Dear Friends,

Our Soul Matters theme for March is Balance, reminding us of the upcoming Vernal Equinox, when day and night, light and darkness will be balanced for a time. The Wheel of the Year turns and we move out of the time of long nights and toward summer’s long days.

Spring is a busy time in congregational life. We’ll soon kick off our Annual Stewardship Drive to ask for your support for next fiscal year (July 2018 to June 2019). We’ve already asked the leaders of our committees, teams, and staff what they would need to fully fund their dreams. The good news is, we’re not far from being able to make that possible. If we can raise just over 10 percent more than we did last year, we’d be able to have breathing room in our budget. We’d also be able to continue to decrease our dependence on endowment income, freeing it up for exciting new uses.

This is a great time to talk about balance because one of the keys to congregational (and individual) health is finding a balance between responsibility and risk. We need to be able to talk about what it looks like to be hopeful, optimistic, and faithful to our mission while also being responsible stewards of the resources of the congregation.

As we explore the need for balance in our own lives and in the congregation, maybe these questions will help:

• How do we invest in the future, not quite knowing what it will look like?
• Can we dream something into being?
• When and how would we step back if a risk seems too big?

As we engage these questions and others, I hope we will find ourselves inspired by the possibilities in our lives to take risks that challenge us, while still taking care of our responsibilities. I think it’s like riding a bike: it’s a lot easier to balance when we are in motion.

Love will guide us,

Rev. Sean

P.S. Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead one hour for Daylight Savings Time before bed Saturday night. You don’t want to miss the service!