First Unitarian Stewardship

This year, the Stewardship Committee defined for itself a new mission: --to grow generosity as a core value within our congregation; --to communicate the full meaning and impact of stewardship in enhancing congregational life; --and to help the congregation align our UU values with our financial values. We believe that Pledge Day helps support our mission and also meets another objective we had:   come up with a means to shorten the pledge campaign and make it more fun! The activities of Pledge Day reflect in microcosm many of our UU values:   We believe that we should help those less fortunate. Pledge Day gives you an opportunity to practice that belief by helping to make hygiene packs for refugees.   We believe that we should protect our environment. Come Pledge Day and recycle your old electronics so they don’t end up in a land fill. We believe that we should slow down and experience the here and now.   Come for a shiatsu massage or spend time coloring, and r

The spirit of generosity is foundational to our vision of community where love is abundant and joy is in the heart. You are accepted for who you are.  Not for being your best self, nor your less than perfect self, but simply for being yourself.  It is you who makes community happen, through the connections you create with others like you and still more who are not like you at all.  These are relationships deep in spirit and true in the love of neighbor. Your Pledge Day Committee. From the left: Diane Mandile, Lee Reid, Lee Bona, Seth Popinchalk, Steve Knox, Ellen Foley, Ken Mandile, Rick Silva and Rev. Sarah Stewart. You are generous in your acceptance of the many who are different than you, because you are bound together in the same aspirations:  caring for those within the church community and for the many within the greater community in which our church resides;  seeking justice for those denied equal opportunity;  providing shelter for families who are homeless, and ref

Your Stewardship Team is busily working to plan for our first ever Pledge Day. It is scheduled for Saturday, October 3 from 8 AM to 8 PM.  All you need to enjoy any of the events is a completed pledge card.  Come for breakfast if you have a busy day planned.  Drop by for brunch. Come in the evening to enjoy dinner and the talent show.  Come anytime to participate in a wide range of meaningful and fun events. They will include a service project to make hygiene kits for refugee children, a place to drop off your old computer equipment for recycling, shiatsu, a photo fun booth, games for kids, and more!

Cathy Levine I value the opportunity to learn wonderful music from a variety of sources.  Especially challenging are the requiems that we perform for All Souls Day.  It is thrilling to sing these beautiful works accompanied by talented members of the orchestra.  We learn so much musically from Will Sherwood and he makes it fun.  I also appreciate the camaraderie of the choir members. Music touches the spirit and moves us.  It provides comfort and beauty and soothes the soul.  The music we sing enhances and reinforces the other aspects of the church service.  The Music Program is an additional source of excellence in our very special church. --Cathy Levine Steve Knox I value the choir for the deep and lasting friendships I have made over many years.  The creative act of readying new music for performance is a bonding experience.  Each vocal part is a range of sound colors, and only by listening to each other is the full texture of the music realized.  It is then that

Sunday Greeters Lee Reid When someone catches your eyes with a smile, a connection is made.  You are changed almost without being aware of it.  This small, light act is deeply affirming and inclusive.  When someone reaches out to you with a warm greeting, it is a connection so basic, so human, that we give little thought to it.  We just know that it leaves us feeling recognized.  Call it being welcomed, call it being valued.  This is hospitality at its most basic level.  It is a spiritual gift.  It touches and changes us. What do I value in my work with welcoming and hospitality?  An easy answer.  I enjoy the connection I have with others.  I enjoy introducing new and ‘been around’ people to others and to the life of the church.  I know that I’ve been around a long time and still much is continually new. How does the church and the congregation benefit from the work of the Welcoming and Hospitality team?  Maybe we benefit more because we enjoy what we do.  Maybe in

Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) Liz Gustavson The Interfaith Hospitality Network is a shelter for families who have become homeless.  I have helped out with the program for over ten years.  Being the "go-to" person at church for coordinating volunteers, raising money for supplies, and in organizing "just in time" donations as families graduate from the program gives me great satisfaction. As the coordinator at First Unitarian, I also have the opportunity to develop relationships with the guests of the program because during the weeks we cover, I am there daily. For our congregation, I think (I hope!) there is a sense of pride about being a significant part of the financial support for the shelter.  There are about 30 religious congregations that are in the network; each is asked to try to make an annual contribution of at least $2000 a year; our annual Christmas Eve donation is usually three times that amount.   I think that IHN is a significant missi

Jericho Road Jeanine Beratta About eight years ago, Barbara Merritt asked me to attend a presentation about The Jericho Road Project that began in the First Parish Unitarian Church in Concord MA. Based on what I heard that day I began to think differently about volunteering. I realized that small to mid-sized nonprofits didn't have the resources, financial or staffing, to increase their capacity. But, I did know that many members of our congregation had the professional skills to provide expertise to help nonprofits focus on what they do best; program delivery. As a Unitarian I feel an obligation to work to create a better world; a world where all people matter. The challenge is finding meaningful ways to do that. I am grateful for the time I have had on the Jericho Road Worcester Board. I was able to see nonprofits expand the quality and scope of their outreach and I was able to see skills based volunteers make a difference in our community, sometimes in ways t

Michelle Przekop Michelle is a relatively new member of our congregation.  She has quickly become involved with the congregation first by joining our choir and then taking on the responsibility of Assistant Treasurer. She has recently become involved in adult faith development programming.  We asked Michelle to talk about what her involvement means to her and she had this to say: “I value the ability to share my ideas about adult development with a group of First Unitarian members who also are interested in furthering the educational opportunities for adults at church and seeing those ideas come to fruition.   Although I offered to do something different and not a UU program, it was approved.  Thus allowing a Christian based program to be offered at First U. I appreciate Deb Levering and Liz Gustavson helping me implement the 5 week program, "Embracing a Life of Meaning."  Our first meeting of this series was powerful in the stories we shared about who we are and w

Danna Peterson The Caring Circles seeks to bring together members of the church to get to know each other better.  In a closer relationship people feel more comfortable to ask for help, receive help and share ideas more openly.  We have a very talented, interesting, compassionate and diverse congregation!  There is much to learn from each other and I feel the Caring Circles are instrumental in this regard. Being a co-leader of a Caring Circle has given me the opportunity to become more involved in church activities and to become closer to the church community.  I have enjoyed making new friends and I feel more comfortable sharing thoughts and ideas on a wide range of topics.  I am also grateful for the opportunity to help the church maintain its vibrant community. --Danna Peterson “In this congregation we covenant to care for one another.”  This is the first line of the mission  Joan Russo statement of the Caring Community (also known as “Caring Circles”). How coul

Paul Ropp I see our social justice work as something I feel compelled to do out of a sense of gratitude.  To me the most powerful statement in Jesus’s powerful parables is Matthew 25, “It’s not those who say ‘Lord, Lord,’ but those who do the will of the Father.”  And Jesus makes clear the will of the Father is for us to love our neighbors as ourselves.  Our committee’s role is to help the congregation learn about the vast range of human needs in our complex world, and to provide meaningful opportunities to do what we can to address those needs.  This often starts with local needs but also extends across the globe. The Social Justice Committee provides a wonderful opportunity to work closely, and have fun, with like-minded people of great compassion and love of life! -- Paul Ropp Gene Johnson I value being a part of a group that is committed to promoting the right of every individual to live with dignity, to feel free to think for himself/herself as his/her conscie