Alliance
Welcome to The Alliance!
So glad to have you on our website. Scroll down this page to see ALL that is coming right up.
Wednesday, May 7
Register ASAP here for buffet lunch lunch following program ($25):
The Alliance Presents “Building Power for Frontline Communities”firstunitarianportland.or
We need an accurate count very soon to insure that everyone gets lunch!!If joining online use this link:
2025 Allocation Grants Announced!
A core value of the Alliance is to provide meaningful service and contributions to First Unitarian Church and the broader community. To that end, the Alliance raised funds and allocated them as follows:
- Black Student Union Advisors of Portland (BSUAP) – $1,500
- The BSUAP gives support to Black students and families at schools within Portland Public School District that seek to create affinity groups and student unions. fiscally sponsored by the Jefferson High School PTSA.
- Oregon Karen Association (OKA), Portland – $1,500
- The Karen people are a nationless population that historically resides between the Myanmar and Thai borders.
- PDX Saints Love, SE Portland – $1,500
- PDX Saints Love focuses on addressing social determinants of health in underserved communities, especially those living unsheltered or housing insecure.
- Adelante Mujeres, Forest Grove and Hillsboro – $1,000
- Adelante Mujeres was created in 2002 to do something no other nonprofit was doing in Oregon at that time: to focus on the needs of marginalized immigrant Latine women.
- Bienestar, Hillsboro – $1,000
- Bienestar builds housing, hope, and community for the wellbeing of Latinxs, immigrants, and all families in need.
- Southwest Equity Coalition (SWEC), Portland – $1,000
- SWEC is a community-driven partnership of nearly 40 organizations focused on equitable development in southwest Portland.
- The Spencer Higgins Education Fund of the Bird Alliance of Oregon – $500
- This education fund enables over 100 children to attend free and low-cost camps and programs each year that help to foster a lasting sense of place in the outdoors.
These were selected from among the 17 nominated local non-profit organizations as best meeting our criteria for serving Portland residents, particularly women and children from marginalized communities. Our holiday greens and treasures sales were again successful (thank you to all buyers and volunteers who made that happen). Combining those net proceeds with your individual contributions, the Alliance Allocations Committee had the happy task of giving away all those funds – $8,000!!
2024-2025 Alliance Programs
September 4 – Cindy Cumfer: Thomas Lamb Eliot and the Activist Women of First Unitarian Church
October 2 – League of Women Voters, Melanie Billings-Yun and Wynne Furth: Ranked choice voting and Portland’s new governance structure
November 13 (note change of date)- Danielle Garrett speaking on her experience with pilgrimage.
December 11 (note change of date) – Threads from Heart to Heart, our own Signe Lusk at the piano!
January 8 – Multnomah County Homelessness Response Plan – Ryan Diebert
February 5 – Friends of Tryon Creek – Gabe Sheoships, Executive Director
March 5 – Reproductive Rights and Women’s Health Care – Judith Arcana
April 2 – p:ear – Homeless Youth Art Project – Antonio Camacho Martinez, Program Director
May 7 – EcoTrust – Ronda Rutledge, Executive Director, Citizen of Cherokee Nation
Program Access
Alliance programs are offered in a hybrid manner, including both in-person and via Boxcast.
They were here before us
Alliance Mission
The Alliance of First Unitarian Church, begun in 1865, and open to all in our faith community, provides regular opportunities for fellowship, life-long learning and spiritual growth for its members as well as service to the church and larger fellowship.
Alliance Vision Statement
The Alliance seeks to be an active, visible part of First Unitarian Church that gathers in community and fellowship to promote and celebrate its history and the principles of Unitarian Universalism, engage in service to the church and the wider community, address unmet needs, care for one another and grow in mind and spirit
Luncheon Glimpses
Joining–and Why
Please consider joining the Alliance. In doing so you give to yourself the gift of learning, the chance to interact with interesting and lively women and men, and you are also a part of support for non-profit community agencies (see Alliance Allocations below).
Electronic membership form is under renovation. Please request a paper form.
