Stewardship: a Bridge to Belonging

Stewardship—protecting, tending, caring—is at the core of what it means to live out my faith, of building and nourishing the beloved community. It is a call to bring my best self to the mission and life of the church. --Ellen Foley

What calls me to First Unitarian Church? In many ways I can’t take credit for my Unitarian faith. I grew up in the Unitarian church of Flint, Michigan; my grandparents were all Unitarian. Religion did not occupy my conscious thoughts during my childhood and early adulthood.

And yet I have always had a strong moral compass and a certainty about my own spiritual values: justice, interdependence, the inherent worth and dignity of all human beings. In my adulthood I have found, unsurprisingly, that Unitarian churches are the places where I find those who share this moral compass. I find people I want to know. People I admire. People who I hope will shape my son’s sense of his place in the world and his responsibilities to it.

But how does that connect with stewardship? Merriam-Webster tells us that stewardship is the activity of protecting and being responsible for something; it is the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care. For me the work of stewardship—protecting, tending, caring—is at the core of what it means to live out my faith. Stewardship is a way of doing the necessary work of the world, of building the beloved community, and of protecting and nourishing that community for those who will follow in our footsteps.

I am passionate about the work of stewardship because it provides the path for church members to connect their own spiritual needs, values, and practices to the longevity, vitality, and joy and promise of church and church life. What calls me to stewardship is the sense that I am answering a call: a call to expect the best of myself and others, a call to bring my best self to the mission and life of the church, and a call to take responsibility for the present and future of this precious community.

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2017 Stewardship Interview Series

You might remember that as part of last year's campaign, the Stewardship Committee coordinated in-person visits with members of the church. The purpose of these visits was to chat about members' experiences at First Unitarian, the four goals of the Stewardship campaign* and member pledges. The core of these conversations was about participation . We discussed questions like: How are you feeling about your connection with the church? Are there any groups, volunteer activities or leadership opportunities that you'd like to be more involved in? What are your thoughts about this year's stewardship goals? Do you have any concerns? My Experience as a Visiting Steward Our family officially joined First Unitarian at the beginning of 2016. And while we had attended sporadically for years, there were lots of people we didn't know. So when Ellen announced that the Stewardship Committee was looking for volunteers to be visiting stewards, I thought it would be a fun way t...

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 fr...

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 be...

First Unitarian Stewardship

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