Howdy, Friends and Neighbors!

by Tracy Cook on 3/5/2025

Howdy, Friend and Neighbors!

My name is Tracy Cook, and I have been a member at Tapestry Unitarian Universalist Church for oh my goodness, almost 20 years. Where did the time go?!

I think one of the times where things pass so quickly has been with my kids. I have two boys, although they aren’t really boys now. They are grown men. But they will always be ‘my boys’. They started attending when they were shorter than me, which tells you something. I am a whopping 5’1” standing up tall! But they grew, as kids do.

When I look around at our kids today, I love what I see. Older kids watching younger kiddos and helping care for them. And the littles just absolutely adore the attention! On our Thanksgiving camping trip, the adults and kids all traded stories and experiences and LAUGHED! 

I want more experiences like this. More time spent with kids learning from the adults - and not just their parents! My kids learned so much from other adults in the Tapestry community. Whenever we went to UBARU, they learned new skills from people. How to plant a tree. How to cut cedar saplings. And they learned from our more common experiences, too. How to care for a garden here in Houston. How to make bread. We have a lot of experience here at Tapestry. Share what you know!

None of this takes any money at all, it just takes a little bit of time. And that’s one of the three legs of the Stewardship stool: time. Also, talent! Another leg! 

So, what about that third leg: money?

My dream for Tapestry is to have a vibrant and dedicated group of adults who will step up and make sure the next generation of UUs is ready to lead. That means we need a solid Faith Formation program, which since the UUA has just changed the focus from the 7 or 8 Principles to the ‘octopus’ (Love in the center, with the principles on the arms) is going to cost some money. I think our kids are worth it! And I’m willing to increase my pledge to support this. 

What are your dreams? How do you want to help reach them?!

Invisible Work

by Eric Huckabay on 2/10/2025

Invisible work. Unappreciated, unremarked, all too often unnoticed. I'm guessing that the women of our congregation have personal experience with the phenomenon.

Why would anyone do work that no one notices or appreciates? All too often it's because it's vitally necessary. Because "if not me then who"? Because without that work, things aren't as good.

Please take a moment now, before you read the rest of this letter, to think to yourself -- what is the invisible work in our community? In our congregation? . . .

Have you eaten the snacks? What happens to the dishes after they go in the wash bin? How many times have you washed the dishes?

Have you ever noticed that there are signs in front of the church during the service, helping newcomers to find us? It's like they magically appear, and get put away again!

Who decides what happens to the leftovers?

Have you seen the looks of confusion when no-one asked a chalice lighter ahead of time? Is that someone's "job" or just something people step up and do?

Who pays for the church zoom account? Who gathers the tax ID for the share the plate every month? Who prints up new name tags?

Maybe you know the answer to some of those questions. But do you think those people are doing the job because of the huge kudos they receive in the process? Do you, do we, even notice?

A relationship counselor once asked me: if you feel like you do half the work in the relationship, are you doing your share? You see 100% of the work you do. If you are only aware of 50% of the work your partner does, how much of the work should it feel like you are doing to make things actually fair? (For those who aren't up to math today, the answer is 2/3. You should feel like you do 2/3 of the work, just to break even.)

Please take a moment today to think about the invisible work in your life. And decide if that's something you should do something about.

LOOKING AHEAD

by Geoff Sanders on 1/15/2025

Our church’s finances appear to be on a sound footing for the current fiscal year thanks to the decisions made at our November Special Congregational Meeting, some generously increased pledges, and reductions in some budgeted expenditures. Thank you all for helping us achieve this desirable condition!

Now, though, it is time to look ahead to the coming fiscal year, which will start on July 1, 2025. When we hired Alisha to be our part-time minister, we told her that one of our goals is to grow our church - not for the sake of being bigger, but so that we could expand our ministry and be better equipped to serve our members and the broader community. Chief among our goals is to pay our minister a fair salary commensurate with UUA standards, and if possible, to pay her for more than 80 hours a month.

I trust everyone will agree that Alisha has been doing an admirable job, and she definitely deserves to be paid on a par with other ministers working for a church our size in a major metropolitan area. She is also working hard to attract and recruit new members.

Last year we signed a two-year contract with Alisha, which takes us through June 30, 2026. But the contract also includes an option to renew her contract for an additional three-year term. We were not able to commit to a five-year agreement outright, because we could not guarantee that future pledges would cover an appropriate increase in her salary.

Accordingly, we are asking all members to pledge 2 to 5% of their adjusted gross income to our church, provided that they are able to do so. Of course, everyone’s circumstances are different, and if 2 to 5% is not sustainable for you, we will happily accept whatever amount you are comfortable giving. We also recognize that our members sustain our church in many ways in addition to pledging.

Why 2 to 5%? Our goal is to limit our ask so that we can all also make contributions to other deserving charitable organizations and causes. In addition, these figures reflect the UUA’s Fair Share Guidelines:

AN ANSWER TO HOW MUCH TO PLEDGE:

“How much should I pledge? Your pledge is a personal decision. It is informed by your financial means, your connection to the mission and work of the church, and the needs of the congregation. UUA Fair Share Guidelines suggest that a new member pledge 2% of adjusted gross income, and increase it over time to 5%.” https://uucharlottesville.org/pledge-faqs/.

Our Program Council

by Geoff Sanders on 11/7/2024

I am very pleased with the current status of our church. Alisha joined us in April 2023, and her energy, dedication and positivity is making significant improvements to our programs and our standing in the larger community. But she cannot do it alone.

A church is a voluntary collection of likeminded individuals who band together for the collective good. Tapestry has a long and successful history of attracting, promoting and supporting people who share common values and who are dedicated to helping make our little church thrive. These people are the ones who ensure that our church works, that our programs deliver desired benefits, and that Tapestry continues to be an inviting, supportive and nurturing home for all concerned.

Hats off to all our leaders! They are not paid in coin, but they are indispensable. They are the volunteers who take upon themselves the responsibility for seeing that necessary tasks get done, that we collectively embody the Congregational Covenant that we read every Sunday, and that we all share in the benefits of community.

The heart and soul of our community is our Program Council, which is comprised of the leaders of every Tapestry team, be it one person or many. The PC meets monthly via Zoom to share information, challenges and the successes of everyone’s work. This is where new ideas 💡 are born, problems are solved, and, hopefully, where leaders become recharged and excited about the fulfillment of their goals.

If you are a past, current or prospective leader of any church group, you are encouraged to attend PC meetings. It is the perfect place to learn about the workings of our church and the many wonderful people who make things happen. And we really need your insights and life experiences as we brainstorm ideas impacting the operation of our church.

Life Energy

by Dana Ashrawi on 5/7/2024

What topics have we been taught are off limits or uncomfortable? Money is one of them for many of us. One UU workshop on money asked participants to think about money, and then think of what color the idea of money is for them. One person thought it was orange, and it was for negative associations. What color is money for you, and why? It might be good to journal about that.

I want to share about a great book on the topic of money that was published decades ago and still holds great value: Your Money or Your Life. The authors offered a fascinating concept: the money we spend represents a certain amount of our life energy! For example, if a person is earning $20/hour, and a pair of shoes costs $40, the shoes represent two hours of life energy expended by working. The authors also provided a tool for calculating how much of your life energy is spent on various things. You can find the calculator at https://yourmoneyoryourlife.com/life-energy-calculator/. You might try it and figure out if you seem to be spending more life energy than you want on some items. Of course, there are some items where the costs are beyond our control, and part of the justice-seeking that UUs are engaged in, like the unreal cost of having decent healthcare or dentistry. However, where there is a choice, you could think about ways to reduce those expenditures.