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What is the Chalice Lighter Program? The Chalice Lighter Program assists the growth of both emerging and existing congregations in the Mid-South District through contributions from Unitarian Universalists who participate as Chalice Lighters. The Chalice Lighter Program is administered by the MSD Growth & Support Committee, which believes that UUs have hidden our light under the proverbial bushel for too long. The time is now to share our message of religious freedom, reason and tolerance with friends and neighbors in the heart of the South. We need to advance the light, spread the word and share the faith of hope and courage. The Mid-South District Growth and Support Committee knows that at special times in their development, Unitarian Universalist congregations take big steps. In a very real way each step is the lighting of a new flame to spread the concepts of our faith. The Committee believes that it is our obligation to help a congregation at these crucial times to grow and prosper so that UUs may continue to be a force for progressive change and forward thinking within our communities. Chalice Lighter funds are intended to help new congregations or growing congregations by providing funds to assist in one of the following ways:
How did the Chalice Lighter Program begin? First some Unitarian Universalist history: The flaming chalice was designed by Austrian artist Hans Deutsch in 1941. Living in Paris during the 1930s, Deutsch drew critical cartoons of Adolf Hitler. When the Nazis invaded Paris in 1940, he abandoned all he had and fled, eventually winding up in Portugal. There he met the Rev. Charles Joy, executive director of the Unitarian Service Committee (USC). The Service Committee had been founded in Boston to assist Eastern Europeans who needed to escape Nazi persecution. From his Lisbon headquarters, Joy oversaw a secret network of couriers and agents. Seeing the need for a visual image to represent Unitarianism to the world, a symbol that would quickly establish trust across barriers of language, nationality, and faith, Joy asked Deutsch to create a symbol for the papers and badges and boxes of the USC. With pencil and ink, Deutsch drew a chalice with a flame. Joy interpreted this symbol as the kind of chalice which the Greeks and Romans put on their altars. The holy oil burning in it is a symbol of helpfulness and sacrifice. The fact that it remotely suggests a cross was not in the mind of the artist, who considered himself to be a "godless fellow," but Joy saw that suggestion as having merit. He wrote to the USC Board in Boston: "We do not limit our work to Christians. Indeed, at the present moment, our work is nine-tenths for the Jews, yet we do stem from the Christian tradition, and the cross does symbolize Christianity and its central theme of sacrificial love." Deutsch confessed to Joy: "I am not what you may actually call a believer. But if your kind of life is the profession of your faith--as it is, I feel sure--then religion, ceasing to be magic and mysticism, becomes confession to practical philosophy and--what is more--to active, really useful social work. And this religion--with or without a heading--is one to which even a ‘godless’ fellow like myself can say wholeheartedly, Yes!" And so the chalice became, first, the symbol of the Unitarian Service Committee and its unselfish and unrelenting work to right wrongs around the world. When Unitarians and Universalists joined as one denomination, the double circles were added to the symbol, surrounding the chalice, as a symbol of the unity of the two groups. The circles intersect, but remain separate, signifying that while one, the two groups are also unique. The circle has also been interpreted as a sign of inclusiveness. As the official symbol of the Unitarian Universalist Association the flaming chalice is used today by hundreds of UU congregations around the world. What Hans Deutsch saw in Charles Joy and his constituents was faith in action--people who were willing to risk all for others in a time of urgent need. The flaming chalice, like our faith, stands open to receive new truths that pass the tests of reason, justice, and compassion. Today, the chalice has special significance also as a symbol of the Chalice Lighter Program. The program began in the Mid-South District in 1988 at the instigation of Will Townsend, a member of the UU Fellowship of Montgomery, Alabama. Townsend envisioned a system by which individual members of UU congregations could help to light chalices across the South--to pass on the light, to spread the word, to share the faith of hope and courage. The program soon spread to the entire UU Association. In January 1989, the UU Fellowship of Middle Georgia, now High Street UU Church in Macon, Georgia, was the first to receive a Mid-South District Chalice Lighter Grant. Since that time, many other grants have been awarded to churches across the Mid-South District. Each year the number of individual Chalice Lighters grows, and the amount of the award to each congregation increases. Existing congregations have used their grants to improve their buildings and grounds or to help provide professional leadership. New congregations have received start-up moneys that have funded publicity campaigns, signs, public meetings, even hymnals, chairs, and religious education materials. The grants are administered by the Mid-South District Growth & Support Committee, which reviews each grant and makes a recommendation to the Mid-South District Board of Trustees. The Trustees ultimately select the grant recipient. The decision is often difficult, since only one award can be made per granting period, and the applicants are always worthy. A Chalice Lighter is a person who pledges to respond with a minimum $10 contribution when the call comes that it is time to light the chalice for a congregation in the Mid-South District. Chalice Lighters are committed for up to three calls during any one fiscal year (July 1 to June 30). Chalice Lighters will be asked to contribute each year until they notify the Mid-South District office that they no longer wish to participate. Be a Chalice Lighter!
Each Mid South District congregation designates a member to serve as the Chalice Lighter Representative for that congregation. If you have a question, contact your congregation’s Chalice Lighter Representative, or contact the Mid South District Chalice Lighter Coordinator at: Mid-South District Office A little help makes a big difference. 1,000 Chalice Lighters can put at least $10,000 to work spreading the Good News of Unitarian Universalism throughout the Mid South. Current enrollment is about 1,400. A candle loses nothing of its light by lighting another candle. |
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