First Unitarian Portland

🥞 Pancake Breakfast
2025-05-04 08:45 - 10:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Buchan Hall, 1226 SW Salmon St, Portland, OR, 97205, United States
Join us for free, delicious pancakes in Buchan Reception Hall from 8:45 to 10 a.m. on the first Sunday of the month. We will have plain, blueberry, chocolate, and blueberry-chocolate pancakes fresh off the griddle. All are welcome!
Hosted by the UU Men’s Community.

Vespers
2025-05-02 17:00 - 17:40, 2025-04-25 17:00 - 17:40, 2025-04-18 17:00 - 17:40, 2025-04-11 17:00 - 17:40 | Virtual
Our Lay Ministers will offer inspirational readings, guided meditation, and quiet music in a contemplative program at week’s end.
Congregants and visitors are invited to bring their prayer requests to be held during the service. They are received in real-time through the Zoom chat box, seen, and read aloud anonymously by the hosts. This is a time to join in prayer not only for our community but also for the world.
We look forward to sharing this time of quiet reflection with you when we are all holding so much in our hearts.
Details: Fridays, 5 – 5:40 p.m.
Join here (SAVE THIS LINK! It works every Friday.)
https://tinyurl.com/Vespers-1stU

Contemplative Practices Group
2025-05-01 13:00 - 14:30 | Channing, A101
First Thursdays in Channing (A101)
Third Thursdays in Eliot Chapel

The Contemplative Practices Group is returning! Join with us on the first and third Thursdays of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m. to sit together in silence. Connect to your inner self as well as something bigger than yourself. Bring more peace and joy into your life, increase mindfulness and develop more perspective.
“Contemplative spirituality is about slowing down and relaxing our action, our striving, and all of our ‘doings.’ In order to ‘wake up’ to the Reality in which we are already immersed, we must slow down and gently transition ‘from doing to being.’ “ – Keith Kristich
This is a drop-in group. Any silent sitting practice is welcomed and no prior meditation experience is needed. If you would like to learn a contemplative practice for use during the group, let the facilitators know and they will meet with you half an hour before the group sit begins.
Each group meeting consists of a 20-minute meditation, a check-in on a spiritually oriented topic, and deep discussion of a poem or short reading. Facilitators are Patty C. and Ron W. They look forward to being with you!
—
Patty has been a UU since childhood and has attended First Unitarian for 20 years. She has taught spiritual practice classes and been involved with Wellspring, the Labyrinth and other church programs. She learned meditation in college and has had a daily meditation practice since joining First Unitarian. She has been an active Spiritual Director since 2012.
Ron is a spiritual director and has been a lay minister, Wellspring facilitator and taught in the learning community at First Unitarian. He has maintained a centering prayer and lectio divina practice for over twenty years.

Communications/Governance Committees Info Session: Proposed Bylaws Changes
2025-04-30 19:00 - 20:30 | Virtual
Join the Board of Trustees Communications and Governance Committees to hear about the proposed bylaws changes on the May ballot.
Click here to join on Zoom.

Loving Kindness Meditation
2025-04-28 20:00 - 20:30, 2025-04-21 20:00 - 20:30, 2025-04-14 20:00 - 20:30 | Virtual
The teachings of Loving Kindness, or Metta, are about finding a path with heart. Jack Kornfield says, “It’s about undertaking a path that transforms and touches us in the center of our being. To do so is to find a way of practice that allows us to live in the world wholly and fully from our heart.”
With this Spiritual Practice, one can cultivate feelings of happiness, dispel loneliness, let go of fear and anxiety. If you are feeling stuck, this practice can help you enjoy a more compassionate life for yourself and others.
Join us on Zoom on Monday evenings to extend Loving-Kindness to yourself, to those around you and to the world.
No previous meditation practice is necessary, and new participants are always welcome. Join on an ongoing basis, or drop in as you’re able.
May we be at peace and keep our hearts open.
Contact Katie R. for more information.
Click here to join.

Congregant Budget Meeting
2025-04-27 12:00 - 13:30 | Eliot Chapel, 1011 SW 12th Ave, Portland, OR, 97205
Rescheduled from April 13.
Join other congregants to learn about the final budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on July 1. Church Finance Committee and Executive Team members will walk folks through the numbers and the basis for decisions made. This budget will be presented to our Voting Members at our May election.
Join us in Eliot Chapel or watch online.

