April 2, 2025

“Traditions are the inventions of people who mean to
routinely put love and comfort and meaning into
their lives and the lives of those they love.”
~Elizabeth Berg

Dear Ones,

These next three months, April, May, and June, also known as the 4th quarter of our congregational and UUA fiscal/church year, are full of traditions! Some of them, like our recent (and very successful) fundraising auction, we tend to think of as fun community-building events and look forward to every spring. Others, like the stewardship pledge drive and our annual GNUUC business meeting to vote for officers of the congregation and approve our budget for the coming year starting in July, we tend to think of as necessities (because they are) and perhaps to dismiss as boring or tedious–which I’d like to challenge you to reframe!

Thinking about our money–where it comes from and how we deploy it–and about how we organize our time and talents and skills to sustain congregational life are, obviously, ongoing tasks all year long. But every spring, we ask that everyone join in the projects of making annual pledges of financial support and practicing our core commitment to democracy by attending our meeting. These two crucial practices safeguard the continuity of our resources and are, in a sense, some of our most important congregational traditions. Individually as members, and together as a congregation, these are ways we routinely put love and comfort and meaning into our own lives and work to extend our welcome and care into the wider community, as our mission and vision of ministry direct. 

Our pledge drive will be ongoing over the next two weeks, and our annual meeting will be held immediately following our Sunday service on May 18. I look forward to your participation in our rituals of planning and renewal!

Yours in springtime renewal, 

Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org