NEW! — Board & Senior Minister Forum

This Sunday, February 8, 12 p.m.

Location: Eliot Chapel

Join Rev. Alison and your Board of Trustees for our first of the season Budget Forum. Hear budget priorities for 2026-2027, a report on the June 2025 reviewed financial statement, and an update on the annual fund drive. Plus, participate in a visioning exercise with Rev. Alison!

After service, enjoy some super soup, then come to Eliot Chapel to hear the latest.

Join Us for Souper Sunday 🥣

This Sunday, February 8, after the service

Location: Fuller Hall

Souper Sunday is this Sunday! There will be three delicious soups: black bean, tomato, and vegan borscht.

You can contribute to the fun by bringing items to share: cornbread, tortilla chips, cookies, or brownies. Please bring to Fuller Hall before the service.

If you would like to help the church offset the cost of the soups that are provided by dedicated volunteers, consider giving to the Souper Sunday fund on Sunday morning. You can drop cash onsite or use the QR code set up near where the soups are served. Your help in funding these events are greatly appreciated!

Drop-In Parenting Circle

This Sunday, February 8, 12:15 p.m.

Location: Room B301

Head to B301 in Buchan for conversation, celebration, and commiseration with other parents and caregivers. Anyone in a parenting role is welcome. Childcare provided in the nursery.

NEW! — Notes from the Music Ministry Transition Team

The holidays are over, the decorations are back in the attic and we are into a new year. It’s good to see activities in the church turn toward the future. It’s also good to see the days becoming a little longer. So, it’s time to bring you up to date on the search for a Director of Music Ministries. 

Over the holiday break, the Music Ministry Transition Team met several times to send out announcements of our search. We have sent them to the UUA, a national choral director’s association, and to local music job boards. In addition, we have notified individuals whom we know are in a position to spread the word. We have received several applications so far. Our deadline for applications is February 15. We expect more applications in the near future.

We will be interviewing applicants in February and March and hopefully hiring the top candidate in April.

If you know of someone who would make a terrific Director of Music Ministries, please send them this link and encourage them to apply. Thank you and remember we love to answer your questions.

Your Music Ministry Transition Team: Michael Murray, Theo Harper, Holly Stern, Ameena Amdahl-Mason, Richard Scher, Rev. Alison Miller, and Rev. Tom Disrud

NEW! — Week 1: Celebrating Black History Month

To celebrate Black History Month, the Advancing Racial Justice Action Group (ARJAG) will share stories each week about the roles Black people played in the history of our state, nation, and religious tradition. We’re also displaying a timeline poster in Fuller Hall, offering Antiracism Learning Circles, and hosting a special event after church on February 22.

DeNorval Unthank: Dedicated Doctor and Civil Rights Activist

December 1899 — September 1977

DeNorval Unthank was one of the first Black physicians in Oregon and the only Black doctor practicing in Portland during the 1930s. He moved his family to Portland in 1929, recruited by the Union Pacific Railroad to treat its Black workers. At that time, Portland’s small Black population lived edgily alongside the much larger White population. In the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan was visible, active, and well connected in city and state government...MORE

Administration Transition Task Force

Board of Trustees

As many of us know, Kathryn Estey will be retiring at the end of June this year after serving for 15+ years as our Church Administrator. As with any transition, this is a time to step back and review the role of the Administrator and the roles and processes of the administrative church staff.

To that end, Reverend Alison and the Board have created an Administrative Transition Task Force to address these issues. This body has been working since November and has been making good progress. The task force members are Julia Spence, Laura Jones, Mindy Clark, Roger Robinson, and Rev. Alison. Please ask any of these wonderful volunteers if you have questions about this work. Here is the description of its duties:

Establishment of Advisory Committee on Church Administration:

The Board of Trustees and the Senior Minister, Rev. Alison Miller, shall establish an advisory committee for the purpose of assessing the competencies required to manage the administrative affairs of the church. The advisory committee is to recommend to the Board and Executive Team the scope of work and how information will be gathered. At the conclusion of the work, they will prepare a report to guide administrative position descriptions and hiring. The work of the committee entails selecting and determining the scope of work for a management consultant.

This work is called for now by the impending retirement of the church’s administrator and two of the Church’s Governing Policies:

• Policy 2.2. The Board shall evaluate the Executive Team at such time it is constituted and when it changes personnel to ensure competency to manage the church.
• Policy 2.5.1. Every third year, in collaboration with the Executive Team, the Board shall engage an outside consultant to review the management of the church or some aspect of it.

The Moderator of the Board of Trustees and the Senior Minister shall appoint the members of the committee. [See above for the members' names.]

Young Adult Book Club

Meeting monthly, starting February 12, 6 - 8 p.m.

Location: First Unitarian

Announcing a young adults' book club! We will be meeting monthly, starting on February 12. Our first book will be All About Love by author bell hooks. Our first meeting will be mostly social with a Valentine's Theme. All About Love will be available for purchase at the church bookstore — we ask that you strongly consider purchasing your copy there to support the church.

Registration is required. If you are interested, please complete this Google Form by Tuesday, February 10.

Any questions can be emailed to Eden T. and Amelia W.

