Pledge Drive Letter | Michelle

Friends,

I hope you are enjoying your experiences at Collective! This place, which is not really a place but more a collection of people, hearts, and ideas, has provided a basis for some really profound growth spurts in my spiritual life. 

After leaving “the Church” at about 18 because I was disgusted with the lack of love and humility I found, I wound my way very slowly back to what I know to be my own truths about God, love, truth, community, leadership, and servanthood. Truly, I never intended to be part of anything with the word “church” in it ever again.

About three years ago, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and all that self-assured peace I had made with the world came to its knees. The details are not important; my lifelong beliefs were tested: that people are good at heart and that God, in whatever form I understood, was a benevolent force. It was around this time that I started going to Collective, and I found that I belonged- no matter my beliefs.

"What I have come to understand about myself, and about Ben and the majority of the people at Collective, is that our spiritual lives and our sense of belonging and responsibility to our community are not separate things. They are interwoven."

Over the last few years my relationship with Collective has grown and taken on meaning beyond my spiritual life. Last year, a group of us began a group for the LGBTQ+ community and its allies, Collective Cares. As a social worker, this group has become integral to my sense of responsibility to provide an open and safe place in our community. Yes, it’s a specific cause. But what I have come to understand about myself, and about Ben and the majority of the people at Collective, is that our spiritual lives and our sense of belonging and responsibility to our community are not separate things. They are interwoven.

Collective Cares is funded primarily through the budget raised during this annual Pledge Drive at Collective. We don’t ask participants in Collective Cares to come on Sundays or to profess any kind of belief. This is simply the right thing to do in our community. If you can, please consider contributing to Collective’s budget during the Pledge Drive, and help to continue this work.

Thank you so much for your attention and time,

Michelle Bradt
Collective Cares Board of Directors

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