Chalice Lighters Program

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From Arline LaMear:

The Chalice Lighters Program is a program that benefits fellow UU congregations throughout the Pacific Northwest.  Through grants, the Chalice Lighter Program assists the growth of new and existing UU congregations.  These grants are funded exclusively through contributions from UUs who participate as Chalice Lighters.  The grants are intended to help congregations grow by:

  • Securing, improving or furnishing a building
  • Reaching out to the community to attract new members
  • Initiating a new congregation
  • Funding any other creative program to facilitate growth.

In order to receive one of the grants a congregation must:

  • Have at least 30% of its members enrolled as Chalice Lighters
  • Be a UUA Annual Program Fund Honor Congregation
  • Be a PNWD Honor Congregation

In 2001, 13 members of PUUF, including Cliff and myself, became Chalice Lighters.  At that time, that was over 30% of our membership.  PUUF now has 50 members and, if my math is correct, we would need 15 Chalice Lighters to meet that 30% requirement.

Three times a year we receive an email telling us about a project which would stimulate the growth of a particular church or fellowship.   We’re asked to donate $20 toward that project.  With over 2000 Chalice Lighters, this results in a grant of around $14,000.  Let me tell you about the most recent project call we received.

Members of the flourishing UU Community Church of Washington County (UUCCWC) in Hillsboro, Oregon had a plan to make needed improvements to their historic 1910 sanctuary and raised funds to do so.  But those funds were diverted to cover flood damage and replace a failed sewer line.  Now the roof on their multipurpose parish building is leaking.  They asked Chalice Lighters to contribute to help with the urgent task of replacing the roof while they raise capital to get the sanctuary improvements back on track

If you’re interested in helping our liberal religion grow here in the Pacific Northwest, I hope you’ll consider becoming a Chalice Lighter.  If we reach the 15-member threshold, we can think about how we could use a grant to stimulate PUUF’s growth in the lower Columbia area.  Here’s the link to become a Chalice Lighter: register.pwruua.org/chalice-lighter-enrolment/  Please let me know if you join so we can keep track of our membership in Chalice Lighters.

Thank you,
Arline LaMear
cliffandarline@msn.com