Create A Legacy
Honor the Past by Securing the Future
Become Part of the Legacy |
What is the UUCSS Endowment Fund?
The UUCSS Board of Trustees established the UUCSS Endowment Fund
to commemorate the church’s 50th anniversary. The Fund is
administered by a Board-appointed committee, which may invest Fund
money in socially responsible mutual funds. At the beginning of
each calendar year, four percent of the Fund’s balance is
transferred to the church’s operating fund. This way, the
Fund can continue to grow while also supporting ongoing programs.
The church constitution restricts spending the endowment’s
funds beyond the annual transfer.
Why Should I Contribute to the Endowment Fund?
The Endowment Fund protects and provides for the UUCSS in difficult
times. During the mid-1970s and late 1990s, UUCSS struggled to make
ends meet. A healthy endowment fund during those times may have
prevented painful budget cuts, deferred maintenance, allowed programs to continue to flourish.
An Endowment Fund contribution is a great way to provide enduring
support to UUCSS. All gifts will be honored.
There are Many Ways to Give
- Charitable Bequests
- Gifts of securities, stocks, bonds, mutual funds
- Charitable gifts of life insurance, annuities, retirement
plans
Gifts to the Endowment Fund qualify for the maximum allowable Federal
and State charitable deduction. In addition, gifts are fully deductible
for Federal estate and gift tax purposes
Please consider remembering UUCSS in your will by leaving bequests to the UUCSS Endowment Fund.
Another creative way to support the Endowment Fund is to make it
the beneficiary of a life insurance policy(either in whole of in part). This is an excellent
gift. In addition, the premium payments would then be tax deductible.
Of course, a first step would be to attend one of the UUCSS
planned-giving seminars or workshops to learn about what kind of
gift makes sense for you.
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Why People Give
- To engage in issues that matter deeply to them and their
communities.
- To seed, encourage and enable change.
- To give back to the community when their own assets grow.
- To ensure that others have what they have come to value
and perhaps did not have earlier in life.
- To guarantee the continuation of ideas they value.
- To attain lifelong (and beyond) recognition through the
establishment of endowments.
- To affiliate with others having like values and interests.
From ”High Impact Philanthropy"
by Grace & Wendroff
Minister’s Words
“Creative love, our thanks we give, that this, our
world, is incomplete, that struggle greets our will to live,
that work awaits our hands and feet,” go the words to
one of my favorite hymns. It reminds us that all the challenges
around us in the world ”are indeed opportunities to
make the world a better place. And the satisfaction that comes
with doing that, with actually acting on a scale that makes
a lasting change in the world, a change that will make the
world better for people, even people who are not here yet…
that is the best of all.
That is what the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver
Spring is all about: a caring community of relevant, enduring
liberal religious faith. Others built this community from
nothing, so that it would be here for us when we came. We
are building on our many strengths and offering all that we
can to the larger world. This is your chance to help us take
another, vital step in growing our faith, creating our legacy
by giving UUCSS an endowment that will help secure the future
and keep us thriving. Make the future happen. Thank you for
your generosity.
In faith,
The Rev. Elizabeth A. Lerner
More to come…
Periodically the Endowment Committee offers seminars and workshops to learn more about the process. In the meantime, contact any member of the UUCSS Endowment Committee. |
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Over 50 Years Of Religious Community
From its humble beginnings in Max and Alice Louise Millers’
living room over fifty years ago, UUCSS has grown into the vibrant
church we enjoy today thanks to the commitment and sacrifice of
members and friends. Here are some of the highlights of UUCSS’
first fifty years, which remind us of how what we do today shapes
the UUCSS of tomorrow.
1952 |
The Silver Spring/Takoma Park Universalist
Fellowship was founded by a dedicated group of 13 adults and
8 children. With help from the UUA, the congregation purchased
a parcel of land on New Hampshire Ave. for $14,000. Rev. David
McPherson served as minister for the first 10 years. |
1960 |
The Universalist church of Silver Spring became UUCSS
in recognition of the historic merger of Unitarianism and
Universalism. |
1964 |
After a decade of meeting in a renovated stable (now the
Fellowship House), UUCSS dedicated a new Sanctuary building
(now the Community Hall). |
1973 |
Due to a decline in membership and thus friends, UUCSS could no longer afford
a minister. From 1974 to 1978, relying heavily on lay ministry,
UUCSS stabilized its membership and was again able to hire
a minister. |
1992 |
Foundation begins on a new building. |
1994 |
The new Sanctuary Building was completed, culminating a
long and difficult planning, fundraising, and construction
process. |
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