Sunday, October 25

Sunday Worship at 10:15 a.m.

Children and youth start in the Sanctuary at 10:15 a.m. then head to RE (Buchan Bldg) 
Nursery and toddler care available all service.

Social Hour: Fuller Hall after the service.

Beauty in a Spot of Danger

Rev. Dr. Nicole K. Kirk, Guest Minister

When you find yourself at a threshold moment, between what was and what is next, it is tempting to wait for better times. This Sunday, we will explore what it means to live in the middle of uncertainty and how to find beauty in a spot of danger. 

Biography: Rev. Dr. Nicole C. Kirk (she/her) is the Rev. Dr. J. Frank and Alice Schulman Chair of Unitarian Universalist History at Meadville Lombard Theological School and a ... MORE

Ministerial Blog

Spiritual Care and Companionship

Rev. Alison Miller, Senior Minister

Many of the spaces in our facilities are made sacred – not just by how they look, but also by what we do in our spaces together. Pastoral prayers are shared in our Main Sanctuary, but also in ministers’ offices. Marriages are celebrated in our Eliot Chapel, but also in the Channing Room. Our religious imagination is sparked during a sermon, but also in classrooms, and meeting spaces all around us. Meditative music is MORE...

NEW! — Annual Fund Drive Reminder

Don't forget to open your mail this week... You will find your Annual Fund Drive 2027 invitation and packet. Together, we can brighten the light! 

NEW! — Halloween Party This Sunday!

Date: This Sunday, after service

Location: Buchan Reception Hall

Everyone is invited to come next door to Buchan Reception for our annual Halloween party!

Dress up and join the fun! There'll be a DJ, face painting, crafts, build-a-beast, UNICEF boxes, and more!

Friends welcome!

NEW! — Alliance Greens Sale!

Date: Starts This Sunday, October 25

Location: Order Online

The Alliance annual Greens Sale begins today and runs through November 8. Decorate your home with wreaths, garlands or tabletop trees or bring holiday cheer to families and friends while. Choose from a variety of beautiful wreaths, garlands, and a 14-inch tablecloth tree that can be replanted outside after the holidays.


Use this link to place your order online. Please feel free to share the link with anyone who might also be interested. Friendly assistance with ordering will be available after service on Sunday during social hour.

Your purchases will be available for pick up at the church on December 4 and 5. Wreaths may also be ordered for mailing. 

Funds raised from this sale will benefit recipients of The Alliance’s allocation grants to be awarded to non-profit organizations that support women, children, and marginalized communities.

Email the Alliance Greens team for any questions or assistance with your order.

NEW! — Toy Collection for the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition Resource Center

Date: This Sunday, October 25

Location: Main Sanctuary Narthex/Lobby

Sponsored by: Immigrant Justice Action Group

Every weekday, the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition Resource Center (PRC) welcomes families to wait in a comfortable setting, with support, while their loved ones check in at the ICE building. The PRC wants to maintain an adequate supply of new toys for children waiting in the center or for parents to take home to their children. This Sunday, October 25, IJAG will collect toys to deliver to the PRC ahead of Halloween. Look for the box marked (PRC Toys) in the Main Sanctuary narthex. They request new toys such as toy cars/trucks, plastic dolls or superheroes, small packs of crayons or markers, fidget toys, or stuffies (in a box is preferred). Thank you for your generosity.

NEW! — CARD Monthly Potluck Meeting

Date: Saturday, October 24, 9:30 - 11:30 a.m.

Location: RSVP to Marguerite C

Care and Action for Reproductive Dignity (CARD) will have its monthly potluck meeting this Saturday, October 24 from 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM. RSVP to Marguerite C.

NEW! — Join Together for Samhain Ritual

Date: Wednesday, October 28, 7 p.m.

Location: Buchan Atrium

Celebrate the Witches' New Year with a farewell to all that is old and done, and honoring our ancestors. Feel free to bring memorabilia.

NEW! — Alliance Program and Meeting

Date: Wednesday, November 4, 10:30 a.m.

Location: Eliot Chapel

Cathy Tortorici, Willamette Riverkeeper and member of First U, will be speaking about the health, meaning and value of the Willamette River. RSVP to The Alliance

Our Best Food Drive Ever!

