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Originally Posted by HeatherE  Well it's official, we joined our local UU as members today!  :  We've been lurking, sporadically going to this new one for years, we previously were members at a UU in our old town but had a harder time committing to this one for some reason. We decided once and for all to make it a priority and have been going regularly for a few months now. Woo hoo!
I have a question, for any other members or folks who contribute financially to their UU congregation. They gave us this guidline paper, starting with 3% of your income going up to 10%. Even 3% isn't really doable for us this year, is that a big deal do you know? At our old church we only gave $20 a month but that church was super laid back and everyone knew we were pretty broke then.
It's exciting, a little daunting, i am timid about meeting new people and so is my husband. We just need to keep going and it'll work out, i'm sure. |
Congratulations on becoming a member, Heather!
Regarding the contribution, I think money is a touchy subject at a lot of UU churches. My church is right now in the middle of our annual campaign and we will make our pledges for next year at a special, all-congregation service on March 29. So we are hearing a lot of testimonials and I was invited to a reception at a member's house for "select members" on "the direction of our church going forward". Basically I see everybody trying to walk that line between coming across as being greedy and/or valuing my money more than my presence and my time, and the simple fact that running and growing a church costs money and if we want it to stay around and stay vibrant we need to provide that money.
The little chart my church hands out has different levels (Helping, Supporting, Sustaining, etc.) and the amount for each level is in a percentage that is different for different levels of income. The range is from 2% to 10%.
I have no doubt than any amount you can give will be perfectly fine. They just want you to consider the importance of the church in your life and pledge accordingly. For myself, last year I did not increase my pledge over the previous year at all because I really felt that I could not afford to. This year I intend to increase it, even though it still seems like I can't afford it, but the church adds so much to my life and I know that if I pledge it I will find a way to pay it.
With all that said, starting the chart at 3% seems a little ambitious to me. I gave right around 2.5% last year and I am going to try to push that close to 3% for the first time this year, but I doubt I will get all the way there. And my church is really, really important to me, so it is definitely not lack of commitment keeping my contribution down. What has been said at my church that I think is a pretty good idea is to think about what the church means to you and what you think you can afford to give each month and write that down. Then add just a little bit - 5 or 10 dollars a month - and pledge the result. Don't worry too much about what percentage of your income your pledge ends up being. The charts are just to give you a starting point for thinking about your pledge.
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to the thread, Kimberly.
