From the minister:

What Do We Value?

2008-2009 Budget Still Short of Dreams

In the past six months, some of our members have communicated with me via conversations and email about their concerns as to what we, as a congregation, value. These concerns were expressed in these words: “This congregation doesn’t value social justice,” and “This congregation doesn’t value art,” and “This congregation doesn’t value music.” While some topics haven’t arisen this year, in the past, the phrase “This congregation doesn’t value …” has also been linked to adult education, youth, staff, the environment, college students – and these are the ones I remember. Each of these statements arises from a feeling of frustration, a desire to see us, as a congregation, moving toward a certain goal or expressing a certain ideal, coupled with the speaker’s sense that we, as a community, have fallen short.

Does this mean we actually don’t value these important ideals? In our society, we tend to measure what we value by what we put our resources toward. In many religious communities, these resources are measured in time, talent, and treasure. The admonitions related above displayed a sense that we were not putting our resources into those values. They reflected events left unattended, committee positions unfilled, and budget lines unmet.

As the keeper of these stories, I sense the heartfelt desire of people in our community to engage us in these acts of fulfilling enrichment. I also understand the complexities at work. I see busy lives, best intentions, unread newsletters, and a need for more information as to what it takes to fund our Fellowship’s vision. I see a great number of very good people trying to create a strong, vibrant community that enriches the lives of people of all ages and engages our larger community. But this is done in tension with those complexities.

One of those complexities is our budget and how well it expresses our communal values. Our budgeting process itself requires that many baseline activities be sustained, and then we reach toward those loftier ideas. Salaries make up the largest portion of our budget, and we’ve been moving all our staff compensation over the past several years to nearly the level set by UUA guidelines, a goal voted on by the congregation many years ago. The board’s recommended budget also continues to refine how we support important social-justice activities, adding both AMOS and Good Neighbor as line items in our budget. These two organizations, in particular, are membership-based; we have joined both as a congregation through votes at annual meetings. It’s taken time to arrive at this place.

We did very well with our pledge drive, but as of this moment, we still have around 50 families who pledged this year that have yet to pledge for next year. Not knowing what our income might be makes budgeting difficult. Committees also dreamed big this year, with wonderful visionary ideas, including the Music Committee’s plans to enhance our music programs at the Fellowship. Unfortunately, these plans could not be funded with the pledges we received.

Do we value these ideas enough to step up to the plate again and take another swing at funding this budget? The board is asking all of us this question with its request that we consider additionally pledging the cost of two coffees a month. Not everyone can do this, but some of us can. What we value is described both in our mission statement and in our budget. That budget does not belong to the Finance Committee, the board, or even the committees. It is the congregation’s budget, voted by each member who chooses to use that important resource, their voice. Please attend the congregational meeting on Sunday, May 4. Note that we will have a short, single service at 10 a.m., followed by the congregational meeting, and then a potluck picnic at Emma McCarthy Lee Park.

See you on Sundays,

-- Brian