We welcome donations for the silent or live auctions. Popular items include themed dinners, trips and tours, professional services, artwork, handcrafts, vintage and collectables, and gift certificates. Donation forms are in the KUUF foyer or you can donate online at http://go.kuuf.org/auction.
]]>
Illustration by Robert Neubecker (uuworld.org)In the Spring issue of our UU World magazine, there was an interesting article called “Who Owns Your Congregation?” Although the piece was thought provoking, what really caught my attention was the illustration a church with beams of light streaming outward like a lighthouse.
I know the concept of religious values acting as a beacon of hope and guidance is a common metaphor, but this image really got me thinking about our own fellowship.
I’ve wondered how we at KUUF serve as a beacon to our community. How do the values we share guide our community, or each of us as individuals, through the storms and turmoil of life? Once people are motivated to visit us, do we greet them as a welcoming congregation? Do we share the light and warmth we feel ourselves?
Historically lighthouses used flame as a source of illumination, focusing it through a lens designed to carry the beam far out to sea. Like the flame of our chalice, the light of our shared values guides us as individuals and reaches out to those in our community. Even the name of our newsletter, The Candle, fits within this theme.
In our daily lives, we each carry the light of our own candle, and many of us work to spread that light in different ways; through social justice, community service, political action, or charitable giving.
Sometimes it can feel as though we‘re holding lone candles in the darkness. But I much prefer the image of those individual flames standing together, hundreds of them, bright and warm and strong. Focused through the lens of our faith and mission, we connect with other places of worship, creating a string of navigational beacons along rocky shores.
Another question that’s come to mind is who’s the equivalent of our lighthouse keeper? Who tends the lamps, shines the lens, and keeps the bricks and mortar standing strong against the waves?
It seems like we’ve often relied on an individual, our minister, to keep the light shining for us. As Reverend Liz wrote in her column last month, this can cause uncertainty during a time of transition. Who will hold us together?
The concept that we are all ministers of our faith, both in our church and our community, implies that we are the keepers of our lighthouse. Working together, it’s up to us to keep our beacon shining bright.
This becomes even more important during try- ing times, and we’ve certainly been through some stormy weather over the last few years. With the challenge of our finances, and the transition to a new minister, we have more change ahead of us.
Just like a lighthouse, we are brighter and stronger when we share our strengths, and remember to stand together.
]]>The Interim Ministerial Search Committee and the KUUF Board are pleased to announce that the Reverend Don Vaughn-Foerster has accepted our invitation to serve as our interim minister. Rev. Vaughn-Foerster will join us in August. He currently serves at First Unitarian Church of Victoria in British Columbia. He comes to us with many years experience in both “settled” and interim ministries.
You can find some information about Rev. Vaughn-Foerster from the First Unitarian Church of Victoria website.
The challenge grant we announced at the annual meeting is well on its way. An anonymous gift of $10,000 was made as a challenge to cover the $20,000 we need to balance the budget. We are already halfway to the challenge goal with new and additional pledges and gifts. Please consider an increased pledge, a gift or coming up with some other creative ways to help us raise money to meet this challenge. We agreed at the annual meeting that funding for our new interim was a priority. Let's rise to the challenge!
To pledge online go to go.kuuf.org/pledge
I began attending and became a member at KUUF for community. Through local social justice work I already knew many members. Immediately I felt a part of this liberal religious community as I became involved with the Stewardship Committee and by eventually serving on the board. I was invited to fill these positions because of my non-profit fundraising experience.
The biggest difference I have seen in fundraising is that as a UU it is done with more sensitivity to economic status and with less use of guilt. It was an honor to serve as Stewardship chair this year, as reluctant as I was, but the real honor was to have so many volunteers working together in every aspect of the campaign right through to Celebration Sunday.
The Stewardship Committee marks the end of the pledge campaign with Celebration Sunday. The committed amount of money pledged during the campaign helps set the budget for the coming church year. That Sunday certainly had the feel of community with more than 140 of us gathered to celebrate.
It was quite a sight to see all those members carrying in the breakfast dishes. It reminded me of a community of ants working together, single file, to carry food to their home, singing together "Enter, Rejoice and Come In."
We’ve now transitioned to one service on Sundays, and I look forward to worship services where I can see and hear more of us together.
It was really wonderful to learn so much history of the fellowship. We learned about the spiritual foundations as well as the actual foundations. Thanks to Wilma Harkins for guiding us through our journey. I loved Wilma’s remark about our sanctuary not being narrow. Maybe one day we’ll get that fireplace, too.
Imagine the stories that we will share with each other years from now. We are about to embark on a journey to our next settled minister. Soon we will identify an interim minister to start in the fall. We are halfway through our work with our interim DRE and a year into our 5 year plan working towards our vision of the future of KUUF.
Writing this I know that we have fallen short of our Stewardship goal, so we will face cuts to balance the budget again this year. A vibrant liberal religious community depends on lots of time, talent and treasure. I challenge each of us to give more when we can. We sang together "Don't be afraid of some change," and I know that "tomorrow will be a joyful day."
]]>
It is KUUF’s Stewardship Season, the time to make your annual financial pledge to KUUF for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.
This year we will look back to the courage of KUUF members of 25 years ago. It’s quite a story! With fewer than 40 members, they decided that we needed a new sanctuary, space for a strong religious education program, and a full-time minister in order to grow and thrive.
Look for your pledge packet in the mail this month, or pick one up in the KUUF foyer. Reflect on your personal and spiritual connection with the Fellowship. How have the relationships you’ve made here enriched your life? How has your presence here enriched the lives of others? How have you grown and what have you learned?
These questions draw us deeper into grateful appreciation for the generosity of those who came before us to make our community a place that is sacred beyond measure. Our sense of appreciation, in turn, draws us deeper into thinking about the ways we can make a difference.
Please generously support our fellowship for the coming year and for those who will follow us.
]]>