We welcome the Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt as our preacher today. She is a long-time UU minister who serves as the President of one of our two main theological schools – Starr King School for the Ministry. Before she entered the UU ministry, Rev. McNatt was a writer /editor for the New York Times Book Review. Before going to Starr King she served as Senior Minister of the Fourth Universalist Society of the City of New York. Rev. McNatt has been voice of reason, challenge, wisdom and leadership within UUism for decades. Plan now to join us! You are invited to a reception for Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt, after the Sunday Service, at 2 PM Come for refreshments and conversation, to learn about what’s happening in theological education for UU minister, and to help us welcome and thank her for joining us this Sunday. Let Rev. Jill McAllister know if you plan to attend.
Daily Practice: A Weekly Reminder, 3/22/2024
Along with trees and bushes and bulbs, the Fellowship seems to be in a season of blooming! Events and activities abound – so many ways to get together with others, to share in religious learning and growth, to increase justice and peace step by little step. New formats and methods for communication are emerging. The Fellowship calendar suddenly feels full, as do the Sanctuary and the foyer and the Social Hall on Sundays. Tables are multiplying in the foyer – that’s a sign of activity and of the need for folks to invite other folks to join them. (Tables can also sometimes feel like obstacles – we’ll need to take care in how we use them.) It’s also a season of cleaning up and cleaning out – including some moldy carpets and furniture. We’re in preparation for renovation of the meeting wing of the building – finally, and we’re preparing for Stewardship season and Earth Month. It can feel very energizing and exciting and a little overwhelming at the same time.
Recently I found a prayer I wrote after a retreat of some sort, more than 15 years ago. It was like a gift to myself in this season of growth. May it be helpful to you as well.
“In the swirling of paradox in this moment, acknowledging my conflicting needs and aims, let me gather all the love I know, and give thanks.
May I hear the sound of today calling me, and may I never forget the call of all ages – may these calls from Life guide and steer me as I move.
May the path on which I move be a path toward more justice and peace: may it be as clear as possible and filled with enough curves to keep me from certainty.
As I move, may I be an instrument of the music at the heart of Life, ready and willing to be played and to melt into the song.”
May I wake up into more and more gratitude for each day that is given to me and for all that it offers.”
“Successful Aging in Community” Kick-Off, 4/3
Wednesday, April 3, 3-5 pm in the Social Hall
Interested in joining with others who are moving along in age to adapt and thrive? This group is designed to keep us involved: addressing ways to adapt to inevitable changes at this stage of life while creating connections in this community. At this first gathering we will have fun and meaningful table conversations
and get to know one another better. Participants will be guided through a process of listing and prioritizing future topics in two areas:
- Informative programs with guest speakers, and
- Smaller group social activities like informal book groups, coffee klatches, puzzle or game sessions, and attending local cultural events.
Come join us to create positive experiences for this time of life!
JUSTICE THEATRE PRESENTS: THE ROARING GIRL,3/29 and 3/30
By Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker
Adapted and directed by Britt Urey
To be performed Friday, March 29 and Saturday, March 30 at 7:30pm
Approximate run time – 120 minutes
CONTENT WARNINGS: Stage violence; discussions and depictions of sexism and transphobia; discussions of tobacco and alcohol use; classist rhetoric
Scandal! Sebastian Wengrave has taken up with that dashing miscreant, that gender-bending hooligan, the roaring girl herself, Moll Cutpurse! Or at least that’s what Sebastian wants their father to think, so that the actual object of their affection, Mary Fitzallard, looks better in comparison. Moll, being a good sport, is happy to lend a hand, especially if she gets to drink, smoke, fight, and otherwise engage in the sort of general shenaniganry that polite society frowns upon. Watch and be amazed as she outwits fashionable gallants, rival cutpurses, and hired muscle… none of which is actually all that difficult, but she looks cool doing it.
Tickets are general admission and free to reserve—when you reserve your ticket on this event page, you’ll be given the option to make a sliding-scale donation in the amount of your choice. Suggested donation is $15, with the ability to adjust that amount based on what you can afford. All donations go to support this year’s Justice Theatre beneficiary, the Mid-Willamette Trans Support Network.
About the company
Justice Theatre @ the UUFC is a community theatre venture aimed at staging small-scale productions with pay-what-you-will performances supporting social justice causes. Past beneficiaries have included the ACLU, the Corvallis Cold Weather Men’s Shelter, CARDV, and the Mid-Willamette Trans Support Network. Our mission is to create theatre that fosters discussion about the world around us, to make theatre that is completely open and accessible to audience members of any income level, and to use performance to generate donations for good causes. All auditions are free and open to the public. This audition is for an amateur, volunteer production. We are particularly eager to work with artists of color and other artists from marginalized communities.
