The Annual Meeting on May 17 is also online. If you are unable to attend the Annual Meeting in person, it will be available on Zoom using the same link as the Sunday Service, included below. You will also be able to vote using Zoom. The meeting will start after the service at approximately 11:30 am.
Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/96231448170?pwd=cUoxaWxyei9wOTE5cVFVZ0t0Qk5KUT09
This week we are cancelling NeuroDivergence and Mental Health Support Group due to the Fellowship’s annual membership meeting. Groups will continue, going forward, on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month at 8:30 AM.
Summer is almost upon us, so we invite you to join us for a special luncheon to celebrate this time of year on Saturday, June 20th at 12:30 PM.
This will be in the Social Hall and is sponsored by the Community Events Team. The menu will feature Transylvanian and other traditional or popular Romanian dishes; see the menu below! You can reserve a spot for lunch by submitting the form through the button below:
You will also find a sign-up table in the foyer or social hall on the two Sundays before, during and after service.
We are limiting attendance at only 48 guests this time, so be sure to get your reservation in early to claim your seat at the table.
The suggested donation is $15 and all proceeds after food costs will be passed on to the Global Partners Team for their charitable work in our community.
If you’d like to be a part of this and help out, you can volunteer to assist with food preparation or Setup or service or cleanup, and if you can help for at least an hour, you can dine with us for free as a thanks for your kind assistance. Here’s a link for volunteers:
We look forward to seeing many of you at the luncheon.
* Community Events Team
Rich Brainerd
Nick Houtman
Roberta Smith
Linda Zittel
Ernest Cardona
Free childcare can usually be arranged for any Fellowship event by using this link 1-2 weeks prior to the event.
The 2026 Women’s Retreat will be October 2-4 at Camp Harlow in Eugene. More information and a registration link will be available soon. The cost per person will be $175 (includes housing and meals). Partial and full scholarships will be available as well as assistance for overnight caregivers. Requests for financial assistance will be kept confidential. Due to generous donations from attendees in prior years, we are able to subsidize the per-person cost of attendance this year. Such subsidies may not be available in future years.
Due to the off-site nature of this year’s event, pre-registration will be required. Please send questions to womensretreat@uucorvallis.org.
The UUFC fundraising auction on June 6 is one of the largest Fellowship events of the year! It takes many hands to make it happen, and we need yours. Volunteers will receive dinner for free as thanks for their service! View the available roles in the signup form by clicking the button below.
Note that this form is for expressing interest in roles. The auction organizers will assign roles based on how many people express interest for which jobs. You can choose which roles you like, or you can say you’re open for anything! Each person will be assigned a single role, unless they check the box indicating they’re open to filling multiple sequential roles through the event.
The online portion of the Fellowship’s annual fundraising auction is opening for bidding on Sunday, May 17 at 1 PM! Peruse the lots donated by our community, and bid on the ones you desire straight from your computer. The online auction focuses on goods and services, while the live auction (happening June 6!) will focus on experiences.
The online auction can be found at this link: https://2026UUFCOnlineServicesAuction.charityauction.bid. You can view the auction lots before bidding opens on Sunday, May 17 at 1 PM.
Three upcoming opportunities to help care for our UU Grounds:
We have mulch and wood chips to keep our grounds looking beautiful, but they need our help to go from unsightly piles to well-cared-for beds. There are also opportunities for weed pulling, and that’s a great way to get fresh air and sunshine and see immediate results! Please come share the work – and the satisfaction of a job well done together!
For people who have completed three required Inquirers Series for Membership, you are invited to come sign the Membership Book. Joyce Standing will be in the Library on Sunday from 11:30 AM – 12 noon to welcome you as you sign and give you ceremonial gifts from the Membership Team. (Note that a public recognition will occur on May 17 during service, for those who sign the book by May 13.) For more information, contact membership@uucorvallis.org.
Taste the Nation is a dinner event (eat -in or take-out) offered by immigrant families sponsored by Corvallis for Refugees. The event occurs on the second Friday of each month, 5:30 – 7:30 PM, at Imagine Coffee, 5460 Philomath Blvd, Corvallis. The dinner features dishes from the home countries of the families present. Dinners are $15, which is paid directly to, and supports, the family providing the meal. Cash or Venmo only.
Along with Spring comes Mothers Day, and I want you to know that I honor the many ways different people experience Mother’s Day. Please be gentle with yourself as you experience this holiday if it is a difficult one for you. I wish for you to find nourishment from this poem (below) by Rev. Leah Ongiri (on the staff at the UU congregation in Portland), as she names the complexity of motherhood. This poem will also be read aloud during the service on Sunday. Remember you can join by Zoom if you can’t make it to the building.
With care, Rev. Alex
rev.alex.mcgee@uucorvallis.org
On Mother’s Day, let us mark how beautiful and complex it can be to mother and be mothered:
To those who have mothered, we thank you.
To those who rejoice in the work, the role, the presence of mothering and mothers, we celebrate with you.
To those who are in the thick of parenting children of any age, we appreciate you.
To those who experience loss through infertility, abortion, miscarriage, adoption or running away, we mourn with you.
To those who have lost their mothers, we grieve with you.
To those who have endured abuse at the hands of their mothers, we acknowledge you.
To those who experience pain at the marking of this day, we witness you.
To those who are single moms, grandmoms, stepmoms, foster moms, adoptive moms, mentor moms and spiritual moms, we need you.
And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising, we anticipate with you.
May we reflect with gratitude on the wide spectrum of mothering that happens in our lives and in our communities.
By Leah Ongiri