COHHO members and Lift UP staff want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH! Besides bringing a good appetite to last Sunday’s Souper Sunday, you brought 168 pounds of food to Fuller Hall for Lift Urban Portland. That broke our record for food deliveries to Lift UP’s warehouse. Amazing!

Unfortunately, the need continues, so we will continue to encourage and accept soup and nut butter donations from you. You can drop them off at the COHHO and Lift UP bins in Fuller Hall anytime. 💖

Calling All Artists

Date: January & February 2027

Location: Fuller Hall Art Wall

We are excited to announce a Congregation Art Show for January and February 2027 and are calling for artists of ALL ages to participate. The theme for this show is 'SPIRIT OF LIFE' inspired by our doxology. We invite you to to create and submit work that reflects this theme as we celebrate the "Spirit of Life" together.


Submit art and registrations December 6, 13 or 20 at the Art Wall table in Fuller Hall. If you have any questions please contact Joanne S or Sherry H.

Vespers

Date: Weekly on Fridays, 5 - 5:45 p.m.

Location: Zoom

End your week every Friday with a quiet service on Zoom.


Dave Kovich will be offering the reflection on Friday, October 23.

Election Watch Party

Date: Tuesday, November 3, 5 - 9 p.m.

Location: Buchan Reception Hall

Come together on Election Night! We will gather in Buchan Hall to watch results come in— as community. No need to be alone!

Tuesday November 3, 5-9 pm

Bring: snacks and beverages (non-alcoholic)

It’s FINE to just drop in. But if you can, please do register and get the door code for entry, at Election Night Watch Party RSVP

Fuller Hall Paper Towels: Women's/All Gender Restroom Update


Paper towels are suspected as the source of a plugged sewer/drainage pipe in the Fuller Hall Women's/All Gender restroom. The plugged up line necessitated an afterhours visit from a plumber. To determine if they are the source, the towel dispensers have been removed. Hand dryers are still available.

Need to book a room, submit an article for publication or update the website?

New online forms were recently created to request a meeting room for your group, submit an article or event for publication and for updating the church website. To submit your request, use one of the links below.

Be sure to review the request with your program director before submitting the form! 

Guidelines for submitting a publication request:

• Deadline for submissions: Tuesdays at 5 p.m.
• No more than three (3) weeks before the event

Submit Request for Article-Event Publication

Submit Request to Reserve Room

Submit Request to Update Website

Updated — Bookstore

We bet that some of you have “Little Book Store” cabinets on stands in front of your homes. Might you be interested in adding to your own inventory with a few of the used books from our Beacon Bookstore? If so, please let us know at the Cashier Table on Sunday mornings. We’re making a plan for 2027 to distribute some of our overstock. 

Our Bookstore has several of the books being read for discussion groups and classes happening this fall, and you’ll also find copies of the children’s books Rev. Leah reads during services. Blue Boat Home is an always-popular one! If you are looking for a baby gift, you’ll find a dozen different board books with small fuzzy finger puppets attached – including a bat for Halloween. 

There are a good number of $5 used books from Rev. Tom Disrud, Rev. Bill Sinkford, and longtime Bookstore volunteer Peg MacNichol’s personal libraries. Some beautiful bargain books! 

Now’s the time to begin thinking about books you might want to order for friends or relatives for the holidays. We’re very pleased to order books for you through our wholesaler so that the profit goes to First Unitarian’s bottom line – any topic.

And, remember that your coffee cup is always welcome while you browse.

This Sunday, we welcome the Rev. Dr. Nicole C. Kirk to our pulpit for her sermon, "Beauty in a Spot of Danger." Our Chalice Choir will offer up two lovely and melodious anthems reflecting on our monthly theme - both entitled, "Listen." Composer, John Florio sets poet Karen Crane's words in an anthem that finds the rhythms and melodies of music in our natural environment. Composer/lyricist, Reena Esmail takes a different track, focusing instead on our internal landscape and the emotional depth of truly listening. We open with the hymn "This Little Light of Mine" and conclude with congregational singing on a special request by Rev. Kirk, the beloved song, "Seasons of Love" from the musical, RENT. Organist, Joe O'Donnell will share an offering and postlude by two of the great German baroque masters of counterpoint and imaginative organ composition: J.S. Bach, and his erstwhile teacher, Dieterich Buxtehude.

Fun Sunday coming up! Halloween Party!

