The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis
Many thanks to all who participated in the first session of this planning process, which aims to create a 3-5 year plan for our Fellowship Buildings and Grounds. The second session will take place on Saturday Sept. 14, from 9-11AM. Attend again, attend for the first time, or send an email to Jill McAllister with your ideas and hopes for our campus, to be incorporated into a strategic plan.
If you have ideas or opinions, now is the time to share them!
All are welcome.
For the past eleven years we have worked with an annual theme as a way of focusing our attention and energy amidst the many activities of the Fellowship. Themes have included Love, Courage, Deepening, Faithfulness, Building A New Way, and more. In the coming year, our focus will be “Ancestors, Descendants, and Us.” It is inspired by a song in our hymnal, based on words of the artist Paul Gaugin: Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?” In the life of the Fellowship and in our individual lives, these are timely questions.
“Where do we come from?” refers to our histories – who were the people and what were the ideas and events which shaped the evolution of Unitarianism, and of the Fellowship. What were their dreams and challenges, their successes and failures, and how have those affected the lives we live now? And for our individual lives – what have we inherited and how have we been shaped by what we have inherited from our own ancestors?
“Where are we going?” refers to the future, which we do not know but which we are shaping through our present lives. Where do we hope to go? What kind of world do we want for the generations who will follow us? Are these ideas and ideals realistic, possible? How might they come into being?
Both of these questions inform and affect our lives in the present moment. What do we still need to learn about our histories that can help us make good choices for our present lives, so that our present lives can help shape the futures we aim for? What kinds of ancestors do we hope to be, and what is required of us now for that to come true?
In this church year we will be telling and listening to many stories, we will be encouraging one another to live up to our ideals, and we will be working together to envision a future worth striving for. Our religious values play a very big part in all of this work. I invite you to begin your reflections now and I encourage you to enter into the conversations: Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?
UU Singer/ Songwriters Sandy O and Pat Humphries are returning to the Fellowship for an evening of both new and beloved songs about justice, compassion and right relations. Sandy and Pat are favorites of many UU congregations and General Assemblies.
Tickets are $18 in advance and $22 at the door. Please join us, and invite your friends!
The UUFC Climate Action Team encourages gardening to provide local food, shade, and carbon sequestration. Information on local gardening, food, and community will appear in the new Neighborhood Planters Kiosk next to the Circle Blvd sidewalk area shared with the Sangha Jewel Zen Center. The colorful kiosks are a collaborative project of the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition Food Action Team, Benton County Master Gardeners, Corvallis Evening Gardening Club, and City of Corvallis Civic Beautification and Urban Forestry group and are provided at no cost. The info will be changed on a mostly weekly basis by the Climate Action Team.
(Photo: Dianne Roth viewing info in the kiosk window)
Join UU friends for an afternoon at Springhill Cellars Winery on Sunday September 8, 2024.
We will leave from the UU parking lot at 11:45 for the 20-minute drive out to 2920 NW Scenic Drive in North Albany (take Hwy 20 toward Albany, look for Scenic Drive after you pass Hyak Park). We typically stay a couple hours.
Bring finger food to share with the group (if you bring food that requires cutting or scooping, then bring necessary utensils). Heather will provide paper plates and napkins. You might also want to bring water.
Those with the Visit Corvallis WINE PASSPORT, you will have a free tasting flight.
It’s a fun, relaxed way to get to know some UU’s better. Hope you can join us.
Please contact Heather if you’d like to attend.
The UUFC has owned a gas-powered Dixon riding zero-turn lawn mower for 10+ years. After limited use the last several years and mowing team concurrence, the mower was sold at the Aug 31 UUFC parking lot sale and found a new loving home. The buyer had driven a Dixon as a youngster and added it to his mower fleet with begrudging support from his wife. Your UUFC mowing team is now totally electric!
We are also short on mowers. Team member Lynn Evans is moving to Kansas to be with family (thanks Lynn!) and so his backyard mowing slot is open. If anyone is looking for a way to support the UUFC and get some exercise at the same time, please contact Russ Karow, Mowing Team Lead.
Wolfgang Dengler is looking for 2 people to work for 2 hours sometime this next week, moving 8 foot and 10 foot ladders for the. installation of gutter guard around the perimeter of the Fellowship roof.
Flexible scheduling, but need to avoid heat and direct sun.
If interested, please Contact Wolfgang
Did you know that the latest Point in Time count data shows Oregon is leading the nation in the rate of unsheltered unaccompanied homeless youth and unsheltered homeless families and that Corvallis has over 300 students (not counting children under the age of 4) identified as homeless?
This year the Secure Housing and Food for All (SH&F4A) justice team is focusing on helping the children and families in Corvallis by coordinating with the Corvallis School District Family Support Program. For September the funds gathered from the weekly collection basket will go to CSD Family Support program. The Family Support Program helps families meet their basic needs and identify goals to increase stability.
Each week we will be collecting items needed by the children. New and gently used shoes, winter coats, and rain gear.
Please join us by sharing items that will help the kids.
