The Union Church in Waban Capital Campaign: Thrive. Honor. Build.

Ninety members of The Union Church in Waban celebrated the kick-off of its Capital Campaign, entitled "Thrive. Honor. Build." over dinner on Friday evening, March 2, 2018, at the Wellesley College Club. Newton residents helped make the night an overwhelming success: Erika Pond, Jenny Weisz, and Frank Slack organized the event; Karen Weisgerber and Kent Wittler, co-chairs of the Campaign revealed a video and the amount raised by members of the church to date. At the time of the kick-off dinner last Friday, members had donated $596,823 to the Campaign, over ninety percent of the $650,000 Campaign goal! Internationally acclaimed folk band Windborne performed moving and meaningful songs to end the celebratory evening. The active pledge period of the Campaign will continue until Sunday, April 8th, when the members of The Union Church in Waban will again celebrate during and after worship.

The Union Church in Waban is over 106 years old and its founders were visionary in building a church with deep conviction to be inclusive to all and offer a radical, nondenominational welcome. The current thriving faith community of over 200 members embraces the covenant to be child cherishing, mission and outreach minded, and inclusive to all, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, ability, or economic circumstance. First driven by the need to repair the building's leaking roof and cracking front steps, the Campaign Executive Committee of twenty church members and pastors Stacy Swain and Amy Feldman, are leading an effort to remodel the century-old building’s classrooms and community spaces as stewards of the environment, and to enhance the congregation's mission, youth and music programs. The Campaign will raise money for these projects over the next three years.

Settled minister, Stacy Swain, describes the Thrive. Honor. Build. Campaign: "We come from an incredible legacy. People over a hundred years ago created this place to be a community of welcome; where everybody would find a home; where everybody would find a place that would take them in and help them be their best selves. But not only that, we are also a community that not only just welcomes people in but also helps them to thrive. We want people to be built up, to be full of joy, to have a sense of what they can contribute in the world. So we are a church that builds people up and sends them out to do good works in the world. And we're also a church that is looking toward our future. And that's really where this campaign comes in as well because we want this building to survive into the future and nourish future generations that they too can thrive. And so we're replacing the roof, we're putting new steps on the front, we're sprucing up the classrooms. But more than anything we're keeping the legacy of this church alive so that it will be a place of thriving and hope and promise well into the future."

To learn more about The Union Church in Waban, its leaders, mission, community and Capital Campaign, please visit the church at 14 Collins Road in Waban and our website at www.ucw.org.