Many of you probably remember that last winter our congregation voted to become a sanctuary church, a faith community committed to providing safe space for those at risk of deportation. ( Read the text of our Sanctuary Resolution here.) This brave commitment fills me with pride, and as I come to more fully understand the responsibilities that come with this commitment, I find myself humbled, too.

In this political climate, providing physical sanctuary to someone at risk of deportation is a risky and complicated undertaking. While we will not actively hide anyone in our building, it is possible that people being housed with us may want to actively guard their privacy. This may mean that if a person or family does come to stay with us, we will not be sharing this information widely with the congregation. In some situations, it will be important for very few people to be aware of a person's presence with us. You can rest assured that the authority you have given to Rev. Justin, along with the Board of Trustees, to make decisions about when and if and who we might offer physical sanctuary to is carried with great care.

Regardless of the pride or excitement we may feel should we provide physical sanctuary to anyone at risk of deportation, we must put the safety and privacy of the individuals who are staying with us above our individual desire to talk or share. Even having friends, family members, congregants, coworkers or neighbors know that our church is housing someone would put people we care about at risk. It must be enough to simply know in our hearts that we are doing the spiritual work of putting our faith into action, fulfilling our promise to honor the worth and dignity of every person. Please join us in this important work by putting your trust in our church leaders, and by actively protecting the privacy of any individual or family who may come to stay with us.

The challenging financial news is that we are about $100,000 short in annual pledges for this church year - July 2017 through June 2018.

We know from other churches that it's not uncommon to see a small dip in annual giving during a capital campaign year.  But this is a larger dip than we anticipated, given our Sunday worship attendance - which is strong - and the number engaged in our ministry - also strong.

As many of you know, the majority of our income comes from annual pledges which support our operating budget and our ministry. Annual pledges are the lifeblood of the church.

Many of you reading this have already made your annual pledge and a capital campaign gift. Thank you!

And here's the thing: based on previous years and giving records, we know that there are still many people who are committed and involved in this church who haven't pledged yet. 

So if that's you - and for whatever reason, you haven't had the chance to pledge - we want to give you an opportunity to respond.

Maybe you've heard us talking about pledging before, and didn't think we were talking to you.  But if this is your spiritual home and you want to support what we're doing here and in the world, we're talking to you!

Jen Crow and I have been looking at the budget and we only have so much wiggle room to make cuts and so if you haven't pledged yet - let today be the day!

You can pick up a pledge card in the office or call or email staff member Andrea Love - andrea@firstuniv.org , or 612-825-1701 x 112 - to set up a monthly contribution or have any questions answered.

Thank you for your support of our ministry!

Revs. Justin and Jen

It's th e week before  Thanksgiving, which means it's time to eat yummy pies baked with love by the First Universalist Church Senior High youth group. Please come to the social hall after both services this Sunday, Nov. 19  to buy whole pies or pie slices. All of the money raised will go towards Senior High trips and towards helping our youth participate in Unitarian Universalist leadership programs.