Stewardship season is upon us again. It is the time in the church year when we are thinking about our pledges, our resources, what we want to give to the church, and what we feel we can afford. It is also the time of year when we plan our annual church budget, which is a true reflection of our values and what we deem important as a congregation.
And so, it seems to me, that it makes sense that we review where we are focusing our money and energy, and what values are being reflected by our choices. As a community, we are doing a lot of wonderful things, but it has everyone spread pretty thin. I feel that acutely in the Religious Education (RE) program. Parents, students, teachers, volunteers and leaders are all juggling so much. It is difficult for anyone to commit more time to anything, including religious education. This has resulted in smaller attendance numbers and fewer volunteers.
In order to best utilize the resources that we do have, the Religious Education Committee has come to the decision to scale back the Sunday morning RE program through the end of May. This means that there will be two Sundays per month in which the children will experience the worship service with the community rather than going to class. (Nursery and pre-school RE will continue every week.) I look forward to the community bonding that we can experience by sharing more worship services with our children.
And even though we are cutting back the number of classes, we are still in need of more volunteers. As you review your commitments to WUUC, perhaps you can make a small sacrifice and volunteer to help with one RE class between now and the end of May. Just one Sunday morning would reflect that you value the religious education of our community’s children.
Thank you for all that you do to make WUUC a special and sacred space.
Peace,
Bridget