Pledge Form
ROOM TO BLOOM   
  Combined Capital Campaign
        & Annual Pledge Drive

THE COMBINED ANNUAL BUDGET DRIVE AND CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

     Please support our church community with your pledge to the Annual Budget Drive and the Capital Campaign! Pledge forms for those who have not had an opportunity to make a financial commitment to the church were mailed the first week of April. Your continuing commitment to our Annual Budget Drive is essential for the healthy operation of our church.

     For the capital campaign, as of June 1, 2010, we have $1,057,664 in pledges towards the purchase our new building! We need to raise a total of $1.25 million (another $192,336) so please consider a gift to this important project as well. Thank you!

     For questions about donations to the capital campaign, contact Gil Osgood, Capital Campaign Treasurer at 541-484-1180 or giloz@comcast.net or Capital Campaign Co-chairs John Wagner at (541) 687-0757 or jwagner@efn.org or Kay Crider at 541-685-1437 or kaycrider@comcast.net.

     For questions about your financial commitment to the Annual Budget Drive, please contact the Annual Budget Drive Co-Chairs, Brian Lewis at at 541-870-6658 or rustic289@yahoo.com and David Green at 541-683-9657 or jodagrn@efn.org.

        

On November 1, 2009, the Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene voted to undertake a campaign to raise at least $1.25 million in capital funds to acquire a new church home at 1685 West 13th Avenue.

This important milestone puts us on the path to fulfill our mission and to truly provide us with Room to Bloom. Gifts to the combined campaign will help us to purchase and prepare this new space while also helping meet our ongoing annual funding needs for important programs and staff.

This effort will promote our growth by providing a space large enough for us to gather for services and events while allowing us to grow in all areas through increased space for programs such as religious education and social justice. By growing our church, we can grow our role in the community as well. The act of giving to this important combined effort will help us grow emotionally and spiritually and will deepen our connection with each other and with the larger community.

Our Mission Statement

We, the Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene, are a compassionate, welcoming community that promotes spiritual growth, ethical living, and social justice in our church and in the world.

Our Covenant

We gather to celebrate life, to minister to one another, to shape a community that hears all our voices, honors each search for meaning, and reaches out to enrich the world with caring. Thus we live our covenant, one with another.

    A Rich Church History    

 
    In 1909, a small group of religious liberals led by the Rev. Stephen Peebles, a retired Unitarian minister, banded together to form the First Unitarian Church of Eugene. Within three years, they had erected a church building on the corner of 11th Avenue and Ferry Street and the church began to slowly grow. Through the 1940s membership increased and by the 1950s the Unitarian Church had outgrown its first church. This building was sold and the congregation met for nearly three years in an elementary school while money was raised and a new building was erected at 40th Avenue and Donald Street in 1963.

     The ministry of the new church began under the leadership of the Rev. Carl Nelson during another period of social turmoil and war. The church weathered these and other challenges and had grown so much by the mid 1990s that it became necessary to hold two services. The growth accelerated during the ministry of the Rev. Carolyn Colbert and continues today under the current minister.           

This church is worth a lot to me. This church, and you, fill my heart. What a treasure we have together, of inspiration and fellowship, spiritual encouragement, ethical living and social justice, music, adult and children’s religious education.      How many times in our lives will we have the opportunity to point to a building, to a community, to a major effort in the cause of social justice or of spiritual growth, and say, “I helped make that happen?” This is what growth of our building will mean.      In addition to a lovely new facility, with space enough for all of us, we’ll also have a growing community, one that through its very numbers will have a larger and continuing impact on the world around us.                                  Sarah Hendrickson                                  Board President 2009-2010

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  Our Church Today

UUCE is a very busy place, and not only on Sunday mornings. Nearly every day of the year, UUCE is the hub for amazing activity in support of our mission—promoting spiritual growth, ethical living, and social justice in our church and in the world. We offer hundreds of opportunities through our strong programs, committees, and activities for members and friends to live out our liberal religious values.We regularly provide a home to weddings, child dedications, memorial services, comings of age, and other important rites of passage.

Our music program has grown to include four wonderful choirs, as well as fabulous pianists and instrumentalists. Our religious education program has enrolled more than 150 children and youth this year, including 30 high school youth.

In a typical month many groups use our facilities: men’s groups, women’s alliance, small group ministries, Thundereggs, sister circles, and the list goes on. In addition, committees strengthen our church and need a place to meet (Board meetings, committee meetings and councils). We gather for monthly potlucks and movie nights, calm abiding meditation, concerts, trainings, workshops, and to plan our work out in the larger community.

