Read the full issue of the May 19 Weekly Liberal.

Dear Church,

You’re all invited to the annual meeting on Sunday, June 5, immediately following the 10 a.m. church service (from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, we worship at 10 a.m. only).

At the annual meeting, we’ll elect new officers to the Board of Trustees, the Foundation Board, and the Nominating Committee. We’ll also approve the budget for 2016-2017.

The budget we’re presenting includes paying all of our adult staff members a living wage of $15/hr, as well as fully eliminating all “suggested donations” and fees for Religious Education programming. Paying a living wage is in line with our values, as is making our Religious Education programming accessible to every family, child, and youth. It feels good to have our institutional practices align with our faith values, doesn’t it?

This alignment is possible because of your generosity. In the 2016-2017 proposed budget, we are projecting $1,174,500 in financial pledges, and we have currently received $1,127,290, from 581 pledge units. Thank you to everyone who has pledged so far! We are ahead of where we’ve been in past years at this point in time.

Based on last year’s numbers, we anticipate 60 additional pledge units pledging a total of $47,000 for the 2016-2017 fiscal year to help us reach our goal of $1,174,500. We know some pledges will come in next year as new members join, but we’d love to close this $47,000 gap by June 5.

If you consider First Universalist your faith community and spiritual home, please make your financial pledge today! Whether it’s $50 a month, or $150 a month, or something else, this community is supported by all of us, bringing our gifts together. Every pledge – and every person – matters. You can call the office at 612-825-1701 and pledge over the phone (ask to speak to staff member Andrea Love), or you can email Andrea directly at andrea@firstuniv.org with questions, or you can pledge online. Thank you! Together, we make our values come alive in this place!

I’ll see you in church,
Justin