Sunday Worship at 10:15 a.m.
Care for nursery through 6ish years old is available during worship. Older children welcome in service. The full Learning Community (RE) program resumes in the fall.
Social Hour:Â Fuller Hall after the service.
| |
The Priesthood and Prophethood of All Believers
| |
Theologian Rebecca Parker reminds us that each of us can choose to bless or curse this world. This recognition of our individual power is both a gift and a responsibility. On the heels of the “No Kings!” rally, let us reflect on our own faith tradition’s commitment to shared ministry and shared power.
| |
|
Ministerial BlogA Thank You from the Ordination Committee
| |
|
Dear Beloved Community,
On behalf of the Ordination Committee, I wish to extend our deepest gratitude to each and every one of you for the extraordinary outpouring of support, generosity, and love that made the ordination of Rev. Danielle Garrett a truly unforgettable celebration. Thank you to all that attended! If you were unable to, you can watch the recording here.
From the very beginning, your willingness to step forward—whether by donating flowers from your gardens, baking one of the 38 delicious pies, or volunteering your time and energy—transformed this occasion into a living testament to the spirit of Unitarian Universalism and the strength of our congregation...MORE
| |
|
NEW! — Online Service Only on Sunday, June 22 / Watch From Home!
Next Sunday, June 22, 10:15 a.m.
Location: Online
| |
|
All UUs are invited to watch the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) General Assembly’s online worship service from their homes on Sunday, June 22. Click here for the livestream link.
Our building will be closed!
| |
|
NEW! — All-Church Action: No Kings Day Rally & March
This Saturday, June 14, 10:30 a.m. sign making and 11:30 a.m. departure
Location: Fuller Hall
| |
|
Join us this Saturday as we unite with communities all across the country to speak out against rising authoritarianism. The Portland rally & march will be 12-4 pm at Tom McCall Waterfront Park. For other No Kings Day events around the Portland Metro area, visit the No Kings website.
When and where? We’ll meet at the church at 10:30 am to make signs, and then we’ll walk and roll to the rally together at 11:30. For details about the event, what to bring, and how to stay safe, see this guide.
And, visit the Democracy in Action Corner during coffee hour this summer for information on other All-Church activities and simple actions you can take in support of our democracy. For details, see our flyer.
| |
|
NEW! — Summer Community Choir
Sundays, June 29 through August 31, 8:45 a.m.
Location: Main Sanctuary
| |
|
Our summer choir is “come one, come all!”
If you’d like to sing, show up in the Main Sanctuary at 8:45 a.m. before the service on the Sunday/s of your choice to learn that day’s music.
No commitment required! Sing once, or every week, or anything in between — whatever fits for you.
| |
|
NEW! — First Share Table Helpers Needed!
Sundays through August 31, 11:45 a.m.
Location: Social hour
| |
|
Help staff the First Share table one Sunday this summer, or every Sunday, or anything in between — whatever fits for you. No commitment required! Email Christine to volunteer or get more information. You can also call the church (503-228-6389) to get in touch with Christine.
A few encouraging words from Christine:
When planting your garden this summer
Too much zucchini's a bummer
Don’t be a produce porch dumper
Be a veggies-sharing pumper!
And please be advised
Our table needs to strive
To serve all who arrive
Each Sunday at 11:45!
| |
|
NEW! — Check Out Our 2025 Summer Program Guide
| |
|
Beginning this Sunday, First Unitarian Portland will be on our summer schedule! Sunday worship services continue at 10:15 a.m. followed by social hour, a few new offerings will appear, and some groups and activities will pause until the new church program year begins in September.
To find out more, visit our Summer Program Guide on our website. This will be updated throughout the summer with any additions or changes.
| |
|
UPDATE — The Committee on Right Relations is Being Established!
| |
|
First Unitarian Portland is establishing a Committee on Right Relations to serve our community. This independent committee will provide us with education and skills, processes and procedures, and direct assistance to address conflict within our church. Next steps are to select the individuals who will serve on this committee.
To be in Right Relations is to experience a sense of wellbeing that happens when we bring our best selves to all our interactions to resolve inevitable conflicts in a constructive way. A covenant is a set of promises we make to one another in community. Thus, to covenant with one another about right relations is to engage in the spiritual and everyday practice of building and maintaining healthy connections.Â
The Committee on Right Relations is chartered to:
- Tend the Church Covenant and the Covenant of Right Relations and support the congregation as it strives to live into the Covenants.