I am so very excited for what is to come for our congregation! This year, we have welcomed nearly 50 middle and high school youth to the Religious Education program. With this boom in UU youth, we needed to expand seating in the youth room! Providing this safe space for youth to connect and practice their UU values as well as supporting our expanding infant, toddler and preschool groups and vibrant elementary classes are some of the most important investments we as Unitarian Universalists can make for a peaceful and loving world. These programs plant seeds for our future, and the dedicated volunteer teachers and advisors are able to watch our UU children and youth bloom each and every week. Our future home brings even more possibilities of how we can reach out to more families with children and teens! As we redecorate, remodel, build classroom walls and dream of what we can be, I believe our church community will be infused with a shot of creativity and energy. Let’s make some “room to bloom” together and create a welcoming community with space for all!       Candee Cole       Director of Religious Education

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  The Case for Expansion

Designed for the needs of our congregation nearly 50 years ago, there are many signs that we have outgrown our current facility at 40th Avenue and Donald Street. Steady growth in membership has continued throughout this period, with our membership nearly doubling since 1991 to a current total of 371 members and more than 100 friends. This does not include the many visitors who attend services or participate in church programs. To meet our current and future needs, and fulfill our vision for outreach to the larger community, it is clear that a new facility is needed. Without more space, we will significantly limit our potential to realize our mission.

Our current facility:

Sanctuary
Even with two services, many congregants must sit in the social hall or library during services. This is inconvenient for members and a deterrent to visitors who see a space that appears full and unwelcoming.

Religious Education Classrooms
With more than 150 children and youth, the few existing classrooms are at their maximum capacity. Classes are grouped together and the nursery space is very cramped.

Meeting Space
The many committees and programs compete for the few meeting rooms and often times must meet elsewhere.

Offices
Office space is not sufficient for the current staff and our music director has no space at all. With anticipated increases in staff, more offices are needed.

Kitchen
The kitchen is not large enough to prepare meals for large groups, let alone to provide for full-congregation events.

Fellowship Space
There is virtually no formal entrance or gathering space and the social hall is cramped before and after services. There is no space large enough for the whole congregation to gather, or to accommodate expansion of other programs such as a social justice project that serves the larger community.
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With change comes opportunity. I am excited by the prospect of UUCE moving to a new location. This change offers a new beginning and with it the energy inherent in all new adventures.     As Music Director, I can use this opportunity to re-envision our music program. Truth is, I am fired up by this thought. I can imagine a series of concerts and workshops, room for our choirs to grow, ample storage space for music and instruments, and, maybe even office space for ‘moi.’      Your support in funding renovations will ensure that improve-ments can easily be made to support the transmission of sound and that music will flourish there.      If you share this vision and wish to support our next step, please give generously. As we come together in support of our shared goal, we will surely create “room for even more music to bloom.” Tom Sears Music Director

 

Our Decision and The Process

Today is a milestone along an amazing journey for UUCE. The opportunity for this campaign is the next step along a path charted more than five years ago. Together, we have searched our minds and hearts to create a vision for who we are as a community, and what kind of home would best serve us.     

December 2004: Strategic Planning Committee was established to explore the potential of various options and to generate a five-year plan for achieving our goals. The committee conducted lots of research, including sponsoring Dream Catcher Sessions where small groups began to articulate a vision for UUCE’s future.     

February 2006: Long Range Plan released, exploring four options to meet future facilities needs.     

May 2007: Congregation voted 131–17 to vigorously pursue finding a new location for our physical church in accord with our principles and the Building Project Oversight Committee was created and charged with leading that search.     

February 2008: The congregation participated in Listening Groups to identify the elements we wanted to bring forward in our transition to a future home.     

March 2008: Congregants met in a Town Hall meeting to discuss our values as they would apply to selecting a new property.     

July 2009: After two years of searching, UUCE signed an offer to purchase a building and property at 1685 West 13th Avenue in Eugene.     

November 1, 2009: We voted to purchase the building at 13th and Chambers.

Further Details

   Our New Church Home

As a result of our capital investment, UUCE will truly have Room to Bloom, growing our efforts to be a conspicuous beacon in the community. Our future home at 1685 West 13th Avenue in Eugene will have more space on a single story, nearly triple the size of our current church home. It will allow us to truly fulfill our mission in the following ways:

• We will have room to gather together in worship and fellowship, both in large and small groups.

• We will have room to celebrate important life events—child dedications, marriages, commitment services, and memorials.