To join, click here: https://forms.gle/7FniEZMSEUraN63z6
Please complete the form, send it electronically, and send your dues check to the *church or print out the form and send to the church, as directed on the form itself.
(*First Unitarian Church, Alliance Treasurer, 1034 SW 13th Street, Portland, OR 97201)
Our traditions are rooted in the service work of women in the early church and continue today. With involvement from our large and diverse membership, we raise funds for important projects in the larger community, supporting women, children, marginalized groups and special needs here at First Unitarian. Traditionally, we have also been a support for memorial events.
Here we are!
More Reasons to Join
We are open to all who wish to carry our work forward. What a great time for you to be involved! Join our commitment to service now.
The Alliance traces its roots to the historic “Ladies Sewing Circle” which was instrumental in the founding of First Unitarian Church in the 1860s. The group has evolved to include anyone who wishes to join and strives to be representative in age, gender, race, and ethnicity of the larger church congregation. We support our activities through an annual membership fee of $20. We engage with the church community by promoting friendships and working toward common goals. We raise additional funds each year, primarily through our annual Greens Sale in December, along with our Holiday Treasures and Bake Sale. These funds are awarded as monetary grants to support church and community, programs which primarily benefit women, children and marginalized groups. Alliance programs educate, entertain, and inspire.
We aim to lead by living our values forward. Please send an email, and any questions about your interest to alliance@firstunitarianportland.org
Leadership Team ’24-’25
Top row: Linda Nelson, Jan Clay, Cythia Sulaski, Bill Bateman, Mark Robinson, Harriet Shaklee
Front row: Linda Craig, Jill Duren, Nancy Panitch, Corbett Gordon, Kathy Ludlow, Evie Zaic.
Not pictured: Linda Aso, Wendy Rankin, Eunice Letzing, Mary Ella Kuster, Suzanne Kosanke, Maryann Roulier, Kathleen Vinson, Marie Jamison, Marti Anderson.
Leadership Team ’24-’25
Our elected/appointed Leadership Team is at work on the events for the year. It meets the third Thursday of each month at 10 am during the church year. All are welcome.
Evie Zaic, Co-President
Harriet Shaklee, Co-President
Kathy Ludlow, Past President
Linda Craig, Treasurer
Jan Clay, Co-Secretary
Suzanne Kosanky, Co-Secretary
Wendy Rankin, Co-VP of Programs
Eunice Letzing, Co-VP of Programs
Corbett Gordon, Co-Luncheon Chair
Mark Robinson, Co-Luncheon Chair
Linda Nelson, Co-Membership Chair
Bill Bateman, Co-Membership Chair
Cynthia Sulaski, Allocations Chair
Maryann Roulier, Co-Publicity
Kathleen Vinson, Co-Publicity
Marie Jamison, Holiday Sale
Nancy Panitch, Co-Greens Chair
Marti Anderson, Co-Greens Chair
Mary Ella Kuster, Co-Greens Chair
Marie Jamieson, Holiday Sale Chair
Suzanne Kosanke, Archivist
Kathy Ludlow, Nominations Chair
Sue Holmes, Memorials
Leslie-Pohl-Kosbau, Posters
Jill Duren, Cares and Concerns
Our Sunny Leadership Retreat!
FINDING AND FUNDING UNMET NEEDS: MORE BACKGROUND
For a century and a half, the leadership spirit of The Alliance has identified needs and then addressed them. Frequently, this has entailed raising funds through women’s work and then gifting money or goods to the Church to enhance the spiritual lives of the church membership. It started with $30 sent to San Francisco to purchase the silver communion service still in use at First Unitarian. It has continued for generations.
As stated in our vision statement, the Alliance seeks to be an active, visible part of First Unitarian Church that gathers in community and fellowship to promote and celebrate its history and the principles of Unitarian Universalism, engage in service to the church and the wider community, address unmet needs, care for one another, and grow in mind and spirit. We continue to find ways to live our vision and values in community.
The Allocations Committee oversees the donation of funds to organizations that operate in our wider community. Guidelines and procedures have been revised to achieve a significant impact on any agency receiving Alliance support.
