Dear Chalice Lighter,

This winter the Chalice Lighters Committee is offering you the opportunity to help fund the Emerging Congregations Fund. One point of pride here in the Central Midwest District—and indeed in our MidAmerica Region—is that this has been a focus of growth for our larger UUA. Central to this is the formation of new congregations and indeed there are a disproportionate number of emerging congregations in our district.

You may send your donation to our office at 1555 Sherman Avenue, Ste 345, Evanston, IL 60201. Please write “Chalice Lighters” in the memo line on your check. You can also do it online: go to the Chalice Lighter menu item on the CMwD Web Site (www.cmwd-uua.org) and select Donate-Online.

Also, please keep in mind that this call will end on April 15, 2011. All checks dated as of that date will be included in the Winter Call on behalf of the Emerging Congregations.

Thanks for opting to receive your Chalice Lighter Calls by e-mail instead of paper, saving the Chalice Lighters program both time and money. We are pleased to continue to offer the option to make a single contribution to be divided evenly among all three calls in this calendar year 2011 (to match your tax year).  With this option, we will continue to send you the call letters so you know what your money is being used for, but we will certainly not expect you to make additional contributions unless you choose to do so for a particular call.

If you've been a member of our district Chalice Lighter program for more than a year, you may recall that we have a special fund for brand new, emerging congregations. We accrue money in this fund from four sources:

• When we use one of our regular calls to raise money for the fund as is the case for this Winter 2011 call;
• When we receive money in between the call periods (some generous Chalice Lighters send us a monthly donation);
• When the donations for a call exceed the amount requested in a congregational grant application;
• From the offering at the opening celebration at District Assembly, and other special events.

The Chalice Lighter Committee

Matt Brenner, Lori Hlaban, Kimberly Perry, Martin Woulfe, Ian Evison, Dori Davenport Thexton