WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENTS – text only
Sunday Services
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This Week:
Adjusting to the Moment, August 17, 2025
Habits help a person get through life with ease, but sometimes those habits don’t serve us when we encounter new situations. Many people are experiencing new situations in public safety, national economy, and also right here in the Fellowship. What spiritual practices can guide us to be present and act skillfully – both as individuals and community?
Rev. Alex McGee will preach.
Services This Month
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August 3 – “Lughnasadh, AKA: Lammas” – Diana Titus and the Wheel of the Year Team
August 10 – “Community Wealth Sharing has Positive Impact!” – Julie Williams
August 17 – “Adjusting to the Moment” – Rev. Alex McGee
August 24 – “Beginners Mind” – Rev. Alex McGee
August 31 – NO SERVICE – Join us at the Tuna Roast the next day instead!
From the Minister
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Hello dear congregants at UUFC: What a week it has been in this world, with the extreme heat and more painful political news. But that discomfort and pain is not the whole picture. As we continue in our spiritual growth and grounding together, we have opportunities to find a soothing balm as well as deep courage. Please continue to make time for the things that nourish you spiritually and connect you to others. I was grateful for the coincidence that my sister was travelling through Oregon this week and I got to go hiking with her as we explored the mountains and waterfalls together. Here is a photo!
In my second week at the Fellowship, I continue to observe generosity of time, talent, and treasure. I see so many members getting great joy from doing their part in sustaining this spiritual community. I was inspired to see the nearly 30 people who came on Wednesday evening to the training coordinated by the Democracy Action Team. Folks left energized with ideas of the many ways to resist autocracy with focus on what is unique to this location in Oregon, to their unique abilities, and to this spiritual community.
Next week will be my first board meeting and I will begin working with the board as they provide leadership to you all during this interim time. I will be leading worship with you here for the first time this coming Sunday, and I look forward to being with you there.
In joy and patience,
Rev. Alex McGee, Interim Minister
This Week at UUFC
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Kirtan With Girish, 8/17
Girish, an accomplished musician of many genres, former monk infused in spiritual practice, loving wordsmith linking lyrics and rhythm in a blissful musical event, sings traditional Sanskrit mantras with a modern, funky, yet deeply devotional twist. Accompanied by his amazing band, Girish invites his audience at his kirtan concert to participate by singing along, call and response chanting, and dancing. Girish has been recommended and featured in “O, The Oprah Magazine”, “Yoga Journal”, “Spirituality and Health Magazine”, “LA Yoga Magazine”, “Common Ground” and “Yogi Times.” Girish’s original music catalog of seven albums is popular in yoga studios and music festivals all over the world, and his “Music and Mantras” book was published in 2016.
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Grounds Work Party, 8/17
We have a big stash of cardboard piling up at the UU and time permitting, we can begin to cardboard and woodchip the Elmwood and Firwood areas near the street. This area of scraggly grass which is not a lawn is a drag to have to mow. Wood chips will reap big improvements both in aesthetics and ease of maintenance. Our mowing team volunteers will thank us!
Thank you for your attention and desire to help. We need many hands to make this effort sustainable! We hope to see you soon.
Announcements
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Mosaic Antiracism Workshop for Adults! Register by 9/1
Registration is required HERE.
WHAT: A fun and connecting communal exploration of radical inclusion through the lens of race and culture.
WHEN: Monday evenings, 9/7 – 10/20 from 6:30-8PM
WHERE: Room 7 @ uufc
WHY: Because the social and political landscape is ever-evolving, there will always be more to learn about how to be inclusive, and this will never be a topic we can check off the old to-do list and call it done. In 2020, the Commission on Institutional Change’s report, “Widening the Circle of Concern” (UUA), the commission recommended that we “hold conversations across generations about issues of inclusion, with the goal of recognizing the evolution in our Living Tradition and that spiritual development needs change over time.” Let’s answer that call in Corvallis!
More details:
Each session will include the following elements:
- Opening: chalice lighting and check-in
- Read: audio or video of a book or an article to explore together
- Watch: video
- Do: craft, game, or other activity
- Close: chalice extinguishing words and other classroom rituals to close the circle
- Take Home: suggested activity and/or conversation starter to encourage further faith development at home
We want to see a majority of our adults engaging with this material. We want to see teams and councils putting this learning to work in all we do in every corner of Fellowship life and beyond. We want to do whatever is needed to help you engage deeply, share bravely, and welcome wildly, so if you want to be included and can’t figure out how, or if you have questions or concerns, please reach out to Skyla King-Christison at dre@uucorvallis.org .
