Jeremy Duke, 2026-2027 President

Greetings,

I have been thinking about maintenance accrual lately.

The UUCC operating budget has a line in it called “Long-Term Maintenance Accrual”. This operating budget line is how, every year, the church budgets, and the congregation approves, an amount to save for future projects. The budgeted amount is placed in the “Building & Grounds Maintenance Accrual Fund” and accumulates each year for future year projects.

This year we are using a sizable amount of that fund to finance the siding project, which by the time you read this will be well underway or close to completed!

The practice of having an accrual fund to plan for future expenses allows us to feel secure in knowing if something breaks, we can fix it. And, importantly, It also allows us to plan for major repairs and improvements without over-reliance on debt or emergency fundraising.

However, there is a balancing act that the UUCC must perform. Money saved in accrual funds are not available for the church’s ministries, staff salaries, and other expenses. So, as a congregation we are in continual dialogue over the use of our resources as we steward the contributions of the congregation into the running of the church.

An important role of the Board of Trustees is to have these conversations so we can make informed recommendations for the annual budget we bring to the congregation for approval. And, of course, we welcome your input and suggestions as we move forward in building, and maintaining, the community we envision.

Warmly,
Jeremy Duke
2026-27 President

Rev. Dr. Molly Housh Gordon, Minister

Dear UU Churchers,

As we continue to root in place this year, this month we turn toward a sense of home. Our theme is “golden hour in your own backyard.” And while my backyard is currently overgrown with brush and covered in leaves in various stages of decay, it is also a source of deep comfort to me. It is a small piece of land I know intimately and tend (even when poorly) with my own care. That sense of comfort and care, when we nourish it, can grow outward in circles of concern, to encompass our neighborhood, our area, and our beloved town.

As I write to you, we are still a few days away from one of the most consequential elections we have faced in a series of consequential elections. We are rightfully attending to a lot of national-level conversations as we bring all our faith to bear on the contest for a shared vision of mutual thriving and a shift away from the loud culture of empire.

But the conversations that are the most meaningful to me in this seasons are the ones I’m having with my neighbors. Whether during a canvass weekend, a trunk or treat event, or standing in line at the grocery store, connecting with our neighborliness and finding our mutual care for our community right here in our own backyard is where I find the most hope. This is where community actually, materially exists; at home. This is where we start the work of beloved community. This is where we are.

Whatever may come, you are here. We are here.

And we build the corner of the world we live in together.

See you in church,
Rev. Molly

Jamila Batchelder, Director of Religious Education

This year we are practicing deepening into place, and I think children are our great teachers in this because their experience of wonder is often still so visceral as they take in their own tiny patch of the world.

I remember when my son was young, he coronated a glorious tulip poplar in our neighborhood as the Queen of the Autumn. Shortly later her consort was announced, a golden gingko tree who was the King of the Autumn. To this day, every autumn walk I take includes paying tribute to these magnificent monarchs.

Maybe you have already, but perhaps this fall, let your children show you the landmarks that make their neighborhood theirs – and dear and sacred to them. Perhaps there is a tree your child has been waiting to introduce you to!