Children and Youth Learning Community
2025-04-27 10:15 - 11:30, 2025-04-13 10:15 - 11:30 | OR
The Learning Community, also referred to as R.E. (Religious Education), meets at 10:15 a.m. on Sunday mornings. On the first Sunday of the month, children and youth start out in the main Sanctuary for our monthly “Together Time” before moving on to their classrooms in our Eliot Center/Buchan Building, right next door to our Sanctuary building. Stop by the R.E. Information Desk in the Eliot Center if you need to register your children or youth, or have questions for us. All are welcome!
Click here to view more information about our Learning Community.

🕯️ Sunday Worship
2025-04-27 10:15 - 11:30 | Main Sanctuary, 1211 SW Main St, Portland, OR, 97205, United States
In-person
Sanctuary
1211 SW Main St.
Portland, OR 97205

Join us on livestream here

*Registration Required* Journey to Articulating Your Faith
2025-04-24 19:00 - 21:00, 2025-04-10 19:00 - 21:00 | OR
A Spiritual Development Opportunity for People in Their 20s and 30s
Join Rev. Alison and Danielle Garrett for an 8-session course of theological exploration and discovery for young adults. Together, we will trace our spiritual paths, explore our understandings of the sacred, human nature, and religious practice, and develop our personal credos: an expression of our most sacred beliefs and fundamental values that guide our lives. We will also get a chance to learn a little more about Unitarian Universalist history and build community with one another! To register or for more information, contact Danielle.

Communications/Governance Committees Info Session: Proposed Bylaws Changes
2025-04-20 12:00 - 13:30 | Buchan Hall, 1226 SW Salmon St, Portland, OR, 97205, United States
Join the Board of Trustees Communications and Governance Committees to hear about the proposed bylaws changes on the May ballot.

Learning Community Easter Egg Hunt
2025-04-20 11:30 - 13:00 | OR
Parents and children/youth, please join us after the all-ages service for our Easter egg hunt and craft project. We’re so eggcited!

Sunday Worship: Easter Sunday! 🐰
2025-04-20 10:15 - 11:30 | Main Sanctuary, 1211 SW Main St, Portland, OR, 97205, United States
Join us at 10:15 for a multi-generational Sunday worship service celebrating liberation and resurrection! An egg hunt for our children and youth will follow the service.

In-person
Sanctuary
1211 SW Main St.
Portland, OR 97205

Join us on livestream here

RE Holiday – No LC Classes
2025-04-20 10:15 - 11:30 | OR
Nursery and toddler care are still available!

Auction Bidding (4/20 - 5/4)
2025-04-20 - 2025-05-04 | Virtual
The latest edition of “Creating Connections: Welcome In!” is here! With over 120 exciting events, services, and vacation homes up for grabs, this year’s auction is not to be missed. Place your bids through the online catalog until May 4.

New this year, you can view items in a calendar format for easier browsing by switching between Grid View and Calendar View below the Bidding Tips section.

Click here to bid now!

Everyone must register to bid! Even if you participated in last year’s auction, you’ll need to register again to bid in Auction 2025. Don’t miss out on the chance to win incredible items – register here now!

For questions, contact the Auction committee.

Good Friday Service
2025-04-18 19:00 - 20:00 | Eliot Chapel, 1011 SW 12th Ave, Portland, OR, 97205
Join Rev. Alison and Danielle Garrett at 7 p.m. in Eliot Chapel for our Good Friday service. This contemplative service is an opportunity to reflect on the pain and suffering of Jesus and remember the difficult price that is often paid in the work towards liberation and resurrection.
Look in upcoming editions of our Front Steps e-news for more details!

Maundy Thursday Communion Service
2025-04-17 17:30 - 18:30 | Classroom A108
Join Rev. Alison and Danielle Garrett at 5:30 p.m. in A108 for an informal, intimate communion service. Maundy comes from the Latin word for commandment, referring to Jesus’s words the night of last supper, “A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you.” Join us in this short service that centers love and embodiment.
Look in upcoming editions of our Front Steps e-news for more details!

