[Fuusm-l] “Why We Aren’t Growing”

[George Banziger]

Nancy,

     Thanks for sharing this article by John Halstead.

     I have a few comments...

     *Membership Numbers* 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.

       *Worship Services. * 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.

     * Budget Issues*. 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.

     * High Participation/More Membership*. 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.

      *Minister.* 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.

     I believe that this article offers some wonderful "grist for the mill"
through potential future discussion.


George & Gwen Banziger; 740-434-5685; 740-434-3354 (mobile)


On Thu, Jan 25, 2024 at 8:59 PM C-D Keller via Fuusm-l <fuusm-l at fuusm.org>
wrote:

> Thank you for sharing this Nancy.
> I think he has a very valid point.
>
> Chris Keller
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jan 25, 2024, at 5:34 PM, nwolske17--- via Fuusm-l <fuusm-l at fuusm.org>
> wrote:
>
> 
>
> Everyone concerned with the budget and with efforts to expand the
> congregation should read this. MUCH food for thought.
>
>
>
> https://praywithyourfeet.org/2019/01/23/why-we-arent-growing-an-open-letter-to-my-unitarian-congregation/
>
>
>
>
> Nancy Lee
>
>
> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
> <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_>
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