What is congregational Certification of Membership? Is it required?

Certification of Membership is an annual process whereby member congregations report a current certified membership number, and statistical information from their previous fiscal year, to the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), following the established procedures for this reporting. The UUA's Data Services office begins contacting congregations in mid-November each year, and the deadline for congregations to submit these materials to Data Services is February 1 at 5 p.m. PST.

The certified number of members will be used as the basis for calculating your congregation's Fair Share contribution to the UUA Annual Program Fund, as well as District dues. The certified number also determines the number of voting delegates your congregation may send to represent the congregation at the annual General Assembly.

Repeated failure to complete the Certification of Membership by the posted deadline may result in a congregation being moved to Inactive status. This is one of the UUA's Bylaws and Rules.