May 7, 2021

Dear Friends,
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I’ve always known we are part of an incredibly generous congregation.  Your heart for this church and all that we do shows in so many ways.  The past 12 months have been no exception, through a pandemic we had a great stewardship campaign, and even ended up with a surplus at the end of the year! Well, thanks to your generous giving, we are able to put several important projects into motion. 
I don’t know if (pre-pandemic) you’ve ever had a chance to be in the building on a Sunday evening while the youth are meeting.  If you have, you’ve seen the wonderful problem we often run into: we can’t fit all of the youth into the youth room!  When you try and get 20-25 metal folding chairs in the youth room, along with shelves for storing supplies, and a tv/stand combo, you quickly run out of space. 
Well, thanks to generous giving and faithful pledging, space in the youth room is much more plentiful!  Mark Simoneau, along with the help of youth Timothy, Chase, Patrick, and Gabriel, have worked to build new seating for the youth room.  This two tier seating will allow for us to easily seat 18-25 youth.  The seating also serves as handy and easily accessible storage of items that were previously housed on shelves.  And finally, the seating can be rolled out of the youth room and into the sanctuary to be used for special events!
Another great project underway is our planning for hybrid worship.  Chris Pascoe has been diligently researching much needed equipment for our sanctuary that will help us provide an inclusive worship both for those choosing to worship in person and those who choose to worship online.  We have begun to purchase the all important items, and look forward to getting everything installed and ready for hybrid worship.
When you give to the general fund, you help not only make sure the lights turn on and bills are paid, but you help make sure the ministries of this church are as welcoming and inclusive as possible.  And remember, if you would like to give online, or increase your pledge, you can do so here - https://www.uccaustin.org/give.html  Thank you for giving generously! 
            Peace,
            Meghan