What a Start ...

It is already 5 weeks into the new church year and - as usual at our church - a lot has happened. Activities such as the Welcome Back Reception to Sandy Island or the Youth Group's Buddhist retreat to the the fact that a lot of our kids are training hard to become fierce pirates. It is that incredible activity and variety that makes our church the special place it is.

But we also learned something from some of our newer members, we learned that this variety and activity can be confusing to navigate or engage in - or even be a bit intimidating. Thus, one of the focus areas of the Parish Board for this year is taking a close look at our communication and try to find ways to make it easier for all our members to dive into all these activities and to become more active and integral parts of this strong and vibrant community.

The first manifestation of that took place at the end of September in the form of the Program Council's Opportunity Fair. During both coffee hours, members of our congregation were able to browse presentations of the committees that run the many programs at this church while sipping a coffee and nibbling on some snacks. It was very well received and allowed our members to not only learn about the programs, but also gave a chance to look into opportunities to engage.

Another initiative on the horizon is a revamp of the electronic newsletter - the e Unitarian. The first samples look very promising and we hope that it will make it much easier to know what is going on at church every week.

Many more things were discussed at the Parish Board retreat in September, such as better insight into our membership for all programs and last but not least innovations and ideas about how to financially balance our books. I'll keep you informed about how we progress on these over the year - stay tuned to this channel.

I am looking forward to an exciting church year and hope to spend some time with as many of you as I can.

Stefan

Our Amazing Youth

One of the wonders of First Church occurred this past Sunday: our annual Youth Service. This is the day when our 10th-12th grade youth conduct the entire service, and when our seniors stand before us and reflect on their time at First Church. I was lucky enough to attend both the 9 and 11am services, and left church feeling very proud, and completely drained emotionally.

I was proud that our church community participates so fully in the raising of our youth to be good citizens in this world. From the time our little ones enter the church and are welcomed into our First Friends group, through our Children’s RE program where they learn the pillars of our faith, begin to become aware of our church as a home to social justice, investigate neighboring faiths, and learn about human sexuality and relationships, to Coming of Age where they reflect on their spiritual beliefs, to Youth Group, where they learn how to organize events, worship profoundly, work for a cause, and teach others about important social issues, our children are taught values we hold dear. The Youth Service is always proof to me that we as a church community are doing this work well.

This year's Youth Group in Tucson

In her most recent newsletter article, Julie Franzini quoted one of these wise youth: “Youth Group is a microcosm of the church…and the church is a microcosm of how we want the world to be.” I can’t imagine a more desirable description of a church community.

Stewardship means making sure core programs like these are supported on many levels to keep them strong for future generations. Feel free to share what motivates you to support First Church, and please remember to send in your pledge if you haven't already!

Guidelines for Giving: Making Your Annual Financial Commitment to First Church

We hope you’ve received your stewardship packet in the mail (if you haven’t received yours, please e-mail Bruce Kozuma), and that you’re seriously considering increasing your pledge amount this year to help the Church reach its fund raising goal of $532,000. If each member and friend makes his or her best pledge, we'll achieve this goal together.

We thought we’d offer some additional giving guidelines for those who are interested. Last year, we decided not to include a giving chart in our materials because some parishioners felt it was inappropriate. Other people have given us feedback that they missed the chart. If you are new to First Church pledging, these guides may be especially helpful.

This is the guide we’ve used most recently.  It suggests giving guidelines based on your annual household income, combined with your level of commitment to the Church. Many people use this guide to plan what they can give now, and what they hope to give in the future.
(click the chart to see a larger version)

The UUA has published a very different chart that many UU churches use. This chart may seem a little unrealistic to many of us, but in fact, many of us pledge at these levels, and it helps us to know that these are the giving goals of many of our sister churches. This chart was created because fundraisers acknowledge that asking for a percentage increase across all income levels is not realistic; it is often possible for those with higher income levels to increase their giving at higher levels.
(click the chart to see a larger version)

We’d like to hear what you think. Do you like to have a giving chart as a reference? Which chart do you prefer?

For those of you who have already submitted your pledge for next year, we are deeply grateful. If these guides motivate you to increase your pledge, please do. You may make your pledge online, or view stewardship materials at the Stewardship page of the First Church website. Thank you for your support!

Spring and the Annual Stewardship Drive

It’s the time of year when mud sounds good, when we can’t wait for the snow to melt and the forsythia to bloom. It’s also the time of the year when the First Church Parish Board turns its attention toward budgeting and the annual stewardship drive.

First Church Parish Board 2010/2011

You will begin to hear about the annual stewardship drive starting this coming Sunday, March 13. We are lucky to have a caring and generous congregation, but we are not perfect  – we can certainly do better.

Members’ and friends’ pledges fund everything we do at First Church from worship and music to children’s religious education.  Last year we had about 85% participation in the annual stewardship drive - let's strive for 100% this year! Every adult who participates in church life really should pledge. Any pledge amount is acceptable, if it's what you can afford, but we want to hear from you.

