Weekly Announcements – TEXT ONLY

Sunday Services

  • This Week:

    “Ancestors, Descendants, and Us” 9/15/24

    “Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?” These words from the 19th century French artist Paul Gaugin provide the basis for our theme for this year – “Ancestors, Descendants and Us.” The theme is an invitation to consider the most basic religious question – How Shall We Live?- from new perspectives, both together and as individuals. Join us as we begin our exploration of this invitation.
    RE “Spirit Play” Sessions for Children and Youth begin today; in the service we’ll send our children and their guides off to begin their new sessions with love and gratitude.

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  • Services This Month

    September 1 – No Sunday Service
    September 8 – Joining of the Waters, with Susan Sanford
    September 15 – “Ancestors, Descendants and Us” Rev. Jill McAllister
    September 22 – “Our Transylvanian Roots” Rev. Jill McAllister
    September 29 – “My Unitarianism” Rev. Katalin Szasz-Cserey, Rev. Jill McAllister

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From the Minister

  • Daily Practice – A Weekly Reminder

    One of the most beautiful things about morning, about waking up, is that the conversation begins anew. What I mean is we can begin a new conversation with life every day. It’s quite easy to wake up and simply continue yesterday’s conversation, tired and worn out though it was when we went to sleep. Why be dragged down by yesterday’s attempts to get everything right (did we?) when we can begin again today in a new way, with a chance to move around what got in our way yesterday?

    The point of the conversation remains the same, I think. We are here to learn. We are here to learn to love – which means to live with compassion, respect and justice. Which means to live in harmony with all other life. Which means to outgrow self-centeredness, and fear, which means to recognize our own woundedness and brokenness, which means to feel the life of our bodies and all other bodies, and so much more. Every day is a new beginning, bringing challenges and possibilities. We can begrudge and judge the day, the years, the life we’ve been given – that’s not hard. Or we can accept the gift of being welcomed into each and every day. Once again, a new day is waiting to welcome you. May you feel the breath which is given and, with gratitude, enter in.

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This Week at UUFC

  • Leadership Supper. 9/20

    Our first Leadership Supper of the year, this coming Friday, is for all leaders of teams, councils, projects, events and the Board. We’ll focus on Council structure and communication, facilitation, and coordination of work and events. All leaders are needed and welcome. Please plan to attend. Supper provided by the Committee on Ministry and friends.

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  • Buildings and Grounds Planning – Session 2, 9/14

    Many thanks to all who participated in the first session of this planning process, which aims to create a 3-5 year plan for our Fellowship Buildings and Grounds. The second session will take place on Saturday Sept. 14, from 9-11AM. Attend again, attend for the first time, or send an email to Jill McAllister with your ideas and hopes for our campus, to be incorporated into a strategic plan.

    If you have ideas or opinions, now is the time to share them!

    All are welcome.

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  • Emma’s Revolution UUFC Concert, 9/21

    UU Singer/ Songwriters Sandy O and Pat Humphries are returning to the Fellowship for an evening of both new and beloved songs about justice, compassion and right relations. Sandy and Pat are favorites of many UU congregations and General Assemblies.

    Tickets are $18 in advance and $22 at the door. Please join us, and invite your friends!

    GET TICKETS NOW

     

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  • Register Now – UUFC Men’s Retreat, 10/25-27

    Registration is now open for the 20th Annual UUFC Men’s Retreat, from Friday, October 25 (5 PM) through Sunday, October 27 (1 PM).

    Register Now

    This is an opportunity for those who identify as men to get to know other men at UUFC, give yourself a respite from the daily routines, and enjoy time for personal reflection. We’ll be at the Menucha Retreat Center overlooking the Columbia Gorge in Corbett. Through large and small groups, singing, time in nature, and play time in the evening, we’ll connect with one another and get to know each other better.

    Our theme this year is: “Building Authentic Connections”

    For questions, the contact planning committee members:

    Alan Kirk, Nick Houtman, Jeff Martin, or JF Benoist

    Contact Us

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  • 2024 Women’s Retreat: Registration is Open!

    The 2024 Women’s Retreat will be October 18 & 19 at the Fellowship. This year’s theme is “Resilience: Build Your Own Toolkit”. The Retreat will run from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm on Friday night and 9:00 am to 8:00 pm on Saturday. Please register by October 6.

    The cost of our retreat – including a Forks & Corks catered lunch and dinner, snacks, and materials – is $50.

