Filed under: Becoming and Being Part of a UU Congregation, Church Finances and Stewardship, Politics, Elections, and Government, Special Events, Stewardship & Finances, UU Denomination and Pacific Central District News and Views | Tags: building project, capital campaign, church expansion, church renovation, county board meeting, master plan, minister testimony, our new church
On our UUSS Master Plan and request for
a use permit for phase 1a of the building project
By Rev. Roger Jones
Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento
Monday evening, August 12, 2013
[Following presentation by Jeff Gold, Architect]
Good evening, and thank you for your service.
My name is Roger Jones and I having been serving as a minister to this congregation since 2008. Currently I serve as the acting senior minister.
Our church was founded in 1868 by 17 families in Sacramento. Now we are a community of more than 400 adults, children and youth.
In the late 1950s, when we bought our current property on Sierra Boulevard, that parcel and those around it were farmland, with a few houses. We built our main meeting hall in 1960 and added an education wing a few years later. Except for those few homes that already stood on large parcels, the neighborhood grew up around us.
The master plan that you are considering today would be our first major improvement and renovation in a half century. We are excited about it. Last year, members and friends of the church committed $1.3 million in a capital fundraising campaign for the project. Gifts ranged from $100 to over $100 thousand.
From the outside, nearly every house of worship can seem like an institution that exists only for its members, with a focus on what goes on inside. While we do have a caring community in the church, we are also committed members of the larger community.
Many of our local neighbors come over to our wooded campus for a brisk walk or a stroll away from the street. Some neighbors walk their dogs, push their babies in strollers, or help their kids learn to ride a bike with training wheels on our parking lot.
Several not-for-profit organizations hold monthly meetings in our classrooms. Often we’re the site for funerals or memorial services for leaders from the local community and other folks who may not have had their own house of worship.
In the 1960s, our church founded a community theater, which continues to stage two productions every year in our main hall, with good attendance from the larger community.
One thing I’m very proud of is this:
At every Sunday morning service we give away half of the freewill donations in the offering basket to local charities. This is above and beyond what members pledge to the church operations. In this last fiscal year we contributed $25,000 to 13 not-for-profit organizations through the Shared Sunday Offering and Christmas Eve giving.
During the holiday season we also collect food, clothing, toys and money for local charities.
Along with several other houses of worship, we are a host for Family Promise. Four times a year we welcome homeless families with children for a week of dinners and overnight accommodations on our classroom floors. During the day they attend support programs or school downtown.
Personally, I participate in Sheriff Jones’s Community and Faith-Based Advisory Board meetings, and in my first year on the job I attended the District Attorney’s Citizens’ Academy program.
Our annual budget supports 15 full-time or part-time staff members, all of whom are county residents. A number of our employees live just walking distance from the church, and several families from our congregation are homeowners in the neighborhood.
Our vision of an improved and renewed church campus is a strong statement of our commitment to be involved citizens, responsible stewards, and good neighbors.
Thank you for your consideration of this vision.
Filed under: Becoming and Being Part of a UU Congregation, Family Ministry, Inspiration, Special Events, Stewardship & Finances, UU Denomination and Pacific Central District News and Views | Tags: belonging, building campaign, capital campaign, spiritual community, spiritual parenting, testimonial, Unitarian Universalist
This is it! We are concluding the public phase of the capital giving campaign. Next week is Celebration Sunday, when we celebrate this campaign and our community with services for all ages. We will also announce how much people have committed over the next two calendar years and how much was donated in the First Gifts Sunday last week. Right now we have raised $1.2 million in commitments from around 200 participants, so we are on our way to achieving the campaign’s Stretch Goal of $1.5 million. Each $10,000 gift now also garners an extra $1,000 match from a donor family. Thanks to everyone for your hard work and generosity. A Commitment Form may be downloaded at this link.
Sunday, November 11, 2012, by Bonnie
My commitment to the Capital Campaign is not like my regular pledge to UUSS. This campaign is specifically about our buildings and how we use them, which got me thinking about my own history with this building.
I first set foot inside this building sometime in the mid 1990’s. A friend was playing in a community concert band and invited me to her concert. I distinctly remember sitting right over there and being so distracted by the banners around the room that I hardly paid attention to the music being played.
To give some context to this, let me say that growing up, my family did not attend church and we didn’t discuss god or even the absence of god. In my teens the concept of religion seemed exotic.
I was envious of my friends who had spiritual roots and could identify themselves with a religious label. I tried several on for size, but nothing seemed to fit. I concluded that organized religion was just not for me. I was a misfit, without an island of misfit thinkers to join.
