Greetings everyone! I have been serving on the Board of trustees now for two years and my time has come to step off the board and allow new faces to serve Unity in Naperville. It has been such a wonderful experience to work on the board and be creative with everyone. To prayerfully do what it takes to move the congregation/community forward into the next great expression of who we are!
That is what our Annual Meeting is going to be about at the end of this month.
We are making changes in the By-Laws that bring them more up to date regarding the subtle ways that technology has allowed us to change the way we interact. Opening our membership and voting to online people. Finding new ways to interact to include online friends and share classes and events. It has been such a blessing to have our amazing Tech Team who is always ahead of the curve to help us to find these new ways of expression… and we are grateful!!
Speaking of being grateful I say a big thank you to all of you who have come up to me at church and mentioned how much you enjoyed the e-blurb. It means so much to me to know that we have linked and related in this way and can find mutual agreement on the many blessing we share at Unity in Naperville.
One of the things on the agenda for our Annual Meeting will be our new budget for 2023/2024. I took part in the planning of the budget in 2022 and I see what good stewards we all are of the handling of the money that is so generously donated each Sunday. Every dollar is accounted for and put into it’s slot that helps to create the big picture that becomes our Sunday Message each week.
Every year we find need to increase the budget numbers just a little bit because…. well we have all bought eggs and gas these days and know that the economy has put some challenges in place with the rises in the cost of living.
So, this is our time for a Call to Action! The only way for Unity to meet these new budget numbers is for every congregant to increase their giving by whatever amount is comfortable for them. You know what it takes ~ look into your heart and let that soft inner voice tell you what is the right amount to give. When we analyze the “success” of the church… it really all falls back on one thing. Are we as congregants giving what it takes for our community to be successful?
The bottom line to everything is there is a concrete dollar amount that it takes to keep everything going … if we all reach a little to make that happen… then GREAT things will continue to happen. So thank you for allowing me to share bits and pieces of myself on this wonderful forum and Thank YOU for all that you give and all that you do! Love, Carol Gadbaw