    Register Now

    To contact the Retreat Planning Team, please email: womensretreat@uucorvallis.org

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  • Partner Church Hungarian Dinner – All Are Invited! 9/27

    On Friday, Sept. 27, at 6 PM, during the visit of our Partner Church minister, Rev. Katalin Szasz-Cserey, all are invited to a Fellowship Dinner featuring “traditional” Transylvanian Hungarian foods. Tickets will be $10 for adults, $6 for children under 12. Come meet new friends and old, learn more about our long partnership, enjoy a great meal and pictures of Transylvania.

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  • Favorite Singer / Songwriters Return to UUFC – Two Great Concerts 9/21 and 10/13

    Plan now to join us for concerts by two of our Fellowship favorites: Emma’s Revolution (Pat Humphreys and Sandy O) on Saturday September 21, and Roy Zimmerman on Sunday October 13. Both concerts begin at 7 PM. Tickets for both will be available soon! Mark your calendars and invite your friends.

    Author

  • Partner Church Minister Visit – .Join in! 9/20-9/30

    Our Transylvanian Partner Church minister, Rev. Katalin Szasz-Cserey and her son Mate will be visiting us Sept. 20 – 20. The Partner Church team is making arrangements and welcomes help from all who are interested. Please contact Patricia and Janet if you would enjoy spending time with Kati and Mate who both have some English skills and access to Google Translate.

    Ways to help:

    • Prep / serving at the Friday, Sept. 27 Hungarian Dinner
    • Hosting or co/hosting a tour of a local high school, of OSU, of a trip to the Coast, a day at the Fall Festival, a trip the the Corvallis Benton County Museum
    • Sharing a meal at your house
    • Other activities you’d like to offer

    Rev. Kati will preach on Sunday Sept. 29, followed by the dedication of our relocated Memorial Garden and the traditional Hungarian Szekely Gate at its entrance.

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  • Family Pool Party, 9/29

    All Fellowship families with children in RE are invited to a HEATED pool party on September 29th from 2-4.

    If it’s not your child’s weekend with you, but you want to mingle with other parents, come anyway. If you’ve got a baby who’s not ready for swimming, come anyway and meet other families. Deeply connected families are the foundation of Fellowship life! 

    Location information will be sent to all registered families the week before.  

    More information can be found at the registration page HERE!

    Author

  • Crafters & Artists Wanted for Holiday Fair, 12/7

    Calling All Crafters & Artists Our UUFC Holiday Fair is coming December 7. Do you enjoy jewelry making, calligraphy, quilling, ceramics, woodworking, making greeting cards, knitting, crocheting, quilting, painting, photography, glass making, etc.? Turn your hobby into cash for yourself and UUFC, and joy for the buyers who love getting hand-crafted items for themselves or as gifts. UUFC retains 25% of the selling price and you get the rest. Do you have limited inventory? Then share a table with another UUFC crafter. Start creating now.
    Tom & Isabel Prusinski are coordinating artists/vendors.

    Please let them know you wish to participate.

    Contact Tom and Isabel

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  • Less is More Class, 10/1

    Additional seats are now available in the Less is More waste reduction workshop offered by Master Recycler, Betty Shelley, in the UUFC Sanctuary, Mondays 6:30-7:30 pm on October 1, 8, 15 , and 22. The Climate Action Team expands the offering of this 4-part workshop to those who missed bidding on seats in our April auction. The workshop is $25 /person (cash or check at the first session) which will help support the Fellowship. Friends and non-members are also welcome.

    Less is More: Getting to One Can of Garbage a Year

    Join this 4-part workshop to learn why and how to reduce your waste. Reducing your waste is a simple, profound way to decrease your environmental impact on our world and save money at the same time. Presenter Betty Shelley is a Master Recycler and a former Recycling Information Specialist for Metro Regional Government in Portland. Betty and her husband, Jon, have generated only one can of garbage a year since 2006.

    For more information, contact Betty Shelley

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  • Oregon UU Voices for Justice – Annual Meeting, 10/5

    9:15 AM – 3:15 PM at UUFC

    All Fellowship members and friends are invited to join in the annual meeting of Oregon UU Voices for Justice – a state-wide UU collaborative – hosted at the Fellowship on Saturday Oct. 5 from 9:15 – 3:15. The theme is Saving Democracy: We Are the Majority. Sessions will include shared work on Environmental Justice, Human Rights and Economic Equality. Register online at https://bit.ly/2024UUV4JAnnualMeeting

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Announcements

  • Neighborhood Planters Kiosk Installed

    The UUFC Climate Action Team encourages gardening to provide local food, shade, and carbon sequestration. Information on local gardening, food, and community will appear in the new Neighborhood Planters Kiosk next to the Circle Blvd sidewalk area shared with the Sangha Jewel Zen Center. The colorful kiosks are a collaborative project of the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition Food Action Team, Benton County Master Gardeners, Corvallis Evening Gardening Club, and City of Corvallis Civic Beautification and Urban Forestry group and are provided at no cost. The info will be changed on a mostly weekly basis by the Climate Action Team.

