Our Annual Auction is the biggest FUN-raiser and fundraiser of the year. It kicked off last Sunday, April 27, in Fuller Hall on Sunday and online throughout the week, and it will last through the festive auction coffee hour on Sunday, May 4, up until 5 p.m. While some auctions are focused on selling high-priced rarities, ours focuses on members and friends of our congregation providing services for each other. Many of these services are social gatherings, like a dinner or a hike. Other offerings are treasures from the heart, like a painting, or items that are just plain practical or fun! While we certainly hope to raise money to afford some things and activities that would otherwise be beyond our reach, we also strive to build connections between the people in our community. Auction items and activities provide a great way to get to know the people in your communal congregational neighborhood.
The theme of this year’s auction is “Welcome In!” as the money we raise is focused on welcoming additions to our community. The funds we raise will allow us to have a beautiful, new handmade wooden welcome desk in the narthex. (What’s a narthex? That’s a word for a vestibule or lobby in front of the sanctuary.) We also plan to create a new sign in front of our Eliot Sanctuary to welcome people in. In addition, we want to implement a couple of security walks around our property every night to pay attention to what is happening and to see if this measure will reduce the refuse, biohazards, and fire debris that we find in the mornings. Your generosity will help us to be an even more welcoming presence in downtown Portland.
Every year the theme is also “Creating Connections.” If you are new, or if you are a longtime member, the Auction activities create an easy way to get to know people and have some fun together. There are so many meals and other social gatherings to choose from, as well as some lovely handmade items, professional services, music & arts offerings, delicious foods, vacation houses, a nature camp day for kids, and more. There are over 120 auction offerings! You can also buy baked goods to support the Auction in coffee hour on Sunday mornings, as well as view many of the offerings there in person.
I am offering two items:
- Auction item #132 Name that Sermon – come meet with me and share your idea for a sermon topic that I will offer in the 2025 – 2026 congregational year.
- Auction item #133 Mosaics Making, Mimosas, and Mocktails – join with me and my husband, David Snedden, who teaches mosaics workshops for an afternoon of community fun on Sunday, November 9.
We are so grateful for our whole Auction Team, who has sparked so many connections over the years. Our “Welcome In!” Auction 2025 team includes: Evie Zaic & Sharon Dawson (our auction co-chairs), Bill Cunninghame (our online auction tech wizard), Lena Lee, Kathy Ludlow, Pat Malone, Jean Omelchuck, Nancy Panitch, Kathleen Vinson, Janice Yaden, Marti Yoder, Ron Yoder, and Ann Zawaski.
We also want to thank the auction sponsors who helped us to kick-off with a strong launch towards our goal: The Alliance, Kathryn Estey, Tom Disrud, Larry Frager, Luke Groser, Ed and Ellen McClaran, Laura and Paul Milne, Andrew Wilson and Ronnie Gail Emden, Sally Shorr, Barbara Ashmun, Kathy Ludlow and Eric Terrell, Ruth Robinson, Quilts of Love, Evie Zaic, Sharon Dawson, Lena Lee and Ann Zawaski, Linda Craig, as well as other anonymous donors. And yes … there’s still time to become an auction sponsor. For more information about becoming a sponsor, contact Pat Malone or Ron Yoder.
Our fundraising goal this year is $50,000. We are already 45% of the way there! We hope you’ll join us in raising funds and fun by bidding on an auction item or gathering you would enjoy. Check out the full online catalog here.
Finally, thank you to all of you who donated an offering and who have or will bid on an item. May it bear the fruit of new connections and deepening connections among us.
Be sure to stop by Fuller Hall this Sunday to see the pie selection from the Alliance and to see if there is an auction item with YOUR name on it!
With gratitude,
Rev. Alison