So as I sat through my friend’s concert, for the first time in a long time I saw a glimmer of hope in what these banners suggested about openness and curiosity. My own curiosity about this place simmered in the back of my mind for a while, but I still didn’t feel like I was ready to commit to some group that required me to deny or defend any skepticism I might have.
But after my daughter was born, I found myself willing to re-engage in the exploration. So in the fall of 2000, I came to a Sunday service. This time I sat way back there –right next to the door in case I had to make a quick getaway.
But no one tried to convert me to anything, and while I was still skeptical, this space felt warm and inviting. I had a baby at home, so my attendance was sporadic, and I still sat way in the back, but I realized that sitting in this space for an hour or so on Sunday mornings provided me with a kind of nourishment I had never before received but discovered I had deeply missed.
About a year after that first service, I sat right back there, inside the lobby, where extra rows of chairs had been added to accommodate the people who couldn’t fit into the main hall. It was the Sunday after September 11, and I was so grateful to have this place to come to. For the very first time I felt like I could identify myself with a religious organization, and that I might actually be a “Unitarian Universalist.”
My daughter must have been about five years old when she first started attending services with me. She was absolutely fascinated by the lighting of the chalice and was quite dissatisfied with the view from the back of the room. It didn’t take long before she asked if we could sit in the front row—in the chairs closest to the chalice. I was completely caught off guard by my reaction.
Although I might have considered myself a Unitarian Universalist, I still saw myself as a newcomer, certainly not someone who had the right to sit in the front row of someone else’s church. I tried everything I could think of to convince her that the view was just fine from where we were. But she didn’t buy it. She looked me right in the eye and asked: “Mommy, why can’t we sit in the front row?”
How do you explain to a five-year-old a lifetime of doubts about church and religion and not belonging anywhere? She clearly felt like she belonged here. So, I let her lead me to that seat right there and we watched as the chalice was lit. It became our routine to sit in the front, and gradually, her confidence rubbed off on me. It may have taken me almost a decade from when I first set foot here, but I finally felt like I belonged–to this community – to this place.
And whether it was attending Sunday services, watching a Theater One performance, or coming to the annual Christmas tree trimming party, this place has nourished me in countless ways over the years. It was a year ago this December that Ben and I stood backstage, and peeked through the opening in the curtains as we watched each of our daughters light candles right down here. A few minutes later, we joined them, and Doug led us through our wedding vows.
So now, I feel like this building and I, we go way back. We are old friends. And like an old friend, I don’t want to take this place for granted. I am so grateful that as my daughter navigates her way through her teens that she has this place to ground her. And I like to imagine that at some point in the future, someone like me might wander in, take a look around, and find a spiritual home here.
So, it is with deep gratitude for those who built and maintain this place that I am supporting the Capital Campaign.
Filed under: Becoming and Being Part of a UU Congregation, Church Finances and Stewardship, Comparative Religion, Inspiration, Special Events, Stewardship & Finances, UU Denomination and Pacific Central District News and Views | Tags: capital campaign, spiritual community, UU congregation
[This was emailed to the above group of folks on Tuesday.]
Dear Friends and Guests of UUSS,
In late September the Unitarian Universalist Society launched our first Capital Giving Campaign in a half century. We’ve named it Building the Beloved Community. The giving campaign in 1960 left its mark on our congregation. It fostered the community we have become—a community of caring, questioning, generous, thoughtful people committed to living our principles of justice, love, respect, peace, and compassion. Generations to come will be inspired, welcomed, and nurtured by the results of our current campaign and improvements.
We invite you to stop by to see what we have already done to support the recently adopted Master Plan for the buildings and grounds. You may already have seen or heard about the new canopy-covered entry structure that draws you in to the gathering space and the Flaming Chalice sculpture by Taylor Gutermute that adorns our entry door. The UURTHSONG community garden is in its 4th year and will be planted soon for winter. Volunteers renovated the kitchen and the Theodore C. Abell Library.
Our child, youth and adult Religious Education programs have grown out of the space we have. Our Main Hall sanctuary is in need of improvements and expansion. The infrastructure that supports that sanctuary and the Religious Education buildings needs upgrading and repair. In addition to a larger and brighter sanctuary, plans include more offices, Religious Education rooms, an outdoor amphitheater, and labyrinth for walking. The architect’s renderings are beautiful and inspiring. See the plans at this link.
