The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis
Wed, July 17, 7-8:30 pm.
First Congregational church, 4515 SW West Hills Road, Corvallis.
A Unity Shelter panel discusses the root causes of houselessness, the crisis of housing in Corvallis, the unique work of Unity Shelter and how we might engage in advocacy. Event promoted by Secure Food and Housing Social Justice Team, UUFC.
First, our thanks to all who have committed to the ongoing success and growth of the UUFC through a pledge for its 2024-25 fiscal year. Together we are doing great things! It is not too late to make a pledge if you have not yet had the chance to do so. To make your pledge, visit the annual pledge drive page.
For those who have made a pledge, now is the time to ponder how you intend to fulfill your pledge. Some of you will have seen a version of this information via a direct email:
Drop checks at church or mail to UUFC, 2945 NW Circle, Corvallis OR 97330. No need to read further.
Be sure that the donation amount and beginning and end dates for these contributions are correct. Have checks mailed to UUFC, 2945 NW Circle Blvd, Corvallis OR 97330. No need to read further.
If you have an IRA and need to take a minimum required distribution, you can make such directly to the UUFC with tax advantage. Talk with your financial advisor about options.
Some people make stock donations. If you need information about making stock donations, please ask Russ Karow.
If you would like to pay using the Breeze automatic payment system and have not already set that up, follow these steps:
If you are currently using the Breeze payment system but are comfortable using bill pay through your bank, please consider this option for the UUFC payment. It saves processing fees – neither you nor the UUFC have to pay these fees
If dealing with the breeze system seems overwhelming, please let us know and UUFC staff will deal with the system for you. We are happy to do so.
If you have any questions, send an email to the address below or call Russ Karow at 541-760-4770 (leave a message if I don’t answer) and we will find answers for you.
Thanks for your many contributions to the success of the UUFC. You are appreciated.
May your summer be amazing.
Contact email – businessmgr@uucorvallis.org Russ Karow on behalf of your UUFC Board, Financial Oversight Council and Staff
Please join us in the Social Hall after the service on 6/30 to celebrate all 2nd quarter birthdays.
Music Sharing Night! For the first time since before the pandemic, the UUFC will be hosting another Music Sharing Night! Bring your instruments and your voices to share music with the community, open-mic style. All musical acts are encouraged to participate. In the past we’ve had performers of all ages share a variety of styles and genres of music. You don’t have to be a professional musician. In fact, 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.
More details about how to sign up to share your music coming in future weekly announcements. Hope to see you there!
David Servias
UUFC Director of Music
It was Ralph Waldo Emerson who said “… it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping, we are becoming.” This brings up the question of our “liturgical year”: What are the holidays / holy days we observe, or celebrate, and why? If we could choose, what would be the most important days or events or observances to include in our congregational life, as a way of helping to orient us to what is most important? Maybe we can choose! This is worth some discussion.
Although the beginning of “Summer Services” is a little bit arbitrary, nevertheless we do make a change in our worship formats during most of the summer months. This year we’ll begin Summer Sunday Services on July 7 and end on September 1. Some of those services will be held outside, depending on temperature and weather — that part makes planning ahead a challenge. Just check the weekly announcements each week.
People have different approaches to Fellowship life in the summer. Some travel a lot, and take breaks from Sunday attendance. Others attend every week and don’t really distinguish between summer and other seasons when it comes to Sunday services. Whatever works for you, we look forward to seeing you at the Fellowship or online as often as you are able to come.
There are other ways to gather as well. For example, a concert this Sunday evening in support of our democracy action team stamp fund; a night at the ball park on July 28; a music sharing evening on August 7; seasonal Connect Up activities and more. And there will be furniture moving to share as we begin to empty out the classroom wing in preparation for renovations there.
Summer is a great time to invite others to get together – for walks, coffee/tea, gardening, movies, meals, etc. Find someone to share in a conversation about our Congregational Covenant of Right Relations, or about the newly updated UUA values (Article 2.) Or make an appointment to get together with your minister. If not now, when?
Whatever your approach to summer, may it be a time for building new connections and strengthening the bonds of community.
We hope to see you often.
If you have scheduled recurring events, many of them will expire at the end of June, so please double check and extend them if you need to.
Occasionally we find events on the calendar that have been recurring for a long time, but aren’t actually happening anymore. We are working to clean these off of the calendar.
To schedule new events, please visit the “Members Area” by scrolling to the bottom of any page on the website.
Here’s what it looks like:
Our outreach offerings for the month of June are supporting Flaming Chalice International, the non-profit organization founded by Rev. Fulgence Ndagijimana to support both Burundian Unitarian refugees and Unitarians within Burundi. Our contributions help support job training, scholarships, housing and food for refugees, social justice projects focused on women’s health and dignity, and maintaining clean water supplies in remote villages. The Fellowship has been part of this international partnership for more than ten years. Our support makes a difference in lives of many Burundians and in the health and growth of global UUism.
PS – Rev. Fulgence has changed his name, to better reflect his Burundian identity instead of the colonial Catholicism he was raised with. His new name is Mwibutsawineza F. Ndagijimanayburundi. He goes by Mwibutsa.
In 2001 the eminent scholar of religion Huston Smith titled one of his last books “Why Religion Matters.” From his life-long study of world religions, he offered a clear perspective: that in a world dominated by materialism, consumerism, and divisions among people, being fully human requires what has always been called religion – an understanding of our essential connectedness to all that is. My study of religion has been in no way as thorough as his was, yet the older I become, the more I agree. I define religion in this way – as the human process of understanding the nature of our connectedness, especially to Self, Others, and Life. And it’s my conviction that when the process is intentional we have a chance to achieve its best aims, which are summarized in the phrase “to live in right relations.”
Without being overly simplistic, it seems to me that the most important aspect of the religious life is how it helps us treat all other living things with respect, compassion and kindness, at the very least. It helps us recognize the effects of our lives, our choices, our actions, on everything else, and motivates us to become more other-centered. To become more other-centered is to become less judgmental.
We love to talk about spirituality, about high ideals, about creating right relations, about big ideas of “truth”, yet day by day we are mostly caught up in being judgmental. We refer to others as “they” or “those people” or “people like that,” — all of which begin with judgment and categorizing. Here’s a small exercise to try: look at whatever you consider to be your religious beliefs or spiritual practices and be curious enough to figure out whether or not they have any effect on your habits of being judgmental. I suspect you’ll find there’s room for improvement, like I do most of the time.
There is no more important reason for being part of a Unitarian Universalist congregation than this – to help each other learn to be less judgmental. May we continue to help each other!