The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis
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It has long been a UUFC tradition to sing songs of joy and peace during the winter holidays.
Please join the choir and sing with us during a couple services, special events, and Christmas Eve. You may already know the songs and just need to brush up a bit. You are welcome. Rehearsals are Wednesdays at 7:00 PM in the Sanctuary.
Contact Choir Director Steven Evans-Renteria for more information.
A member of the Board of Directors will have a table in the Social Hall after Sunday worship (which starts at 10 AM) so that you can come and ask questions about the budget, policies, and long-term-plans.
Update on the holiday trees for sale! SevenOaks Nursery said the 3-gallon Willamette Valley Ponderosa pine are disappointing as Holiday Trees, while the 3-gallon Douglas firs and 5-gallon Ponderosa pine look good. So… The 3-gallon Ponderosa pine option is replaced with the 5-gallon Ponderosa pine. The cost for the 3-gallon Douglas fir is $25, for the 5-gallon Ponderosa pine $30. Trees can be reserved using this form: https://forms.gle/E964qxccpYpRQzJw8 and they will be available on a first-come, first served basis at the Fellowship starting on Sunday, Nov. 30.
Recently statements were sent out to everyone who has pledged and donated to that pledge in the first quarter of our fiscal year (July 1st – September 30th). If you did not receive an email but think you should have, please email Stephanie Haines, our business manager, at businessmgr@uucorvallis.org.
The Corvallis Museum is hosting an exhibit on homelessness. Step inside our Microshelter Exhibit for a rare opportunity to see what life is like in a tiny, transitional home. In partnership with Unity Shelter, this exhibit shows that while a roof and four walls provide safety and shelter, it’s far from luxurious. The exhibit offers a firsthand look at the challenges and realities faced by those experiencing homelessness. Explore the shelter and connect with the everyday realities of those without permanent homes.
On exhibit at the Corvallis museum, during museum hours, until early spring.
Learn about Unity Shelter and support their efforts!
https://bentoncountymuseums.org/exhibits/microshelters/
2945 NW Circle Blvd, Corvallis
Posted November 10, 2025 – open until filled
Contact – office@uucorvallis.org
We are inviting proposals for price and schedule to clean our church building. The building includes a vinyl-floored sanctuary with free-standing chairs (~2500 sq ft), kitchen (vinyl), social hall (wood), lobby (masonry), six single bathrooms, and 15 other office, library or meeting rooms with carpet, wood or vinyl flooring. We need the building cleaned at the end of the week before our Sunday service and then again early in the week after Sunday service.
The Holiday Fair team is looking for volunteers to help prepare for and run the event. We need help with various tasks leading up to the event, including baking goodies to donate to the event, posting flyers in Corvallis and nearby communities, organizing donated items for the recycled gifts room where children can shop for inexpensive items for themselves or gifts for family and friends, and making fresh greenery swags for people to hang on their doors. We also need a baked goods coordinator to accept and package/price baked goods on Friday and organize running the table on Saturday. And on the day of the event, we need volunteers to act as greeters, cashiers, musicians, and helpers to restore the sanctuary when the Holiday Fair is over.
The UUFC Holiday Fair is open to the public and is a great place to purchase unique handmade crafts as gifts for friends and family and yourself. The craft vendors retain most of the purchase price of their crafts, and a portion goes to the UUFC as one of our annual fund-raising events. If you are able to help, you’ll enjoy being part of a team that is working to support local craftspeople as well as the UUFC.
Sign up to help at one of the links below.
Volunteering Before the Holiday Fair
Volunteering During the Event
A document describing the different volunteering positions can be found here. Please reach out to holiday.fair@uucorvallis.org with questions.
Do you have small holiday decorations that we can add to the greenery swags? Bring them with you when you next come to UUFC and place them in the red holiday swag box in the foyer.
Do you have inexpensive gift items that a child could purchase for no more than $2 to give to a friend, sibling, or other relative? Bring them to a Sunday service at UUFC and give them to Judy Westlake, Rachel McGrath, or Bonnie Morihara.