Given your connection to UUSS, I invite you to consider making a financial contribution in support of this unique, liberal religious community that has been meaningful to you and many others. You may download and print a Commitment Form at this link, or you may ask the Office to mail one to you.
Sunday, November 4, is First Gifts Sunday, when members, friends, and guests will make first gifts of varying sizes and make commitments to the capital campaign for the next two calendar years. (If you are in town, we’d love to see you. Remember to “fall back” an hour as Daylight Saving Time ends.)
The campaign will conclude on Celebration Sunday, November 18.
We want to sustain the best UUSS has to offer to you and to others—including both those who are like you and those distinct from you. Join us in this venture to make UUSS the welcoming and inspiring space we envision as together we build the beloved community. Thank you for your consideration!
In the spirit,
Carrie
Chair, Capital Campaign Leadership Team
P. S. — If you are a friend who has been away for a while, here is an update: in addition to our settled Senior Minister, Doug Kraft, we have called and installed an Associate Minister, Roger Jones, who brings to UUSS a different approach and with Doug, guides us in our own personal spiritual journeys in a way that is rich, challenging and fulfilling. We have an energetic, talented and dedicated church staff.
Check out the Unigram past and present at this link to see where we’ve come from, and where we’re going. If you are a newer friend or one who is in the area, we hope you have read and responded to the invitation for this Friday’s all-church celebration dinner, at The Center at 2300 Sierra Blvd.
Filed under: Church Finances and Stewardship, Family Ministry, Inspiration, Special Events, Stewardship & Finances, UU Denomination and Pacific Central District News and Views | Tags: capital campaign, Family Ministry, financial generosity, giving campaign testimonial, stewardship, supporting church families
October 14, 2012.
My Testimonial
Delivered by Maxine Cornwell at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento
Imagine 1959:
There are no freeways in Sacramento. Highway 50 is Folsom Boulevard; I-80 is Highway 40, which makes its way slowly through Roseville, Citrus Heights, Town and Country, North Sacramento, Del Paso Heights and eventually into Sacramento; Highway 99 follows Stockton Boulevard; and I-5 isn’t yet even a dream.
Bob and I are living in Fair Oaks with our 4 ½-year-old son Bobby, and 2-year-old daughter Nancy. We wanted religious education for our son; after all he would start kindergarten in the fall. So we began going to the Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church.
But soon Bobby’s reports from Sunday School alarmed us: threats of hell, being damned from birth; descriptions of sin, even original sin—teachings we considered totally inappropriate for a 4-year-old, or perhaps even for a 14-year old.
We started putting the children to bed really early, and staying up late into the night sharing our thoughts about what we wanted from church for them and also for ourselves.
One Wednesday when I was participating at Bobby’s preschool, I mentioned our dilemma to another mother. She said, “Come with me to my church.”
So the following Sunday, we loaded our children into our 1954 Oldsmobile and followed her family down Fair Oaks Boulevard all the way to the First Unitarian Church on 27th Street.
Bobby came out of RE that morning with a story about Martin and Judy and their wondrous discoveries in their own back yard.
In the coming weeks and months, Bob and I would learn that Martin and Judy was the first in a curriculum series developed by Sofia Lyon Fahs for Unitarian religious education beginning in preschool and ending in the last year of high school.
Here was what we had described to each other: a program based on the stage of the child’s development that taught wonder, courage, open-mindedness, inclusiveness, and a basic understanding of the Judeo-Christian culture in which he/she would live rather than fear, guilt, and dogma.
This curriculum became the basis for RE in our home and at church for Bobby and Nancy and for the other two children we would have, Launa and Carrie.
Today we want to be a part of ensuring that this kind of RE will be available here in this place for our grandson, Alec Redmond, and for all of the daughters, sons, granddaughters, and grandsons whose parents seek a developmentally appropriate liberal religious education program for their children during the next 50 or more years.
Filed under: Becoming and Being Part of a UU Congregation, Church Finances and Stewardship, Inspiration, Rituals, Prayers, Elements of Worship Services, Stewardship & Finances, UU Denomination and Pacific Central District News and Views | Tags: belonging in community, building fund, building project, capital campaign, church building fund, financial stewardship, generosity, giving campaign testimonial
September 23, 2012
Twenty years ago this month I made a decision that would change my life: I decided to come to church, here.
When I got here I found a vibrant young adult group, supported by a minister, herself a young adult, who UUSS had hired with funds from a special fundraising appeal.
Also, 20 years ago, Greg Redmond was moving to Sacramento from St. Louis for his medical residency. One of his fellow residents was the spouse of that UUSS young adult minister.