YOU can nominate local non-profits to be considered for these awards. When applications are open, we will provide a link to the short and straightforward form for nominations.
FIRST UNITARIAN ALLIANCE ALLOCATION FUNDS
Donations are made by The Alliance each year with funds raised through the Annual Greens Sale. Criteria were rewritten in 2021 in keeping with infusing the 8th Principle throughout church initiatives.
- Greens Sale Proceeds Help Fund Agency Allocations: The Greens Sale is traditionally held in November and December; the sale includes the sale of wreaths and garlands for pick-up locally and shipping elsewhere.
A very emphatic footnote: The Alliance extends its thanks to all who bought greens. Your support every year makes possible the work which creates a beloved community.
Historic Leadership
HISTORY OF THE ALLIANCE
On December 13, 1865, seven Portland women met to form the Ladies Sewing Society. This new organization, now called the Alliance, was established to explore the possibility of forming a liberal faith community, specifically a Unitarian church, similar to the Unitarian churches on the east coast. Encouraged by the Rev. Thomas Starr King who had visited from San Francisco on a lecture tour, these like-minded women gathered together for support and companionship and to consider ways to fund a theologically liberal church community.
Building the Church
Given the culture of the times, few women were employed outside the home so they used their skills of sewing and cooking and entertaining to raise the money needed. With the first $30 earned, the women sent to San Francisco for a silver communion service which was used for many years for the Maundy Thursday service. By the end of 1866, they had raised $900 which was instrumental in financing the construction of a chapel at the corner of SW 7th and Yamhill Street and in the hiring of the first minister, Thomas Lamb Eliot.
In 1879 the women contributed $2000, about 11% of the total cost, toward the completion of a new, larger church building; they provided most of the furnishings. However, by the end of the 1800s the developing church suffered financial challenges threatening closure. The Alliance was able to provide significant support through a gift of $1,000 to pay off some debts and assumed a portion of the operating expenses.
Promoting Community
Over the years the Alliance continued to raise funds and promote the social life of the congregation in several ways. The women prepared lunches, dinners, picnics and teas which became popular fund raisers. These events often accompanied a lecture or book report presented by the minister or a local academic. During some years these talks raised more money than the popular December Bazaar.
Now called the Greens Sale, this yearly Alliance fund-raiser has taken many forms over the years, with emphasis on hand-made items and food, adding beautiful wreaths and other greens as well as quilts in the past couple of decades. Initially committees of the Alliance, named for prominent members (e.g., Atwood and Burrell clubs), met weekly to make items for the December sale. The last of these committees, the Greenleaf Club, continued into the 1990s as a social club before realigning with the Alliance.
Alliance women focused their time and talents to support many wider community needs. During the Second World War, one club reported that in one year they had made 110 boys woolen overcoats and were awaiting shipments of fabric to continue this service project. New and used clothing was gathered by the ton for the war effort, benefiting soldiers and civilians in the war zones.
On many occasions over the decades, the Alliance has sponsored educational, service and social groups within the church. For a time there was even an evening Alliance meeting for those not able to attend day-time events.
Changing Times
Historically the Alliance was the primary lay organization of the church. Over the years, volunteer and staff functions have grown. The music, education, and social justice programs and funding projects began to be offered and managed by ministers, church staff, and volunteers. Members of the church participate in knitting and quilting groups, social justice committees, the large music program, and religious education for children and adults. The fund-raising and administrative services of the church are fulfilled by professional paid staff.
Currently the Alliance continues to serve its growing membership and the larger church community. The Alliance offers educational programs and creates many opportunities for companionship and socializing. Members are engaged in worthwhile fund-raising projects such as the Greens Sale, which provides financial allocations from $4,000 to $8,000 to community groups as well as the church. After more than 150 years, the Alliance continues to take its direction from the mission of the church and from its own mission which guide its many activities in pursuit of the Beloved Community.
Adapted by the 2019-2020 Leadership Team from “The History of the Alliance,” January 5, 2013 by Helen Lee (1935-2014)