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Minister’s Letter
Dear UU Churchers,
The fantasy writer and imaginer of just worlds, Ursula Le Guin, once wrote: “Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone. It has to be made, like bread; re-made all the time, made new.” So it is with our community of courageous love. Our community is an amazing gift that we are constantly mixing, kneading, resting, rising, baking, and sharing. It needs our perpetual care and attention. The reward of that attention is so delicious, and so sustaining.
We have reached the part of our church year when we ask you to consider what care you can commit to our congregation in the coming year in the form of your time, your talent, and your treasure. How can you feed this community so that it keeps rising and giving nourishment to you, your fellow UU Churchers, and our wider community?
Our Stewardship theme this year is “Breaking Bread, Growing Love,” and we’re going have lots of fun and delicious ways to engage: sharing family recipes, bringing and packaging bread for the CoMO Mobile Aid mobile soup kitchen, and of course breaking bread together with potlucks and shared bread (including allergen friendly varieties!). I hope this campaign is delicious.
Our community is so sweet, but of course baking bread takes more than sweetness. So here’s the salty part: UUCC is out of unrestricted surplus reserves. We will need to increase our giving by about $25,000 as an entire congregation in order to be able to continue meeting our financial obligations to our staff, our ministry teams, and the needs of our facility. After two years of working hard to increase giving, we are really close, but we need a final push.
Baking is an exact science, so we sat down with the numbers and came up with a recipe for success:
- If you are pledging for the first time, THANK YOU! You are helping us reach our goal.
- If you are giving the most you can, THANK YOU! You are helping us reach our goal.
- If you cannot give this year financially, THANK YOU for all of the other ways your presence supports our community.
- And, if you can consider a modest increase in giving, THANK YOU! It will help us reach our goal in the following ways:
- For those giving $100 or less per month, a $10 per month increase will get us to our goal.
- For those giving $120-250 per month, a $25 per month increase will get us to our goal.
- And for those giving more than $250 per month, a $50 per month increase will get us to our goal.
Thank you for considering the resources you have to bring to our shared community!
See you in church!
Rev. Molly
Annual Giving Chair’s Letter
Dear UUCC Members and Friends:
Days are getting longer and we are itching for more sun, warmth and picnic weather. It is also the time of year we make our financial commitments to next year’s church budget. Let’s see ourselves as bakers, making pledges rise like dough to nourish the love of our UUCC church and community!
I am proud of how we face the contentious issues in our lives. We are increasing our membership, together on Sundays and other days. There are many ways our values are coming alive!
But you should know we are at a crucial point in our finances. For several years we balanced our lean budgets using surplus funds. Those funds were depleted this current budget year. Over the past 2 years we have made significant progress bridging this gap and this year is our final push. In the past year, pledges, Sunday collection and fundraising have been strong. Next year we need to fully fund our operating budget.
Take a few moments to review the financial fact sheet in this mailing. The only increase in our annual budget provides a cost-of-living increases for staff. Note that of our budget (planned expenses) three quarters of the budget goes to the salaries and benefits of our staff. Fixed expenses, like utilities, insurance and maintenance, must be paid. To fully fund our budget, we will need to increase our annual gifts by $25,000. It’s an ambitious target, but we are nearly there. Let’s stretch and dig deep so we can make it!
We just unveiled our planned-giving program and continue to expand our membership. While these more longterm measures will definitely have an impact, annual pledges continue to hold significant importance.
Each of us must determine how much we can afford to increase our current pledge based on our unique life circumstances. The right gift feels good and provides a meaningful connection to the hopes and dreams of our community.
Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have questions about this process or the budget itself. When you decide, use one of the several available options to submit your pledge before the deadline of March 10.
Thank you for contributing the “bread” that will feed our loving community in the coming year!
In service and love,
Susan Even
Chair, Annual Giving