About this year’s beneficiary
All proceeds from this production will be donated directly to Mid-Willamette Trans Support Network . From their website “The MWTSN is organized exclusively as a community-based, grassroots organization working to support the transgender, nonbinary, intersex, gender-nonconforming, and gender-ethnic minority communities, as well as their direct families, tribal relations, and kinship systems.”
Town Halls for Stewardship and Annual Meeting Prep
All members and contributing friends are invited, welcome and needed at our Town Halls to kick-off the Stewardship season at the Fellowship. Four different Town Halls are scheduled. Please sign up for at least one of them, using the links provided. The Fellowship is all of us, and our work together needs all of us!
Monday, April 1: The first Town Hall is designed primarily for the newest members of the Fellowship (since 2021), though all others are invited as well. We’ll meet in the Social Hall at 7 PM for wine, cheese, charcuterie and other refreshments, and conversation about Stewardship and upcoming bylaws changes.
Tuesday, April 2: Zoom Town Hall – 7 PM You’ll have to bring your own refreshments – but we’ll be glad to see you on Zoom for conversation about the stewardship pledge drive and upcoming bylaws changes on the Annual Meeting agenda.
Thursday, April 4: Town Hall Supper with Indian Buffet – 6 PM in the Social Hall. Join us for a buffet supper with Indian specialties, and good conversation about the stewardship pledge drive and upcoming bylaws changes on the Annual Meeting agenda. (Space limited by the capacity of the Social Hall….)
Sunday, April 7: Our stewardship pledge drive begins this day – Online pledging will be available beginning on Sunday afternoon. The Sunday service will include both light-hearted looks at stewardship and pledging in the context of our Covenant, plus information about pledges and the Fellowship budget in general. The Town Hall begins at 11:30 AM immediately after the service; enjoy a Brownie Sundae as we join for conversation.
Daily Practice – A Weekly Reminder, 3/17/2024
This is the week – Spring has definitely arrived. Daffodils and jonquils have been holding on thru cold rainy days – and now they are standing proudly! The long line of ornamental plum trees around the corner are purple pink today. When the crescent moon appeared last night, with Jupiter shining close by, frogs and owls began to provide music – this morning owls and robins. Spring has arrived. Once more the gifts are given.
It has been four years (!) since the Spring of March 2020, when we shut down and entered into pandemic living. The human world began to feel more calamitous and fractious — and in many ways it still does. Nothing has simply reverted to the way it was before. Perhaps by now we realize that there are only constant opportunities to start over, to begin anew in a changed world, as always.
From time to time we consider the ‘art of embracing’, as a practice of turning toward and moving toward — moving in the direction of with arms opened wide. The question is “What are you willing and able to move toward for the good of all?” Everything we have been practicing will continue to help us – inner nobility and steadiness, naming our fears and counting our blessings at the same time, and the core strengths of courage and trust. Beginning today, every day, the way stretches out before us, and we can only take one step at a time. There are blessings that live in the very acts of reaching out, of moving toward, of opening our arms in anticipation.
Every day may we breathe in deeply and feel the calming power of an exhale, as we open our arms and begin again. Sending love to you all — Jill
Reception for Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt – Join Us, 3/24
All are invited to a reception for Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt, President of Starr King School for the Ministry, a UU seminary. Come for refreshments and conversation, to learn about what’s happening in theological education for UU minister, and to help us welcome and thank her for joining us.
2 PM Sunday, March 24
Ostara, 3/17/2024
As we look toward Ostara, a fleeting moment of balance in the Wheel of the Year, we pause to reflect on what it means to embrace the seasonality and impermanence of all things on the Earth and within ourselves. This Sunday we’ll share a moment of transition between the Wheel of the Year services we’ve come to know and love and the inevitable “what’s next” with an experimental worship service for all ages offered by Director of Religious Exploration, Skyla King-Christison.
Justice Council Newsletter
On February 2nd, 2024, the Justice Council gathered for a summit to present their current work and goals. This PDF newsletter contains updates about each team’s accomplishments and vision for the year ahead. Your pledges directly support the work of the Justice Council, allowing us to live out our mission of “inspiring action toward a better world for all.” Check it out, and consider how you can get involved!
