I am a committed Universalist Unitarian. At this crucial time in the life of the church, we are faced with economical, political and faith based pressures. Over the past few years, I have come to realize how important it is to me to have a liberal spiritual voice in our local community and in the Inland Empire. I value the time I spend with people who are also on a journey to find their spiritual truth as only they can define it. There are people in other religions who would deny my right to decide what my spiritual beliefs are.

Several years ago I went to the Mid West and encountered people who thought that since I did not believe in the literal translation of the Bible or that Jesus is divine that I was a person who did not have moral values. I came back from that trip with a renewed vigor and love for our faith and our church. My husband, Glenn, and I resolved then to increase our financial, spiritual, emotional and physical commitment to this church. Which we have done. I found out that the more generous I was, the more I encouraged generosity. To create a generous congregation I have to first be generous.

Another recent personal experience I had with a person who would deny my right to believe as I choose was a brief encounter I had with someone just walking by. I was at the church unlocking the Annex door and a man walked by and shouted at me: "Unitarian Universalism is a false religion!" At first, I didn't realize that this person was shouting at me. He again shouted: "Unitarian Universalism is a false religion!" I just looked at the man, I was so shocked that someone would have his mind so set in concrete that he had to resort to hit and run tactics. He did not want a response; his mind was made up. There was nothing I could say or do to convince him otherwise.

There are many more people out there who believe as he does. It occurs to me, that our freedom to believe as we see fit is very scary to people like this man. That is why I feel strongly that I and we need to ensure that there is a liberal spiritual presence in our community by involving myself and supporting our Annual Budget Drive. We have an ambitious goal of $150,000 in pledges for next year. This budget pays our bills and supports our staff and programs. That is why my husband, Glenn, and I are increasing our pledge by 10%. If every member and friend would also increase their pledge according to their own financial situation, we would meet our pledge goal. We would ensure that our liberal spiritual presence would not only continue but grow in influence in our community. Will you join me and give what you can or even dig deeper if you can to support our religious/spiritual freedom?

In Faith,

Shirley Grandfield