The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis
Join the Partner Church team in welcoming Blaise Ntakarutimana to the Fellowship today — come greet him, his wife Gisele and their children after the service. The Partner Church team, part of our Justice Council, endeavors to deepen our connections with and understanding of Unitarian Universalism in other cultural, social and religious contexts. “Let all that we do be done with love.”
Come join us on the Partner Church team! Meetings are monthly and will be posted in UU Announcements.
We will meet at 9:45 AM at the Lewisburg Saddle Trailhead along NW Sulphur Springs Road (Corvallis). We will start hiking at 10:00 AM. Our route will include portions of Road 600 (Patterson Road) and Road 650 in the OSU McDonald Research Forest. These are gravel forest roads. Hike distance is at 5.0 miles, elevation Gain is at 500 feet.
NO DOGS, PLEASE. CARPOOLING IS ENCOURAGED. (If you’d like to carpool from the UUFC lot, meet there at 9:30 a.m.) BRING WATER. Hiking Poles are suggested.
TIME EXTENDED! EDI, the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion team invites you! Love a good adventure story you just can’t put down? While engrossed in the events unfolding in “James,” by Percival Everett, you’ll explore the many risks facing James and Huck who somehow muster the courage to prevail in a perilous time of our shared history. It’s a compelling tale! Cozy up in comfort and join the conversation, 7:15 PM, Monday, MARCH 10th when we’ll share our experiences and responses reading “James.” Email Elona Meyer through Breeze for details and the Zoom link.
NAACP’s Freedom Fund Banquet is SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22nd 5-9 PM at the CH2M-Hill Alumni Center, OSU campus. Join the festivities or donate to support the work of our local, Linn-Benton NAACP. The theme is “Persistence is Power.” The keynote speaker is Shelly Seacrest, who has received the NAACP’s National Presidents Award for her work. Contact Linn-Benton NAACP Branch for details and the link to register for the Banquet, or to donate.
Questions? Email Elona Meyer through Breeze.
A note to UU congregations from UUA President Rev. Dr. Sofia Betancourt, February 12, 2025:
“I am proud to share with you that the Unitarian Universalist Association has joined with a multifaith coalition and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection to bring a lawsuit challenging Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s (ICE) “sensitive locations policy.”
The case, Mennonite Church USA et al. v. United States Department of Homeland Security et al., was filed in federal district court in Washington, DC. Churches, as well as schools and hospitals, had previously been protected from ICE enforcement actions, but a Department of Homeland Security memo rescinded that protection on January 20.
We join this multifaith coalition, representing millions of Americans across dozens of denominations, to challenge the ending of ICE’s sensitive locations policy and oppose any interpretation of law which would allow immigration raids in houses of worship and religious ceremonies.
We believe, and the lawsuit asserts, that subjecting places of worship to ICE enforcement actions without a judicial warrant substantially burdens our religious exercise in violation of the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
We know that many of our congregations include members who are immigrants, both documented and undocumented, and many of you carry out important ministries that serve immigrant communities in church spaces.
The UUA is committed to supporting and protecting your ability to continue this vital and life-saving work. Learn more about the lawsuit in the UUA World magazine (uuworld.org)”
Fellowship member Blaise Ntakarutimana (now Kevin Shimineza) joins Jill McAllister to tell about his journey as a UU refugee from Burundi, where he was active in a humanist organization and in the newly-established Unitarian congregation in Bujumbura, and was thinking about the possiblity of ministry. Then his life changed when he had to flee Burundi. He’ll talk this morning about his life as a new US citizen in these troubling times, and his hopes for what his experience can offer to others.
We welcome Cameron McGrath as the Fellowship’s new Communication Coordinator. In this role, Cameron will be managing multiple forms of communication within the Fellowship, such as the Weekly Announcements, Monthly Journal, and updates to the content of the UUFC website. Cameron’s background is in engineering and technology development. He has built his communication skills through college courses, corporate experience, and ad-hoc engineering project management. He is grateful to have the opportunity to apply these skills in service to the Fellowship, and is looking forward to learning the intricacies of communication within a religious community. Cameron can be reached via email at comms@uucorvallis.org. If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions about how we communicate within the Fellowship, Cameron would love to hear them.
All justice team leaders, any and all team justice team members, and any /all other Fellowship members and friends are invited to the Justice Council gathering, Sunday Feb. 16 following the service, in the Sanctuary, to share information, perspectives and needs. How is our justice work being affected by changes in the country? Does our work need to expand, or change? Are there new projects we need to take on? All who are interested in the ongoing living of our mission to “ACT: We inspire action toward a better world for all” are invited to join this gathering.
Join us at the Sunday Service on Feb. 16 to hear Blaise Ntakarutimana tell about his journey from being a UU refugee from Burundi, to his life as a new US citizen, to his hopes for what his experience can offer to others. Blaise is a member of the Fellowship. He and his wife Gisele live in Portland with their three children.
Due to many walls needing to be opened for asbestos abatement, we can now add more electrical outlets and cut down on the use of extension cords. Small wall-heaters are being removed, and will be replaced by mini-split air handlers making our HVAC system more efficient overall. The large dumpster in the parking lot will be replaced by a smaller dumpster next week, taking up fewer parking spaces. Extraneous and outdated land-line phone cables are being removed, and a new more efficient water heater has been installed. Our project liasons, Brian Egan and Nick Houtman are very pleased with the care being taking by the Gerding crew, to communicate with us and to contain costs!