• Our programs and committees will have room to grow, improving our own church life and the community around us.

• Our children and youth will have room to gather, learn and grow.

• We will have room to offer a welcoming, gracious home to all visitors and guests.  

Photos

   Timeline and Cost

We are using our new church property for many meetings, activities and events, while we are renovating it to allow us to more in completely. Renovations are required to make it the spiritual home that’s right for us. From the beginning, we’ve talked about the need for multiple phases to complete all the renovations necessary to turn this property into the space that we all want.

The Room to Bloom capital campaign will cover the purchase of the building and property and some basic renovations: bathrooms, classroom spaces, asbestos abatement, upgrades to the heating and ventilation system, and improving acoustics. The final list of “phase one” renovations will depend on input from the congregation and the final cost and budget.

     Capital Campaign Goal $1,250,000
     Potential Sale Price of Current Building + $850,000
     Purchase Price of New Building - $1,350,000
     Amount Available for Initial Expenses $550,000

The Capital Campaign pledges and funds from the sale of the current building will come in over a three year period, and will not be in hand immediately. A loan of $1,350,000 will be taken out at the time of closing on the new building. This loan will be paid off as funds become available.

TIMELINE (tentative)

November 2009 - UUCE members vote to purchase property and
         move ahead with plans
March 2010 - Renovation priorities to architect
Spring 2010 - Combined Capital and Annual Campaign
      ~ February 28 launch
      ~ 3-year period to pay capital pledges (through June 2013)
Summer/Fall 2010 - Design phase
      ~ Architect works with input from congregation
      ~ Design revised and construction drawings
Winter/Spring 2011 - Construction phase
Summer 2011 - Move in to new church home  
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Tending Our Garden        

The 2010–2011 Annual Budget Drive

As we begin our second century as a beacon for liberal religion in Eugene, we look back on 100 years of building community and look forward with enthusiasm to continued growth. It is an exciting time in our history and a time for a renewed commitment to living our values. Our growth isn’t just limited to our future home. Full funding for our programs and staff is essential to sustaining and growing our church.Your financial commitment helps us provide the programs and services we cherish, including:

Ongoing Programs

• Continued commitment to fair share compensation and retention of excellent staff
• Excellent Sunday services
• Superior music program
• Weekly Religious Education for nearly 150 children and youth
• Workshops and fellowship events
• Small Group Ministry groups
• Social Justice activities
• Fair share contributions to our denomination, including the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (UUA) and the Pacific Northwest District (PNWD)

New Initiatives

• Volunteer coordinator and enhanced leadership development
• Expanded adult religious education
• Expansion of support staff
• Expanded pastoral care

We are now in reach of our vision of a fully funded church, including critical staffing needs to achieve our program and ministry goals. To achieve our objectives, we need pledges totaling $425,000, a 15% increase from last year’s total.

Several years ago the congregation made a commitment to fair share giving following the UUA guidelines that are provided below. Just think, we would have a fully funded church if everyone were able to make a fair share financial commitment. If you cannot be a fair share giver this year, we hope you can make a commitment to move in this direction. If you are already making a fair share gift, consider moving up a level.

If the majority of the congregation would commit to making a “Fair Share” financial commitment, we would be able to comfortably support all of our current programs and add many more!

We encourage you to review the table and determine the level that is appropriate to you.        TOP

  This Year is Different

This year we ask all members and friends of UUCE to consider making two financial commitments. First, please make your commitment to support the life and operations of our spiritual community. Pledges do far more than keep the lights on— Consider Doubling Your Financial Commitment for 3 Years

Our values are reflected in everything that we do, from interacting with others to how we allocate our resources of time and money. Does the way that you spend your money accurately reflect the priorities that you assign to your individual values?

The act of giving is itself a spiritual practice. To give to what you believe in, to support others in their quest for meaning. It is the spirit in which the gift is given that enhances our own well being, as well as of those we help.

Reaching our $1.25 million capital campaign goal while also maintaining our ministries and programs will be a stretch for all of us. It may be easier than you realize and would mean a lot for the future health of the church.                                                                 

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Guide to            Doubling Your Commitment for Three Years

 There are many ways to make a gift
           for the Capital Campaign       

      You can…

Write a check today
Make a payment with your Visa or MasterCard
Make a written pledge today—you have three years to pay your commitment
Donate stocks or other assets
Include UUCE in your estate plans

UUCE is a charitable nonprofit and gifts are generally tax deductible.

We have many committed members involved, and many members and friends to thank!