Contemplative Practices Group
2025-04-17 13:00 - 14:30 | OR
Meeting in Eliot Chapel on April 17

The Contemplative Practices Group is returning! Join with us on the first and third Thursdays of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m. to sit together in silence. Connect to your inner self as well as something bigger than yourself. Bring more peace and joy into your life, increase mindfulness and develop more perspective.
“Contemplative spirituality is about slowing down and relaxing our action, our striving, and all of our ‘doings.’ In order to ‘wake up’ to the Reality in which we are already immersed, we must slow down and gently transition ‘from doing to being.’ “ – Keith Kristich
This is a drop-in group. Any silent sitting practice is welcomed and no prior meditation experience is needed. If you would like to learn a contemplative practice for use during the group, let the facilitators know and they will meet with you half an hour before the group sit begins.
Each group meeting consists of a 20-minute meditation, a check-in on a spiritually oriented topic, and deep discussion of a poem or short reading. Facilitators are Patty and Ron. They look forward to being with you!
—
Patty has been a UU since childhood and has attended First Church for 20 years. She has taught spiritual practice classes and been involved with Wellspring, the Labyrinth and other church programs. She learned meditation in college and has had a daily meditation practice since joining First Church. She has been an active Spiritual Director since 2012.
Ron is a spiritual director and has been a lay minister, Wellspring facilitator and taught in the learning community at First Church. He has maintained a centering prayer and lectio divina practice for over twenty years.

Good Times Book Group: Why Fish Don’t Exist by Lulu Miller
2025-04-15 19:00 - 20:30 | Virtual
We meet by Zoom from 7 – 8:30 pm. Please contact Sue L. to get on the email list for Zoom links.

Matins for Lent
2025-04-14 08:30 - 09:00 | Virtual
Lent is a season for self-reflection and renewal. We invite you to Matins for Lent, a series of four quiet Zoom services to inspire you with a uniquely Unitarian perspective on the season.
Offered on Monday mornings from 8:30 to 9 a.m. on March 24 and 31, and April 7 and 14.
Through music, poetry, reflection and prayer, we will explore the metaphors of the scriptural stories as they speak to our own inner lives. Join on Zoom here.
For more information, contact Karen S.

*Registration Required* Passover Seder
2025-04-13 12:15 - 15:00 | Buchan Hall, 1226 SW Salmon St, Portland, OR, 97205, United States
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. 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 Yasnoff, Rich Scher, 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 $25 each / Children $10 each
Come one and all to enjoy food, fellowship, candlelight, stories, music and more!
Please register now here.
Register early as space is limited!

**RESCHEDULED to 4/27** Congregant Budget Meeting
2025-04-13 12:00 - 13:30 | Eliot Chapel, 1011 SW 12th Ave, Portland, OR, 97205
Join other congregants to learn about the final budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on July 1. Church Finance Committee and Executive Team members will walk folks through the numbers and the basis for decisions made. This budget will be presented to our Voting Members at our May election.
Join us in Eliot Chapel or watch online.

Music Ministry Transition Team Listening Meeting with LC Parents
2025-04-13 11:45 - 13:30 | Daisy Bingham Room, 1011 SW 12th Ave, Portland, OR, 97205
Since its inception last summer, the MMTT has been actively engaged in helping church leadership and the Interim Director of Music Ministries move our music program forward in support of the worship and communal life of our church. We’ve come to a point where we need to hear from congregants. We are scheduling three listening meetings, with more to come. Our objective is to hear your thoughts about how the music program has been evolving so far, and what you might envision for the future.
Our first meeting will be with choir members, bell ringers and other church musicians on Sunday, March 23 in the Sanctuary after the service. Then we will meet with interested congregants on Sunday, March 30 in Eliot Chapel. Our third meeting, this time with parents from the learning community, will be held on Sunday, April 13 in the Daisy Bingham room. All of these meetings will be held at 11:45 a.m. There will also be a survey for people to fill out online.
Childcare will be provided for all meetings.

Sunday Worship: Youth Service! 🧒
2025-04-13 10:15 - 11:30 | Main Sanctuary, 1211 SW Main St, Portland, OR, 97205, United States
