I am conscious of the bloom and blossoming of spring, the time when we begin to plant seeds in gardens and also for our next program year, 2024 - 2025 -- as our current program year soon comes to a close in June.

I am also very conscious that we are blessed with the vision and privilege of co-creating a Fellowship that often feels like a joyful and peaceful haven, not only for us, but for many in surrounding communities, providing a place of respite and hope when the world beyond us can feel much less so.

At this time when we are witness to new life blooming in nature, we here at ERUUF are in pledge season and also budget season, imagining and reflecting upon what we would like to see grow.

First, in the seeds of the budget that we plant and nurture for the coming year, we have the opportunity to be imaginative and creative, just as ERUUFians decades before us were. These seeds allow us to envision courageously how we might contribute, not to ourselves alone, but also to the people and world beyond us.

Budgets reflect our values, and our pledges do as well. They’re tangible indicators of how we have decided to focus our energy, individually and collectively.

Budgets reflect our values, and they sometimes also reveal inequities.

This past year the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) asked all congregations to view staff compensation through an equity lens, and also incorporate cost of living recommendations. While ERUUF has a long-standing commitment to fair compensation, with recent revisions to the UUA salary equity guidelines, the gap between our present personnel budget and where we need to be is quite large.

Why does this matter?

Every goal or dream that we have here at ERUUF, whether it's in the upkeep of our grounds and facilities, worship, the planning and accomplishment of programs, workshops, music and justice making, celebrations and mourning, the care of our children, youth, and one another, all the work of shared ministry, in some way involve a staff member. Often in ways that may be invisible.

For the coming year there are already exciting plans in many of the above-named areas, as well as for multigenerational programming, and a continuation of our efforts to center our children, youth, and families, as we nurture their values and the values of us all.

How do we live into our principles and values, along with ongoing commitments to fair compensation rooted in equity?

If you have not yet made a financial pledge toward the coming year’s budget, I invite you to do so. No amount is too small or goes unvalued. And, if it’s within your means to do so, consider increasing your pledge, especially if you’re already a committed sustainer.

As we are in the midst of the pledge drive, we are inspired by the ongoing generosity of the Fellowship, many new and increased pledges, and the gifts of time and creativity that help us live into our mission and vision.

We shall be prudent in how we bring salaries into balance, which will take more than a single year. And, we shall keep before us that ERUUF is an amazing place, especially needed for these times.

As a people who co-create and share the ministry together (THIS IS US), it requires a commitment and investment of our resources to live into the fullness of what we might imagine.

May we continue to plant seeds.

May we continue to be transformed.

May we continue to be more together than we are alone.

May we create the capacity to do so.

Palms together,

Rev. Jacqueline