Grandfolks Squad (Free UUFC Childcare)

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As part of our mission to ensure that people of all ages have the opportunity to plug into Fellowship life, we formed the Grandfolks Squad, a team of volunteers who provide no-cost childcare for Fellowship families during UUFC sponsored events.

Per our safe congregation policy, all volunteers who work with children are background checked and work in teams of two unrelated adults so that children are never alone, one on one, with any nonfamily adult. The squad is composed largely of grandparents who have a heart for nurturing young children.

Only children who are registered in either the nursery or Spirit Play are eligible for care from the Granfolks Squad. This ensures that we have adequate emergency information on file. You may find registration links for each age group under the learning tab.

Please note that because the Grandfolks Squad is completely volunteer-operated, there may be times when a request cannot be accommodated. 

To request a team of Grandfolks to care for your children during an event, we ask that you fill out this request form 2-3 weeks prior to the event date. Once a team has been found, you will be notified via email. Please arrive 5 – 10 minutes before your event and meet the Grandfolks in Room 4. Offer them any information that might help them provide a great experience for your cherished little one, and then head to your gathering.

If you have questions about the Grandfolks Squad, or are interested in volunteering, contact Skyla King-Christison at dre@uucorvallis.org

OWL (Our Whole Lives) Comprehensive Sexuality Education

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Honest, accurate information about sexuality changes lives. It dismantles stereotypes and assumptions, builds self-acceptance and self-esteem, fosters healthy relationships, improves decision making, and has the potential to save lives. For these reasons and more, we are proud to offer Our Whole Lives (OWL), a comprehensive, lifespan sexuality education curricula for use in both secular settings and faith communities.

Our Whole Lives helps participants make informed and responsible decisions about their relationships, sexual health and behavior. With a holistic approach, Our Whole Lives provides accurate, developmentally appropriate information about a range of topics, including relationships, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, sexual health, and cultural influences on sexuality.

Because we aim, as people of faith, to never stop growing and evolving, UUFC doesn’t stop offering OWL just because you’ve become an adult. As part of our core programming, we offer OWL every other year, alternating with Coming of Age, each with a cohort of middle schoolers and a separate cohort open to adults ages 18 to 101! Adult OWL is not a children’s program made available to adults. Instead, we expand the conversation to include information about up to date terminology that may have changed in your lifetime and what that means for your conversations about sex and sexuality, as well as discussions around how our identities and challenges shift as we become sexual beings in aging human bodies.

OWL is only taught by teams of background checked adults who have completed training offered jointly by the UUA and UCC. You can find more information about the complete program by visiting this website, and more about our local OWL offerings by emailing Skyla King-Christison at dre@uucorvallis.org.

Coming of Age

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Coming of Age is a core UU program that asks participants to explore what it means to become an adult in a Unitarian Universalist context. A lot of cultures have this kind of event in the life of their congregation or community. Close to home, our Jewish neighbors have bat and bar mitzvahs where young people are asked to learn a language and be able to reflect on a text. In other cultures there are walkabouts, solo experiences in the wilderness, or even rounds of combat. In each of these examples, the community is expressing what is important to it. In Judaism, the importance is put on being religiously literate in the language of the Torah. Walkabouts emphasize the importance of survival in nature, while hand to hand combat points toward the importance of defending the group or surviving a conflict.

In our faith, we ask our members to reflect deeply on who they are as spiritual people, to be able to think metaphorically, and to express themselves as soulful, connected beings, capable of experiencing a spiritual passion and transforming that passion into service and dedication to a common good.

Because we aim, as people of faith, to never stop growing and evolving, UUFC doesn’t stop offering the Coming of Age program just because you’ve become an adult. As part of our core programming, we offer Coming of Age every other year, alternating with OWL (Our Whole Lives, a comprehensive sexuality education), each with a cohort of middle schoolers and a separate cohort open to adults ages 18 to 101! Adult Coming of Age is not a children’s program made available to adults. Instead, it’s a program that asks adults to engage with the same themes, but in a small group that is willing to deeply reflect on the personal history that shaped them, where they are in their spiritual development, and where they aim to go next.

For more information about when the next Coming of Age Cycle begins, contact Skyla at dre@uucorvallis.org

And The Nominees Are…

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The UUFC Nominating Committee is working on a slate of candidates for the Board of Directors to be presented at the Annual Meeting on May 19. If you would like to know more about this process, and/or if you are interested in serving your Fellowship as a Director, we now have all the information and a response form in one handy document! Here is the link to that document: To Serve On The UUFC Board

Thank you for considering this opportunity! Please respond by Thursday, March 21. The 2024 Nominating Committee: Ann Marchant, Bonnie Morihara, Jed Irvine, and Priscilla Galasso.

Between Us, 3/10/2024

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At the end of every OSU term I mark out ten to twelve hours on my schedule to have short one-to-one meetings with all the students in my class on World Religions. There are usually around 45 students, so it takes a while. I have learned that it is one of the most worthwhile things I do. I have a chance to hear from each student whether or not, in getting an overview of nine different traditions, they have learned anything useful (or surprising or helpful). This is my week for interviews, and once again, I am full of gratitude and awe. Students who never say anything in class become incredibly articulate. They describe how their perspectives have opened, how their horizons have widened, how what they thought was simply true is much more complicated and nuanced than they could have imagined. They appreciate knowing more than hearsay about Judaism and Islam, they are intrigued by the possibilities of Buddhist and Daoist practice. They recognize that even if they don’t consider themselves religious, nevertheless they too are in the process of trying to understand what it means to be human is, and how to live a good life.

I sometimes say that I continue to teach this class as my small contribution to world peace. And maybe that’s true. Maybe it’s also true that I’m still trying to understand what it means to be human and how to live a good live.

The Fellowship, and Unitarian Universalism, mean a lot of things to a lot of people. It isn’t always easy to describe what we do, because so much is done by so many, and because as the world changes we also change. At the very least, however, from my perspective, we are people who gather together as companions on the journey of life, trying to understand and do our best to be human through ups and downs, love and loss, fear and joy. We choose this specific liberal religious path, and this particular congregation for the freedom to ask our own questions and to share both questions and answers with others. We also choose this place because we understand that we can promise one another to take care of ourselves and of each other.

Being a Unitarian Universalist can look easy, as in “nothing is required.” But that is not quite right. Much is asked of us, including being responsible to and for each other, to and for the congregation, and to and for the world. All are welcome to come in and consider this path, yet it is so much more than a spectator sport (as I’ve said many times before). The religious life — this religious life as a Unitarian Universalist — is a life based on commitment. There is too much at stake in our lives and in the world for anything less.

Celebration of Life for Owen Bentley, 3/23

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We send love and good wishes to the family of Owen Bentley, a long-time Fellowship member, who died on March 5 in Portland. A Celebration of Life for Owen will be held at the Fellowship on Saturday March 23. And we send love and good wishes to the Spain family, on the death of Joyce Spain on February 28. A gathering in honor and memory of Joyce will take place later in the Spring or Summer.

To help with the reception following Owen Bentley’s Celebration of Life on March 23, please contact Sandy Piper. Needed are volunteers to bring finger foods and to set-up and or clean up.