The Right Relations Team is available for conversations about covenant and to support brave spaces where people can move from defensiveness toward resolution. For the first step, reach out to rev.alex.mcgee@uucorvallis.org.
Members of the Right Relations Team
Mark Aron
Mark has attended the UUFC since 1986. He has taught in the RE program for nearly all of those 40 years, including working with the teen-age youth group over the past twenty-five plus years. In 2012-13, he served on a successful search committee that was tasked with finding a new settled minister. In 2013, he was appointed to the Committee on Ministry, and became its chair several years later. He chaired this committee until it completed its work in 2025. He chaired the team that wrote our most recent congregational covenant.
Mark has particular interests in aiding groups to work in constructive patterns. Specifically, he is committed to helping folks engage in respectful interactions, deep listening, and healthy means of dealing with conflict. To these ends, he has served on the Right Relations Team since its inception in late 2025.
Susan Christie
Susan Christie and her husband Matt Mathews joined the Fellowship in November 1999. Since then, Susan has sung in the choir, served as secretary of the Board of Directors, led the Climate Action Team, and been a member of the Justice Council, the Democracy Action Team, the Right Relations Team, and the Fellowship Care and Support Team, which provided extensive training on deep listening. Her strength is understanding differing perspectives on social justice and other issues.
Susan is a retired scientific/technical writer and still does pro bono work in support of climate science. She is a strong advocate of bicycle transportation.
Joyce Marvel-Benoist
With an orientation to helping people communicate and an ability to suspend judgement, Joyce has served as community mediator, life coach, holistic addiction treatment center director, child care center director and special interventions trainer, as well as group facilitator utilizing a mix of NVC (Non Violent Communication), the Option Process, and others. Program developer and facilitator for trainings focusing on communication, parenting, couples, self care, staff collaboration, emergency procedures, and creative arts.
Joyce and her husband JF Benoist have attended UUFC since 2023 and have assisted with women’s and men’s retreats, offered an empowerment workshop, and enjoyed supporting justice work, as well as groups such as Queerly Beloved and Neuro Diversity Support. A longtime activist, her approach is open hearted and minded with respect for differing perspectives.