- Foster a vision of conflict as an opportunity for understanding, healing and growth.Â
- Model, teach, foster and support faithful communication and healthy and respectful relations.Â
- Assist congregants and the Church to practice creative conflict engagement and restoration of right relations.
Seeking Applications
- If you are interested in applying to be a member of the Committee on Right Relations, or if you know a congregant who would be great at this work, a link to the application can be found here, including criteria, selection process, and desired skills and abilities
- Applications are due by July 15, followed by a selection process. The intention is to have a group of names for Board approval at the September 3 Board meeting and announce the Committee on Right Relations to the Congregation later that month.
| |
|
Letter from the Board: June 2025
| |
|
As your church Treasurer and Board member, I have three items to share with all of you.
The biggest news is that the Stewardship Committee has been re-formed. So far our congregant members are Dave Hoffman, Mabsie Walters, Dev Dion, and me. We will work closely with the Executive Team and Stewardship Manager Erin Tafuri. We have begun a 3-to-5 year plan on developing an even more generous church. More on this soon!...MORE
| |
|
Join your fellow UUs across the globe this summer in reading Authentic Selves: Celebrating Trans and Nonbinary People and their Families (Skinner House, 2023).
You can purchase this book now from the Beacon Bookstore in Fuller Hall during social hour. On September 7, Dr. Amy O. and Aileen M. from our congregation will lead a discussion around the book and its topics.
The UUA states, "Through interviews and photo portraits, the subjects of this book invite readers into their real lives—their revelations, challenges, joys, and networks of support. This Common Read invites UU groups to explore the nature of living authentically and the ways connections among us help us thrive."
| |
|
In case you missed Rev. Alison's recent blog, read her inspiring words below:
"If we desire to create holistic and positive change around an issue of social justice, this will inevitably include education, service, advocacy, public witness, community organizing, and fundraising. Our Shower Project is one opportunity we offer in our building to engage in direct service to ensure more of our houseless neighbors have access to better hygiene and greater wellbeing and health. This is an essential service in a society where access to clean water has become increasingly privatized or accessible only within home spaces"...MORE
| |
Around the Church
Enjoyed coming to gatherings at First Unitarian Portland? Consider contributing to sustaining our community. Your support goes a long way in fostering meaningful connections. Thank you!
| |
|
NEW! — The Desire for Spiritual Strengthening: Options in Your Bookstore
Location: Fuller Hall
| |
|
Several of you asked if we have a book about Rev. Capek and the Flower Communion as cited by Rev. Alison last Sunday. The Bookstore attempted to order copies of the Norbert Fabian Capek biography A Spiritual Journey, published by Skinner House Books in 1999. We are not able to find copies. You may want to check the library, Powell's, or online booksellers. The ISBN # is 9781558963795. The Unitarian bookstore in Boston carried it for years, but we are not seeing it now. We'll have a free 1-page info sheet available on Sunday at our store in Fuller Hall.
Might a pocket copy of the US Constitution be helpful? We have them, as well as The Federalist Papers, Dietrich Bonhoffer's Cost of Discipleship, The New Testament in Modern Language, and many other inspirational books. We have plenty of choices to fortify your spirit!
Or maybe you need a new pencil or a baby card or the UU paperback Songbook from about 30 years ago. We have those too, and lots more.
| |
|
Family Fun at UU Summer Camp
Location: Seabeck Conference Center, Seabeck, Washington
| |
|
Did you know that over 30 First Unitarian Portland families and members regularly attend the Eliot Institute UU summer camps? Some have been attending for generations! It is held at the Seabeck Conference Center on Washington’s Hood Canal, only a 3 1/2 hour drive from Portland. It’s magical and fantastic for all ages.
Summer camps are July 12 to 19 or August 2 to 9. Creative Arts Eliot is August 9 to 13.
Learn more at these links:
| |
|
CHECK MONTHLY — June Newsletter
Rev. Leah Ongiri, Acting Director of Lifespan Faith Formation and Family Ministries
| |
|
This e-news is monthly in June, July, and August.
Dear Learning Community,
Did you or your family participate in, help with, or attend Learning Community events or the Religious Education program? If so, we'd like to hear from you. Thank you for honoring us with your feedback about what worked and what could work better...MORE
| |
|
Join Our Food Drive
Location: Fuller Hall
| |
|
Thank you for helping to make a difference in the health and well-being of the many who are food-insecure by responding to our request for food donations.
We delivered them to Lift UP, a local non-profit that distributes food to individuals and families in the pantry they operate (Preston’s Pantry) and in 50 affordable housing buildings in Northwest and Downtown Portland.
