exploration