From Rev. Susan Frances: February 25, 2022

Dear Friends, 

Stewardship may be viewed as an ethic that embodies the responsible care for items that belong to someone other than yourself. For our faith community, it is our ethic for how we take care of UCE: its building, its grounds, its programs, its members, friends, and employees. Stewardship may take many forms. At UCE, we talk about giving of our time, treasure, and talent to support the stewardship of our faith community. Here are a few ways you can get more involved and share your: 

• Time – Volunteer with one of our Hospitality Teams!  
• Treasure – Pledge! Our pledge drive starts February 26th!  
• Talent – Share your talents through our Faith Formation programs!  

Time – Volunteer with one of our Hospitality Teams!  

After being closed for six weeks, we again reopened our doors on February 13th to hold our Sunday morning services at 10:15 am, engage in Kinship Time (formerly Coffee Hour) at 11:15 am, and then to have our all-ages Faith Formation Hour at 11:35 am. In order to have in-person greeters, kitchen attendants, and offering counters and to maintain our online livestream service with an online host, we have restructured our Hospitality Teams to have 4 teams. One way you may give of your time to care for our community is to join one of these teams and commit to volunteer on a Sunday morning twice in a year: 

• Hospitality Team for Greeters – If you enjoy making others feel comfortable or appreciate how you were welcomed to UCE and would like to provide that for another, this is the team for you. No training needed; you will receive instructions on the morning you volunteer. To volunteer contact Rev. Susan Frances at sfrances@ucevanston.org. 
• Hospitality Team for Money Counters – If you like ushering during the service or counting the offertory funds after the service or if you prefer a role where you don’t have to talk with a lot of people, this team is for you. There is training provided. To volunteer contact Peggy Boccard via REALM or Rev. Susan Frances at sfrances@ucevanston.org.
• Hospitality Team for Kitchen Ministry – If you enjoy providing food to show you care, this team is for you. We are planning to start serving coffee, tea, and lemonade during Kinship Time on March 27, 2022. In the meantime, we are providing water and hard candies. There is training provided in using our newly renovated kitchen. To volunteer contact Rev. Susan Frances at sfrances@ucevanston.org.
• Hospitality Team for Virtual Only – If you are not yet comfortable volunteering in-person, this is the team for you. There is training provided. To volunteer, contact Rev. Susan Frances at sfrances@ucevanston.org. 

Treasure – Pledge! Our pledge drive starts February 26th!  

Join us in-person or online this Saturday and Sunday to kick off our annual pledge drive! Information about when and where can be found further down in this newsletter. The pledge drive each spring asks members and pledging friends to make a commitment to support our congregation for the following year, so our requests over the next few weeks are for the July 2022 – June 2023 congregational year. Please respond to the volunteers who will be reaching out via email, text, and phone calls to members who haven’t returned their pledge form. If you are not a member, but feel a part of UCE and would like to pledge, you are invited to become a pledging friend by reaching out to me at sfrances@ucevanston.org or Rev. Eileen Wiviott at ewiviott@ucevanston.org. 

Talent – Share your talents through our Faith Formation programs!  

Do you like to work with youth? Are you interested in facilitating a program on a topic dear to your heart? Are you a musician or magician? Are you good at organizing? All of these talents are needed to run our children, youth, and adult faith formation programming. If you are interested in getting involved, but not sure where your talents might be best used, please reach out Kathy Underwood, Director of Lifespan Religious Education, at kunderwood@ucevanston.org.  

These are just a few ways to get more involved and share your time, treasure, and talents with our community.  

I also want to offer that if life is hard right now and sharing more of your time, treasure, or talent is not good for you, that is okay. If you need support and care right now, please use your time to attend or watch Sunday morning services or other programs that fill you up and sustain or restore you, or use your time to reach out for assistance through our Congregational Care and Support Teams. If finances are challenging right now, that is okay. There is no required pledge amount. You are part of our community regardless of the financial support you give. If sharing your talents sounds exhausting instead of uplifting, that is okay. My wish for you is that tapping into those talents at home just for yourself without the expectations of others might bring you some joy.  

Wherever you are in your life right now, you are part of this community. You are invited to take care of yourself and you are invited to join in being a steward of this loving faith community. 

In faith, 

Rev. Susan