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From Our Minister |
Featured Articles - October, 2006Groundbreaking Crowns Capital Campaign
The service itself led up to the event. Two of our Building Committee chairs lit the chalice, Barbara Kernochan in the first service and Alison Kendall in the second. Alison described the process of getting to this point in terms of the application of our UU values — and let her intonation convey the humor in our having survived so many hurdles laboriously cleared. Judith, in her sermon, “The Quest for Truth,” equated the path of our building program to the path to truth, with changes of direction and new lessons learned. At the end of the service, Charles Haskell, church president, Carol Kerr, Building Committee chair, and Ron Crane, Capital Campaign chair, each spoke briefly. Charles discussed how the life of a building parallels a person’s life, with the same milestones. Carol outlined the steps that will be taken converting the blue house to office space, and Ron, after announcing that Sisyphus had finally reached the top, thanked the many generous contributors to the capital campaign.
With everyone assembled, including the children from RE, Judith said a few words of dedication, then dug the first shovelful of soil. After the first service, she was followed by Charles Haskell, Barbara Kernochan, Heather Thomas, Rosy DePaul, and Sophia Silver. After the second service, Charles Haskell, Alison Kendall, Skye Menzies Langabeer, Ian Postel, Capital Campaign co-chair Ofelia Lachtman, and minister emeritus the Rev. Ernie Pipes each took a turn. After the years of hard work and dedication by so many wonderful people, our vision took its first step into reality. Congratulations to all of us! — Peter van den Beemt
More Groundbreaking Photos
Defining Commitment -- A Moving Target, a Worthy ProcessLast fall’s very successful pledge drive was inspired by Peter Henrickson’s “Financial Management in the Church” and his admonishment that through our giving we support, not the church’s budget, but the church’s mission. Henrickson talked about the idea that our charitable giving should be substantial in nature and that as Unitarian Universalists we should not shy away from the idea of supporting the church with 5% of our household income. Indeed, great big commitments are those that will transform our work and transform us, changing the way we interact with the world individually and institutionally. Last year we began to ask people to support the church at that 5% level, and we received many substantial increases. My research into local household income levels suggests, though, that as a congregation we are generally giving around 2%. Two percent is not chump change for most us. But I suggest that when we strive to give to the church at that level it affects the way we go through life, not to mention the work our institution can do to support each other and to affect the larger community not just on Sundays, but between Sundays. So 5% of what? The way Henrickson talks about it, it’s different for each of us. A simple definition would be 5% of money after taxes and before fixed expenses like mortgage/ rent and tuition. But some of us have extenuating circumstances: child support, parental care, or extensive medical needs, to name a few. Only you can determine what your 5% number might be. For my family, if I look at the money that’s deposited into our bank accounts from our paychecks, we’re not giving 5% of that number. It’s closer to 3%. But we are two working parents with two small children and we have to pay for childcare because we don’t have family near. And we’re paying a Los Angeles mortgage. Factoring those things in, we are giving 20% of what’s left, our “discretionary cash.” So, what we do is go through a process every year at pledge drive time. We look at our “after-tax income” and consider what 5% of that would be. We look at our “discretionary cash” and consider our current pledge, and we try to increase our pledge toward that 5% number by as much as we reasonably can. And just about every year since we’ve joined the church we’ve found a way to make an increase. Honestly, it will take us years to get to 5%, but that is our aim. And as long as we aim for it, each year we will get closer. In a few weeks, you’ll receive letters in the mail asking you to make your pledge for the coming year. You’ll be asked to fill out a pledge card and participate in Commitment Sunday, November 5th. I hope you will consider the transformation you seek in your own life: to become more compassionate, to work for social justice, to provide spiritual grounding for your children, to step back from the day-to-day grind and revel in the great wonder of this universe. Think about how this church facilitates that transformation. Then go through the process that we do and join us to celebrate your commitment on November 5. I look forward to celebrating with you. — In faith, Jacki K.Weber
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Groundbreaking for the makeover of the blue house
took place Sunday, September 17, with a brief ceremony
and the long-awaited first shovelful of dirt.
When the service ended, Judith was at the front door
of the church to lead the recessional that was to follow,
but UUs being an independent lot, most went to the
backyard of the blue house by way of Forbes Hall.
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