Hope you can join us for worship, learning, and seasonal fun. More... Read this week's Newsletter

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

NEW! — Update on October 2026 ICE/DHS Surge in Oregon

The Immigrant Justice Action Group has a long record of supporting and educating the congregation about immigrant rights. As the assault on our immigrant neighbors continues, we want our community to be informed and aware of the changing methods of apprehension and detention that ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and DHS (Department of Homeland Security) are employing. We must stay informed and take action to defend our neighbors’ human and civil rights. 

The first week of October marked a drastic surge in ICE/DHS detentions in Oregon. In just five days (Oct 6-10), the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition (PIRC) verified 48 detentions that were reported to the hotline and suspects more unreported detentions. In comparison, 76 detentions were reported in all of September. Recent documentation also shows ICE agents using escalated violence and intimidation tactics. 

On October 8, DHS/ICE stated that “this rise in detentions is political retaliation against regions of the country that try to restrict local law enforcement & government employees from helping ICE abduct the people of the region (KOIN news).” CNN reported that the Trump administration told ICE agents around the country to arrest more people starting Tuesday [Oct 6] to fulfill a quota of 3,000 arrests per workday. 

Oregon’s congressional delegation recently authored this letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche demanding immediate answers to civil rights and human rights violations at the Portland ICE Facility. Members of the congressional delegation held a press conference on October 9 after visiting the ICE Facility, which you can see here. Also, on October 8, the Oregon for All Coalition (OFA) held a press conference you can view here. 

The surge in detentions ended after five days and reported detentions dropped back to previously weekly reported numbers (10-25). In their weekly update, PIRC applauded “the massive pro-immigrant community response taking place amidst the fear and disruption ICE is causing.” Knowing that ICE/DHS is always changing tactics, we need to be prepared for the next potential surge in detentions. 

What can you do? 

IJAG recommends the following actions and sources of information. 

If you see ICE or witness someone being detained, call the PIRC hotline: 1-888-622-1510. If possible, document what you see and get the name(s) of those being detained. See tips on what to do if you see ICE here. 

Support and follow frontline organizations:

• Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition (PIRC): statewide hotline, legal observers, rapid response, advocacy:. Instagram
• Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice (IMIrJ): mutual aid, accompaniment.
• Asylum Seekers Solidarity Collective (ASSC): mutual aid, advocacy; Instagram
• Equity Corp of Oregon (ECO): free immigration legal help for Oregon residents; Website: equitycorps.org
• VOZ Workers’ Education Project: support & advocacy for day laborers. Instagram

Watch the Front Steps for more information and upcoming ways to take action.

UU the Vote Letter Writing to Voters in N. Carolina

Congregants have written MANY letters to North Carolina voters - congratulations writers! We have no more letters to write. Please mail your completed letters yourself by this Saturday, October 24. (No need to bring back to church). Thank you writers!

El Mes Nacional de la Herencia Hispana 

(Honoring Latino Experience and Contributions) 

The United States celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month to honor the history, heritage, and contributions of Americans who came from, or whose ancestors came from, Mexico, the Caribbean, South and Central America, and Spain.


Latinos first arrived in Oregon during the Spanish explorations of the sixteenth century. The Oregon Encyclopedia offers a wealth of information about their experiences and contributions over nearly five centuries in “Latinos in Oregon”.

The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced and enriched our nation and society.

National Hispanic Heritage Month reads for children and adults can be found at the Washington County Library and Multnomah County Library. 

The Story of PCUN: The Farmworker Movement in Oregon (Lynn Stephen, University of Oregon Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies)

Art for Social Justice

Darrell Grant, Resolution of Love, featuring Bethany Small and Charles Hayden

On Thursday, January 21, 2021, people across the country pledged to do their part to promote a just society in a People's Inauguration celebration. Darrell says of his piece: “I was honored to contribute a piece of music to the Oregon ceremony. "Resolution of Love," which I recorded on my album Truth and Reconciliation back in 2007 is a call to what Martin Luther King called the "beloved community." I want to dedicate this new version to all of us who are setting about the work of renewing the promise the American idea represents. In the hope that we will finally recognize that which we need to ground us, guide us, and power us. Here is to a new Resolution of Love.”

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.

Jenn Feeney creates her colorful abstract prints by interpreting the patterns and complexity of nature. Pat Stevens uses several printing techniques to produce landscapes that exude a sense of mystery and wonder. Their visions of the world around us open up two beautiful perspectives on the world around us.