March 2018

Dear Congregational Leaders,

I invite you to participate in the Promise and Practice of our Faith Campaign.

If you have not already held a Promise and Practice Sunday and made a pledge or gift to support Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU), we hope you will do so before General Assembly in June 2018. Your contributions will be matched dollar-for-dollar if you make a gift or pledge of at least $10 per member. Please do not miss this wonderful opportunity.

This campaign calls us to align our financial resources with our theological values of justice and equity by honoring our Board of Trustees’ commitment of $5.3 million to Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism. This congregational phase of the campaign is your opportunity to invest in Black lives, Black leadership, and the uplifting of Black voices within our faith.

Since the 2017 General Assembly in New Orleans, more than 170 UU congregations, fellowships, and organizations have participated in the Promise and Practice campaign:

• They have held services and utilized the incredible worship resources for the campaign, which were written by UU Religious Professionals of Color.
• They have reflected on the history of Black Empowerment within our faith, and have held special fundraisers and collections in support of Black Lives of UU.

We ask you now to join in this movement. Now, more than ever, we are being called to a deeper practice of the promise of our faith. In this country, we see systemic racism and discrimination being emboldened in rhetoric and in policy. In this moment, we are called to do more to move forward the vision of a radically inclusive, justice centered faithful practice of the beloved community within and beyond our faith. This means investing more fully financially, spiritually, faithfully, and collectively in support of Black Lives.

In the next few weeks, your Board of Trustees along with UUA staff members will be reaching out to congregations to thank you for your support in this special call and to ask you for your support if you have not already pledged to the campaign.

Now is the time to lead and become the change we want to see in our communities across the world.

Thank you for all you do for our faith,

Susan Frederick-Gray