Greetings Chalice!

Congratulations, Chalice, we did it! Our pledge drive for our 2025-2026 congregational year was a huge success! We were able to meet our goal of $327,000 thanks to your generous pledges during our “Together, A Force for Good” campaign. A warm, heartfelt “Thank You!” to everyone who was able to make a pledge commitment.

Though our pledge drive is over, our theme of “Together, A Force for Good”, is still strong in our hearts and minds. Many of us were out being a force for good on April 5 for the National Day of Action “Hands Off” rallies. And we were out again on April 19, for the Indivisible “Stop the Cuts” rallies. Some of us participated in the National Association for Mental Illness (NAMI) walk on April 26, raising funds and awareness.

And here’s the thing: we can’t stop. I have heard Paul Courtright, one of the leaders of our Social Justice team, say this on the courtyard after services as he discusses different social justice actions with congregants. The times we are living in call each of us to consistently and persistently be that Force for Good. That will look different to different people at different times. To Jerry Carter it is showing up every week outside of Darrell Issa’s office to protest. To others it may be volunteering to teach Religious Education to children and youth at Chalice. It might be helping at the San Diego Food Bank with Debbie Resler, or serving meals at Interfaith Community Services with Steve Schlesinger. It might be educating yourself on how to intervene as a bystander (https://righttobe.org/training/bystander-intervention-training/), or it might be practicing the art of kindness everywhere you go. Whatever a Force for Good looks like to you, knowing you are part of a community working together makes our work easier and more joyful.

Wishing you a May rich in blessings and opportunities to bring more good and light into the world,

Lara Brown

President, Board of Trustees

P.S.

If you are a member of Chalice, now would be a good time to put our congregational meeting on your calendar :  Sunday, June 8. at 12:00pm. Our pledge commitments become the basis of our budget which will be voted on at this meeting. In addition, we will be voting in new Board of Trustees members. To establish a quorum we need 33% of our voting membership in attendance, so please plan to join us.