Pledge Day and Our UU Values

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 relax and relieve your tensions.

We believe that science is important. Come for the Organ tour, and unleash the mysteries of sound production. Or take the steeple tour, and explore an example of structural engineering.

More seriously, and perhaps most important, we believe in the significance of community and intergenerational experiences. Come, sit with old friends, make new friends, and enjoy the food and entertainment.

So, as you experience this full range of activities, please reflect on the “worth” of these experiences, and on the importance of this community in your life. Consider how this importance is reflected in the financial commitment you make. Be generous, use the handy giving guide we have provided, and make your pledge a true reflection of how your UU values align with your financial values.

Comments

An Outstanding Day One for the Annual Pledge Drive

" It is rare indeed that people give. Most people guard and keep. " If this observation from James Baldwin, one of our contry's most respected philosophers and novelists, is true, then the opening Sunday of our Annual Stewardship Pledge Drive was a rare one indeed. Consider these day one statistics : Total amound pledged: $96,628 (32% of our $300,000 goal !) Number of pledges: 62 (6 of these were first time pledges !) A whopping 56% increased their pledge over last year ! Let us keep the momentum going! If you have not yet sent in your pledge, do so today. This is truly a wonderful beginning, and it was made even more special by our interim minister's homily. If you missed Tracey's message, what follows are a few of her memorable and moving insights. We come through these doors in search, in need, in hope, in prayer. We come looking for something to make our lives better; to make the lives of our family, our friends, our neigh

This Community Surrounds My Life

I am always inspired and touched by the efforts to build a better world. Seth Popinchalk, Vice-Moderator Last week Scott Hayman told me about a 5K road race to benefit Abby’s house. Abby’s House is a family shelter for women and children and provides them with “a safe place to stay, regroup, and rebuild.” I am in fair shape, so when I woke up Saturday morning I laced up my shoes and drove out to West Boylston to find the starting line. I found Scott and Maddie at the registration area. I also ran into a handful of other familiar First U members wearing race bibs and supporting the event. There was no plan among members to connect with our First Unitarian community this Saturday morning, but we found each other among the crowd of about 300. I was reminded that I am surrounded by our special community. What brings us together? We are a community because we choose to be one. We find a connection with something the church offers: the Sunday services, the sermons, the holi

Hearing the Call: Rudy Cepko, YRU2 Mentor and Advisor

“I believed that my day job as an RN in the Pediatric ICU at UMass would make it easy for me to handle a bunch of teenagers. However, I was surprised to encounter teens willing to gain more knowledge in their spiritual quest and to learn how to use this in their everyday lives.” Rudy Cepko For many years I had not stepped into a church except for weddings and funerals. In the mid-1990s, my wife, Alesia, started attending church to sing with UU choir. She was impressed by the message that she heard from Barbara Merritt and suggested that I try the church. I felt I was in a place that spoke to me, and our son Stefan was enrolled in the Sunday school programs. I had some involvement with church stewardship as a volunteer in the Garden committee. Mowing the lawn, pulling weeds, planting and laying yards of mulch were part of my contribution to the church. Then when my son, Stefan, was in YRU2, he asked if I would be interested in becoming an assistant during the Sunday m

First Unitarian Stewardship

Search This Blog