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The Chalice Lighters program provides opportunities for all individuals in the Praire Star District to participate in the growth of existing and emerging congregations. Chalice Lighters CallsWhen you register as a Chalice Lighter, you are asked to respond during the year to three calls for help. For each call, you are asked to give $20 (or whatever other amount you pledge) to help a congregation in the District build or expand facilities, to secure their first minister or other professional help, to help with campus ministries, or to improve a program that will help a congregation grow and spread the liberal light. Each call comes with a description of what that grant will be funding. (The current calls are also posted here on the PSD Website.) You can contribute the amount of your pledge, or more or less, as you deem fit. Chalice Lighters Social Justice FundChalice Lighters can also donate to a Chalice Lighters Social Justice Fund, a separate fund which makes grants of up to $1,000 to congregations for integrating social justice work into the active life of their congregation. The intention of these grants is to build community awareness of UU values in action. Recipient congregations are expected to fund a portion of program costs. Such programs might include: workshops on self-sufficiency and welfare rights; nutritional weekend food supply for elementary students; UU Social Justice Empowerment workshops; micro loans; Green Sanctuary/Earth Ministry projects. You can help turn up the volume for our liberal religious voice by making a gift to this important new fund. Making a DonationYou do not need to register as a Chalice Lighter to contribute. One-time donations to any call are always accepted and appreciated! How Recipients are SelectedThe projects chosen for calls are evaluated and selected by the Prairie Star District Chalice Lighters Grants Committee. To receive money from the program, congregations must apply to the District Office for evaluation by the Committee. Enlisting Additional Chalice LightersIf you would like to conduct a campaign in your congregation to enlist additional Chalice Lighters, printed brochures are available. For more information or to order brochures, contact the District Office at 612-870-4823 or by email at info@psduua.org. By participating in this program, you are giving of your UU experiences to projects outside your congregation.
Faith is not enough. Nor belief. Living what you believe is the principle of honesty put into practice. Unitarians and Universalists over the centuries have been active, out of proportion to our numbers, in seeking justice, struggling against oppression, and making this a better world to live in.
— Robert Swain, Unitarian Universalist Minister  |