Oct 4, 2024 | Stewardship and Membership
Over many years, we have likened stewardship to a shepherd watching over their flock; ensuring the flock is protected and has what it needs to flourish. Put in simpler terms, our community is blessed with many Members and Friends who contribute their time, their talent, and their treasures to ensure that our community has what it needs to flourish.
Thank goodness for our volunteers who make our community possible. With our limited amount of staffing, we rely heavily on our Members and Friends to help with both large and small tasks critical to ensuring a robust and fulfilling experience for all Members and Friends.
Did you know it can require up to 35 people to assemble a Sunday morning? And what about all the individuals who serve as committee and board members or the folks who maintain our building and our grounds. Or the many Members and Friends who help with Hospitality or the auction or packing food boxes during the holidays. The list goes on and on and all of us benefit from this abundance of giving of our time.
Many volunteer opportunities take only a few minutes, take little, if any, training, and can be done at your convenience. How about volunteering to be a greeter on a Sunday morning? Or helping prepare for or clean up Coffee Hour occasionally? Or sign up to bring flowers for a Sunday service?
How does one get more involved in serving our community? Talk to someone who is already doing something you would be interested in. They will point you in the right direction. When you volunteer – when you give back to our community – you experience the satisfaction of giving and the gratitude of the community you serve.
UUCOD Stewardship and Membership Committees
Sep 1, 2024 | Stewardship and Membership
For our church community, September is like early Spring in the desert. Even though our fiscal year officially begins in July, July and August are quiet months. September is when full-year Members and Friends begin to emerge from our air-conditioned homes and return from vacations away as the heat subsides. We begin to anticipate and plan for the surge in activity that begins in October. And our seasonal Members and Friends contemplate closing their summer homes and preparing for their season in the desert.
In September, our Board of Directors meets to determine our goals for the church year. Our various committees reconvene and make plans for the coming year in anticipation of our Church Council in October. Our church calendar will be bursting with activities, and we will celebrate the coming together of both full-time and returning seasonal Members and Friends with our In-Gathering luncheon on Sunday, October 13 following our service.
Is September a good time for each of us individually to determine our plans for the coming church year and identify how we can participate in and support our church community?
Our community is stronger than the sum of its individual parts and our contributions that support our community. Each of us, at some level, contributes to the well-being of our community and we rely upon our Members and Friends to be generous with their time, their talents, and their treasures.
What can you offer to support our community in the coming year?
Aug 1, 2024 | Stewardship and Membership
It is August now.
In the desert, it’s hot, our energy is low, and we tend to rest. It’s a time for rest and reflection.
Some of you may be in areas where the weather, friends, and families are keeping you very busy leaving little time to think about UUCOD. Perhaps allow yourself some moments to consider last year and the coming year both where you are now and, in the desert, when you return.
When we reflect on our Church experiences this past year, we think of all the people we call our friends.
When you think of last year in our UUCOD Beloved Community, what comes up for you? Smiles, laughter, joy at what events? Which people? Groups you are a part of? Friends you have made? Are you laughing as you consider these things?
We also reflect on the activities in which we engaged during the year. Some we want to continue; some new ones we want to try out and see how it fits for us.
Reflections include allowing memories to come to you in quiet spaces and times. Memories will also include emotions and feelings to which we consider how we want to respond.
Consider all these situations, events, memories, joys as you consider how you would like this coming year at UUCOD to be for you.
Do you want to make new friends? Consider Men’s Breakfast or Women’s Night Out. Join a Chalice Circle.
In our July article we spoke of Community of Communities. In this coming year, do you want to join a small community? Choir? Hospitality? AV team? Worship? There are so many more options available for you in small communities (Membership, Stewardship, Finance, Social Justice, Facilities).
Most importantly, make a decision to do something differently this next year that will bring you that “I belong here” feeling of community or as one of our new members said, “I found my people”.
UUCOD Stewardship and Membership Committees
Jul 1, 2024 | Stewardship and Membership
We think of the Church as our Beloved Community. We work to make this incredibly special community as welcoming as possible.
What makes a community? Our June article “Needing One Another” spoke of communities forming around central concepts and primary needs. As well as our personal interests, needs and abilities.
Consider thinking of the entire Unitarian Universalist Association as a Community of Communities called, for example, congregations, Churches, or many other names.