In 1993, Greg and I met here in Room 6, right over there in the East Wing. It was at one of the weekly Sunday evening young adult meetings. Six and a half years later, we married. In 2005, our son Alec was born, and a few months later his naming ceremony took place right here.
This place was quite different in September of 1992. The chairs were a much more bright and bold orange then than they are today. The reverends John Young and Richelle Russell, the young adult minister, presided over services. Judy Bell was church president. Thirty-year old buildings aren’t nearly as worn as 50-year old buildings. And many of the faces smiling back at me on that Sunday in 1992 are no longer with us.
Still this community – and especially that young adult group – provided me with a special place to come every week to learn about myself, explore religion, and get to know others on a like path. Those meetings shaped my spiritual life, developed my practice, and in the end, created my family.
In April of this year, my husband Greg told Bud Swank – our capital campaign consultant and today’s preacher – that UUSS is central to my world. I hadn’t ever thought of it like that, but standing here, I know he’s right.
Filed under: Becoming and Being Part of a UU Congregation, Church Finances and Stewardship, Family Ministry, UU Denomination and Pacific Central District News and Views | Tags: building expansion, Building the Beloved Community, capital campaign, church improvements, congregational stewardship, financial support, generosity, UU building project, visionary church
This letter is going out on nice stationery in the regular mail to members, friends and supporters from Doug, my senior colleague at church.
This is for our first capital giving campaign in a half century!
* * *
Last Sunday a couple introduced themselves to me. Their smiles were warm, their eyes were shy: “We haven’t been here before.” Typical of the several first-timers each Sunday, they were looking for a place to support their journey rather than tell them what to believe. They were looking for people who cared about them and the larger world, a community more interested in depth than doctrine. Our congregation is one of the few choices in this area.
As I welcomed them, I quietly hoped they would connect with several of you soon. Until then, the buildings might dominate their impressions. Looking through their eyes, it is hard to find your way into the congregation: the main doorway is tucked into a dark alcove on the back of the building. Once inside, it’s crowded: you have to push past many elbows to find a seat. The buildings are worn: they don’t project the caring in our hearts. And they leak energy: they aren’t earth friendly.
Ever since I first stepped onto our campus, people have said they yearned to improve our beloved community. We’ve started. We built a dramatic new entryway structure. We upgraded the kitchen, refurbished the library, created a community garden and freshened the lounge. These projects inspired us to look at the whole campus. Our Master Planners helped us sort out our priorities. A gifted architect created beautiful, practical options. We unanimously adopted a 50 Year Master Plan and said, “Let’s start!” For a tribe of independent-minded people, our unanimous vote was a Unitarian Universalist miracle.
We are in better shape now than ever to do what we’ve dreamed about for years. We have the momentum of recent improvements and shared vision. We have people and programming in place. Our spirits are high.
Now is our time to make it happen. Those who created our buildings over fifty years ago look back fondly at a time that transformed the congregation and their lives. A generation from now, the congregation will look back on us with deep gratitude for what we did to pass on a stronger, more inspiring home for liberal and progressive religion.
Now is our time to come together: it will take all of us doing what we can within our means.
Please reflect on the importance of the congregation in your life and in our community. Generosity uplifts the spirit and opens the heart. I will be grateful to have you as part of our Giving Campaign: it’s good to have you with us; it is good to be together; it’s good to spread our values to the wider community
I ask you to make an initial gift and a commitment to give during the next two years. Please be generous. Your gifts make a difference. They help us all to come together, deepen our lives and be a force for healing in the world.
Namasté,
Doug
Filed under: Becoming and Being Part of a UU Congregation, Family Ministry, Special Events, Stewardship & Finances, UU Denomination and Pacific Central District News and Views | Tags: capital campaign, church vision, congregational governance, long range plan, mission statement
Building the Future: What You Should Know Before Oct. 16
We’ll get an exciting update on Master Planning progress at the Congregational Meeting at 12:30 PM on Sunday, Oct. 16. This visionary work is part of our long range plan.
These goals were established through a series of workshops a few years ago, and then voted on by members. Every year the congregation hears an update on progress. We’ll do that after church Oct. 2 and then will have a vote at our Oct. 16 meeting. The goals include
- development of the building and grounds to meet the needs of the coming generations of members and friends,
- deepening connections among members and helping folks get involved and make friends, and
- strengthening ministries to families and children. This includes building community across the generations.
Ironicschmoozer's Weblog 