View from the Pew: April 2021

Dear Friends,

Though this past year has been a very challenging year to say the least, we are starting to see the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel and have been fortunate to have seen light all along in our faith community. We found spiritual fellowship with a larger community through worshipping online. We celebrated the Tice family officially becoming whole. We celebrated new life through baptism. We celebrated and affirmed one of our beloved trans family members through Renaming. And we celebrated the gifts and the service of Pastor Margaret.

The light in our community has been invaluable given the immense challenges of this past year. We've mourned over 560,000 lives lost to COVID-19, and have endured many months of fear and uncertainty which we continue to face regarding this terrible disease. We've marched to once again affirm that Black Lives Matter, in the face of a society and power structures which still act as if they don't. We've seen a growing threat to trans youth, as states have begun to ban life-saving gender affirming therapy. We've also endured a tumultuous presidential campaign and a violent attack on democracy itself in its aftermath.

It's been a lot, but no matter what life throws at us, we have the light and the support of our faith community at Chestnut Hill United. This is the time of year that we are asking each of you to think about what Chestnut Hill United means to you and those you love, and decide how you can give through your prayers, presence, gifts and service. We are encouraging everyone to be an active participant in the budget building process in order to see how your contributions are used. The Stewardship Committee is asking that you consider what it has meant to you to have and be a part of this community, how the Church and this community has helped sustain you over this very difficult year, and how you can provide the financial support that sustains this community.

Chestnut Hill United has also made serious commitments, all of which require everyone to provide additional financial support to meet. We are committed to fair compensation for our pastors and staff. We are committed to contribute more to the broader community as it struggles for social, economic, and environmental justice. We are committed to seizing the opportunity remote worship has given us to expand our faith community beyond its physical borders. And perhaps most of all, we are committed to continue providing sustenance through these difficult times and welcoming everyone, regardless of who they are or where they are on life's journey.

In the coming weeks, we will be hearing from members of our community on what Chestnut Hill United means to them. We hope everyone will listen, and consider pledging to give such that we can truly live our values and grow both as a faith community and as a force in the seemingly eternal struggle for a just and fair society.

In Faith,