Join us for WorshipSunday, March 27, 2022
| |
Family Service 10 a.m. // In-Person & LivestreamĀ
Sanctuary Service 11 a.m. // In-Person & Livestream
Learning Community Classes // In-Person K-12
| |
Leadership
In-Person & LivestreamĀ
| |
Hierarchy. Shared Leadership. Collaborative Leadership. Most of us understand that injustice in our world is primarily structural, not simply a matter of individual prejudice or greed. Are structural solutions to leadership, then, the path out of the mess we are in?Ā
| |
Family WorshipĀ
Our Relationship with Trees
In-Person // Livestream
| |
Rev. Tom will offer a story and reflection on how we are connected to trees and how trees are connected to each other.
Cassandra will offer a meditation, and Dustin will offer music.
| |
Things to Note:
- No reservations needed, just come!
- Proof of full vaccination required (all doses for which you are eligible); cards or cell phone pics checked by ushers at the door.
- Masks required, regardless of Oregonās mask mandate status.
| |
Staying Connected BlogA Note of Gratitude
| |
 |
āView from the back of a train window, somewhere east of Salt Lake City. Photo by Baptiste Lefebvre.ā
|
| For our Staying Connected this week, I just want to offer a word of thanks to you all.
This past Sunday, I preached on āLearning to be a Guestā both as a spiritual practice and as a tool for reckoning with our cultureās history of settler colonialism. This was a sermon a long time in the making, beginning last summer when my partner and I took a 20-day, 4,000-mile Amtrak journey to move to Portland, Oregon, from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I spent many hours of those weeks watching the landscape go by, reading and thinking about this continent and what it means to me to be making a...continued.
| |
Youth Climate Justice Leader: Youth vs. ODOT
THIS SUNDAY! - Ā March 27, 9 a.m.
| |
Community for Earth members support intergenerational action for climate justice. All church members are invited to join our 4th Sunday session on March 27th, for a presentation by Adah Crandall of the Youth vs ODOT organization.
Adah is a sophomore at Grant High School, and a leader of the movement in opposition to plans to expand I-5 through the Rose Quarter close to Harriet Tubman Middle School, where Adah was a student. Learn more about Adah in this Willamette Week article: Adah Crandall Stands in the Way of Additional Freeway Lanes.Ā
| |
| Gmail Users: You may have to scroll down to the bottom of this message and click on "View Entire Message" to see the complete Front Steps.
| |
FINAL SUNDAY! - Help Secure the Future of First Unitarian
March is Foundation Month
| |
As Foundation month comes to a close please consider joiningĀ current Legacy Society membersĀ by making yourĀ gift intentĀ today. You can include First Unitarian in your estate plan by leaving a portion of your estate to the Foundation.
| |
The 2022 Marilyn Sewell Social Justice Lecture Presents:
| |
IN-PERSON! - Step by Step: The Ruby Bridges Suite
An Emotional Portrait of a Pivotal Moment in US History
Saturday, April 2, 7 p.m. (followed by a conversation between Rev. Bill and Darrell)
& Sunday, April 3, 4 p.m.
| |
We are honored to host this multi-movement composition for instrumentalists, choir, vocal soloists, and narrator that draws on jazz, gospel and spiritual traditions.
| |
Performas / Musicians / Vocalists
Limited free parking in lot across from church.
| |
| | Upcoming Events, Workshops & Classes
| |
Survival Lessons: Reclaiming Your Life After Loss
Starts Saturday, April 2, 10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.Ā
| |
When weāve lost someone we love through death or divorce, we are changed.
This four-session class will focus on telling our stories and identifying ways to experience healing and transformation. Using group discussion and educational support, participants will explore attitudes toward grief, understanding the grief process, coping and expectations, identifying resources, and finding a spiritual path to healing.Ā Registration is limited to 8 people.
| |
Reproductive Dignity CohortMondays, from April 4 - May 23 //Ā 7 - 8:30 p.m.
| |
As our congregation moves more fully into the work of Reproductive Justice, join this new group to accompany and learn alongside one another.Ā Be guided into a new curriculumĀ offered by SACReD, the Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity. SACReD,Ā is building a multi-racial, multi-faith movement of congregations across the country that publicly proclaim their support for reproductive dignity. 5 spots left!
| |
Matins for Lent:Ā An Uplifting Start to Your Week
Mondays, through April 11, 8 - 8:30 a.m.Ā
| |
The season of Lent is traditionally a time for renewal and self-reflection. The Lenten metaphors are universal and can speak to UUs, just as Easter might.Ā
Join us on Monday mornings for thirty minutes filled with music, inspirational readings, and prayer. Together, we will provide comfort and peace in worshipful community that will serve as an uplifting start to the week.
An ongoing commitment is not required.Ā
| |
NEW! - Ally Conversations Toolkit Workshop
April 21-23
| |
Join Dr. David Campt and Allison Mahaley at Westminster Presbyterian Church to learn how compassion, rooted in antiracism as a spiritual practice, can transform your approach to better allyship. Based on cognitive research and best-practice communication methodology, these ACT Workshops will empower you to make the world a better place by confronting everyday racism in your family, neighborhood, and workplace.
