Kari Wilhems, a Ball State anthropology student who has been attending the UU Church of Muncie for the past few months, shared some exciting personal news during Joys and Sorrows on April 30: She's been nominated for an Emmy!

Thank you, thank you. The belief in our church has been gratefully affirmed by the many pledges made to the Save Our Sanctuary Campaign.

The campaign was so successful that we made our goal of $150,000 and we are now at $200,000. The roof is completed as well as the repairs of the interior woodwork. The generous pledges have given us the opportunity to move forward on projects that address goals in our long range plan. It is great that a number of members are paying ahead on their SOS pledges, so we have already received $88,000 of the $200,000 committed over the next two years. The SOS Implementation Committee continues to be active in defining and soliciting contracts for future projects. All projects are presented and voted on by the Board of Trustees. (Click here for the current project status report.)

Leaders and members before us provided our sanctuary in the woods. Now is the time for all of us to step forward to save and revitalize it. As I write, many dedicated, hardworking and creative committee members (led by President-Elect Eleanor Johnson and subcommittee chairs Linda Gregory, Linda Hanson, and Judy Lowe) are planning the SOS (Save Our Sanctuary) capital campaign that begins during worship on August 29th. Please say yes when you are asked to participate in this effort to save the building we all love.

A Brief History

For the last several years the Property Maintenance (PM) Committee, the board, and all of us have known that we needed to stop the leaks, repair the water and raccoon damage, and secure the building. In the spring of 2009, our insurance carrier informed the board and PM Committee that without repairs we would lose our coverage. The board established a committee to evaluate the damage, consider options, and make a recommendation to the board.