From your Board of Directors and from me, thank-you to everyone who helped make this year’s May 19 annual meeting a success! Of our 340 Fellowship members this year, 115 attended the Annual Meeting either in person or online, fulfilling the requirement for a quorum of voting members – 85.
Those present and voting affirmed the Board’s management of Fellowship finances, and approved three changes in the UUFC Bylaws: formalizing the Committee on Ministry as part of the bylaws (111 yes, 2 no), removing the language of “Business Manager” and replacing it with “designated staff” (110 yes, 1 no) and adding language to Article 7 on Indemnity, “except in cases of gross negligence or willful misconduct (113 yes).
In a straw poll to discover perspectives of Fellowship members on the proposed changes to the UUA Bylaws, Article 2, which includes changes to the current Principles and Sources, 78 of those present and voting indicated support, and 28 indicated non-support. This information will inform our delegates to the UUA General Assembly in June, where voting on this proposal will take place. The Fellowship does not instruct its delegates on how to vote, but we do provide as much information as possible for each delegate to vote in the best interests of our congregation and of the UUA.
In addition, we thanked outgoing Board members Carl English-Young, Scott Bruslind, and Jema Patterson, and outgoing nominating committee members Ann Marchant, Jed Irvine, Priscilla Galasso and Bonnie Morihara.
By voice vote the following leaders were elected for the 2024-25 year:
Board: Sheryl Stuart – President
Michael Hughes – Treasurer
Priscilla Galasso- Secretary
Bonnie Morihara – Director.
They join continuing directors Mary Craven, Gavin Araki, John Bailey and Jack Elder.
Nominating Committee: Heather Thomas, Kris Egan, Kimi Mayo, Jim Good
Committee on Ministry Chair: Mark Aron
Personnel Committee Chair: Elona Meyer
Financial Oversight Council Chair: Russ Karow
For all the next year will bring us, we are ready and moving forward – thanks to all of you.
Summer is coming, and with it the possibility of some Sunday morning services outside under our beautiful trees. We certainly hope to do this once again this summer, depending on having an able crew of helpers for doing all the moving required – of chairs, pulpit supplies, hymnals, and more. If you can be part of this crew – thank-you! Please let Rev. Jill McAllister know. minister@uucorvallis.org
All are welcome to this new place to listen to each other and provide support.It’s a safe, supportive space for anyone in the Fellowship, open to all ages and identities. We meet the last Sunday of each month at noon in Room 7.
Join us for a place to listen and share your challenges and frustrations.
We gather once more before the summer break to tend to our grief. The grief you hold may be for personal losses, transitions, or the sorrows of the world – all are equally welcome and worthy of attention.
Our time together will include gentle movement, poetry, writing, sharing and a simple ritual. Please join us.
Whole Food Plant Based Potluck (4th Sundays) Join in the Social Hall at 5:30 for a potluck exploring how to eat more Whole Food Plant Based meals.
It’s new! It’s confusing! It’s good for our health and our planet. No experience needed, and No Food Shaming!
Whether you are a long-time plant-based eater, or have never heard of this before, you are welcome here. Let’s eat, laugh, and learn together. Children welcome.
Bring a dish to share, in which all ingredients are plants:
THE HEALING POWER OF SOUND WITH SHANTI SHIVANI Through the Ancient Practice of Sound Yoga Shanti Shivani is a singer/nada yogini/sound healer, internationally acclaimed leader, and recording artist. The Yoga of Sound is an ancient mystical tradition using Voice, Breath and Movement as a Way of Healing, Empowerment & Self-Realization.
Sound yoga facilitates:
the release of trauma and the clearing of emotions
2024-25 Pledge Drive Update As you may have heard, pledges from members and friends provide ~ 90% of each year’s operating funds for the UUFC.
Pledges are us! Your Board of Directors has set a $431,000 goal for pledges in the coming year. We are just beyond the $410,000 mark toward that goal. To date, members have made annual pledges from $60 to over $10,000. Over 180 pledging units have pledged to date – individuals, couples or other relationship groups. Our goal is to reach at least 200.
If you have not yet pledged for 2024-25, can we count you to be among next year’s pledgers?
