Life Members Invited to Give Sustaining Gift
Retired colleagues like you, Life Members, are special. As your ministerial colleague my ministry has been enriched by so many of you on this list, and as your new Membership Administrator it is now my role to remind you how you can make a gift to the ongoing good work of our association. Hopefully you are enjoying holiday celebrations or solitary time to renew your spirit. On behalf of the entire UUMA Staff and Board, I hope you take a minute to reflect on the miraculous things you have experienced in your ministry. We hope some of those things were supported and nourished by the UUMA. To that end, we are asking you to please assist your association with a financial gift and or ongoing pledge. Your contributions will help us create connections with colleagues across all stages of ministry for decades to come.
Of particular interest to you as Life members, is that we have added a Retired Minister’s Chapter in recent years. This is a covenanted group, and many of our Life Members are not yet a part of it. You are invited to join (if you have not already). Our Retired Ministers Chapter, is our fastest growing chapter, and many of our Life Members are not yet a part of it. This chapter offers virtual opportunities to gather to talk about issues of the day, share poetry, learning, camaraderie and stories. If you want to be a member, just email Denise to add you. (Want to learn more about the Retired Ministers Chapter? Read this letter from the chairs!) Your gifts of service and wealth assist us in developing and supporting new chapters like the Retired Ministers Chapter.
New for you Life members, the UUMA has invested in a license for the new virtual hymnal you can use for your personal use! It is ideal if youvolunteer in community ministry settings or if you just love to sing or want to reflect on these new songs (with more being added each month). This offering is included in your Life membership. Learn more about Sing Out Love and the parameters of the subscription or sign up here: https://uuma.org/sing-out-love-subscription/ Your financial gift supports resources like this being offered to the UUMA.
Now more than ever, the UUMA is committed to accompanying our newest members along their path of ministry through our Ministerial Fellowship Network (MFN). This program, growing out of the disbanding of the RSCCs, is celebrating 10 years of supporting seminarians in their formation journey seeing them through the fellowshipping process. We offer them subsidies for membership, events, scholarships for programs and resources that most of us did not have during our path to ministry. We are experiencing a higher than ever need for those supports and scholarships. Our resources are stretched with so many who have experienced losses due to illness, government shut-down, and lost jobs. Your ongoing gift supports our programs like the MFN.
New this year – we have ways for you to give to the UUMA monthly or quarterly to become a Sustaining UUMA Member. We would love to count on you as we make plans for 2026 and beyond.
As a life member your membership dues are waived – a right and privilege you have earned through your many years of dedicated service. While some members also choose to donate to our endowment, place us in their wills or trusts and/or contribute to the UUMA Scholarship Funds, we count on your Life membership gifts as part of our annual budget. Over the last several years, Life Member giving has been 25% under budget.
We are always deeply grateful for the contributions that our Life Members have traditionally given to the UUMA. We recognize that the financial position of retired ministers varies greatly from person to person and gratefully receive any amount you can share with your colleagues. Please use this link to have it count towards your Life Member Sustaining Gift. To help ease the budgeting of a gift, we now offer monthly giving plans.
If you need any help making your gift (LINK) please respond to this email and either I or our Director of Operations and Finance, Janette Lallier, will do our best to assist. I would also love to be of assistance with any membership questions you may have (Retired Chapter membership, Virtual Hymnal Subscriptions, Membership Card or Web Profile updates, etc). For those requests please email me or leave me a voicemail at 617-8048-0498 ext 107 and I will reach out in the new year. As ministers, we always need one another. As a ministers association we exist ‘Because We Need One Another’. Regardless of the stage of our career or life, connection remains ever important. Thank you for your gifts to keep that connection going.
With warm regards,
Rev. Denise Cawley, UUMA Membership Administrator
