From EOD, February 28, 2020
Pledge Drive 2020 is off to a great start following a full weekend of music and activities. Peter Mayer delivered a wonderful evening of music last Saturday evening singing songs he has written about our beautiful earth, protecting our planet and making the world whole, a connection to our mission of “Nurturing the Human Spirit for a World Made Whole”. On Sunday morning he performed in the worship service, including a piece with our choir. We had stories of six people whose lives have been deeply touched by UCE, music of our choir and activities throughout the day following the service. Thank you to Meredith Haydon and Maggie Weiss for heading up a terrific lunch team who provided a delicious meal even without a kitchen. We enjoyed balloon sculptures by the Balloon Guy Nick, jigsaw puzzles for adults and children, clay sculptures, music and a photo scavenger hunt with photos posted to Instagram. Great fun for all ages. Pledge forms were provided for congregants and for those who turned in their form they were entered into a drawing. Prizes include $50 Fair Trade Cart certificate, $50 Book H certificate, $50 Garden Walk certificate. When you submit your pledge form you will be entered into our UCE Pledge Drive Raffle Drawing. See fun photos from the day at the end of this article.
Flu season and safety precautions. You will notice containers of hand sanitizer throughout the church and in the bathrooms. During this flu season please remember to wash your hands regularly and avoid shaking hands, but rather give a friendly elbow to elbow connection with your fellow congregants at. It’s currently flu and respiratory disease season and CDC recommends getting a flu vaccine, taking everyday preventive actions to help stop the spread of germs, and taking flu antivirals if prescribed.
Capital Campaign projects continue to move forward. The kitchen, as noted in Carol Nielsen’s newsletter piece, will open on Sunday, March 29th when we host UCE’s empty bowls project. Soup, Salads, bread and desserts will be served. Proceeds will benefit Connections for the Homeless for their efforts to feed those in our community who are in need.
Lower level bathroom reconstruction for accessibility and inclusion will begin after Rummage Sale and a walkway from Greenwood to the church entrance will begin in late spring. The parking lot and sewer drain work starts Monday, July 27. Details on these projects and our future projects timeline were shared at our Capital Campaign town hall meetings in January. If you have questions, please feel free to contact me.
A message from our Staff Accountant Vickie Doebele. Each year we budget our shared offering for half of the donations to go to a worthy organization selected by our Social Justice Council. When you write a check and ask for the full amount to go to the organization, this requires additional time for accounting as well as a check to be issued from UCE to the offering recipient. You are free to send a check directly to the organization, but we ask that you keep in mind our commitment to our operating budget so that all programs, including social justice can be funded. Thank you for your understanding.
March 1, 2020
“Investing In Each Other” – Rev. Eileen Wiviott
When we speak of generosity, we often think about how we give of our money and, without a doubt, money has a powerful impact that can be used beneficently or cruelly. There is also tremendous power in the time and talent we choose to share. It takes real intention to invest our time, talent, and treasure wisely. We’ll practice together investing in one another and placing value on our connections.
Please visit our Youtube channel to see all sermon videos.
From Michelle Novak, UCE Board Trustee – Feb 21, 2020
I am really excited about all the things going on with UCE as we reaffirm our mission and kick off the pledge drive this week. Since I joined the board last June, many have come up to me and told me concerns and hopes for the church community as we go forward. I’ve been listening and sharing these with the board so keep them coming. I am also happy to report that the 2020-2021 budget is well aligned with the mission of the church.
There is a continued momentum and strong support for social justice and membership with our new part time Congregational Life Director. We have renewed our dedication to finding the best possible future through continued support of the interim work as well as our religious education programs. Our amazing staff is getting fair compensation. We continue to be leaders and supporters of the local community through numerous social justice, education and music offerings all made possible through your pledges.
One of my favorite things about the UCE pledge drive is that you can see your pledge in action. Take a look at the budget, all the money goes directly into making this place great. A place where you can find beloved community, worship as you wish, help advance causes close to your heart.
I do hope that you all find ways to increase your support for UCE as the pledge drive kicks off. This year especially, as we are hit with requests for money daily from politicians and numerous causes, know that your pledge here is going to go far.
We are doing good work here and we need your help and continued support.
Michelle Novak
Letter from the DLRE – Feb 21, 2020
Last month, I wrote about how the year 2020 was significant in many ways, such as astrology, astronomy, numerology, and more importantly, here at UCE as we discover what it is we want and need to carry out our mission to nurture the human spirit for a world made whole. And so, on February 15, a dozen members gathered for a REvisioning conversation, where we shared our experiences and hopes for our lifespan religious education program. It was a wonderfully thoughtful conversation, that had parents, members of the Ministerial Search Committee, and one youth participating.
From here, I will be hosting some Kathy Cafès, so that others can join the conversation around questions such as:
Look for more information in future newsletters and/or email on the dates and times of these gatherings.
