As the holidays and year’s end approach, our church community will gather to celebrate together.  We will share our light and our love.  We will celebrate the new life that has come to bring us joy and hope, symbolized by a baby in a manger or the candles of ritual. And we will, individually and collectively, grieve for those we have lost this year, from our congregation, families, friends and pets.  We will grieve the lives lost senselessly in the streets and the war zone that seems to be all places.

Know that you are held in the light, whatever you are experiencing.  Know that you deserve a time of sacred peace during this season, while the earth rests and incubates.  Know that I whisper a prayer for you, for each of us.

Winter can be an especially bleak if you do not have enough.  We will try to share our blessings through PACEM, our food bank, a Giving Tree, the UUA Service Committee and other acts of collective generosity.  And we want to share our blessings with those in our church family who face scarcity.  If you and your family need help this season, please let us know.  Talk to any member of the staff, please.  We want to act on our belief in our Second Principle, which calls us to justice, equity and compassion.

Many of us review our finances in December and plan for the next year.  Did you know that you may change your pledge if you need or want to, and that your communication will be met with deep gratitude? An email to pledgetracker@uucharlottesville.org will do it.

Many of us also review our charitable giving in December.  If you find that you have blessings to share, please join me in making an end-of-year gift to this church.  There is great momentum here, and your gift will go straight to work in service of our values.

A gift to the general fund will fuel the programs we love.  It will educate our young people so they can do more in the world than those who walked before.  It will take us out in the community to do work on racial justice, to support the Pride Festival, to live our values.  It will make possible the ways we gather to nurture and fortify ourselves, by supporting our music program, our worship, our rights of passage, our study. If you are looking for a direct and respectful way to address survival needs in our congregation, consider a gift to the Minister’s Discretionary fund. Our Christmas Eve offerings go that fund, too.  You may donate online by clicking HERE or by check. Please note if your tax-deductible gift is for the general fund or the Minister’s Discretionary fund.

Thank you for the gifts of your presence this year, for your loving kindness, for your work in the world.  May your goodness be reflected tenfold.  May you be well.

Yours,

Laura

Laura Horn, President