Winter Chalice Lighter Call
We’re pleased to announce that the recipient for the 2020 Winter Chalice Lighter Call is the First Unitarian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Located in a diverse and fast-changing urban neighborhood, First Unitarian hopes to grow the congregation by making improvements in the church’s digital media infrastructure. Better digital media infrastructure will help the congregation: extend the reach of their anti-racism work; support their anti-ableism efforts; retain elderly members; bring First Church to over-scheduled, stressed-out families; increase rental income; and better use UUA resources and meeting technology.
Through this project, the congregation will
- Upgrade their sound system microphones, speakers, and control board.
- Add screens in the sanctuary and other parts of the building.
- Add video cameras, switching, and video recording capacity in the sanctuary.
- Employ a neighborhood-based, ethnic minority, high school digital media student as a production intern.
- Add audio and video feeds from the sanctuary to other parts of the church.
- Upgrade their server and internet connections to allow for streaming.
- Upgrade their FM audio assistance system.
You can contribute to the Winter Chalice Lighter Call now at https://www.uua.org/midamerica/giving.
In addition to supporting First Unitarian’s Digital Media Upgrade Project, the MidAmerica Chalice Lighter Program is also supporting the Countryside Church Unitarian Universalist in Palatine, Illinois, plan to convert a 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom house that is adjacent to their main church building into transitional housing for immigrants seeking asylum. Chalice House is a shared project of Countryside Church and the Interfaith Community for Detained Immigrants, a non-profit, faith-based organization called to respond actively and publicly to the suffering of all individuals and communities affected by immigration detention, deportation, and post-detention through pastoral care, advocacy, public witness and other activities. Chalice Lighters will contribute 10% of the total amount Countryside Church receives for their campaign. Individuals can donate to this important work through Faithify.
If your congregation has a growth-related project you’d like Chalice Lighters to support with a grant of $10,000 or more, the deadline for applying for the 2020 Spring Chalice Lighter Call is Saturday, February 15, 2020. You can apply for a Chalice Lighter Grant online. For smaller grants, consider starting a Faithify campaign. Chalice Lighters will support select campaigns by donating 10% (up to $1000) of the final amount raised by a successful campaign. For more information visit https://faithify.org/.