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Sunday Worship at 10:15 a.m.
🍪 Cookie Potluck & Souper Sunday after the service 🥣
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Children & youth start in the Sanctuary at 10:15 a.m. then head to RE classes. Nursery and toddler care available all service.
Social Hour: Fuller Hall after the service.
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Prepare to Spring Forward
Daylight Savings Time in Oregon begins this Sunday, March 8, at 2 a.m. Remember to set your clocks forward one hour!
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Where is God Now?
Rev. Alison Miller, Senior Minister
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One of the reasons religions exist is to help us wrestle with life’s “Big Questions.” One of the biggest is “Why does suffering exist?” or “If there is a loving God, how do we explain the existence of evil?” Let us reflect together on these questions of theodicy from a Unitarian Universalist perspective and move towards some possible answers about the meaning and purpose that stems from the bad things that happen in our lives.
This is the winning sermon topic from our last Auction, which was proposed by Andy Wilson.
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NEW! — Girl Scout Cookie Potluck / Final Souper Sunday!
Sunday, March 8, after the service
Location: Fuller Hall
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Join us for our last Souper Sunday for this program year! Taco soup and tomato soup will be available.
Plus, please bring Girl Scout cookies for a special potluck! Eat all you want and donate the rest. Leftovers will go to our Shower Project.
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All-Church Forum
Sunday, March 8, 12 - 1:30 p.m.
Location: Eliot Chapel
| Join Rev. Alison and members of your Board of Trustees for an all-church forum this Sunday, March 8. Rev. Alison, Board Moderator Roger Robinson, and Treasurer Bob Bonner will provide an update on the Annual Fund Drive and share key considerations shaping the 2026–2027 church budget. Childcare is provided. |
UPDATED — Immigrant Aid Baskets | |
Our church is continuing to collect items for our boxes of support for immigrants in our area. RE students will be putting the boxes to gather on March 15 for their classes. Here are the items they need:
- Toilet paper (4-6 roll pack)
- Bar soap (2 bars)
- Small bottle laundry detergent
- Small pack razors (unisex if possible) & shave cream
- Deodorant
- Small pack Kotex or similar pads
- Roll of paper towel
- Bottle dish soap & sponge
- Bottle of shampoo/conditioner
Please bring your donations to the RE desk in the Buchan on Sundays, March 8 & 15.
Thank you!
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REGISTER NOW — 2026 Passover Seder
Sunday, March 29, 12:15 p.m.
Location: Buchan Hall
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You are cordially invited to attend our First Unitarian Seder in celebration of Passover, the Jewish holiday that symbolizes the universal human quest for liberty. Our Seder celebration will be held on Sunday, March 29 at 12:15 p.m. This special ceremonial UU interfaith event, beautifully structured for all ages, is a remembrance of the Jews’ flight from slavery in Egypt long ago. Our community Passover Seder will be led by Rev. Alison Miller and her family, Bill Y., Rich S., and the Seder team. It is a worship service, a songfest, a banquet, and a blend of goodness, goodies, gravity, and joy. Children, Youth, Adults, Elders - All are welcome. We will provide a delicious lunch of traditional Seder foods.
Adults $30 each / Children $15 each
Come one and all to enjoy food, fellowship, candlelight, stories, music and more!
Please register now here. Register early as space is limited!
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UPDATED — The Auction is Coming Soon: March 19! | |
Because we bought our church property piecemeal, we have many roofs of different ages, and almost all are leaking now, causing damage to floors below. That’s why this year’s auction—CREATING CONNECTIONS: MANY BELIEFS, MANY ROOFS—wants your help to raise funds for roof repair and long-term maintenance. Consult with your friends to create an event—a group hike, a fancy dinner, your vacation home? Donations accepted online beginning March 19. Our motto is: “Bid High, Keep Dry!”
—From your 2026 Auction team!—
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Around the Church
Learn more about upcoming events on our website's Events Calendar.
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Learning something new! Last Sunday, March 1, when the “Bookstore” was set up on one 6’ table and a library cart in the Buchan Atrium, several browsers told us they were unaware of the actual “store” in Fuller Hall. We’re very glad that our little monthly book offering in Buchan has been rich enough to bring you to the table, but we are really excited for you to see the thousands of titles we carry in our room off Fuller Hall! We’re in the back southwest corner of the hall – a little shop of about 15’ x 12’ loaded with shelves, a center display, and a display of new titles. We carry adult titles, children’s titles, and an array of greeting cards. The First Church t-shirts are also available.
Bring your coffee cup. Come in to browse even if you’re not actively shopping for books. We can special order books we might not normally carry. About 40% of all our sales go directly to the church income. We have been very pleased to welcome little ones with their adult to “try out” picture books before deciding.
Thank you for supporting your own small independent book store!
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Learning Community
Learn more about our Learning Community program.
Register your child for the 2025-26 program year here.
Subscribe to the Learning Community e-news here.
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CHECK WEEKLY — March 8 Newsletter
Rev. Leah Ongiri, Acting Director of Lifespan Faith Formation and Family Ministries
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Our 2nd-5th grade Religious Education class is diving into our March theme of wholeness. Last week they created individual elements of city and natural landscapes and explored how they fit together as a whole.
Our unique differences can come together beautifully! May it always be so...MORE
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Social Justice
Learn more about our Social Justice program.
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NEW! — Tax the Rich with CEO Tax
This Sunday, March 8, during social hour
Location: Fuller Hall
Economic Justice Action Group (EJAG)
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Minute by minute the billionaire class increases its concentration of wealth within it's own hands. One way we know of that concentration is via the pay corporate CEOs receive. Each year the ratio of CEO pay vs medium worker pay increases, the average now being 285/1. Just one year before, it was 268/1. And it reaches truly outrageous levels with the highest being the pay for the Starbucks CEO at 3,666/1.
