Hello my friends,
I’m writing to let you know that our yearly Stewardship Campaign will begin on Sunday, April 1, and will run through the month of April. It is not an exaggeration to say that this campaign is vital to our fellowship’s ongoing ability to operate. Each year during this campaign we ask each of our members and friends to make a commitment of financial support to fund the fellowship’s multitude of activities. These include such things as social concerns outreaches, Religious Education staffing and programming, Sunday music, speakers, and curriculum, etc. And of course we also have to pay our bills such as insurance, utilities, our “fair share” giving to the Unitarian Universalist Association, supplies for the office and house, house cleaning costs, and the costs of taking care of our buildings and grounds and a myriad of other expenses that are essential to our organization’s health and vitality.
Early in the month of April, each of you will be contacted by a volunteer member of our Stewardship Campaign team, who we have asked to arrange with you to meet and deliver a pledge form and other informative items to you, including a copy of our proposed budget for the coming fiscal year. The funds that are “pledged” by all of us during this Stewardship Campaign are the life blood of UUFBC. Just like every other religious organization, we are supported almost totally by our members, with a small portion of our expenses paid for by fund raising events we hold every year.
Please do agree to meet with the team volunteer who contacts you so you can receive your packet of pledge information—these folks are members just as you are and have volunteered to help with this essential process. Once you have completed your pledge form, I ask that you place it in a sealed envelope (to maintain confidentiality) and deliver it either back to your volunteer or directly to me in my mailbox in the church office. Our goal for total pledges this year is an 8% increase over our total pledges from last year’s campaign. Just sayin’.
Our fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30, so the funds pledged during this campaign will (hopefully) keep us operating at a healthy level from
July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019.
Near the end of the month, on Friday, April 27, we will have a Stewardship Campaign celebratory dinner at the fellowship. Everyone is invited, and it will be free! Child care will be provided, and the meal will be catered. Please mark your calendars now and plan to attend this evening of good food and good fellowship. You will be hearing more about this fun event, but I hope you’ll put it on your schedule right away!
In fellowship,
Ken Sizemore, President
UUFBC