NEW! — This Sunday in the Beacon Bookstore

A number of new books have arrived: bell hooks, All About Love; and Julius Lester’s wonderful children’s book, Let’s Talk About Race (read by Rev. Leah in the service on Jan. 18) are now in stock. We have three additional titles by bell hooks along with several books by Thich Nat Hahn. Poetry is a big seller in our Beacon Bookstore. We’ve added a couple by Walt Whitman and a classic by Adrienne Rich. We’re STILL tapping our feet impatiently awaiting Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell’s newest book, Life Reimagined. If they come with our typical delivery on Thursday, we’ll put them out on display. All About Love is being used for a new church Book Group beginning next week. There was a write up from Amazon in last week’s Front Steps...MORE

CHECK WEEKLY — February 8 Newsletter

Rev. Leah Ongiri, Acting Director of Lifespan Faith Formation and Family Ministries

Join us for a busy Sunday! After the service and RE hour, we're hosting some Officially Fun Things:

• Homemade soup for lunch in Fuller Hall
• Guided tour of the amazing cardboard village community made by our kindergarten and 1st graders with high school helpers in A200
• Drop-in Parenting Circle in B301 (Childcare drop-off at nursery)
• For family members of OWL students, a come hang out Lounge in B204
• Last chance to participate in Friend to Friend, a program for kids to write cards of encouragement to Minneapolis peers too scared to attend school due to ICE; read the purple flyer below and stop by our table in Buchan Atrium

...MORE

NEW! — Justice Delayed, Finally Gained: How Portland Families Displaced by Urban Renewal Won Restitution

Sunday, February 22, 12 p.m.

Location: Eliot Chapel

Advancing Racial Justice Action Group (ARJAG)

Ms. Byrd, the founder of Emanuel Displaced Persons Association 2 (EDPA2), with whom our congregation has been long connected, returns to recap and update the efforts that led to their remarkable settlement with the City of Portland last year. Under Byrd’s determined and creative leadership, EDPA2 persisted for many years as an ad hoc, community-based social justice organization made up of people whose family homes and businesses had been demolished in the 1970s to make way for a hospital expansion that never happened. Byrd dedicated almost ten years of her life to advocating and agitating for justice, for restitution. It was Byrd’s scholarship, study, research and persistence that led to the filing of a lawsuit that resulted in an unprecedented settlement. Don’t miss this uplifting story about a successful struggle to achieve redress that took more than 50 years.

REMINDER — Please Pick Up Your Tamale Order!

This Sunday, February 8, after the service

Location: Daisy Bingham Room (just beyond Fuller Hall)

Immigrant Justice Action Group (IJAG)

Look for the papel picado garlands—we'll be fulfilling tamale pre-orders at the tables beneath them.

Winter Antiracism Learning Circles

Dates & times vary

Location: Zoom

You are invited to join an Antiracism Learning Circle this winter. It’s on Zoom, so you can join from anywhere. Invite your friends, too. Circles have started, but there's still time to register.

Full descriptions, schedules & registration information are HERE.

A printable flyer is HERE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This Winter 2026 we are offering:

• Seeing White - Start your journey here! The real history of the US, the one none of us were taught in school. Documentary podcast series from Scene on Radio.
• The Land That Has Never Been Yet - an examination of whether we have ever had a real democracy. Documentary podcast series from Scene on Radio.
• Doughnut Economics - seven ways to think like a 21st century economist to thrive, not just grow
• Master Plan - The 50-year plot to legalize corruption in the US
• It’s Not You, It’s Capitalism - a guide to budding anti-capitalists
• This Chair Rocks - a manifesto against ageism
• Golden Gates: Fighting for Housing in America - and how to solve it
• The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story - a revealing vision of American past and present

LEARNING CIRCLES are small discussion cohorts based on a book or podcast that provide:

• Important learning about white supremacy, racism, and our national history
• The opportunity to build trust and go deep in small group discussions over time
• A safe place to have difficult discussions and deal with discomfort
• An opportunity to create and strengthen relationships with others
• Connection, focus and purpose in a virtual setting

How Do LEARNING CIRCLES Work?

• Each cohort (typically 4-12) gathers for a series (from 6-12 sessions) of facilitated Zoom discussions.
• Register for specific Learning Circle(s). Meeting dates & times vary.
• Everyone is given the opportunity to share reactions, then discuss as a group
• We ask that you plan to attend all sessions so we can build bonds of trust and insight

For questions, email Jody F. 

Shower Project Requests

Each week we offer unhoused neighbors a secure space to shower, enjoy a meal, get clean clothing, and experience refuge from conditions on the street. We have now expanded our hours to 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays!

We are always looking for more helping hands. Volunteers sign up for 2-hour shifts that work for their schedule - and enjoy meeting other congregants this way. If you're interested, please click here.

Your donations make a big difference in the lives of those we serve. We are in special need of the following items:

• Men's clothes, especially jeans/pants/sweats (30 - 36)
• Hoodies, sweatshirts, coats, and rain gear
• Boxer briefs - NEW (M, L)
• Women's underwear - NEW (S, M)
• Direct monetary donations

Drop off your items in the marked cabinet in Fuller Hall during Sunday church hours or during Shower Project hours (Wednesdays and Thursdays between noon and 4 p.m.).

For questions, email Casey C. Thank you!

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.

For over 40 years, the African-American a cappella ensemble called Sweet Honey In The Rock has raised its voice in hope, love, justice, peace, and resistance.