I’m very pleased that we had such a successful pledge drive, and I wanted to thank everyone in the congregation who pledged their support for the next fiscal year. Your pledges make all of our programs possible, and we appreciate each and every pledge of support. In addition, I would like to thank our wonderful pledge drive team, who worked tirelessly to make it  easy for you to pledge, to follow up with members, and to highlight heartfelt thoughts from a number of church members about why pleding is important to them.

Now that the pledge drive is complete, the Finance Committee, Treasurer and staff have been working hard to finalize a draft budget for next year (starting 7/1/2026). That draft budget will come to the Board at the April meeting, with additional discussion and a final vote happening at our May Board meeting. In between, the congregation will have an opportunity to learn more about next year’s budget from Treasurer Jimmy Gorham at several open discussions. The first will take place in the sanctuary after the service on Sunday, May 3. The second one will be on a weeknight evening on zoom – watch the newsletter for details. Please join Jimmy to learn more about the budget and the process. Our UU values inform the way we create, review and approve the budget, as well as what we actually fund, and we welcome your participation.

Finally, all qualified church members (per bylaws) will have the opportunity to vote on the budget, nominations for the Board and other committees, and other business at our annual congregational meeting. This will be held on Sunday, June 7 after the service, so please mark your calendars. Even if you are not a member, you are welcome to come to the meeting to see how we work together, and to participate in discussion. The official packet for the congregational meeting will be sent out closer to the date.

Submitted by: Carol Gardner, President