Greetings, all Starrs! I send you wishes for the very happiest of Marches. March was once the first month of the calendar year, which traditionally began when the earth emerged from cold, snow and ice around the Vernal Equinox. The retreat of winter made March a good month to resume or initiate military campaigns; the name “March” thus reflects homage to the god of war, Mars. May you employ March for more peaceable campaigns: a kindness campaign, a smiling campaign, campaigns of compassion or honesty, and perhaps in more intimate spheres, a cuddling campaign! Your campaigns will change the world around you.

One of our special campaigns at Starr King these days is our Annual Pledge Canvass. We kicked off the canvass in late February and the early returns of your pledges are giving our Budget Task Force important information as it begins the yearly work of crafting a budget to help us realize our congregational goals. Not least of these is keeping liberal religion alive in our area, for those already in our Starr King family and those who will visit and join us in the 2013-14 Fiscal Year. Please pledge generously within your capacity, to help us fund our worship and programs.

Have you considered increasing your pledge from what it was last year? We take pride in having a lovely, inviting space in which to gather and worship, in compensating our clergy and staff in a socially responsible way, and in supporting our Unitarian Universalist Pacific Central District and our national office in Boston. As all these costs incrementally rise, so must our giving.

Our annual Congregational Meeting is coming in May, and many are already busy behind the scenes in preparation! We have been fortunate to have a motivated and energetic subcommittee of our Board of Trustees comb the Starr King Bylaws to identify where changes are appropriate. After consideration, the Board now recommends to you, the congregation, the Bylaws changes it deems advisable to address out current needs and generally to “clean up” discrepancies and formatting. We’ve placed several “advance copies” of the proposed changes on the Community Table at the back of the Fellowship Hall. They are formatted to make it very clear what changes are proposed, in context. Please take a few minutes to review them; if you have questions, you can ask me or any other member of the Board of Trustees for explanation or further information. (And if you are not able to receive Annual Meeting materials by email, please so notify Kelli Abatangelo, our Church Office Administrator.)

Be well and have a lovely month!
Warmly,
Andy