Join with the Queerly Beloved social group for a fun afternoon of Mexican Train Dominoes on Sunday, August 18, at 4:00-6:00 pm.
All LGBTQIA+ folks and allies welcome.
UUFC August Hike, 8/24
The August Fellowship hike will be to Cone Peak, near Tombstone Summit east of Sweet Home on Saturday, Aug 24, 2024. It is shifted from its normal last Saturday due to the popular Rummage Sale on the last Saturday this month.
Contact Jim Wagner for more information.
“Making the Invisible Visible” – 8/11/24
Our UUFC mission statement begins with “We gather as an inclusive religious community…” And we do our best to be welcoming to all who come. And, we still have lots to learn about what broad inclusion really means, and needs, and looks like. We’re at the beginning of a new collaboration with ARC of Benton County, and look forward to learning more today from ARC staff member Misha Marie and Board President John Gottchall, about the work of ARC, serving and supporting people with Developmental Disabilities.
Please join us. The service will be indoors today. Following the Sunday Service, at 2 PM, please join in the Celebration of Life for Louise Ferrell. Those wishing to join online may do so by using the regular Sunday Service link.
Music Sharing Night THIS WEEK!!! 8,7
Music Sharing Night is coming up!! Come see people from the Fellowship sharing their music!
We still have room for more performers, so please sign up! Do you play an instrument, or have a song you want to sing? We want to hear you your music!!!
Not ready for the big stage? No problem! This is not the big stage. These are your friends at the Fellowship. Just do it!
We’ve had people make their performance debut right here at UUFC. Perform as a solo act, or form a group. Original music is welcome and encouraged. Each act will have 10 minutes to perform.
To sign up, please fill out a form:
Music Sharing Night Participation Form
David Servias
UUFC Director of Music
I am so grateful for all the time and effort that has gone into making these Weekly Announcements what they are today – integrated into the website, easily readable on phones and other hand-held devices, convenient for folks who first simply need to know what, when and where. These have been beautiful updates, and have received lots of compliments And, I’ve heard from some of you that you miss a “newsletter” which you could read all the way through, which includes a broad look at the life of the Fellowship and UUism in general. I think we can have both, and should.
I’ve had conversations with a few people about a monthly publication which is more like a journal than a newsletter. Instead of including announcements about events, which the Weekly Announcements do very well, this journal would focus on ideas – our theologies, our philosophies of religion and religious exploration, our newly articulated shared values, our stories, our local and international partners, our own religious and spiritual commitments, and more.
I’m ready and willing to start this publication this month. I’d be happy to hear from any of you who might like to help – as writers, editors, planners, etc. I’d be happy to know if you have ideas for a name for such a publication. Please connect with me if you do.
Meanwhile, here in the depth of summertime, I encourage you to stop and be amazed by the bounty of our Willamette Valley home, if you aren’t already doing that every day. Amidst the swirling of politics and cultures, the changing Earth and climate, the too many details and the too few deep connections, help yourself pause to rest and see or feel or consider a larger view, a Life which is so much more than our own thoughts and experience. And in that pause, count a few blessings, and send blessings on to others.
See you Sunday — Jill
Building Renovation Project Update
We were hoping that construction on our classroom wing renovation project would begin in September, or maybe October. It looks like JANUARY is more realistic! The project team received a timetable last week from Gerding Builders, outlining the many, many pre-construction tasks still needing to be done, including several city permits, engineering decisions, final drawings, sub-contracting, and more. The schedules for permits plus the availability of contractors have the greatest effect on timing.
So, we’ll keep going with our preparations for emptying the building, at a slightly relaxed pace. We’re only now becoming aware of the huge amount of work needed to install fire sprinklers in the building – involving installing a new pipe under the parking lot from the street to the RE wing, and building a small “house” to contain all of the connections from that pipe to the interior plumbing. This is what is needed in order for our building to meet current fire safety code!
Thank-you to all who have already volunteered to help with a variety of tasks plus offered short-term storage for the contents of our building. We’ll keep going in making our plans, cleaning out rooms and closest, packing boxes, etc.
This project is going to happen! Please stay tuned.
Sunday Outreach Offerings in August
Our Sunday Outreach Offerings for the month of August will support Jackson Street Youth Services: “Helping Youth 24/7/365.” This local organization offers youth a safe place to live and resources to work through crises and towards a brighter, more stable future. Founded to fill a gap in housing for homeless youth, Jackson Street now serves youth throughout Linn, Benton, and Lincoln Counties. They rely on donations and partnerships in their continued commitment to help end youth homelessness.
AND, until August 9, a special effort is underway to collect school supplies for youth. You can help by donating: Backpacks, Calculators, Flash Drives, Planners (dated and undated), Notebooks, Sketchbooks, Headphones
UUFC History Project – Who’s Interested?
Are you interested in stories about the Fellowship? About who first gathered, who built our buildings, how RE and justice work and music have been part of this congregation’s life? Do you ever try to imagine folks who came here before you – what brought them, what commitments they made, how they were supported in times of challenge and change? Do you know some of these stories because you are in them? Because the Fellowship has been part of your life, and you part of its life, for many years?
Rev. Jill McAllister is looking for a few people who’d like to help with a UUFC history project in the coming year. Please contact her if you are interested in helping collect and edit some of the stories of the Fellowship. We have many stories to tell and to save, to pass on for those who come after us. We are making stories now, for the future.
The project may include recording oral histories, interviewing folks, writing down memories, creating a journal, and more.
Our theme for the coming year will be about past, present and future – ancestors, descendants and us. It will give us a chance to know more about our connectedness – what holds us together, what nurtures and strengthens us. In the midst of the stories of our lives, being created every day, it may inspire us to know more about where we come from and where we aim to be going.