PS Our children will be engaging with Mosaic across the year, too! Below are some pictures of our leaders of the children and youth programs getting ready for the juicy and community-building year ahead!
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Outreach Offerings for August
Our Sunday Outreach offerings in August support Seeds for the Sol, a nonprofit, grassroots organization taking action now to remove the financial barriers to residential energy efficiency. Their neighbor-to-neighbor funding model mimics the natural cycles of planting, harvesting, and renewal, helping more households move toward net zero. This funding model addresses climate mitigation and adaptation, energy equity and outreach, and workforce development by making affordable housing more energy efficient.
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Update on Needs in our Community – Secure Housing and Food For All Justice Team
The passage of the Big Beautiful Bill has had a profound—and deeply challenging—impact on local Corvallis shelters. With funding significantly reduced, these vital organizations are struggling to meet the basic needs of those they serve. The loss of resources has been devastating, but the need has not gone away. In this difficult moment, volunteers have become more essential than ever. If you’re able to give your time, even a little, your support can help keep dignity, warmth, and safety within reach for our neighbors in need.
For more information on how you can help, you can visit the following web pages or contact the Secure Housing and Food for All Justice Team, Roberta Smith (https://uufc.breezechms.com/people/view/27347382).
Volunteering / Supporting Unity Shelter
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RE Summer Newsletter
Greetings, Families!
We made it through another fabulous Fellowship year! 🙌 With some of your favorite RE activities on summer hiatus, you might be wondering what other opportunities are coming for children, youth, and families. Well, wonder no more!
Grab your calendars and get ready for summer goodness you won’t want to miss!
SUMMER EVENTS for FAMILIES
6/8 Family Hike at Lewisburg Saddle, 1-2PM, register here
6/23-27 Play to Your Values summer camp, 8:30 to 11:30 on the Fellowship Lawn
6/29 Corvallis Knights Game, 5-8ish at Goss Stadium, register here
7/6 Sunday Morning Kids’ Lemonade Stand, during and after the service
7/13 Family Hike at Fitton Green, 1-2PM, register here
8/3
Sunday Morning Sidewalk Chalk Values, during the service for kidsCanceled8/10 Family Hike and Splash at Mary’s River Natural Area, 1-3PM register here
8/16 Outdoor movie night and camping on the lawn, 9PM register here
8/24 Ice Cream Social, 7PM on Fellowship Lawn, register here
SUMMER EVENT for YOUTH
8/24 Youth kickoff river float, noon to whenever, register here
More information about our events can be found below, and info for all events can be found at uucorvallis.org by clicking “News” in the menu bar and then selecting “RE Council” from the drop down menu.
The second Sunday of each month, June through August, we’ll be hosting a family hike. We ask that families preregister so that we know who to wait for at the trailhead, and hikes with fewer than 2 registered families will be canceled via text.
We’ll be starting with Lewisburg Saddle and a little visit to the spot my family calls Salamander Heaven because there are tons of salamanders to see. Then we’ll hit Fitton Green in July. We’ll wrap up the summer with a short walk followed by a splash in a bend in the river that has shallows for little humans and a deeper pool for our confident swimmers on the back side of Mary’s River Natural Area.
Exciting news! The youth will have a dedicated youth room in September and they’ve chosen a wild accent wall to paint themselves. We will begin painting this Sunday and continue on Sundays until the job is done. Please have youth arrive in clothes that can get paint on them.
On the first Sunday of each month, we will have a multiage activity for the kids. In July, we’ll prepare a lemonade stand again to raise money for the charitable organization that the children vote to give to. In August, we’ll spend some time on the playground talking about our shared values and what they mean to us, and then sidewalk chalk the heck out of firwood entrance with 6 word statements about our values.
If you’re nervous about having the kids in the sanctuary again, know that you’ll have relief on the first Sunday of each month!
In addition to hikes and during-service activities, we have a couple of night time activities that are open to the entire congregation, and geared specifically toward families.
On June 29th, we’ll have a ballpark night with the Knights. Buy a ticket and join us in section 2 so we can sing and cheer and eat junk together. Register for that event HERE.
And on August 16th, we’re going to show the classic My Girl on an outdoor movie screen and you’re invited to camp on the lawn and show up to the service in your jammies the next day. Registration for the movie night with camping is HERE. You do not have to camp to come enjoy the movie!
It’s been so much fun getting to know your children over the course of this last year. They are delightful in all the ways and it’s the biggest honor to get to spend time with them week after week and get to know their quirks and gifts.
Thank you for raising such amazing humans and for being committed to doing it in community!