Financial hardship should not be a barrier to attending. For discount information contact the ARJAG.
| |
|
Program ResourcesAdult Programs,Ā Social Justice, Learning Community, Music & Arts
| |
REMINDER! -Ā Vesper Prayer Service
Fridays at 5 p.m.
| |
End your week with a brief quiet time of prayer, reflection, meditation and music offered by our Lay Ministers. Let this be a pause at the end of the week, to receive and to be held in love, without the need to converse. Registration is required to receive the Zoom link.Ā
An ongoing commitment is not required.
| |
The Learning Community Re-Opens
| |
NEW! - Art for Social JusticeThe Speaking of Justice Editorial Team offers weekly art to deepen our connection to the work for social justice and building the Beloved Community.Ā
Curated by Ethel Gullette,Ā Speaking of Justice Editorial Team
| |
Ntozake Shange - a laying on of hands / i found god in myself
The finale of Ntozake Shange's 1976 coreopoem "for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf," performed by the whole cast. Music by Diana Wharton.
| |
In the Community
Member Marlene Yates died on February 19 at the age of 83 in Happy Valley.Ā We hold her family at this time of loss.
Jill Duren shares that her recovery from shoulder replacement surgery is going well. Now the work of physical therapy begins and she asks for continued prayers as she works to regain strength in her left arm. She is very grateful for the outpouring of supportive acts of loving kindness she has received from this community.
| |
VOLUNTEER LEAD NEEDED! - The GA Ambiance TeamĀ
General Assembly: June 22-26
| |
Would YOU like to be the ambiance team leader?Ā Or can you suggest someone who might?Ā
The local ambiance team for General Assembly in Portland is looking for a leader.Ā First Unitarian has a robust team of members eager to help with making the Oregon Convention Center welcoming to the attendees.
| |
Home Hospitality for General Assembly
Offer up a room for UU visitors for GA
| |
First Unitarian Portland will offer home hospitality for the UUA General Assembly taking place at the Oregon Convention Center on June 22-26.
If you are able to offer a room or two to UU guests, please let us know. Visitors will contribute $100 per room per night to the church. You may offer a simple breakfast, but that is optional.
| |
Do you have a reason to celebrate? Say it with flowers!
| |
DoĀ you have a birth in the family,Ā aĀ graduation, an anniversary, a memorial, or other reason to celebrate? YouĀ can acknowledge it to the entire congregation by sponsoring a floral bouquet. As we reconnect with friends, say it with flowers on the Chancel.
| |
Having trouble viewing our servicesĀ through the website?
Find our Livestreams onĀ Boxcast, Youtube or on Facebook.
| |
UPDATE! -Ā MinisterialĀ SearchĀ Committee
| |
We would like to update you on our progress in theĀ searchĀ for a new Senior Minister by letting you know that we are excited about the three final pre-candidates.
After interviews and sermons, yourĀ SearchĀ Committee will discern and select a final candidate who will be announced sometime in April 2022. There will be a week in May to introduce this final candidate to you, and a vote taken to call the new minister by voting members of First Unitarian Portland.
We are grateful to Rev. Bill Sinkford, Rev. Tom Disrud, the Board, and the congregation for āsetting the tableā for our new minister and the āemerging church.ā
| |
Your Board of Trustees would like to hear about your relationship to First Unitarian and how its ministry serves you. Each year, the Board conducts an Evaluation of the Ministry, and input from congregants is a vital component of that evaluation.
In this transition year, your input is especially valuable because it will give the new Senior Minister a picture of First Unitarian as they begin their new ministry here.
Thank you so much for taking a moment to share your thoughts about the ministry of First Unitarian Portland.
| |
With the return of children to the Learning Community, the choir on the chancel, and sitting on our familiar hard seats, last Sunday almost felt like a ānormalā Sunday at First Unitarian. It was good to see so many of you in church. I know First Unitarian has changed over these last two...continue.Ā
| |
A Reminder from the Nominating Committee
| |
Any voting member who wishes to self-nominate as a candidate for a Board or Nominating Committee position may do so by petition. Forms are available here.
Petitions are due back to the committee chairs or church office by April 29.
| |
Have a Submission for E-News?If you have a church-related submission you would like published in our weekly Front Steps (E-News), please submit it here with subject line āFor E-News.ā
Submission deadline is noon on Tuesdays.
| |
|
| Sunday LivestreamĀ
& Social Schedule
| |
March 27 Shared Plate RefugeeĀ crises continue to erupt due to warfare in many regions of the world including Ukraine and Afghanistan. Today we join with our sibling UU congregations of the Mt. Hood Cluster to share ourĀ plateĀ with Lutheran Community Services Northwest Refugee Resettlement Program.Ā
For over 40 years, Lutheran Community Services has partnered with communities throughout the Northwest to welcome more than 40,000 refugees and help them transition to their new home in Oregon. TheĀ Resettlement ProgramĀ helps refugees secure homes and jobs, learn English, navigate educational and public systems, and build fulfilling connections.Ā
| |
Want to know what this church has to offer?Ā Show up for events/classes/socials and Ā stay engaged!
| |
Trying to find connection with those in the congregation with similar interests?
Contact one of the many groups run by members of the church and connect.
| |
Moved recently? Changed your phone number or e-mail? Fill out this form.
| |
|
