The Shortest Day, by Susan Cooper
And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us—listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Welcome, Yule!

The post The Shortest Day appeared first on First Unitarian Portland.

Featured speaker UNRWA-USA Development Officer Zaina Dana shared stories, photographs and vital information about the role of UNRWA for the human and cultural survival of Palestinians and illustrated the current catastrophe faced by those living in Gaza. She was followed Dr. Michael Fahkri, University of Oregon Law Professor and UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Food, who highlighted the United Nation’s role in Palestine, Israel’s policy of starvation in Gaza, and Israel’s efforts to dismantle UNRWA. He also described the United States’ continued support for Israel’s policies and military practices as well as the growing popular support in the US for a ceasefire and provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Mazin Malik and Marlene Eid, members of the Steering Committees of the American Council for Palestine and the Jewish Palestinian Alliance of Oregon, gave the exciting fundraising pitch.

More than one hundred people attended and collectively contributed over $50,000 to UNRWA!

UNRWA was chartered in 1949 to support Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. It provides food, health care, education, water and sanitation, and small business support for Palestinians displaced in the creation of Israel and the 1967 war. It currently is the only support entity allowed to function in the Occupied Territories and is the lifeline for the millions of people of Gaza.  The Israeli government has long sought the dissolution of UNRWA. In the week leading up to the fundraiser, First Unitarian ministers, staff, and board members received over 3,500 emails from supporters of Israel’s policies demanding that the event be canceled. Despite this harassment, First Unitarian maintained its support for the fundamental human rights of Palestinians and went forward to host the event. We remain steady in our values that put Love at the center and honor the inherent worthiness of all people.

The post Church Hosts Successful Fundraiser for UNRWA and Humanitarian Aid in Gaza!  appeared first on First Unitarian Portland.

The Christmas pageant on 12/22 (wow, 100 years old!), Christmas Eve services on 12/24 at 5pm and 8pm, the Solstice service on 12/20, Advent, Alliance Treasures & Bake Sale on 12/8 and 12/15, and let’s not forget Hanukkah starting on 12/25 and Kwanzaa starting on 12/26.

I like this time of year because it is so colorful with the lights and the fresh snow. Now, the problem is that we get caught up with all the stuff. We sometimes forget to remember why we are doing this. This is the time to stop and smell the pine trees, look at the lights, drink some cocoa with just a little bit of peppermint Schnapps and, while we are looking at the winter wonderland, taking time to think about people we have not been all that nice to. This season is all about being kind and caring.

Redemption—the whole point of A Christmas Carol, which I love because redemption is what I need and really, what we all need. Open our hearts and let in people who we don’t usually make room for.

Mark Twain said, “Always do some right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest.” This is the season that I give money to the people on the street. I try to be nice to my family (even those I disagree with politically). I am sure that if you are standing in a line and you pay for the person behind you, both of you will have a better feeling than you can imagine.

It does not take much to change the world. You can do it one person at a time.

“Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world.”

And so, as Tiny Tim observed, “God bless us, everyone.”

Merry Christmas!

~ Michael Two Feathers

The post Notes from the Sextons’ Workbench: December 2024 appeared first on First Unitarian Portland.

Antisemitism is also confusing, including when claims of antisemitism are used to divert and divide justice seeking movements or when progressive people perpetuate antisemitic tropes. UU efforts to address the unspeakable violence in Israel and Palestine have activated people’s trauma, confusion, and frustration. We believe that in order to act effectively and accountably within our UU communities, we must understand how antisemitism is present and how we can counter it as we fight for justice and human rights.

If you’d like to learn alongside us, we invite you to join us for a two-part in-person program. We partner with the congregation of Havurah Shalom to delve into the book Safety Through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism. Journalists Ben Lorber and Shane Burley present a progressive, intersectional approach to the vital question: What can we do about antisemitism? The book will be available in our bookstore or you can order online through Powell’s.

Guided by the book, we’ll explore the history of antisemitism, how it functions to divide and scapegoat Jews, the presence of antisemitism in these times, in our congregations, and in our movements, and how we can build intersectional solidarity for justice that counters antisemitism.

The first in-person session will be for UUs at First Unitarian on January 12, 4 – 6 p.m. Senior Minister Reverend Alison Miller and Director of Social Justice Dana Buhl will lead the discussion and we will include opportunities for affinity circles for Jewish UUs and non-Jewish UUs.

On January 26, 4 – 6 p.m., we will join with Havurah Shalom for a panel conversation with one of the authors of Safety Through Solidarity, Rabbi Benjamin Barnett and Reverend Alison Miller. We will have affinity circles for Jews and non-Jews as well. Please note, participation in the January 12 UU session is required in order to attend the second session at Havurah Shalom.

Registration is required and is limited to 30 people. After you have registered, we will send an email to guide you to the chapters on which we’ll focus. We look forward to learning together.

Register here.

The post “Countering Antisemitism in Our Movements” Program appeared first on First Unitarian Portland.

