During budgeting and pledging time, there are often questions about the UUA Annual Program Fund (APF).
- What is the APF?
- Where does the money go?
- What is the UUA and why should we contribute to it?
These are fair questions. There are many practical “goods and service” that the UUA provides its member congregations (worship and RE resources, support for professional staff, leadership development resources, help after a trauma or disaster, and field staff for companioning, coaching, and connecting).
But the messaging of a good stewardship campaign focuses on the mission, not the line item budget, and the APF is no different.
Sample Newsletter or Order of Service APF Blurb
Why Does Our Congregation Support the APF?
Every congregation in our Association is asked to contribute to the UUA’s Annual Program Fund based as a percentage of their annual operating budget. You might wonder why we are proud (or aspire) to be an Honor Congregation, one who gives the full amount.
Our new Shared Values explicitly name Generosity as a core value:
“We cultivate a spirit of gratitude and hope. We covenant to freely and compassionately share our faith, presence, and resources. Our generosity connects us to one another in relationships of interdependence and mutuality.”
And before that, our Principles and Purposes closed with this promise: “As free congregations we enter into…covenant, promising to one another our mutual trust and support.” APF makes that covenantal promise real. We give so that our spirits will be enriched by the practice of generosity in community, and so that Unitarian Universalism will flourish.
When we support APF, we are supporting all of the congregations in our Association, not simply our own. We give so that all of our congregations are positioned to transform their communities, so that our religious leaders can innovate and inspire, and so that our collective voice can be amplified to bring more love and more justice to life. Together, we amplify the best of Unitarian Universalism. Only together can we transform the world.
Our understanding of APF cannot simply be transactional (though we do get a lot of practical assistance from the UUA); it must be grounded in a fundamental identity of who we are as Unitarian Universalists: grateful, generous, and in right relationship with each other and the Association. All of the 1000+ congregations in our Association are uplifted by our generous support of APF!
More About the Annual Program Fund
Why We Give to the Annual Program Fund
Our congregational polity allows our congregations to govern themselves. However, we do not exist in isolation. Our principles and purposes state: “As free congregations we enter into covenant, promising to one another our mutual trust and support.” The Annual Program Fund (APF) makes that…
Annual Program Fund
The Annual Program Fund is the primary source of income for the Unitarian Universalist Association’s larger ministry in the world. Congregational contributions to APF make possible the things that we could never do as individual congregations.