A Message from Your Stewardship Team
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We are one month into our stewardship campaign for 2023-24, which is scheduled to end March 30.
 Many thanks to the 33 households who have attended a Cottage Meeting and to the 79 households who have submitted their pledge!
We want to encourage the rest of you to attend a Cottage Meeting this Sunday at church or Monday online to have meaningful conversation about money and our dreams.
The few slides included below are just a snippet of what we are discussing at Cottage Meetings. We would love to connect with you and your story. We miss one another, and we all desire deeper connection and more love in our lives. Won’t you join us on this journey? Cottage Meeting dates & times are listed below and on the online registration form.
With deep respect, The Stewardship Team: Emilie Cheng, Tom Dempsey, Lisa Gilley, Rick Rayborn, Gary LaBedz, Debbie Lee, Cindy Thornton, Rev. Denise
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CCUU Goal to Become More Financially Stable
- Some of us can give more, helping those who cannot.
- We aim to be here for one another.
- Being in covenant means we dedicate ourselves to work together. We care for one another. Pledges help us care for one another.
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 Did You Know?
If every pledge were equal, we would need $250/household per month to run CCUU.
Please pledge more if you can and less if you cannot.
In 2022-2023, we had 185 pledge units. If that doesn't change:
- The total cost per household to run CCUU is $3,021/year ($250/month)
- The cost per day to keep CCUU running is $1,531
- The total cost per household for our UUA membership is $81
- The total cost per household for our CAUUC membership is $2.70
- Our finances are independent of other congregations - we sustain ourselves.
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Q: What does this slide show?
A: It shows the number of pledges that make up each quartile at CCUU compared to the number of pledges that make up each quartile in a financially Healthy Congregation. It shows that the top 11 pledging households in our congregation give the same amount as 118 other households and that is a risk to our financial stability.
Q: What is a quartile?
A: A quartile is one fourth (or one quarter – get it?) of the total amount of pledges made by the members of a congregation. For example, if a congregation has total pledges of $460,000, then one quarter (one quartile) would be $115,000 ($460,000 divided by 4 =$115,000).
Q: Why use quartiles rather than, say, deciles?
A: Because the stewardship team is lazy and the average CCUU member possesses above average intelligence, so we knew you’d get these concepts with just four examples rather than ten.
Q: What is a Financially Healthy Congregation?
A: A Financially Healthy Congregation is one where the total amount of member pledges is sufficient to support all of its operating costs (staff salaries, building costs, insurance, etc.) and one that can sustain normal growth and dips. A congregation that has a good spread of both pledge units and amounts of those pledges, to maintain stability even if a few households move away.
Q: So, are you saying that CCUU is a financially un-healthy congregation?
A: Not exactly. CCUU might be called an “out of shape” congregation. We know that if CCUU members received the proper information and encouragement, CCUU could become a financially Healthy Congregation in a relatively short period of time (during this stewardship drive, hopefully).
Q: Where do these financially Healthy Congregation statistics come from?
A: From the UUA, of course. Just one of the many support services the UUA provides us!
Q: What’s the best way for CCUU to become a financially Healthy Congregation?
A: Why, for everyone to attend a Cottage Meeting and to increase their pledge!
Q: OK, so can we go back to the chart and can you explain the first quartile?
A: Sure. The chart has two bars for Quartile 1. The Orange bar shows the number of pledges that it takes to make up the first quarter of total pledges in a financially Healthy Congregation and the Blue bar shows the number of pledges it takes to make up the first quarter of total pledges at CCUU. Also, the numbers in the box – $100 – $2,299, show the lowest annual pledge and the highest annual pledge in that quartile for CCUU. Remember from several questions back, in our example total pledges are $460,000 and one quarter is $115,000. In a financially Healthy Congregation, that first $115,000 is received from only 85 member pledges but at CCUU it takes 115 member pledges.
Q: I think I’m getting it. Let me explain Quartile 2.
A: Go for it.
Q: In Quartile 2, the second $115,000 is contributed by 56 member pledges in a financially Healthy Congregation but only by 37 member pledges at CCUU. And looking back at Quartile 1, if some of the members in that quartile could increase their pledges and move to Quartile 2 we could move closer to having 56 member pledges rather than only 37 in Quartile 2.
A: Yes! I think you’ve got it. If most members could increase their pledges, and if some members could strive to move up to the next quartile, CCUU could be a financially Healthy Congregation in no time.
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These numbers are generalizations to help you think about pledging overall. They show that people at CCUU give between $100 and $12,000 a year. Could you move up a quartile? Not all of us can increase our gift, but some can. To become more financially stable, we need people who can afford to share more to move up to the next quartile so that we can have more economic diversity among our members. More if you can and less if you cannot.
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 Come to a Cottage Meeting to learn more
We hope you will attend a Cottage Meeting to have meaningful connection about money and our dreams. There are two more in-person sessions and two online sessions.
Please sign up online using the button below or with this link.
- March 5 at 11:30 am: General Group Session B
- March 6 at 7 pm on Zoom: General Group Session C
- March 12 at 11:30 am: General Group Session D (formerly for RE parents & teachers, who are still welcome to attend!)
- March 21 at 7 pm on Zoom: General Group Session E (formerly in person & for AHA and Open Forum affinity group, who are still welcome to attend!)
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Stewardship 2023-24 Resources
More information is available on the church website, https://ccuu.org/future-with-hope/, including written & video testimonials from church members.
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