Thank you so much for sending in your pledges! We have currently raised $446,055 of our pledge goal of $468,722 and our overall budgeted income goal of $542,674 (includes rental income, endowment distribution, plate contributions, auction and other income).

If you have not yet done so, please submit your pledge TODAY! If you have the resources, we encourage you to increase your pledge by 15%.

If you have any questions you may address them to the Liz McEntee, Fellowship Administrator at administrator@uufws.org or to Ann Roberts, Stewardship Chair at stewardship@uufws.org. THANK YOU for supporting the Fellowship during this exciting time!

Find full details about our Annual Fund Drive here: https://uufws.org/annual-fund-drive-2023/

Thank you!
The Stewardship Committee

Please do not donate winter items to the Clothes Closet as we are short on storage space at this time. We would appreciate GENTLY worn summer clothing only, no stains or holes. We still have a great need for boys sizes 5-16 and toddlers sizes 18-24 months. We also accept gently worn shoes! Donations can be left in the bin at the closet or at the designated area in the lobby of the Fellowship. Please let us know when a donation is left by calling 336-659-0331 or emailing clothescloset@uufws.org.

Today I watched as 42 new people formally joined our community. It was over 23 years ago that my family and I were the “newbies” and I still remember the warm welcome we received and the excitement about our shared future to come. I hope you too will enjoy and learn from our fascinating members, inspiring staff, and the meaningful (and fun!) things we do together.

We all experience good times in our lives, and bad times too. I love The Byrd’s song from the 60’s: “Turn, Turn, Turn,” inspired by Ecclesiastes 3: 1-15. “To every thing there is a season…a time to laugh, a time to weep, a time to dance, a time to mourn…”

Your Care Team members hope to serve as your safety net. Remember you are not alone. Connect during Sunday Services with members wearing a large green Care Team name tag, or by leaving a note in the collection basket, chatting on zoom, posting on our Joys and Sorrows webpage, or by emailing care@uufws.org.

Warmly,
Patricia Ricono, Care Team Chair

If anyone has an abundance of daffodils that you need to thin out, we’d love to plant them at the Fellowship to brighten up our grounds.

It’s best to wait 8-10 weeks after the flowers die OR when the leaves begin to turn yellow and flop over before you dig them. It’s also best to dig before all the leaves have turned completely brown because the bulbs will then be difficult to find.  Some green color in the leaves will help you find your bulbs and may also help you get them out of the ground.

Once dug, bring them to the Fellowship and let us know where and when you’ve left them by emailing grounds@uufws.org, so we can enlist the new Flower Brigade to help with planting.

We’re also looking for donations of creeping phlox, cone flowers (echinacea) and black eyed susans (rudbeckia), so please think of the Fellowship if you thin these from your gardens.

And, if you’d like to join the Flower Brigade or have questions, email grounds@uufws.org. Thank you!

A great, big thank you to all activity leaders and all who participated in the Congregational Weekend, April 24 – 26. Thanks to Scott Dahlin for organizing the hotdog cookout on Friday that served over 120 people and to Katherine Acenas for helping us play silly games afterwards.

The rain on Saturday did not deter us from doing some work – and play. Thank you to the leaders in the day’s activities: Patti Hubbard led a crew to make chili and cornbread; Sue and Rich Freeman had their gang working on the grounds; Kathy Johnson and Kathy Orms pulled weeds in the rain garden with their group for Eco Solutions; Tom Ricono had everyone cleaning the foyer and Fellowship Hall; and a group of folks decorated and wrote cards for the Care Team with Chris Kelsey and Loretta Arnn. There were also fun activities for the kids: Pam Lepley helped little ones create flower pots and make care bags for our home-based members and Don Kautz showed his gang how to make bird houses, go on a scavenger hunt, and paint rocks!

We celebrated New Member Sunday by welcoming our newest members during the service and eating chili lunch together afterwards. The meat chili was deliciously donated by “Chef” Drake Dennis. Thank you to Caron Armstrong for shepherding this process and providing such a warm welcome to our Fellowship.

In Gratitude,
Your UU Membership Team: Katherine Acenas, Edie Barrett, Pat Bartholomew, Susan Campbell, Dorothy O’Beirne, Armand Perez, Mary Lou Rix, Jane Rogers, Donna Von Bargen, and Caron Armstrong