Stewardship Testimonial - Ann LeDuc
Hello, I am Ann LeDuc and have been a member of this church for nearly two years. I was raised Missouri Synod Lutheran and attended Lutheran School for kindergarten through eighth grade. Nineteen years ago I married Richard LeDuc. Dr. John “Jack” Hayward, a UU minister, officiated at our wedding. Since then we have attended ten UU churches and fellowships in eight states (Illinois (2), Michigan, Alabama, Iowa, South Dakota, Missouri, Wisconsin (2), Indiana). For me, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington is the best. This church inspires me and has welcomed me like no other. Through this church I have been given opportunities to make a real difference in our world. For example, through the Reproductive Justice Task Force (RJTF) I have become very involved in the work of our local Planned Parenthood clinic. Members of other religious communities may protest outside the clinic, but our RJTF members are helping the women inside the clinic, during what is often a very difficult time in their lives. If you have been active in our congregation for any amount of time, you know there are many, many ways this congregation makes the world a better place.
Although our family does not have a lot of money, we have pledged more to this church than any other we have attended. I want to support all of the good that comes out of this church. I also love this congregation and want to continue to see it thrive. When deciding how much our family should pledge, I thought about how much money we pay to corporations for our internet, cell phones and satellite television. I feel that this church is worth so much more than those services. I decided that our family should at least give what we pay every month to those corporations.
I love the inspiration and guidance that Mary Ann and Bill give us. They are truly the best ministers that I have ever had the pleasure to hear speak and get to know. I know from experience that the ministerial leadership can make or break a religious community. When Bill retires, we need to be ready to pay both Mary Ann and the new minister a competitive wage. A good minister will have more than one church courting them. A competitive wage, along with our wonderful UU community, is needed to attract a minister that will help guide and inspire us for years to come.
You, the members of this church, have made it the vibrant community it is today. Let’s make sure we keep the fire going. To quote my favorite Transitional UU Minister, Samuel Schaal, “You have not only been to church, you are the church.”
Why "That's my church" - Stephanie Kimball
When I was a child, church was very important to me. Eventually I became disillusioned with organized religion, but those early experiences held a place in my life for spirituality and fueled a quest for meaning that still drives me today. So when my first child was born, I found myself back in the denomination of my childhood, in hopes of providing such a placeholder for him as well. Before long, though, I found myself again struggling with that church’s creed: I simply didn’t believe what I was told I should. But I did believe in something. I believed in justice, and peace, and that there was something important about the connection I felt to the earth. I believed in the transformative power of democracy and community, and that each and every person had something worthy to contribute. When I first attended the UU church, I was astonished to find that there is a religion for this! But this religious home has proven to be far more than a placeholder for spiritual growth, for me and for my children. It’s been a refuge, a sanctuary, a comfort, and a resource. As my children have grown and been exposed to racism, sexism, homophobia and other injustices, they’ve also known this community of people who stand up for the inherent worth and dignity of every human being. As they witness the suffering of homelessness and hunger, they know that people in this community act with compassion and generosity. As they see the apathy and ignorance of people in the face of climate disruption, they have also seen this church community responding with zeal, doing their part to help solve the problem. For every sad, scary, disappointing fact of life, it seems there is a group of UUs passionate about making it better. Without that, I’m not sure how children growing up today avoid apathy or disillusion. I don’t know what I would do without this supportive, challenging, visionary community, and that’s why I pledge my support every year. It’s not easy, with a very tight budget, but I know this place could not continue to be what it is without financial support, so I give as much as I can. I hope you’ll do the same.
An Invitation - Jack and Sylvia King
In the year 2000 we left the Protestant denomination where we had been members for several decades and began a search for a new spiritual home. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington was number one on our list to visit. We never got to number two. The first few worship services were eye-opening. Singing some of the hymns was difficult; they so perfectly expressed who and where we were that we could hardly keep our emotions in check. Damp eyes were frequent. It was exhilarating to be among a people so accepting of spiritual diversity. A poem written between us about this time said in part:
for the gently fussing ark of unitarian-universalism
full of crusty true believers
in the worth of unbelief
who sail together
on the world’s great flood of tears
we are gratefully amazed
We had found a community that both supported and challenged us, a community where the most rigidly held belief was that it was good to avoid rigidly held belief. Cookie and Bill Lynch soon drew us into the Wednesday courthouse demonstrations protesting the invasion of Afghanistan and then Iraq. The dozens of signs prepared for participants soon migrated from the trunk of the Lynch car to the trunk of ours. The UU’s were not the only group to be involved in this expression of dissent, but were certainly in a leadership role. We had found a community that pushed hard to be authentic and bold in its pursuit of peace and justice. In the years since then we have found other ways to be involved: being part of the caring ministry of the church, teaching now and then, and so on. We have also found that it is important to pledge, to be regular supporters of the church budget. We owe a great debt—all of us—to those who came before us. They had the idea, they built the community, they gave it a place with a solid foundation and wide open doors. We want that community to thrive now and to live on into the future. For those of us who have the means—and that’s almost all of us, right?—we can do no less than put a meaningful share of our money where our heart is. We hope you will join us.
Stewardship Testimonial - Steve Mascari
My first experience with the UU Church was when my friend Thomas Kuhn invited me to attend a visitation at the Bloomington Juvenile Detention Center. He explained to me that a group of church members had formed an organization to minister there. I had just recently become aware of the inequity of the American prison system so I didn’t hesitate to accept his offer. I had never been in a juvenile detention center, and had never heard of Unitarian Universalism, so I had no idea what to expect.
I don’t remember a lot of the details of the evening, but there was one moment I will never forget. Near the end of the evening, after we had large and small group discussions and music, some of the kids looked at each other and were laughing. Barb Backler called them out and they explained to her that it was almost over and no one had yet told them that Jesus was their only hope and “all that stuff that we always get from church groups”. I watched the kids’ faces when she answered (as best I can remember) “No one here is going to tell you anything like that. If you look in your heart and find that truth, we celebrate and support you in that.” The kids had never heard a member of a church say that, and neither had I.
The reason I love belonging to and financially supporting UU Bloomington is that it is such an extraordinary force for change in the community and world; the change I want to be a part of, and done in ways full of integrity and authenticity.
When the current state of the world seems hopeless and lost, I remind myself that I’m part of a team of brilliant, compassionate and committed individuals. And I remember that our church is part of a large and growing group of churches and other progressive organizations that believe in real justice and lasting peace – and then I fill out my pledge card and I “give until it feels good!”