Before you go, some parents have requested to be contacted about RE happenings via text. Our church management software allows for that, but only once you’ve opted in. If you are interested in receiving things like this newsletter via text, please use this form to opt into that service. And please communicate with me about how it’s going if you opt in. Breeze can be a bit fussy, so this will be a new experiment. I’ll be counting on your feedback!
And as always, if you’d like to stop receiving updates about Fellowship RE activities, email me and let me know.
Happy June, Y’all!
Plan Ahead
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Democracy Action Team – One Million Rising Resistance Gathering
On Sunday, August 24th at 6pm, before the Ice Cream Social, join the Democracy Action Team for our second One Million Rising Resistance Gathering. Our conversation will center around the theme, “What’s the plan?”. We’ve now completed all of the trainings and it is time to get into action. We will discuss several options for the kinds of action which our Fellowship is uniquely suited to support
One Million Rising (https://www.nokings.org/rise) is a training framework designed to provide ordinary Americans with the skills and language to describe, organize, and respond to this moment of profound danger to American Democracy. So far, we have learned about the Authoritarian Playbook (https://www.authoritarianplaybook2025.org/) and the Pillars of Power (https://www.authoritarianplaybook2025.org/what-we-can-do#what-worked-last-time).
On August 13th, we heard about national causes efforts already underway that our group could undertake. At this gathering, we will discuss these national efforts as well as local campaigns already under way to which we might lend ourselves.
Consider coming an hour early before the Ice Cream Social, whether you have been there for every training or this is your first time; preserving our democracy will take all of us. See you there!
What is One Million Rising?
Here is a description from the organizers:
Across the country, authoritarian forces are getting bolder and more dangerous. Trump and his allies are not hiding their agenda: mass deportations, rollbacks of civil rights, weaponized courts, and full-scale attacks on our democracy. We don’t have to wait until it’s too late. We can stop this. But it’ll take all of us—not just single days of mass action, but sustained organizing in our communities.
That’s why this summer, we’re launching One Million Rising—a national effort to train one million people in the strategic logic and practice of non-cooperation, as well as the basics of community organizing and campaign design. This is how we build people power that can’t be ignored. You’re invited to join us—and lead.
What if I want to start getting involved before this meeting?
Contact Karen Josephson or Robin Lancaster to get connected with our on going campaigns.
Watch the Recorded Trainings
One Million Rising Training 1: The Moment + Your Mission
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Connect Up Hike, 8/30
We will hike the Takena Landing lollipop trail in Albany. Meet at the UUFC parking lot at 8:30 a.m. if you would like to carpool. We’ll gather at the trailhead under the bridge at 8:45 and begin hiking at 9:00. This 3.6 mile riverside hike in North Albany has little elevation gain. There are opportunities for wading and for agate hunting and blackberry picking.
DRIVING DIRECTIONS FROM CORVALLIS: Take Highway 20 to North Albany. When you come to the stoplight/intersection with NW North Albany Rd, turn RIGHT into Takena Landing and proceed to the parking lot under the bridge.
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Mosaic Antiracism Workshop for Adults! Register by 9/1
Registration is required HERE.
WHAT: A fun and connecting communal exploration of radical inclusion through the lens of race and culture.
WHEN: Monday evenings, 9/7 – 10/20 from 6:30-8PM
WHERE: Room 7 @ uufc
WHY: Because the social and political landscape is ever-evolving, there will always be more to learn about how to be inclusive, and this will never be a topic we can check off the old to-do list and call it done. In 2020, the Commission on Institutional Change’s report, “Widening the Circle of Concern” (UUA), the commission recommended that we “hold conversations across generations about issues of inclusion, with the goal of recognizing the evolution in our Living Tradition and that spiritual development needs change over time.” Let’s answer that call in Corvallis!
More details:
Each session will include the following elements:
- Opening: chalice lighting and check-in
- Read: audio or video of a book or an article to explore together
- Watch: video
- Do: craft, game, or other activity
- Close: chalice extinguishing words and other classroom rituals to close the circle
- Take Home: suggested activity and/or conversation starter to encourage further faith development at home
We want to see a majority of our adults engaging with this material. We want to see teams and councils putting this learning to work in all we do in every corner of Fellowship life and beyond. We want to do whatever is needed to help you engage deeply, share bravely, and welcome wildly, so if you want to be included and can’t figure out how, or if you have questions or concerns, please reach out to Skyla King-Christison at dre@uucorvallis.org .
PS Our children will be engaging with Mosaic across the year, too! Below are some pictures of our leaders of the children and youth programs getting ready for the juicy and community-building year ahead!