Then consider thinking of UUCOD as a Community composed of many smaller communities. For example, Choir is a community, Sacred Grounds Team is a community, the Board and Church Council are communities, Hospitality, Chalice Circles, AV Team, Book Club, Crafting Time, Scrabble, our 80+ Group, Women’s Night Out, and Men’s Breakfast are all communities. Plus, Committees, such as Worship, Care, Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging (DIB) Ministry, Social Justice, Membership, Finance, Facilities, Stewardship are all communities. We make friends when we share events, music, and engage in crafting or making coffee on Sunday morning.
What happens to our concept of UUCOD when we think of it as a Community of Communities? What happens when we think of ourselves as belonging to one or more smaller communities within the greater whole of UUCOD’s Community? We each belong to our special smaller communities and to our Beloved Community of UUCOD.
For a visitor of just a few weeks, this may not be apparent. For a visitor, “friend” or new member this concept may come as an awareness of how comfortable we feel when with our special community. How much we miss our small community when we are away for the summer or for months at a time.
When we consider our personal needs, interests and abilities perhaps think of which community you would like to join.
Jun 1, 2024 | Stewardship and Membership
Searching for and creating community with others is a basic practice as old as nature. And it is not just humans that seek community. Most animals instinctually do this: consider honeybees or a gaggle of migrating geese working together to achieve a specific goal. Or how about a flock of sheep, a pack of herding dogs, and the shepherd forming a mutually beneficial group? Ancient humans formed community with like-minded individuals for safety and segregation of duties based on individual interests, skills, and needs.
Increasingly less common, extended, multi-generational families are tightly knit communities that work collectively for the common good. However, today we find many individuals who have, for various reasons, moved away from their friends and family. Finding and creating bonds with individuals with values and interests similar to one’s own is a challenging task. And as we form community with one another, we begin to develop a logical family of choice that feeds our soul and helps us define our own space in the world.
Communities form around central concepts and primary needs. For UUCOD Members and Friends, shared beliefs and values are often a common thread that first brings us together. Our primary ministry helps us discover more about them. But our personal interests, needs, and abilities are also a factor. Some may come for the music; to hear it or make it. Others find our grounds and our belief in respect for all creatures to be what draws them to our community. Still others are attracted to the opportunity to serve members of our community and our larger Coachella Valley community. This may take the form of participating in our social justice work, assisting our Members and Friends in times of need, or ensuring our facilities are maintained or food is available after services. Others serve our community through board or committee work, assisting with services, or providing social and educational opportunities for all.
Maintaining community is work. People move, change interests, or pass away. Illnesses and diminished physical capabilities prevent us from coming together as frequently as we would like. Many travel or spend extended periods of time away from our community. But making the effort to come together brings us joy and provides us with a sense of belonging. It provides us security. It feels good to find oneself surrounded by those we care about. People strengthen us; elevate us; make us feel loved. Support our UUCOD community as you are able.
UUCOD Stewardship & Membership Committees
May 1, 2024 | Stewardship and Membership
When did you first become aware you needed community?
Our Stewardship Committee holds a belief that most everyone has a need and desire for belonging, connection and inclusion. It is a basic instinct to come together with others to protect and care for one another, share responsibilities, and work for the common good. When we, as humans, feel we belong to a community, we tend to give our time, talents, and treasures, as we are able, to support our common goals. We believe that “Being in CommUnity” is an active, rather than passive, concept.
When we support our community, we should not be surprised to find that our community returns that support to us. We become connected and we belong. Not only does our community thrive, but we as individuals thrive also.
Volunteering is one, very important way to support our community. If you were present at or watched our Service when new member induction and volunteer appreciation coincided on the same Sunday, you might have been surprised to hear of so many volunteer tasks that keep our Church facilities and community thriving.
Volunteering, even for small tasks, can increasingly lead YOU feeling you belong in and are a vital participant of our Church community. While tasks are being done, we talk with each other sharing our joys and concerns. We make friends and we feel more and more a part of something that is important to us.
Our community is only as strong and resilient as the sum of our individual Members and Friends. Know that your contributions in supporting our community are needed, noticed, and appreciated. If you want to become more involved, speak with a board member or committee chair. Continue to come forth and Be in CommUnity.
UUCOD Stewardship and Membership Committees
