Stewardship 2026
The mission of the Stewardship Committee is to create a culture of generosity that will enable UUCA to evolve with our members and our community. We approach this with passion and an eye to intersectionality.
OUR FALL 2026 GIVING CAMPAIGN
Get Ready to Rise to the Challenge?
Download your pledge form here! OR Use the online form HERE.
| The Stewardship Committee’s annual giving campaign will kick off on Oct. 12. Trained stewards will hold one-on-one conversations with members in the coming weeks about their financial commitment to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Akron. Why should you give money to the UUCA? First of all, we want to continue the progress we’ve made this year. We adopted a deficit budget for 2025 that depended on a loan to get us through the year. Guess what? We haven’t needed that loan. Because of membership growth, additional money from givers and a series of fund-raisers, we have not had to borrow money. That’s a real victory and something to celebrate. It’s the most progress we’ve made since we lost a full third of our membership during the pandemic. An added incentive this year is a $10,000 challenge grant offered by Bruce Raymer. He will match all new pledges as well as increases beyond the current commitment up to $10,000. We hope Bruce’s money will incentivize everyone to dig a bit deeper for next year. We want to take every penny of his money. Your generosity may net you a tax break when you file your tax return. Recent law includes a provision, effective after 2025, allowing non-itemizers to take a charitable deduction of $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for taxpayers who are married and filing jointly. Check with your accountant. What will you get in return? Once we adequately fund our operating budget, we can begin dreaming and growing our future. It’s the responsibility of the board to allocate resources but we can begin to dream of how we would like to grow our mission and programs. As a congregation, we are vitally important in today’s world. We offer a safe place for those who have been marginalized. We welcome and value everyone. That’s in contrast to what we hear and read on the news. Day after day, we learn of words and actions from our national leaders that violate our Unitarian Universalist values. We can’t let these actions become normal. Organizations like Indivisible, the Progressive Democrats, Constant Campaign-Postcard writing, all use our space and many of our members participate. Lastly, giving money to UUCA helps ensure we don’t return to the situation we were in before. We made the difficult decision to cut staff hours and our employees continue to feel the pain. Retirement contributions were cut in half, and the director of religious education is now part time. Rev Josh’s minister’s fund was cut in half. Some salaries are still low compared to the UUA guidelines. We don’t want to have to go through another round of cutting. With your help we will Rise to the Challenge. Download your pledge form HERE. |
Stewardship is bigger than raising money to meet our budget needs. Stewardship is a responsibility to take care of and protect something that is worth caring for and preserving.
Our church mission calls us to lead, act and speak for social justice and stewardship of the earth. We do that through the many ministries here at UUCA. These ministries are supported and made possible because we are able to maintain our building and grounds, provide talented staff and a dynamic minister.
We encourage members to reflect on what brings you to our doorstep, what sustains you and gives you hope for our world.
Would you like a team member to stop by for a home visit? Want to know how to donate through your retirement fund tax free? Please reach out. We would love to chat. You can email the team here.