2016 Spring Call

Dear MidAmerica Chalice Lighter,

Chalice Lighter grants are funded by small donations from Unitarian Universalists across our large MidAmerica Region of the UUA, pooled together to help congregations with specific growth projects.

The MidAmerica Regional Chalice Lighter Committee, comprised of representatives from all three of the former districts, considered the two applications that were received. We are pleased to announce the results of the Spring Regional Chalice Lighter call:

  • The Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lansing, Michigan, which is in the midst of construction of a new space, will be awarded funds to support a hearing-loop system for their primary conference / meeting space. Increasing the accessibility of this space to the hearing challenged would help the church fulfill its mission of being a welcoming and fully accessible community; some participants in the Sunday Morning Forum have stopped attending because of the difficulty of hearing in that room. The church is undergoing renovation, funded by the congregation, and the grant will enable the system to be installed more economically while construction is still underway.
  • First Unitarian Church of Omaha, Nebraska will be awarded $1,000 to support preliminary investigation of a potential diverse, new Unitarian presence in Omaha, in collaboration with Second Unitarian and local facilitators.
  • Since there will likely be funds leftover from the Spring Call, additional donations will go into the New and Emerging Congregation Fund. This is a reserve fund that is used to support new or emerging congregations with funds for acquiring space, hiring staff or for outreach and publicity.

For this Spring 2016 Call please donate by June 15, 2016

We thank you for your support of the growth of Unitarian Universalism in our region!

There are several ways you can participate in the Chalice Lighter program, with four suggested levels of donation: $20 Believer / $50 Builder / $100 Benefactor / $250 Beacon.

These are amounts that would be donated three times each year upon receipt of the Call Letter in Fall, Winter and Spring. If you’d prefer, for tax purposes, to make one donation per year (please send the $60 minimum donation or any greater amount to be divided among the next three Calls) you can send in your check now, and we will hold the funds and divide them equally across the three Calls. If you want to make an annual donation, please be sure to note “Annual” in the memo field of your check.

You can donate by either of these methods:

  • You can go to the Chalice Lighter webpage and click on the Donate option of your choice; or
  • By check. Please note – ALL CHECKS MUST be made out to MidAmerica Region. Please note “Chalice Lighters Spring 2016” or “Annual Donation” in the memo line and send it in the enclosed envelope to the MidAmerica Region, 2355 Fairview Avenue #312, Roseville, MN 55113.

For those of you who are annual donors, you are receiving this Call Letter and will receive subsequent letters to keep you updated on what your funds are being used for. You are not being asked to send more money once you have made your annual donation for a given calendar year unless you wish to do so.

We know that many of you prefer to receive U. S. mail notices and send in your checks three times a year for each of the Chalice Lighter Calls. We will continue to gratefully handle your donations this way. However, if at all possible, we would like to convert the majority of both announcement letters and donations to electronic, since this saves the program money and time. You can find more information on this on the Chalice Lighter pages at www.midamericauua.org.

Thank you again for your generosity!

Sincerely,

The Chalice Lighter Committee

Emily Jaycox, St. Louis, MO
Heidi Lackmann, DesMoines, IA
Karen McMillin, Oak Park, IL
Kathy Silver, Dexter, MI
John Blevins, Kansas City, MO
with staff support from Rev. Phillip Lund and Dori Davenport Thexton