No. Governing Policies 5.3 says, “to be a voting member, a member must first make and at least partially fulfill a pledge that is generous within their means,” and “each member shall determine what pledge meets the minimum amount to be generous.”

To the best of our knowledge, no one has been refused membership or voting rights because of a pledge that is insufficiently generous.

A “pledge” is a promise to pay a certain amount to the church’s annual operating budget. When you pledge, you typically tell the church when and how you’ll pay, but you do not have to pay anything upfront.

Some people promptly pay their entire pledge as soon as they can; others pay monthly installments or wait until the end of the year. Some people ultimately do not fulfill their pledges.

To become a member, you must pledge. To vote, you must make a payment on your pledge (though you do not need to pay your entire pledge amount).

Yes, unless you get a special exception from Rev. Tom.

Signing the book became a less-strict requirement during the pandemic, but Membership Coordinator Jen Thomas clarified recently that church is no longer allowing people to become remote-only members.

Definitely not. Governing policies 5.3 says, “a member must first make and at least partially fulfill a pledge.” You’re good to go as long as you’ve made a payment of any amount on your pledge in the past 12 months.

It depends, but standard practice seems to be about 7 weeks in advance.

For each vote, the Board establishes a “date of record.” You must be a member and must have made a payment toward your pledge on or before the date to be able to vote.

For the annual ballot in mid-May, the date of record typically is in early April. (For instance, in 2018, the date of record was April 2, and the ballot was due on May 20.)

You are eligible to vote if you’ve made a payment on a pledge within the 12 months preceding the vote.

It is easiest to walk through the possibilities with an example. Let’s imagine that today’s date is April 1, 2025, and the next annual ballot is due on May 18, 2025.

• If you made a payment on a pledge any time since May 19, 2024, then you should be eligible to vote.

  • You might have made a payment toward your 2024 pledge in May - November 2024, or

  • you might have made a payment toward your new 2025 pledge in November 2024 - March 2025.

• What if you haven’t made any payments since May 19, 2024?

  • You need to make a payment before the “date of record” established by the Board.

  • The date of record typically is in early April, or about 7 weeks before the vote.

No, partners can make a joint pledge. If one person already is a member and already has pledged, their partner can join under the same pledge.

Please note that adult children must pledge separately from their parents.

It is 100% up to you, of course!

Please know that members have some rarely-used democratic powers that could be used soon, if enough members are onboard. If you’ve already made a payment this year, it would not cost you anything more to retain your membership just in case there’s an opportunity to participate in democracy.

If you make monthly or quarterly payments, you can pause or reduce the amount while you contemplate how to move forward. Variations of the following have been used by members recently:

• To: stewardship@firstunitarianportland.org

• Email text: I am currently re-evaluating my relationship with this church. Effective immediately, please pause my payment plan (or, please reduce my monthly payment to $X) until further notice. I will let you know when I decide how I wish to move forward.

We've been accused several times of "telling people to leave the church" and "telling people to reduce their pledges." For the record: If you are happy with the church and are intending to stay, we're not suggesting that you reduce your pledge. Frankly, it seems kind of insulting that our ministers would think that congregants might reduce their pledge just for fun, to be cheap, to get away with something, or because we somehow brainwashed them.

We trust the ability of every congregant to think through such a decision for themselves. We simply are providing a reason to hope that things might get better if you stick around. And, we are informing people that temporarily reducing one’s financial burden is a reasonable option of last resort for those on the edge of walking away.

Ask Jen Thomas, Membership Coordinator, at jthomas@firstunitarianportland.org. She should be able to look you up and give you a definitive answer.

If you need additional assistance, the other point people for membership are Erin Tafuri (etafuri@firstunitarianportland.org) and Rev. Tom Disrud (tdisrud@firstunitarianportland.org).