Dear Union Members and Friends,

Faith that shows up.

I love our pledge campaign theme this year, “Faith That Shows Up,” because it captures something I have come to believe is Union’s superpower: what we believe matters, but what we do with what we believe matters even more.

Faith shows up in the ways we choose to live. It shows up when we make room for someone who has been told there is no room for them. It shows up when we refuse to become numb to suffering. It shows up when we keep asking hard questions, when we change our minds, when we risk something for the sake of love, and when we choose hope even when hope is not the easiest choice.

And, perhaps most importantly, faith shows up when we show up.

That is one of the things I love most about Union Church. We are not a congregation that imagines faith as something we do alone. We practice it together. We come through these doors carrying different stories, different questions, and different understandings of God. Somehow, in all our beautiful imperfection, we keep finding our way toward one another.

That doesn’t happen by accident.

It happens because people like you keep showing up—with your presence, your prayers, your creativity, your compassion, your questions, your laughter, your willingness to serve, and your financial generosity.

A pledge is one of the ways we show up.

It is tempting to think of our pledge simply as our share of the church’s expenses. And certainly, there are bills to pay and salaries to fund and buildings to maintain. But a pledge is about something bigger than that.

As you consider your pledge for 2027, our Treasurer Larry Rose has determined that we will need an increase in pledging of roughly $35,500, or 9% of our current pledging, to run a balanced budget. I invite you to think not only about what the church needs from you but even more about what you want to make possible through Union Church.

When we pledge to Union Church, we are investing in a particular vision of what the church can be in the world.

We are saying that radical welcome matters. That worship and beauty and music matter. That children deserve a community where they know that no matter who they are, they are beloved. That our neighbors deserve our solidarity. That justice is not somebody else’s work. That this particular community—with all its history and all its possibility—is worth sustaining.

For some of us, that may mean increasing our pledge. For others, it may mean maintaining our current level of giving. For some, circumstances may require a decrease. There is no single faithful response. What matters is that we each prayerfully consider what we are able to offer.

Because the numbers become people and lives changed through faith.

They become a place where someone can walk through the door and discover that they are welcome. They become music and words and silence that help us make sense of our lives. They become a church courageous enough to ask what love requires of us now.

They become faith that shows up.

I am so grateful that we get to practice it together. Thank you for all the ways you show up for Union Church. Thank you for trusting this community with your time, your gifts, your questions, your hopes, your generosity, and your faith. I can’t imagine a better way to practice faith than this: showing up for one another, for our neighbors, and for the world God loves.

With gratitude and hope,

Rev. Bridget Flad Daniels