During the '50s and '60s the average gap was in the area of 20 to 30/1.
The City of Portland enacted the first tax on this gap several years ago, with San Francisco joining Portland a couple of years later, with the purpose of raising some revenue and to put pressure on corporations to stop paying their CEOs so much.
Now join EJAG in an effort to get other cities and the state of Oregon to enact such a tax as well. Stop by the Economic Justice Action Group table following the service for more information and to sign a petition indicating your support for the concept of a CEO TAX.
Questions? Email David D.
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NEW! — Peace with Iran Buttons
This Sunday, March 8, during social hour
Location: Fuller Hall
Peace Action Group
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The US war on Iran is well underway and now is the time to voice your opposition to America's attack on Iran. Visit the Peace Justice Action table during social time after service Sunday and pick up your peace button with IRAN written on it. Wear it to publicly state your opposition to more war in the Middle East.
Below is a reading from His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama on the topic of not giving up. We find this such a powerful concept as we face the ongoing darkness brought about by the recent attack on Iran. Please forward it to your friends and contacts if you wish.
NEVER GIVE UP from The Dalai Lama
No matter what is going on
Never give up.
Develop the heart.
Too much energy in your country
is spent in developing the mind
instead of the heart.
Develop the heart.
Be compassionate.
Not just to your friends but to everyone.
Be compassionate
Work for peace in your heart and in the world.
Work for peace.
And. I say again, never give up.
No matter what is happening,
No matter what is going on around you.
Never give up.
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NEW! — CARD Meeting
Saturday, March 14, 10:30 a.m.
Location: SW Portland
Care & Action for Reproductive Dignity (CARD)
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Join us for an informative potluck on Saturday, March 14, from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Marni T.’s house in SW Portland. Our potlucks are a fun blend of socializing, eating homemade dishes and collaborating on ways to continue improving access to reproductive healthcare. In this meeting we plan to watch Vessel, a documentary about the pro-choice Dutch physician Rebecca Gomperts who sailed the seas to provide abortions to women who had limited or no abortion access. This meeting will be a little longer than usual to allow time to watch and discuss the documentary which runs 1-1/2 hours.
Please email Marni T. for street address, your food offering, and beverage preference. Decaf, regular coffee or tea? Thanks!
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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 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)
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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!
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CHECK WEEKLY — Art for Social Justice
Curated by Ethel G., Speaking of Justice Editorial Team
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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.
A virtual collaboration performance by The Listening Choir (members of several different social justice, professional and community choirs). This piece was written by Cheryl B. Engelhardt, after a careful study of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech titled “Beyond Vietnam - A Time To Break The Silence.” The speech was given on April 4th, 1967, a year before his assassination. It was a denunciation of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War, in addition to a cry for the American people to listen to the unheard voices.
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Say It With Flowers!
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.
Email Marsha W. to make arrangements.
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NEW! — March & April Art Wall Exhibition
Photographs by Dave Gallison
| Dave Gallison expresses the beauty of the world through his photos, sharing his breath-taking images as a way to connect with the beauty, vastness, and joy of being alive. | | |
Livestream Schedule
Sanctuary Service – 10:15 a.m.
In-Person & Livestream
Monday Loving Kindness Meditation – 8 - 8:30 p.m.
via Zoom
Friday Vespers – 5 - 5:40 p.m.
via Zoom
| This March, we share our plate with the Q Center, which celebrates the 2SLGBTQIA+ community by building equitable structures to foster safety, joy, mutual aid, and holistic health throughout the state of Oregon. Q Center offers comprehensive support services, including a Gender-Affirming Closet, a fund for emergency assistance, a library, an art gallery, support groups, and a resource hub connecting community members to essential services. Q Center centers Black, Indigenous, trans, disabled, immigrant, and other marginalized communities. Through joy-centered events and programming, Q Center cultivates affirming spaces where 2SLGBTQIA+ people can build connection, access resources, and thrive together. | Want to know what this church has to offer? Show up for events/classes/socials and stay engaged! | |
Pastoral Care Resources
Contact a Minister or Lay Minister: Our ministers are available for pastoral support to congregants in need and to officiate at rites of passages including memorial services and weddings. Lay Ministers support the pastoral work of the ministerial staff. They are church members who offer one-to-one caring and support for folks in times of need. Call the church office at 503-228-6389, visit our website, or send an email. You can learn more about Lay Ministry here.
Friend to Friend Outreach Program: This program provides connection to seniors and individuals who may be homebound and unable to attend church regularly. It offers members up to four in-person visits per year from a Lay Minister. Send an email to Lay Minister Steve K.
Lotsa Helping Hands Support Network: This care calendar enables volunteers to provide meals or visits for congregants going through challenging times. For support or questions, email coordinator Leslie C. To volunteer, send a request here.
Join an Affinity or Support Group: Build community through our identity-based affinity groups and experience-specific support groups. Learn about them here.
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In the Community
Please visit our website here if you have any joys or concerns to share
Ed Cohen, brother of member Marguerite Cohen and son of the late Florence Rawson, died on February 13 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 16 days before. Ed was a chef at several restaurants in the Portland area, and he helped our mom to make Scottish shortbread for the Alliance Green Sale each December, until her death in 2011. A memorial picnic and family reunion is planned for July 4 in Marin County, California.
A memorial gathering for Carol Touchet will be tomorrow, on Friday, March 6, at 2 p.m. in Buchan Reception Hall.
Vicki Pflaumer, a long-time member, is having open heart Coronary Artery By-Pass Graft surgery on Thursday, March 5. Prayers and cards are appreciated during the long recovery period.
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