Free childcare can usually be arranged for any Fellowship event by using this link 1-2 weeks prior to the event.
Our November Justice Outreach offering will support the Corvallis Daytime Drop-in Center (CDDC). CDDC is a community-based non-profit resource hub providing information, referral, and direct services for people experiencing homelessness and poverty in Benton County and beyond.
To learn more about their work, visit the CDDC website.
Each month, the Fellowship gathers donations for a certain charitable cause. These are our Outreach Offerings. You can contribute to this month’s offering in a few ways:
The Social Concerns team donate an assortment of sweet and savory refreshments, including gluten-free and vegan choices, for our enjoyment at the social hour following Sunday worship. These items are purchased and prepared by the team to encourage donations to the Outreach Offering. Collection baskets are always found at the end of the refreshments table. The next time you’re eyeing something tasty on the table, consider putting a donation in the basket first to show how much you appreciate having that treat ready and waiting for you!
Welcoming the Unwelcome Study Group
Monday evenings from 7:15 to 8:30 September 23rd – December 2nd
Facilitated by Joyce Federiuk
Please register HERE.
Try, once again, to let everything you do be done in love.
I am inspired by these words Rev. Jill uses to close our Sunday service. What would it be like to
live this way? Sometimes I speak or act out of love, and that feels like happiness. But not
everything I do or say comes from love, and when an alternative motivation (like ego, obligation,
guilt, anger, etc etc) takes over, the results are often not so good.
How can we move closer to this lovely ideal? Buddhist nun and teacher Pema Chodron has a masterful way of explaining Buddhist wisdom in an accessible and compelling way. After reading “When Things Fall Apart” I was intrigued by the idea that in our incessant quest to avoid suffering, we often make a mess of things and cause a lot of suffering for ourselves and others. When I attended a weekend retreat with Pema and learned to meditate, I learned that it is possible to train in loving kindness. Meditation allowed me to take these ideas to heart and start to apply them to actual situations. I then gained a new level of appreciation of the power of
Buddhist wisdom.
I’m planning a study group to read and discuss “Welcoming the Unwelcome: Wholehearted Living in a Brokenhearted World”. Here’s a blurb from the cover:
In her first new book of spiritual teachings in over seven years, Pema Chodron offers fresh wisdom, heartfelt reflections and the signature humor and insight that have made her a beloved guide in turbulent times. In an increasingly polarized world, Pema offers us tools to find common ground, even when we disagree, so we can build a stronger and broader sense of community. Sharing never-before-told personal stories from her remarkable life, simple and powerful everyday practices, and directly relatable advice, Pema leads the way in showing us how to become triumphant bodhisattvas- compassionate beings- in even the most difficult of circumstances.
Well, reading and understanding is one thing. But taking the advice to heart and trying it out in our everyday encounters is what I’m hoping to achieve in this Adult RE offering. We will read, we will discuss, we will do guided meditations, and we will try out these ideas in real life.
What’s in store for Adults in Religious Exploration this year? I’m so glad you asked!
Some upcoming Adult RE opportunities include:
Mosaic Antiracism Series (September and October)
Music Theology (January)
Adult Coming of Age (March and April)
Crossing Thresholds Group (September through May)
ONGOING OFFERINGS:
Parent Peer Support Group (3rd Thursday of each month @ 7:15 in room 3, with free childcare provided in room 6B)
Neurodivergence and Mental Health Peer Support Group (Third Sunday of each month @ 11:45 in Room 9)
Family Breakfast (2nd Sundays, October through May)
All past RE event listings can be viewed here!
We very much appreciate you taking the time to pre-register so that we can arrive well-prepared to provide you with the best RE experience possible.
If you have a special interest and would like to facilitate an exploration opportunity for adults, email Skyla King-Christison at dre@uucorvallis.org. The RE Council loves when our members help co-create the gatherings they would like to see, and I’m happy to support you in launching your RE-related ideas.
