High School Youth Conference in Worcester

This past weekend three of our youth, and myself,  attended a high school youth con in Worcester. It was a fabulous time. Youth had a chance to have fun with group games and youth-led workshops like origami, word scramble, and martial arts; participate in a late night worship service; and engage in the social action campaign “Standing on the Side of Love.” (See http://www.standingonthesideoflove.org/ for more details.) Watch the upcoming Vista for more details and check out the bulletin board for photos.

Standing on the Side of Love at the Worcester Youth Con - "i got uu babe"

Sermon Topic: Faith, Love and Clarity

Sermon Topic: We’ll be welcoming The Rev. Sarah Person from the West Hartford UU church to the pulpit this Sunday where she’ll be discussing “Faith, Love and Clarity.”

Valentine’s Day Bag Donations Due: Don’t forget to bring the hygiene items for our Valentine’s Day service project. They are due in the chapel before the service starts.

Coming of Age Parent/Youth Meeting: The Coming of Age youth and their parents will be meeting after the services at noon to discuss activities for the spring.

Planning Ahead . . . Membership Sunday: Are you ready to sign the Membership Book and become a full-fledged member of our congregation? When you join the congregation, you are making a commitment to yourself.

Please speak with The Rev. Cindy Frado if you have any questions and/or are ready to make it official.

We’re Planning a Birthday Bash

The Birthday Bash is back this year and slated for March 10, 6:30 p.m.

What is the Birthday Bash? It’s a chance for us to celebrate everyone’s birthday with one big, cake-filled party.

There will be tables set up to represent each month. Blank birthday cakes and goodies to decorate them will be available, as will ice cream, because what’s a birthday party without ice cream? Cakes will be judged on various criteria like the funniest, truest to the month, etc.

To sign up to attend the event or to donate a cake, etc., look for the sign-up sheet in the chapel.

This is a fun, intergenerational event and we’d love for you to join us. Everybody’s got a birthday to celebrate.

Canvass Campaign Update

Thank you to all who submitted a pledge card last Sunday during our Canvass Sunday event. We collected about two-thirds of our grand total of pledges from last year.

If you haven’t yet filled out a pledge card, we would really appreciate you ding so soon.

How can you pledge? There are pledge forms and envelopes in the pews each Sunday. You can fill it out and leave it in the offertory plate.

Additionally, we’ll be mailing forms to people who haven’t yet contributed, so look for yours in the mail if you don’t go to church on Sunday.

If everyone chips in, we’re sure to make our pledge goal this year.

Together we can.

Sermon Topic: Where Do UUs Find Spiritual Grounding?

Sermon Topic: This Sunday Rev. Cindy Frado will be asking us to consider where Unitarian Universalists “Find Their Spiritual Grounding.”

With so many diverse theological perspectives in the faith, where is the spiritual grounding? Is it the same for everyone? Can you walk with Jesus in the morning and have dinner with Nietzsche at night? Can you pray to God unashamedly while your neighbor prefers to confront life with reason only?

This is an important Sunday to warm a pew in the sanctuary.

Valentine’s Day Bags: If you haven’t yet signed up to bring in hygiene items for our annual service project to help those in need, please do so this Sunday in the chapel.

Being a UU Parent: Join our Religious Education director, Janet Davis, this Sunday from noon-2:30 p.m. to chat about “Developing Respect and Responsibility” in our UU youth.

Whether you’re a newcomer or long-time attendee, have toddlers or teens, this is a great opportunity for parents to share and learn from each other as we discuss chores, allowance, tolerance, diversity and community service.

Lunch will be served and childcare will be available. Please register with Janet, mjljdavis@aol.com.

Annual Canvass Campaign, Starts Feb. 5: Every Pledge Counts

We will kick off our annual pledge drive on February 5 on “Canvass Sunday.” Pledge cards for the 2012/2013 operating budget will be available so you can help us keep our community strong, healthy and vital. During the service we will be asking everyone to take a pledge form, fill it out and submit it that morning.

Why make a pledge to the church?

Each year the Board of Trustees meets in the spring to develop the next fiscal year’s budget. Based on the money we anticipate receiving from our pledges, as well as from regular revenue sources (like rental income), we allocate funds for operating expenses, programs and staff. Depending on our pledge totals, we can sometimes add a line item to cover services that have been covered by volunteers.

For example, in past years, we’ve had parishioner volunteer to mow the lawn and care for the grounds, including our rental property, 3 School Street. This year, we’ll be allocating approximately $1,300 to cover the cost of paying a service to do this. Additionally, we’re trying to put aside funds for a new heating system and to become full-share members of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

What does this mean to you?

Every pledge counts. Often people tell us they make their contributions by putting money into the collection plate each week. However we cannot develop a budget based on the amount of money that may or may not be in the collection plates from week to week. We need to estimate how much money we can anticipate receiving so we can formulate a solid budget.

So many of you give generously of your time in the Religious Education classes, other programs and in other areas of our church life, but we need a financial commitment as well to keep our organization operational. RE supplies, trash removal from waste generated at Coffee Hour, the costs of heating the sanctuary on a Sunday morning, all things big and small cost money.

Together we can make a big difference.

If every membership household pledged $1,500 for the 2012/2013 fiscal year, we would be able to cover our operating expenses for the year. Some people cannot give that much. Some people give more to cover the difference for those who cannot.

Every pledge counts.

Looking for Blu-Ray DVD Player

Can you donate a Blu-Ray DVD player to the church?

We’d like to start a film series at church with the beautiful big screen TV that Sally Jeffrey donated to us.

We need a Blu-Ray DVD player to show all sorts of great movies for viewing and discussion.

It’s a tax deductible donation. Contact the church office if you can help.