November 6, 2018
Dear Members & Friends:
What shall we bring?
What an exciting time in the life of our faith family! Given the vote at the recent congregational meeting it’s a good time to give thanks for a new chapter in the life of HUCC. Hope is really dancing in our midst!
We are an incredibly gifted congregation in so many ways! Given our context, a certain phrase springs to
mind~ To those who have been given much, much is expected. (Lk. 12) Anything is possible when we pool our
resources and work together in faith.
Our stewardship theme this year is a question~ what shall we bring? In other words, what are your gifts and how are you bringing them to the party? How are you joining in our mission of welcoming All God’s children? How are you bringing your gifts to the table?
As we begin searching for an associate minister, the question becomes, in what ways can we support this
new person and his/her ministerial gifts? And perhaps more urgently, how will we help support HUCC during the interim?
We read in Mk. 9 that when we welcome the children, we welcome Jesus and the One who sent him. Making children a priority requires us to find the time in our busy schedules to get involved. How can you bring your
gifts of time and resources to support this area of need in our faith family and larger community? The
temptation is to think, well, if l don’t, someone else will, but Rally Sunday reminded us that we are the church, If we don’t bring our gifts, then who will?
Of course when people hear “stewardship” they often think “pledge drive”, and this is part of the equation. If you pledged for this year, we are asking you to consider increasing your annual pledge by at least 13% (10% for an associate pastor and 3% for cost increases) or $385 in 2019. Ifwe all meet this challenge we would cover the budget needed to financially support a part time associate pastor and other inflation cost increases in our
operating budget. Your commitment can help us continue to be a beacon of God’s extravagant love, as well as a progressive prophetic voice for social and environmental/ecological justice in the SLC valley.
All of this is to say, thank you for your support of our faith family! You are cordially invited to join us on
Stewardship Sunday (Nov. 18th) as we symbolize bringing our gifts forward with our pledge cards in envelopes. The enclosed pledge card can otherwise be mailed to the church or brought to worship services on subsequent Sundays. This serves a practical purpose, as the pledges are a key factor in creating our church’s program and
financial plans for 2019.
In the coming year, may we love extravagantly, welcoming all children to the table of healing grace, where love is born anew! May God’s blessings be upon us as we continue to find new ways to Bring It!
Shalom,
Rev. A. Fred Everson, Pastor
Dennis Bayes, Stewardship Chairperson