Gratitude is one of those things that is deceptively simple and ridiculously effective. It’s kind of like magic if you actually do it. I remember talking to one of our youth during our summer programming, who said, “My mom is making me do this gratitude thing where I say three things I’m grateful for every day, and it’s like super annoying because it, like, I actually feel better and it doesn’t make any sense.” I have had that same feeling. How can this work so well, and also, if it works so well, how come I have so much difficulty sticking to it every day?
Below, you’ll find some resources and thought for practicing gratitude at home with kids of all ages. Read on!
If we’re not intentional about how we approach a gratitude practice with kids, it can accidentally turn into something known as Brightsiding. I first came across this term at a Queerly Beloved movie night, when we watched a Rom-Com in which the queer, Muslim main character was called out by his friends for denying himself and his friends their negative emotions around their experiences by always insisting that they look on the bright side while being marginalized by their communities. This is a form toxic positivity gaslighting.
When we encourage our families to notice the good, we need to be explicit that we’re not asking them to ONLY see the good, but to ALSO see the good. Our brains have a negativity bias, so we need to be intentional about noticing the good, but not in an effort to deny the bad.
One way you can honor both is by rebranding your gratitude practice as a “roses and thorns” practice. This is something my children and I did when they were small, and now even as young adults, sometimes they’ll ask me, “What was your rose of the day?” when we share time together.
Naming your roses and thorns – the good parts and the bad – is also easier for folx who struggle with decision making. When you say, “Tell me the top three things you’re grateful for today,” a child may feel overwhelmed by the task of choosing just three. When you ask for roses and thorns, there is the possibility of an entire bouquet or simply a single stem. The pressure is off!
We share our roses and thorns at the dinner table, but if you don’t always share meals together, try it as a bedside practice and see what happens!
Researchers at UNC Chapel Hill have been studying gratitude within families in their “Raising Grateful Children Project,” and they have developed some very actionable tools for maximizing the effectiveness of our focus on gratitude.
“The researchers found that most parents focused on what children do to show gratitude. While 85% of parents said they prompted their kids to say “thank you,” only 39% encouraged children to show gratitude in a way that went beyond good manners. In addition, only a third of parents asked their kids how a gift made them feel, and only 22% asked why they thought someone had given them a gift.” (Source: Greater Good Magazine)
The Raising Grateful Children Project have broken gratitude down into 4 component parts to discuss with children.
Parents can foster deeper gratitude with their children by asking questions in these four areas. Notice: Are there things and people in your life that you can be grateful for?
Think: What do you think about those things and people? Do you think you earned the things you have? Do you think the people in your life known what they mean to you?
Feel: How do the things you are grateful for make you feel? Do they make everyone feel that way? How do you think you make the people you are grateful feel?
Do: Is there a way you can show your gratitude for these things and people? How can you put your gratitude into action?
REFLECTIONS FOR CAREGIVERS
That old adage that the days are long and the years are short is so true for caregivers. Everything about parenting feels high stakes, and intense, and somehow both beyond our control and also entirely our responsibility. It can be hard to access gratitude in the moment, but that’s exactly when it can make the biggest difference. Next time you’re in a hard minute of caregiving, see if these questions can shift your perspective.
What quality is my child displaying right now that could be positive for them later in life? (Does this tantrum also reflect a child who knows what they want? Does their inability to sit still demonstrate a healthy body that can be active and vital?)
How can I demonstrate my gratitude for my child in this moment when their behavior is causing me distress? Does showing gratitude in the hard moment shift their energy? Does it shift mine?
Is there something I can identify in this moment that I’m lucky to have or experience?
Is my endurance in this time of trial developing a spiritual capacity in me? How can I move through this challenge with my integrity in tact, and with a new tool in my spiritual toolbox that I will be grateful to have next time this comes up?
If you want to chat about gratitude at home, or anything else, my door is always open!
Gather insight and information on how to move through the life-transitions of downsizing or trying to live more simply. Jesse will cover several aspects of these major steps:
Planning the setup of your future space
Exercises to simplify the sorting process, ex. “Plan of Attack”
Touch on emotional dynamics of decision making with belongings
Establishing support systems for moving and downsizing needs
And much more!
Feeling social? We’ll provide the form that makes it easy to be a host for a group social activity! Picnics? Games? Walking? Puzzles? Movies? You name it! Be sure to sign up at the June 5 meeting.
Come join us to create positive experiences for this time of life!