In the meantime, here is a sampling of what was shared at the REvisioning gathering:
In the coming weeks, I will also be talking to the young people in their religious education program about what their hopes and dreams are for their religious education program. I’m sure to get some interesting comments there!
In Faith,
Kathy
February 23, 2020
9:15 am – Join us for community spiritual practice in room 3 at 9:15 on February 23. We will engage in multiple practices of the mind, body and heart and open to people of all ages.
10:30 am – Join us for a special service celebrating our mission, “Nurturing the human spirit for a world made whole,” Sunday, February 23, at 10:30 am. (Please note the change in service time for this Sunday only.) UU folksinger and songwriter Peter Mayer will be our special musical guest as we share stories of how our mission feeds our spirit and fuels our passion for justice and service.
Please visit our Youtube channel to see all sermon videos.
Draft Budget for Fiscal Year 2020-2021
“Nurturing the Human Spirit for a World Made Whole”
From Susan Comstock, UCE Treasurer
It’s that time of year when the Budget Working Group, the Integrated Stewardship Council, and the Board of Trustees all collaborate to produce a draft budget which reflects the congregation’s priorities for the new fiscal year starting July 1. This year, we particularly thought about Nurturing the Human Spirit for a World Made Whole, and focused on how our wonderful staff lead each of us to try to live up to that mission statement. We held a town hall meeting last Sunday to present the draft budget to interested congregants.
As a reminder, we have three separate “pots” of money at UCE:
The operating budget is voted on by the congregation each year, thus, it is important that the board and the ISC hears from the congregation about the budget draft. Our Board of Trustees this year articulated the following priorities to be reflected in the budget—see my comments in italics by each one.
- Fill ½ time Director of Congregational Life position
a. Portfolio to include Membership and Social Justice
b. Seeking an ordained minister who will also be involved with pastoral care and Sunday Services
We have heard from the congregation that filling this position previously held by Rev. Eileen is key to us—we need a strong staff lead who will facilitate congregants doing the work most important to us.
- Support our interim work, including deeper exploration of our mission and end statements
After what was realistically a year’s delay, Rev. Karen is leading us through an examination of ourselves and our mission. She is with us for 9 months during this fiscal year and we are planning on having her for 6 months during 2020-2021. This is critical work to accomplish before we hire a settled minister—we need to know where we want to travel, and call a minister who is aligned to our mission and how we wish to live it.
- Partner with the greater community
Many in our congregation have articulated our deep desire to continue and expand the work we do in the greater community—see Point 1 above!
- Partner with our Religious Education staff to enhance our offerings to support our vision
Having Kathy Underwood as a full-time Director of Religious Education and Adam as partial support to her is allowing us to continue and expand our educational opportunities centered on our UU values.
- Pay fair wages and benefits to staff
We have a very strong and dedicated staff at UCE and it is important to pay them salary and benefits in line with UUA guidelines, the general market and employment law. Accordingly, our costs for our current employees will rise this coming year, primarily due to three factors. First, we had a couple of employees who moved from contractor status to employee status, the right thing to do given their duties with UCE. Second, we have several staff who were new employees during 2019 and will be in line to participate in the UUA pension plan at their one-year anniversary. Third, we are proposing a 3% raise pool to reflect both cost of living increases and the need to reward the strong performance of employees in what is a competitive job market.
What does this mean in terms of the congregation’s contribution? We are targeting a 4.4% increase in total pledges this year to support the exciting work we continue to do. And as that is the average increase in pledges needed to meet this budget, it means many of us will need to step up more than that to make up for people who have moved away or perhaps have altered financial circumstances.
Where does our budget fall short? For the first time in many years, the board is anticipating we will not be an “honor congregation” in meeting our national/regional UUA dues. Not accomplishing our interim work last year is causing us an extra year of interim expense, and in addition, we have the employee costs described above. Fulfilling our UUA dues obligation at the honor congregation level is important for many reasons, and we hope to get back to that status as quickly as possible.
To see the details, please stop by the office—Jessica has copies of the budget she can share.
Please let us know your feedback—email Susan Comstock at susan.l.comstock@gmail.com or speak to any Board of Trustees member. The budget will be adjusted post-pledge drive to reflect actual pledges received and feedback from the congregation, and then the full congregation will vote to adopt the budget at the annual meeting in May.
February 16, 2020
“Resilient in Principle and Practice” – Rev. Karen Gustafson
The 2020 election cycle is heating up and with it the inevitable invitation to demeaning, negative and deplorable public rhetoric. As Unitarian Universalists who claim a set of Principles and Sources that call us “to confront power and structures of evil with the transforming power of love”, this rhetoric challenges us at our very core. How can we remain resilient and practice our faith in the face of these challenges? What is the story of this time that reflects best upon our living tradition?
Video will be available as soon as possible.