This past Friday, I went before the Ministerial Fellowship Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Association, carrying with me your prayers and messages of support. Seven and a half years after first hearing that call, I was granted preliminary fellowship as a Unitarian Universalist Minister. I was thrilled when the committee delivered the good news, but in that moment, I mostly felt relief. I had gotten past this barrier and felt a weight lifted from my shoulder. It wasn’t until I was with this beloved community on Sunday, when Rev. Alison so enthusiastically and lovingly delivered the news to the congregation, that I felt the full significance of the moment. Your joyful response was moving and humbling. I will remember that moment for the rest of my life.

I will also admit to being slightly embarrassed by the attention! But I kept thinking back to that baby dedication from 2017. The promises you all make as a teaching congregation are not so different from those we make to children we dedicate in our sanctuaries. All of us—small children, over-eager ministerial interns, and church elders—are vulnerable searchers and seekers, in need of a community to nurture us and help us grow into our truest selves. You all have nurtured and supported me as I grew into a minister in my own right. And that places me in the esteemed company of the very many people this congregation has helped grow into their own.

I witness it almost every day here in small and large ways: At the Shower Project, where our clothing closet volunteers help our guests choose pieces that express their individual personalities and help them feel like their true selves (I hear there are occasional ad-hoc fashion shows). Or at youth group on Sunday mornings, where our advisors are leading the youth through a “UU Ethics” curriculum, and helping our young people discern how they can live in a way that aligns with their deepest sacred values. I witness it in the work of our lay ministers, who are so skilled at deep listening and helping those they serve tap into their own inner wisdom. And in our community circles where we support one another’s spiritual exploration. So much of the work we do here is about accompanying one another on our vocational journeys. And by “vocation,” I don’t mean how we make our money, but rather how we live lives of meaning, truth, and wholeness.

I am deeply grateful for the way this community has held, challenged, and supported me during my ministerial formation. But more than that, I am constantly in awe of the ways you show up to hold, challenge, and support one another. May this congregation keep striving to be worthy guardians of every soul that walks through its doors. May you continue to build a community where all can grow old surrounded by beauty, embraced by love, and cradled in the arms of peace.

With deep joy and gratitude,
Danielle

The post May We Be Worthy Guardians of One Another appeared first on First Unitarian Portland.

As the end of 2024 approaches, I see signs all around me of the strong religious community that is the core of our church, including big events such as the Halloween party with over 100 adults and children, a packed Fuller Hall for Souper Sunday, or the full house that rededicated Eliot Chapel on its 100th birthday. Just as important are the small groups that bring us together, such as those joining on Zoom in the Antiracism Learning Circles, the children’s Learning Community classes, or dinners and concerts in member homes at auction events. All of these gatherings build bonds of care and friendship among us.

I hope you’ll be able to attend some of the events ahead at First Unitarian, as we approach the winter solstice and celebrate the coming holidays – see details in the Front Steps each week.

Meanwhile your board is at work continuing to build an organizational structure that supports our community. We’ll be holding several Board forums in the year ahead to share information and to hear from our congregants. In addition, the Board committees of Finance, Governance, and Communications are adding congregant members to better engage our membership. As we work, we review our practices to align with our 8th Principle – an ongoing process of development.

You may have noticed that we’re in the final stages of our annual pledge drive, Join the Journey of Generosity. Your pledge at this time allows us to plan for our future programs and activities. If you’re ready to pledge, you can do so at this link. If you have already pledged, we thank you for your generosity.

We wish you happy holidays in the weeks ahead.

Harriet Shaklee, Board member

The post Letter From the Board – December 2024 appeared first on First Unitarian Portland.

Please request your room reservation by emailing John Rosette BEFORE completing this form.

If you are submitting an event on behalf of a Social Justice Action Group, please follow Dana’s guidelines before starting this form.

For questions, contact communications@firstunitarianportland.org.

Explanation of form:

• Event Title (REQUIRED)
• Event Description (REQUIRED) — One to three sentences describing the event, including a contact email we can share. For virtual events, include the link here. Can be the same as the Front Steps announcement.
• Event Time & Date (REQUIRED) — This is the public-facing time and date. Do not include set-up time.
• Event Image (optional)
• Event Categories (REQUIRED) — Choose from the appropriate category. Do not use the “Service” or “Special Notice” categories.
  • All SJAG events should be under “Social Justice.”
  • “Meeting”: any Board meetings or similar.
  • “Gathering & Connection”: most social/interactive/spiritual events like Vespers, the Pancake Breakfast, or the Labyrinth.
  • “Program/Event”: lectures, paid events, or things like the Alliance Holiday Sale.
• Event Tags (IGNORE)
• Virtual Event (IGNORE)
• Events Status (IGNORE)
• Venue Details (REQUIRED) — You may select more than one venue. If the event is hybrid, please select “Virtual” and the physical location. If your location is not listed, please write it in the description and we will add it. Note: This does NOT reserve a room for the event.
• Organizer Details (REQUIRED) — Select which group/program you are part of. If your community is not listed, please write it in the description and we will add it.
• Event Website (optional)
• Event Cost (optional)

If you would like to sell paid tickets for the event, please reach out to communications@firstunitarianportland.org with details and we can set that up for you.

