2016 Winter 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 six applications that were received. We are pleased to announce the results of the Winter 2016 Regional Chalice Lighter call:

  • The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Mankato, MN will be given a grant to increase the hours of their Coordinator of Faith Development and also their Office Administrator. They are hoping to create a youth program for the recent graduates of their OWL class. Recently they have hired a full-time minister and improved their facilities. With better youth programming, they will be better poised for growth.
  • The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Northfield, MN is seeking Chalice Lighter funds to increase the hours of their administrative and bookkeeping staff so their minister and DRE can focus on growth-oriented goals - adding summer services, beginning small group faith formation and deepening social justice engagement. The Northfield Fellowship has experienced steady growth in membership and budget since 2007 and is aiming to move from a family-sized congregation to pastoral-sized with the help of their continued focus and a Chalice Lighter grant.
  • The James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Madison, WI will be awarded a grant to expand their professional staff, and to bring them into alignment with fair compensation goals, all as part of their three year plan to grow the congregation, and expand religious education programming and justice work.
  • The UU Fellowship of Decatur, IL requested Chalice Lighter funds to develop and manage a new website along with additional outreach initiatives. They have been energized this year working with their first interim, full-time minister and are using some special funds to increase staffing as they pursue a three-year strategic plan for growth.

For this Winter 2016 Call, please donate by March 31, 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
  • Please note – ALL CHECKS MUST be made out to MidAmerica Region. Please note “Chalice Lighters Winter 2016 Call” 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