HUUC Stewardship 2025-2026
Our Giving Supports Our Growing
What an amazing new church year we have in front of us! We’re the second largest UU church in Cincinnati, and we continue to attract many new visitors and members. We have a thriving RE program with an established and growing summer Peace Camp program. We are the premier representative of the Universalist tradition in the entire region. And we are just beginning the process of bringing a new minister into our congregation after being blessed with 23 years of service from our beloved full-time minister Rev. Bill Gupton.
2025-2026 Budget Priorities
Perhaps the single biggest object of both excitement and anticipation for our new church year is our just now beginning search for a new full-time ordained minister. There are many unknowns as we begin this process, and one of them is the impact that this major change will have on our church budget. We know that Rev. Bill will retire at the end of this church year, and we are anticipating having a new minister on board at some point in August. We are maintaining ten and half months of Rev. Bill’s salary in our budget as a placeholder along with search-related and even possible moving expenses. We may need more or less than we are budgeting, and we must plan carefully.
Our amazing staff rounds out the rest of our highest priority budget items. Our Personnel Committee, working with UUA salary guideline minimums for our region and church size, have recommended fair share salary increases that amount to an average of 3% for our non-ordained staff.
And speaking of staff, we are very excited to be able to plan (and budget) for our Children’s Music Director to increase her presence at HUUC from eight Sundays a year to once every month. This will provide more consistent musical enrichment for our young ones while also bolstering our overall Religious Education program and its staff support.
We are planning to host another ordination during the 25-26 church year as our Director of Lifespan Faith Development, Laci Adams, reaches this important milestone in her career. This honor carries with it a financial commitment that we must plan for in next year’s budget as well.
As we did last year, we are also planning for a 5% increase in the budget for our Religious Education program. This is modest in terms of our overall budget, but it is significant as a signal of our support for what has always been a robust part of our church life. We now have what is arguably the largest and most active, and certainly the fastest growing, UU Religious Education program in the city of Cincinnati.
What do all of these recommendations mean for your pledge? We are proposing keeping our rental and fund raising goals just as aggressive as they were last year, but we are not raising them. That means we’ll need to support our increased budget proposals solely with our pledging. In order to support our overall budget increase of 12%, we’ll need to increase pledges by at least 15%. If we hit this percentage goal, we will achieve $258,000 in pledges for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
Heritage UU Church is now the second largest UU congregation in the city of Cincinnati, and we are THE representative of Universalism in the region. We are growing; we are thriving; and we don’t want to miss a beat as we search for and hire a new full-time minister next church year. Your giving supports our growing.
What if I am new to pledging at Heritage? Where do I start? The Fair Share Contribution Guide is a great way to determine an appropriate level of giving based on you and your family’s financial situation and your connection to HUUC. Based on the Fair Share Guide a pledging member or friend with an income of $80,000 a year (accounting for large and unusual anticipated expenses like medical expenses, educational expenses, etc. as adjustments to income), would pledge $195 per month at the Supporter level (the baseline level for giving), or $2,340 per year (3% per of income). That level of pledging is just below our current average pledge at Heritage of $2,645 per year.
Here a few statistics on pledges at HUUC:
- We currently have 17 pledges for the 2024-2025 church year that are at the level of $5,000 or above. These pledges account for just under 54% of our total pledged income.
- We have 20 pledges in the $2,000 to $5,000 range, accounting for 28% of our total pledged income.
- We have 45 pledges under $2,000 per year, accounting for 18% of our total pledged income.
It’s going to take an average pledge of about $2,870 per month from about 90 pledging members and friends (including members and friends who are new to our congregation) to fully fund our proposed budget for the 2025-2026 church year. The reality is that we will receive pledges well above and well below that average monthly pledge amount, as we do every year. Every pledge counts, no matter what its amount.
We only ask that you please consider pledging an amount that reflects a serious commitment to the place you have chosen as your spiritual home — not simply making a donation to yet another charity. Whatever amount you lovingly choose, we hope you will give until it feels good.
And now, it’s time to submit your pledge. The pledge form is right here on the HUUC website, just below on this page. Your pledge is secure and private.
Any questions? Contact Reid Hester at huucpledge@gmail.com.
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