    (Photo: Dianne Roth viewing info in the kiosk window)

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  • UUFC Lawn Mowing Team Goes Total Electric

    The UUFC has owned a gas-powered Dixon riding zero-turn lawn mower for 10+ years. After limited use the last several years and mowing team concurrence, the mower was sold at the Aug 31 UUFC parking lot sale and found a new loving home. The buyer had driven a Dixon as a youngster and added it to his mower fleet with begrudging support from his wife. Your UUFC mowing team is now totally electric!

    We are also short on mowers. Team member Lynn Evans is moving to Kansas to be with family (thanks Lynn!) and so his backyard mowing slot is open. If anyone is looking for a way to support the UUFC and get some exercise at the same time, please contact Russ Karow, Mowing Team Lead.

    Contact Russ Karow

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  • Corvallis School District Family Support

    Did you know that the latest Point in Time count data shows Oregon is leading the nation in the rate of unsheltered unaccompanied homeless youth and unsheltered homeless families and that Corvallis has over 300 students (not counting children under the age of 4) identified as homeless?

    This year the Secure Housing and Food for All (SH&F4A) justice team is focusing on helping the children and families in Corvallis by coordinating with the Corvallis School District Family Support Program. For September the funds gathered from the weekly collection basket will go to CSD Family Support program. The Family Support Program helps families meet their basic needs and identify goals to increase stability.

    Each week we will be collecting items needed by the children. New and gently used shoes, winter coats, and rain gear.

    Please join us by sharing items that will help the kids.

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  • Justice Outreach Offerings for September – Corvallis School District Family Support

    More than 380 Corvallis School District students are identified as homeless and many more experience food insecurity and financial hardship. This Program connects families with critical resources so that students can arrive at school ready to learn. By donating to the Program, you can help provide access to essential community resources like housing, healthcare, emergency financial assistance, food pantries, employment opportunities, DHS benefits, and other forms of support.

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  • Neurodivergence & Mental Health Support Group, 3rd Sundays @ 11:45

    3rd Sunday of each month @11:45

    This group for mutual support in the realm of living with neurodivergence or mental health challenges is facilitated by Anthony Acquilano.

    This group is not intended to be a substitute for professional care, and participants are discouraged from attempting to provide solutions to other members’ challenges. Instead, this is a space to share experiences, feel heard, learn from the experiences of others, and share resources.

    Please register here to receive an email reminder on Thursday before each gathering. 

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  • Bread Bag Exchange

    We’ve been running an experimental exchange of bread bags to be used as dog poop bags. The supply side has been a huge success, with lots of bags contributed. However, the demand has been low, with few takers. We plan to give it another couple of weeks, but if bread bags are not an attractive option for after-dog clean up, we’ll discontinue the experiment.

    Questions/suggestions: Contact Michael Hughes

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  • UUFC Birthday Club

    Celebrate your birthday! Give the amount of your age to help sustain the UUFC and its work. Donate by check payable to UUFC, with memo Birthday Club. Donations are allocated 50% Operations, 20% Endowment, 20% Reserves, and 10% Justice Outreach. Questions: email Michael Hughes at treasurer@uucorvallis.org.

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  • UUFC Merch Store

    Check out the UUFC Merch Store for tee-shirts, hats, coffee cups, backpacks, umbrellas, and more! Support our Fellowship with great gifts for yourself and your loved ones. Find it under the “about” tab on the UUFC website.

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  • Pema Chodron Study Group

    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.

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  • Consider Becoming a Grandfolk!

    The Grandfolks Squad is a group of (mostly) older adults who are willing to provide occasional childcare on an as-needed basis so that young parents can attend Fellowship functions without incurring a cost for childcare. This is a great way to get to know younger families and connect deeply with the next generation of Unitarian Universalists. In your free time, you can provide the loving care that we wish for every child and parent in our midst.

    If you have extra love to give and time to share, please consider becoming a Grandfolks Squad member.

    To join the squad, email Skyla (dre@uucorvallis.org) to set up a meeting. Grandfolks are interviewed and background checked before service, and receive a snazzy button to show the world that they’re proud Grandfolks!

