Dear Fellow South Church Steward,

This is an invitation ~ an invitation to join in the spiritual practice of generosity.

We have experienced ourselves as a strong and vibrant congregation through almost three years of transition. Now we are embarked on a new chapter at South Church. Reverends Lauren and Chris have arrived.  The excitement is palpable. We are poised to grow once again into a visible beacon in the Seacoast community and within the UU movement nationally. We are challenged to meet our self-proclaimed goals from S.A.I.L. Weekend, from religious education and music to administration and worship.

Our congregation is richly endowed. We are endowed with people of talent and commitment, endowed with a long and impressive history, endowed with a legacy of community and service, endowed with a spiritual home of breathtaking beauty and inspiration. We have every reason to enjoy a faith in our own abundance, a faith in our ability to accomplish whatever we set our hearts to do.

It is in this spirit that our Annual Budget Campaign (ABC) will be launched on Sunday, October 2. It is in this spirit that we invite every member to embrace generosity as a spiritual practice.

How do we know when we are being generous? Here are four ways we might each use to answer that question. The generous South Church member will:

Commit at or above 2.5% of our annual income.

That percentage is the best assessment of what UUs pledge nationally. As our individual circumstances vary, so too will the determination of our annual incomes. Some may consider gross income, some after tax income; some may incorporate special circumstances such as medical expenses or college tuitions. That determination is best made by you when you make a financial commitment, in the context of generosity as a spiritual practice.

The Stewardship Committee believes that if all members and friends made this level of financial commitment, South Church would be generously funded. There are three other ways to align yourself in the spirit of generosity and commitment to the future:

Increase your commitment each year.

Church expenses grow. Repairs and maintenance are required, salaries rise, materials for programs and utilities to keep us functioning all cost more. Can we raise our commitments by $1/day? $10/month? The cost of buying a coffee a week?

Commit at or above the South Church average commitment ($1,350) or at or above the median (as many above as below) South Church commitment ($900).

Both measures need to grow substantially for our community to be one of abundance. An individual goal for each of us might well be to move into a higher level (changed from “into the next level”) in the enclosed chart of 2011 commitments:

Adopt Unitarian-Universalist Association (UUA) guidelines for generous commitments.

The Stewardship Committee, after review and discussion, believes that giving based on the enclosed excerpted version would bring us to a place of abundance. The UUA guidelines also provide you with a guide for determining your annual income, on which to base your financial commitment.

You are invited to a spiritual practice of generosity, a culture of abundance, a faith in ourselves, our mission, and what our spiritual community can accomplish.

If you made a commitment last year, evaluate whether you might be even more generous in the ways suggested above.  If this is the first time you are making a financial commitment to your spiritual home, you, too, may adopt the generosity guides above.

Please return the enclosed Financial Commitment Form prior to the October 30 conclusion of our Annual Budget Campaign. We invite you to contact us or any member of the Stewardship Committee (listed in brochure) to share your hopes and dreams for South Church, any concerns you may have, or for conversation about determining your financial commitment.

We have embarked on a renewed voyage, with new leadership whose time we will want to expand and more fairly compensate. Now we need all hands on deck to follow our chosen course.

With thanks. In love and community,

Jackie Ellis & Brad Greeley

Co-Chairs, Stewardship Committee