Sadly, the need continues. So, please remember that fact the next time you go food shopping. And purchase whole grain pasta; brown rice; low-sodium broths, veggies and sauces; canned tuna, salmon or meat; nut butters, and/or shelf-stable milks. Then drop off the items in the COHHO bins located in Fuller Hall by the kitchen. Every two weeks we will gather your donations and deliver them to Lift UP’s warehouse. Or, you can make a financial donation directly to Lift UP.
Thank you so much!
| |
|
CHECK WEEKLY — Art for Social Justice
Curated by Ethel G., Speaking of Justice Editorial Team
| |
|
The Speaking of Justice Editorial Team offers weekly art to deepen our connection to the work for social justice and to build the Beloved Community.
The Resistance Revival Chorus is joined by Rhiannon Giddens to perform Woody Guthrie’s song All You Fascists Bound to Lose. Launched in 2017 in response to the Trump presidency, the Resistance Revival Chorus is a collective of more than 60 women who join together to breathe joy and song into the resistance, and to uplift and center women’s voices. The women range from Broadway performers, touring musicians, film and television actresses, solo recording artists, gospel singers, political activists and are led by Broadway singer and educator Abena Koomson-Davis. Representing a multitude of identities, professions, creative backgrounds, and activist causes, the Resistance Revival Chorus prides itself on its diversity. To watch their performance, click the video below:
| |
In the Community
A memorial service is planned for longtime member Julie Wheeler this Saturday, June 14, at 2 p.m. in the Eliot Chapel. Julie and her husband Andrew (who died in 2023) joined the church in 1971. In her professional life, Julie was a teacher and a founder of Ceasefire Oregon. She died in February at the age of 90.
Milena Weller’s dad recently suffered a heart attack. Milena grew up in our Church and is now one of our Sunday morning child care workers. Our thoughts are with Milena, her dad, and the extended family as her dad heals.
High school graduate Graycen Murphy, who has been an active youth leader these past years, including offering a homily during the April YRUU worship service, will be attending Portland State Honors College come fall. Graycen’s family is thrilled they will be close to home, and we can look forward to them continuing to be a part of our church community.Â
And we celebrate with member Annie Bennett who welcomed a new grandson into the world last week. West Scott Jones was born on June 1 here in Portland. West is the son of Kyra Bennett who grew up in this church. The whole family is thrilled to be joined by West.
| |
Do you have a birth in the family, a graduation, an anniversary, a memorial, or other milestones to share?
You can acknowledge it to the entire congregation by sponsoring a floral bouquet. As we connect with friends, say it with flowers on the Chancel.
| |
May/June Art Wall Exhibition
Artwork by Julian Hunter
| |
Julian Hunter has been painting for the past sixty years. He has developed a painting method that harnesses the latest color pencil & acrylic layering, a technique to empower the painter with a high degree of artistic control that has never been possible before.
As an artist, he has come to believe that beauty is not out there waiting to be discovered. Rather, beauty is created by the human act of noticing and appreciating natural wonders. He feels that his primary task as an artist is to notice and to appreciate the hidden secrets of natural beauty in nature's purest form, and only then to share his experiences with others through his interpretation.
| |
|
Recurring Workshops, Classes & Gatherings
| |
| During our summer schedule, some groups and activities will pause until the new church program year begins in September. Check out our Summer Program Guide on our website to learn more.
For information about which groups are meeting over the summer, please visit our Community Groups & Activities page and contact the specific group in which you are interested.
| |
Got something for Front Steps? Send in your church-related submission for our weekly publication. Use "Front Steps" as the subject line and email us here.
Deadline: Tuesdays at 5 p.m.
If your submission is urgent and couldn’t be sent before the deadline, please include “URGENT” in the subject line.
| |
|
| This Week's Shower Project Request
Your donations make a big difference in the lives of those we serve. All donations are greatly appreciated. At this time, we are in special need of the following items:
- Blankets
- Disposable razors
- Hoodies (all sizes)
- Boxer briefs (M-L)
- Men's white t-shirts (M-L)
- Cup o' Noodles
- Protein bars
Please bring your items to donate to the cabinet in Fuller Hall, next to the kitchen. Thank you for your support!
| |
| June's
Shared Plate
For the month of June, we share our plate with the Oregon for All Coalition. Earlier this year, First Unitarian joined the coalition because we share the value of caring for each other and protecting our communities against people who try to divide us. Hardworking immigrants are part of our families, communities, workplaces, and places of worship and should be safe from harassment, just like any other Oregonian.
| |
| Want to know what this church has to offer? Show up for events/classes/socials and stay engaged!
| |
|