·      Your pledge is a promise for what you can give for the entire church fiscal year, July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012. Please consider a monthly pledge amount, beginning in July, that totals more annually than what you gave last year. Not only may you find it is easier to give more generously, but a monthly payment will help the Church’s cash flow.

·      The average household annual pledge required to operate our church programs and facilities is about $1900. Many families and individuals pledge more.  Please give thought to the role First Church plays in the life of you and your family, our church community, the Belmont community, and the world outside our church, and pledge an amount that reflects your aspirations for First Church.

This year, Bruce Kozuma, baritone in our senior choir, husband of Livia Racz (co-chair of the Transylvania Partner Church Committee) and dad of Hanna and Emma, agreed to lead the stewardship drive team. He’s been doing an amazing job managing all the pieces in a compressed amount of time, and he’s been a lot of fun to work with.

Emma, Bruce, and Hanna (Livia is behind the camera)

You can find more information about this year’s stewardship drive at the Stewardship page on the church’s website Annual Stewardship Drive. You can make your pledge online there too!

One thing Bruce and I have learned as we’ve immersed ourselves in UUA stewardship literature and conversations with other churches and past stewardship drive chairs is that there’s way too much for each new parish board and annual stewardship team to learn every year. Developing stewardship best practices in a church our size takes years of planning, communicating, listening, and work.

The Parish Board has decided that it’s time First Church had a standing Stewardship Committee of about five to seven key members who will work year round to develop and manage not just the annual budget drive, which can take many months, but also rekindle or initiate other pieces of a robust stewardship program. A visiting steward team, educational workshops on finance and giving, our planned giving program, ad hoc fundraisers, and potential future capital campaigns, all deserve the attention of a dedicated team.

The Parish Board will approve the Stewardship Committee charter and charter members by the end of March. The creation of this committee represents a new way of thinking about congregational stewardship. If you are interested in the work of this very important team, please contact either Bruce Kozuma or me, Martha Gallagher.

As always, the Parish Board is open to questions or comments you have relating to the annual stewardship drive, church finances, or the work of the church. Please contact any member of the board Parish Board Contacts.

Church Finances - Simple or Complex?

Finances at First Church are pretty simple: the majority of our income comes from parishioner pledges, and the majority of our expenses are spent on staff salaries and benefits. First Church, like other UU churches, does not get support from our national denomination or other outside entities. We - you and I - pay for the staff, programs, facilities, and everything else at First Church, through what we give at the annual stewardship drive. 

 

The complex part of church finances is how we manage the balance between income and expenses, how we communicate our vision, goals, and needs to our parishioners, and how we deal with the psychology of individual giving in a religious setting. Why is it that some members give generously every year? Why do some give at the last minute? Why do some give in a lump annual sum, and some every month? Why do others give nothing at all?

You’ll certainly hear more about this when we begin the annual stewardship drive next month.

In the meantime, there are many people taking good care of First Church finances behind the scenes. Marianne Leahy is in her 5^th and final year in the important role of Treasurer. When you see her, please thank her! She serves on the Parish Board, which regularly discusses finance, and on the Finance Committee, whose members are elected at annual meeting, and which is chaired by former Parish Board President, Ben Bauer. Working with the Finance Committee on managing our endowment is the Investment Committee, chaired by former Parish Board President, Mark Thurber. The members of both these committees are smart, dedicated, and highly knowledgeable.  They are all also volunteers who give many hours of their time to the well being of our church.

Some news about church finances this year:

• The Finance Committee has formed an ad hoc committee to study a sustainable budget for First Church. It’s a fact that church expenses rise every year, if only through cost of living and benefits increases for staff. It’s also a fact that income does not automatically increase every year. This group is investigating how we better manage to this reality.
• The Alfa Radford Legacy Music Endowment, under the leadership of Jane Minasian and John Howe, raised over $105,000 for the church’s endowment in honor of Alfa’s 50 years of service to the church. Income from this endowment will benefit our music program. What a fitting tribute to our Minister of Music.
• Elena Ivaska, who died in December at the age of 102, left $100,000 to the church’s endowment, income from which is designated for unrestricted operating use. We are very grateful to Elena and her family for honoring the church in this very personal way. 

It is interesting to understand the impact of such gifts on the church’s endowment and annual income from investment. Our endowment is relatively small compared to those of some churches. According to our investment guidelines, part of the income from the endowment is re-invested and part is disbursed for operating expenses. You can see from the chart above that income from the endowment is a small piece of the revenue pie. A gift of $100,000 will generate about $3000/year for operating expenses, or about the equivalent of what we hope each member family will pledge every year on average.

What do you think? If you have ideas or questions, please post a comment or contact me: mgallagher@uubelmont.org