We’re halfway through another church year, which I think is always a good time to take a look at how we’re doing so far.
Amidst a year of many changes—two services, a new music director—one of the smaller additions to our work here has been perhaps less notable: our new “Share the Plate” program. Each month, a charity chosen by the Social Concerns committee at the beginning of the year is the recipient of one half of all the cash in the weekly collection plate, as well as half of any checks not marked for the operating fund. The Board and Social Concerns Committee made this decision at the end of last year as an opportunity for the church to give more to more worthy causes (an equal mix of local and global charities), and to increase overall giving at the church.
As of the end of December, the program has been remarkably successful. From the start of the regular year on August 17th until the end of December, the congregation has raised nearly $1300 for charity. By contrast, the total of our “Change for Change” donations for the 2007-2008 fiscal year was about $850. With the institution of “Share the Plate” this congregation has already exceeded the expected budget for Sunday collection income, surpassed its charitable giving from last year, and we still have six months of the fiscal year to go!
The charitable breakdown is as follows:
Knoxville UU Relief Fund: $644.74 (including the special collection at our August vigil)
Roadrunner Food Bank: $275.74
Janos Orphanage: $381.44
Self Help, Inc.: $4838.02 (including the 12/7 and 12/24 special collections)
Needless to say, I am pleased and proud of the generous spirit we demonstrate. The program will continue through May. Our upcoming charities are the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee this month, CASA in March, followed by the Partner Church Scholarship Fund in April, and the New Sanctuary Movement in May.
The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee is a social justice program partnered with the Unitarian Universalist Association that concentrates on issues of human rights in America and abroad. Their current areas of focus are the defense of civil liberties, economic and environmental rights, and aid during humanitarian crises. I hope you will continue in your generosity this month for this worthy cause.
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Our Covenant Circles have continued to grow this year after a successful launch last winter. By now, you’ve probably heard one or more of the testimonials during Sunday services from Circle participants about why they have made this a part of their life in the church and what it means to their lives.
Currently, the Circles are open for new participants. I invite you to contact me if you’re interested. If you’re still unsure, or want a closer look at what Covenant Circles are all about, I invite you to join us after the services on Feburary 8th for “Try a Circle Sunday,” where our facilitators will lead sample groups for you to try.
On and off throughout this year, Music Director Alicia Solomon and I have instituted a “hymn of the month” that fits our broader service themes in an effort to introduce ourselves to more of our hymnal and widen our repertoire.
This practice took a break for the holidays, but returns this month for hymn #307, “The Human Touch Can Light the Flame.” The words are by John Andrew Storey (1935-1998), a British Unitarian minister who wrote many poems and hymn texts throughout his life and served on the commission that produced the current British Unitarian hymnal, Hymns for Living. The music is by Lee Hastings Bristol Jr. (1923-1979), a tune that appears in several hymnals and originally written in 1958 in honor of an honorary degree he received from Dickinson College.
Next month, we’ll hold the second “Gathering of the Rhymes” service in honor of the poetry that inspires us. If you have poetry you’ve written, and would like to share, or you’re willing to be a reader for this service, please contact me in the office.
Rev. John Cullinan
