<div dir="ltr"><div>Nancy,</div><div><br></div><div> Thanks for sharing this article by John Halstead.</div><div><br></div><div> I have a few comments...</div><div><br></div><div> <u>Membership Numbers</u> UUA reports show that the national numbers of UU congregations are stable. This is not bad considering that most mainline denominations have experienced decline in the recent decades. A Pew study recently reported that the number of "nones" (people reporting no religious preference) is up to 28% nationally--double what it was previously. These are people ripe for recruitment to UU congregations because they are disenchanted with organized religion. <br></div><div><br></div><div> <u>Worship Services. </u> I think we should not focus on recruiting people into our congregation through worship services. Worship services are a hallmark of traditional religions, which nones are running away from. We should focus instead on bringing people into activities that demonstrate our seven principles, e.g., environmental projects, supporting LGBTQ+ people. In 2014 when we hung a banner outside our sanctuary proclaiming our commitment to marriage equality, we had a surge of new members.</div><div><u><br></u></div><div> <u> Budget Issues</u>. Halstead writes that like most Americans UUs have adopted the assumption of an ongoing capitalist commitment to budget growth and we should temper this assumption. But we have seen over the years that our vision and planned activities exceed our budget lines. It would be great to have more members to participate, who would then be likely to make financial contributions, giving us more resources for projects. During our pledge drive it was clear that the most actively engaged members are also the most generous financially.<br></div><div><br></div><div> <u> High Participation/More Membership</u>. Halstead makes a good point that religious organizations which demand the most of their members have at least stable membership and even growth, e.g. Mormons. If we had more activities that serve our community, e.g., community meals, we would get more participation and more commitment. When we offered the community meal, we had a large number of helpers (3 groups of 15 each)[; our problem was that no one wanted to take over the coordination of the meal.</div><div><br></div><div> <u>Minister.</u> I'll leave this issue to future discussion. But I will note that while Kat has been on sabbatical, we have had some great speakers & programs under Martha McGovern's thoughtful and creative leadership. And we are doing pastoral care fairly well with the participation of Cathy Rees and her Caring Committee team.<br></div><div><br></div><div> I believe that this article offers some wonderful "grist for the mill" through potential future discussion.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr">George & Gwen Banziger; 740-434-5685; 740-434-3354 (mobile)<br></div></div></div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Jan 25, 2024 at 8:59 PM C-D Keller via Fuusm-l <<a href="mailto:fuusm-l@fuusm.org" target="_blank">fuusm-l@fuusm.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto">Thank you for sharing this Nancy.<div>I think he has a very valid point.</div><div><br></div><div>Chris Keller <br><div><br><div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On Jan 25, 2024, at 5:34 PM, nwolske17--- via Fuusm-l <<a href="mailto:fuusm-l@fuusm.org" target="_blank">fuusm-l@fuusm.org</a>> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">
<div><br></div><div>Everyone concerned with the budget and with efforts to expand the congregation should read this. MUCH food for thought. </div><div><br></div><br><a href="https://praywithyourfeet.org/2019/01/23/why-we-arent-growing-an-open-letter-to-my-unitarian-congregation/" target="_blank">https://praywithyourfeet.org/2019/01/23/why-we-arent-growing-an-open-letter-to-my-unitarian-congregation/</a><br><br><br><br><br>Nancy Lee <br><br><br><div><a style="font-size:12px" href="https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&af_sub1=Acquisition&af_sub2=Global_YMktg&af_sub3=&af_sub4=100000604&af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_" target="_blank">Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone</a><br></div>
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