President’s Message March 2023

Greetings Fellow BBUUC Congregates.

The Unitarian Universalist Association is moving toward an emphasis on LOVE as a core or central value for all UU churches and their congregations. This is not particularly new for BBUUC, but it is good to focus on building programs around this central value to give us an opportunity to be open to the wider community. We will be exploring this more fully as we begin our discussions around changes to Article II being proposed by the UUA. But for now, we need to see if expressions of LOVE will show in our support of the Church in the coming year.

It’s that time of year when we renew our financial commitment to our congregation. We think about what the congregation means to us, and we pledge money and time. BBUUC’s yearly priorities and budget result from our collective commitments. To keep our congregation’s work going, we need each of you to contribute our time, our talent, and — yes — our treasure. As a congregation, we use our money for staff salaries, utilities and maintenance, program supplies, but also much more.

Your financial pledge goes to help fund our beloved community’s critical needs over the coming year. We don’t suggest specific amounts or specific percentages; and we certainly don’t want you to “give until it hurts.” Maybe the way to think about it is to “give until it feels good and right.” 

March will be a busy time for stewardship. We kickoff our annual pledge drive on March 5th and we will wrap things up on March 26th. We will be sending out information in the coming days to walk you through the process – we want to keep it simple. 

The sense of LOVE is strong in our Church and I am thankful to each of you for it.

Chuck Smithers
President

“Love Will Weave Us Together”