Dearest Member or Friend,

The UUCD Board and Stewardship Team are grateful for your continued support of our community in the past year of extraordinary difficulty. The theme for this year’s Stewardship campaign is Resilience and Transformation because, together, we find strength and hope in these uncertain and unprecedented times. During our 2020-21 budget year, thanks to some one-time revenue and anonymous donations, we have remained financially stable. We now turn our attention to the 2021-22 budget year. Board members are committed to raising our pledges and humbly request, as you are able, you do the same.

We have learned, through our Sunday services and all the ways we have connected, that this church is so much more to us than its walls and grounds.  Our community adapted almost seamlessly to a virtual existence and continues to thrive. As the Board, we are moved by your continued attendance at services and your sustained financial support. A community doesn’t know how strong it is until it is tried and tested. Included on the back of this page you will find a description of some of the many ways you have helped support our church this past year.

Our ministers and staff showed immense ingenuity and thoughtful creativity as they adapted our community to an online existence with meaningful and accessible worship and programs.  As a result, our church continues more than ever to nurture our ability to live our values in the world.  We are whole-heartedly thankful to our ministers and staff.

Looking forward to 2021-22, we hope to provide a cost-of-living increase to our staff with the goal of nearing UUA salary standards. Additionally, to continue and enhance the online services and programs staff have created, and to prepare for a dual on-line and in-person environment, we seek funds for technology upgrades.

To this end, we are requesting an 8% pledge increase. In addition to the two items above, the Board has had many budgetary requests from within our community that will further our mission. With mindfulness toward our communal resources, we want to approve as many as we can!

We also want to offer another way to think about your pledge.  In keeping with our values of interdependence and the inherent dignity of all, we have a flexible system that encourages members to give generously according to their own circumstances.  In the current year, many more people gave below the average pledge of $3,000 than above this average.  Therefore, we are asking families who are able to consider increasing their pledges above 8%.  This recognizes that this year has been financially challenging for many; some families may not be able to increase pledges or even maintain existing levels.  (To help Members better understand our pledge distribution, two tables are included.)

Thank you so much for your consideration and for everything you have done to take care of our community and stay connected in this virtual church year.  Let us continue to transform and be resilient together!

In gratitude,

UUCD Board of Trustees and Sharon Hale, Stewardship Chair       

P.S. Please keep an eye on the Bulletin for new and creative all-church Stewardship events!

Current Pledge Distributions

UUA Fair Share Contribution Guide

Return to the Stewardship Page.