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Parking Lot Garage Sale, 9/20
Do you have stuff you no longer need and want to get rid of? Are you willing to donate all the proceeds to UUFC? We’ll be holding our annual Parking Lot Garage Sale on Saturday, September 20 from 10 AM – 2 PM.
Here’s the procedure:
- Price your items (whole dollar thrift store prices or less)
- Bring your items to our parking lot and “sell” them, sending buyers to the cashier with their items. You don’t have to collect any money.
- At 2 PM take all unsold items home or deliver them to your favorite thrift store.
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Labor Day Tuna Roast, 9/1
End the summer with a party! Specifically, a Tuna Roast on Labor Day at the Lions Shelter in Avery Park.
Since 1997; always on Labor Day, always at Avery Park, Lions Kitchen; a party for all UUFC members and friends, old and new. This event marks the beginning of the new church year and a welcome to our new interim minister Alex. It is a good place to bring kids as it is next to the swings, the old train, and the dinosaur bones. Teens can “hang out” or help with the barbecue. To cover costs we ask for a donation of $7.00 per adult and whatever you think is appropriate for your kids. Sliding scale because we want everyone to come, so no one will be turned away for lack of funds. This is about being in community, not a fund raiser. If there is any leftover money, Rev. Alex can direct it to an appropriate place.
We provide barbecued tuna, sweet corn on the cob, lemonade and sheet cakes. For vegetarians there will be veggie burgers and barbecued eggplant and zucchini. For picky kids there will be hot dogs. We ask you to bring your own plates and silverware and $$$.
A folding chair might be helpful. Especially, bring a potluck dish such as dessert, salad, bread, chips, dips, veggies, fruit, pickles, and lots more desserts.
This is a community event and it takes a community to run it, especially if you are able bodied and not herding little kids. We always need help setting up at 3:00 PM and cleaning up around 7:00 PM. We’re hoping that many people will take turns barbecuing. For these things just show up and jump in.
We do need someone to obtain the corn from WINCO, early arrivals can shuck the corn, and a couple of quiet people can cook it. We need a drink master, to make the lemonade and keep the jugs refilled. We need 2-3 people to help me prep the tuna on Monday morning. Finally we need someone to pick up seven rented tables at Special Occasions on Friday, and return them on Tuesday. If you have a truck with a bed long enough for 8-foot tables, that would be excellent. Otherwise we can borrow Lee Holt’s truck, but a driver is needed. Special occasions does all the loading and unloading so you don’t need to be muscular.
Contact Rich if you can help on these several jobs.
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Ice Cream Social, 8/24
All ages are invited to join us for a cold treat and meet ‘n’ greet on the Fellowship lawn on Sunday, August 24th at 7 PM, hosted by the RE Council and teams!
Have a casual chance to welcome Rev. Alex, find out what’s coming up in RE for adults, families, children, and youth in the year ahead. Discuss your brilliant ideas with members of the RE Council and special teams. Catch up with old friends and maybe even meet your new Fellowship bestie over a sundae bar!
We’ll have gluten-free and vegan options available, as well as board games to share.
It would be super helpful in our planning if you would REGISTER HERE, but if you forget, please do come anyway!
See you there!
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Please register for the UUFC Women’s Retreat, 10/17 & 10/18
If you identify as a woman in a way that is significant for you, you are welcome to join us for our annual Women’s Retreat. It will be held at the UUFC on Friday night Oct. 17 from 6:30 – 8:30 pm and from 9:00 am – 7:00 pm on Saturday, Oct. 18. This year’s theme is “Right Here, Right Now: Peace through Practice”. We will share practices that may help you find peace in your center, peace in your connections, and peace in your community. The $55 fee for the retreat includes two meals on Saturday catered by Forks and Corks.
Please register using this form. https://uufc.breezechms.com/form/wr2025
Payment can be made online or by check to the UUFC with “Women’s Retreat” in the memo line.
Volunteers, suggestions, and questions are welcome at womensretreat@uucorvallis.org. Team facilitators are Heather Thomas, Kimi Mayo, and Priscilla Galasso. -
Register Now! – UUFC Men’s Retreat, 10/3-5
Time to register for the annual Men’s Retreat, this year at Camp Harlow near Eugene (only an hour’s drive from Corvallis). We will gather there 5 PM Friday October 3 and end by 2 PM Sunday October 5. This is an opportunity for those who identify as men to develop and deepen relationships with other men at UUFC. Our theme this year is “Sharing the Story of Your Life Journey.”
Register ONLINE at https://uufc.breezechms.com/form/mensretreatregistration2025.
More information: contact Alan Kirk.