I write to you just before I hunker down at home for some days of Study Leave this summer. It used to be our churches operated on the old academic calendar based on an old agrarian calendar of school being out for the growing and harvesting seasons. By now this rhythm is practically written into our collective DNA. It’s even stronger for me given I have spent 50 of my nearly 60 years as a student, a teacher or a minister. It used to be ministers took off the whole summer. Some churches even closed down for the summer.
All that is changing as the world changes and as UUCV is becoming a year-round church. This summer we welcome two new staff members – Office Administrator, Jennifer Seale began on July 1 and Director of Religious Education, Emily Carroll, begins August 1. So, I am working the first two weeks of July and August, and taking 4-5 weeks of mostly study leave at the end of both months. We’ll see how far I get through the stack of books I want to read. I also plan – at last – to get my will done. As your minister, I will always encourage you to get end-of-life documents in order long before they are needed. I’ve seen the burden on grieving people sorting through their loved-one’s unsettled affairs.
This year I have another impetus to follow my own (sage) advice. The UUA has just launched a program called Wake Now Our Vision. Thanks to a grant from the UU Congregation at Shelter Rock, new bequests (i.e. naming UUCV as a beneficiary in your will, trust, IRA, etc.) are eligible for a 10% matching cash gift, up to $10,000 per donor. It’s like those matching grants on public radio pledge drives that bring in extra money when you donate. The program means to encourage UUs to name their church – or another UU institution – in their will to help ensure the long-term future of our faith.
I am naming both UUCV and Starr King School for the Ministry. Both institutions will receive a 10% match now, and a bequest (hopefully) decades later. I want both of these fine UU institutions to continue being strong voices of love and justice for a long, long time.
The Stewardship Team is calling this the “Legacy Challenge.” New bequests made between January 1, 2017 and June 30, 2020 will qualify for this match program, yet the matching money is first come-first served, and may run out sooner. So I encourage you to get this done now, this very summer. For more information and to download a form, visit http://wakenowourvision.org. Questions? Call Maura Raffensperger, Stewardship Chair at 805/616-2466. May your summer be filled with sun, refreshment of the physical and spiritual varieties, and time to take care of a few of those tasks you have been meaning to get to….
With Love, Rev. Dana
805-644-3898
administrator@uuventura.org