    We’re looking forward to having you on he squad!

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Plan Ahead

  • Partner Church Hungarian Dinner – All Are Invited! 9/27

    On Friday, Sept. 27, at 6 PM, during the visit of our Partner Church minister, Rev. Katalin Szasz-Cserey, all are invited to a Fellowship Dinner featuring “traditional” Transylvanian Hungarian foods. Tickets will be $10 for adults, $6 for children under 12. Come meet new friends and old, learn more about our long partnership, enjoy a great meal and pictures of Transylvania.

    Author

  • Favorite Singer / Songwriters Return to UUFC – Two Great Concerts 9/21 and 10/13

    Plan now to join us for concerts by two of our Fellowship favorites: Emma’s Revolution (Pat Humphreys and Sandy O) on Saturday September 21, and Roy Zimmerman on Sunday October 13. Both concerts begin at 7 PM. Tickets for both will be available soon! Mark your calendars and invite your friends.

    Author

  • Partner Church Minister Visit – .Join in! 9/20-9/30

    Our Transylvanian Partner Church minister, Rev. Katalin Szasz-Cserey and her son Mate will be visiting us Sept. 20 – 20. The Partner Church team is making arrangements and welcomes help from all who are interested. Please contact Patricia and Janet if you would enjoy spending time with Kati and Mate who both have some English skills and access to Google Translate.

    Ways to help:

    • Prep / serving at the Friday, Sept. 27 Hungarian Dinner
    • Hosting or co/hosting a tour of a local high school, of OSU, of a trip to the Coast, a day at the Fall Festival, a trip the the Corvallis Benton County Museum
    • Sharing a meal at your house
    • Other activities you’d like to offer

    Rev. Kati will preach on Sunday Sept. 29, followed by the dedication of our relocated Memorial Garden and the traditional Hungarian Szekely Gate at its entrance.

    Author

  • Family Pool Party, 9/29

    All Fellowship families with children in RE are invited to a HEATED pool party on September 29th from 2-4.

    If it’s not your child’s weekend with you, but you want to mingle with other parents, come anyway. If you’ve got a baby who’s not ready for swimming, come anyway and meet other families. Deeply connected families are the foundation of Fellowship life! 

    Location information will be sent to all registered families the week before.  

    More information can be found at the registration page HERE!

    Author

  • Crafters & Artists Wanted for Holiday Fair, 12/7

    Calling All Crafters & Artists Our UUFC Holiday Fair is coming December 7. Do you enjoy jewelry making, calligraphy, quilling, ceramics, woodworking, making greeting cards, knitting, crocheting, quilting, painting, photography, glass making, etc.? Turn your hobby into cash for yourself and UUFC, and joy for the buyers who love getting hand-crafted items for themselves or as gifts. UUFC retains 25% of the selling price and you get the rest. Do you have limited inventory? Then share a table with another UUFC crafter. Start creating now.
    Tom & Isabel Prusinski are coordinating artists/vendors.

    Please let them know you wish to participate.

    Contact Tom and Isabel

    Author

  • Less is More Class, 10/1

    Additional seats are now available in the Less is More waste reduction workshop offered by Master Recycler, Betty Shelley, in the UUFC Sanctuary, Mondays 6:30-7:30 pm on October 1, 8, 15 , and 22. The Climate Action Team expands the offering of this 4-part workshop to those who missed bidding on seats in our April auction. The workshop is $25 /person (cash or check at the first session) which will help support the Fellowship. Friends and non-members are also welcome.

    Less is More: Getting to One Can of Garbage a Year

    Join this 4-part workshop to learn why and how to reduce your waste. Reducing your waste is a simple, profound way to decrease your environmental impact on our world and save money at the same time. Presenter Betty Shelley is a Master Recycler and a former Recycling Information Specialist for Metro Regional Government in Portland. Betty and her husband, Jon, have generated only one can of garbage a year since 2006.

    For more information, contact Betty Shelley

    Author

  • Oregon UU Voices for Justice – Annual Meeting, 10/5

    9:15 AM – 3:15 PM at UUFC

    All Fellowship members and friends are invited to join in the annual meeting of Oregon UU Voices for Justice – a state-wide UU collaborative – hosted at the Fellowship on Saturday Oct. 5 from 9:15 – 3:15. The theme is Saving Democracy: We Are the Majority. Sessions will include shared work on Environmental Justice, Human Rights and Economic Equality. Register online at https://bit.ly/2024UUV4JAnnualMeeting

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Connect Up Activities this Week

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