Dear Members and Friends,

A little over a month ago, we faced a serious shortfall in the annual income necessary for the 2023/2024 church year. In his sermon on April 2nd, Jon explained our needs for next year and what the shortfall would mean if we did not raise these important funds.

We are writing to you now to thank you for your generous response to that call to action. Many of you were able to increase your pledges of support. This reinforces our dynamic, collective ministry at UUC and ensures the retention of our current complement of staff. Thank you, thank you!

While the response to Jon’s call was indeed generous, we are still left with an impactful gap of $92,000. If unable to raise this amount in the next few weeks, we face two hard decisions at the annual meeting. First, we will not be able to add necessary staff hours for our Family Ministry Program, and secondly, we will have to reduce the cost-of-living increase for all staff from 8.1% to 3%.

As a congregation, we will vote to approve our budget for the 2023 - 2024 year at the annual meeting on June 11th. To that end, on May 18th, the Board will be preparing that budget for your consideration. Thus, we have four more weeks to reach out to those members and friends who have not yet pledged for next year. If you have not yet pledged, or are reconsidering your pledge, we encourage you to do so now.

Again, we say an enthusiastic thank you to the many who have already responded so generously to our earlier plea. Each Sunday, we say we are a community of ourselves, and our wealth is what we share. By so sharing our wealth, we do most certainly affirm our lives within it! And your gifts kindle our hope for a bright and lasting UUC future!

With Gratitude,

Rev. Jon M. Luopa, Senior Minister, and Kathleen Cromp, President, UUC Board of Trustees