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The leave will begin on January 6 and I'll be back at the end of April. I'm still finalizing plans for the leave but it will likely involve some travel and time for rest and renewal. Mostly I'm looking forward to being away from the day to day demands of emails and other responsibilities. 

This spring will be my 30^th anniversary here at the church. That is a long time to be in a role and I hope to have some time to make space to reflect on what the next chapter of ministry looks like for me. 

So who will cover my responsibilities when I'm away? Rev. Alison and Danielle Garrett will work with the lay ministry team to cover pastoral care. Rev. Alison and Kathryn Estey will bring others into the work of the Executive Team as needed. And one of the gifts of a sabbatical is to make space for not everything happening when someone is away. A colleague once said to me that leaving on a sabbatical can feel like a risk. "You may come to know that there is more to life than the church and the church may come to know that life can also go on when a minister takes a break," he said. That has indeed been my experience.

I will miss you when I'm away. Part of my reason for writing to you now is so that my departure doesn't feel abrupt. If you'd like an appointment with me in the next month, please let me know. After that, I will be away for four months and won’t be responding to emails, etc. If there is a critical need to contact me, Rev. Alison is the point person for that.

Sabbaticals are important to the health of a long term ministry, and I do not take it for granted. This will provide me with an opportunity for rest, renewal, learning, and perspective...

I continue to feel blessed to serve here, in joyful and in difficult times. I look forward to being away and I also look forward to returning. Meantime, I look forward to seeing you in church.

In faith,

Rev. Tom 

The post Some Time Away appeared first on First Unitarian Portland.

"We’ve heard from many letter writers after 2024’s The Big Send asking about the impact of our collective work. It is understandable that many of us are--in this moment--searching to understand what happened in the 2024 election cycle. Letter writers put in so much time, money and effort, and we’re so grateful for the real investment in our work....

To truly evaluate Vote Forward's impact, we need to compare turnout among voters  targeted to turnout among similar voters who we didn’t target. This is exactly what we do when we set up an experiment, or RCT (randomized controlled trial), and all of our 2024 campaigns were structured as RCTs. That means that when the turnout data comes back, we will be able to analyze it and rigorously answer questions about Vote Forward’s impact, just as we did in 2020 and in many other experiments over the past six years.

So what do we know now? 

• To date, total 2024 turnout sits at 155.8 million ballots cast — roughly 4 million fewer than the 159.7 million ballots cast in 2020. That overall drop masks important differences by state; in several states targeted by Vote Forward and other voter mobilization groups, turnout actually surpassed 2020 levels.
• However, the aggregate information we have now cannot tell us whether our efforts at Vote Forward, or the efforts of any other organization, were successful.
• It’s possible that our work did mobilize voters, even if overall turnout ends up being lower than in 2020. For example, it’s possible that we successfully boosted turnout in the states and districts that we targeted, while turnout dropped off in places we didn’t focus.
• Aggregate information also cannot tell us anything about our impact among specific voter groups. For example, youth voter turnout in 2024 appeared to be lower overall than in 2020, on average, but that does not imply that Vote Forward’s efforts to raise turnout among younger voters were ineffective.

Over the next few months, our team will:

1. Obtain individual-level turnout data, which originates with Secretaries of State
2. Clean and process the data
3. Statistically analyze the turnout data

All of this takes time. We expect that the first sets of data will be available as early as December of this year, but the last sets won’t arrive until March. This puts us on track to learn and share our work’s impact in late spring to early summer of 2025.

Since all these 2024 campaigns were set up as RCTs, we can report on our community’s specific impact, and importantly - learn from what we find.

Until then, don’t forget to rest and celebrate the work we all did in 2024.We think this is worth recognizing and celebrating. STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES!

The post Thank You and Update from the UU the Vote Team appeared first on First Unitarian Portland.

We give thanks for the feast of love
That extends from kin and stranger alike.  
We set a table to host and to honor: 
The people we love and who love us in return
On days when it’s easy and days when it isn’t
And people whose work sustains and nourishes us, 
Who we may never meet and could never be without. 

We give thanks for the feast of food
That fills our spirits and our bodies. 
We praise all that is on our plates:
A beloved ancestor’s recipe handed down,
A new and daring creation,
The results of someone’s precious time,
An ethical statement in the form of turkey, tofurkey, and trimmings.

We give thanks for the fast as well
That calls our heart to refrain.
We set intentions to persist and to resist:
Histories that whitewash events and gloss over genocide,
Foods that are not rooted in fair labor or sustainability, 
Language that diminishes and divides,
Acts that destroy and do not create.

We give thanks for the feast of now,
The invitation that lies between each breath.
We practice the pause that gratitude inserts:
To allow grace to enter,
To allow wisdom to take hold,
To allow compassion to knit us to one another, 
And to allow all life to flourish. 

Amen. Blessed Be.

Written by Rev. Alison B. Miller
Artwork by David Snedden

The post A Thanksgiving Grace appeared first on First Unitarian Portland.