Time

Sharing Your Presence

Joy shared is multiplied, sorrow halved.

Many people ask, “Why should I go to church?” The answer is community, fellowhip. One person said, “You should go to church because someone there might need you.”

            Your presence, ideas, feelings, inspirations, motivations, compassion, and preferences are important parts of our congregational life if we are to grow in spirit.

            It is in your singing, gratitude, questioning, knowledge, your listening, your speaking, your actions that you add to the richness of our congregational life.

            There are many churches with large endowments sitting empty and dark on Sunday mornings, because their members have lost interest or died. Your presence is the most valuable gift you can share with us. You might need some one of us and/or we might need you. Unitarian Universalism is a covenantal church which means that we promise to be there for each other.

Regardless of our ability to give money (and sharing your treasure is important), you presence is the most valuable gift you can share with us.

Woody Allen said that 80% of success in life is showing up. Your showing up is a gift to the rest of us, and we pray a gift to yourself.

Talent

Sharing Your Skills

Many hands make light work.

When we come together we recognize that we each have unique talents, abilities, knowledge and skills. There is blessed diversity among us, and when we share our talents and skills in a collaborative and complementary fashion we make beautiful things happen together.

Some people are willing to help set up, and take down, to cook and bake, to sing, to work with children, to help with the financial books, to help with mailing lists and web sites, to organize an activity, to meet and greet others. So many activities and tasks are required to be done to operate a successful congregation.

Below are some of the activities which are necessary to engage in to create a successful congregation we call the Brockport Unitarian Universalist Fellowship:

• Facilities

• Worship

• Music

• Life Span education (including Sunday School)

• Public relations

• Second Sunday planning

• Social Justice

• Steering committee (soon to be a board of directors)

• Outreach

• Finance

• Stewardship

• Fellowship (Coffee hour)

Treasure

Sharing Your Money

Money isn’t everything, and isn’t the most important thing, but it sure does help.

The budget year for BUUF runs from July 1 to June 30^th.

The estimated expenses for the 2010-2011 year are $18,770.00

Estimated expenses for the 2011-2012 financial year is $22,060.00

Here is how the budget is allocated in functional categories:

We do not tithe in our congregation. Instead we encourage our members and friends to be generous and contribute their “fair share” depending on their individual circumstances.

Your fair share should be somewhere between 2 and 10% of your total income.

Pledges are promises not contracts. If your circumstances change or you move away you may change your pledge.

A Stewardship representative will be calling on you between 03/27/11 – 05/01/11 to ask to meet with you for about 30 minutes to discuss your ideas about what you want from our church, your ideas about how we can improve, the time and talent you might be interested in providing, and to ask you to sign a pledge card promising your financial support for the coming fiscal year,

07/01/11 – 06/30/12.

We need your support to maintain and grow our congregation.

Give to grow!

Together we make dreams come true.

Thank you for all you do and for being a part of the Brockport Unitarian Universalist Fellowship!

Together we make dreams come true!

Give to grow.

We are alwyas interested in learning about your hopes and dreams for BUUF, and what your talents are that you would like to share with the congregation. Further, if you are able, a financial pledge for the coming year is appreciated to support the work of the church. BUUF's financial year runs from July 1 - June 30th. For further information, call Don Zimmer 585-395- 9449.