Testimonial – Julie Bock and Matt Byrnes

Members at FUSM since 2001

Hi, we’re Julie Bock & Matt Byrnes and we joined First Church in 2001. This beloved community is so special to us; it helps us to live our values every day as we actively work to make our world safer and more inclusive. Through Children’s RE, we experienced giving back while CRE helped us raise a wonderful young adult, who now carries on our values. Through our leadership roles we served our community as well as developed ourselves (and hopefully others). From our treasured First Unitarian Society we have been nurtured in times of growth as well as sorrow.  

For all these reasons, and many more, we have actively been involved with the Forge Our Future campaign from the start. We hosted focus groups in August and now we are serving on the campaign steering committee. A successful Forge Our Future campaign allows us the financial stability to live into our shared values and church mission; realized through our end statements that were developed during my Board of Trustee service and informed with the congregation’s input. In simple terms the Ends are things like authentic connections, challenging injustice, and communally experiencing wonder and love. The pledging process is easy; a fellow First Churcher will reach out to you so just say ‘YES!’ to the invitation to connect with them, learn more about the campaign, and make your pledge.  

We have chosen to give our largest pledge ever during Forge Our Future. It is essential that our much-loved First Church not just survive but THRIVE, in order to cultivate the best selves of its members, support our community, and change the world. I hope you will join us in creating abundance by giving generously.  

We’ll leave you with this quote:  

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”- President Barack Obama