About Small Congregations
To members, leaders, and staff of small congregations, welcome! The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) describes small congregations as being those with 150 adult members or fewer; or about 125, or fewer, attending worship. Small congregations range from groups of a few people, to small family-sized congregations, to congregations of around 80 members, to congregations on the verge of being midsize (or 150 - 550).
The congregation may have a minister, or it may be lay-led. There may be other staff along side a minister, such as a religious educator or an administrator, or there may be no paid staff at all. The Congregation may own a building, share a building, or rent space—and this may be in an urban, suburban, rural or other setting. Naturally, each of these circumstances creates different needs and different advantages. Staff and members of small congregations will often know which resources will suit them, due to these and other factors.
Small congregations can be rewarding places to engage in faith development, community-building, and ministry. They are busy places and can be demanding places, as fewer people are available to tend to the congregation's work. The UUA supplies resources that may be able to help keep the demands more realistic and the energy focused where it matters most. Also the Northern New England District (NNED) of the UUA has information for Small Unitarian Universalist Congregations.
More Information for Small Congregations
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For more information contact smallcongregations @ uua.org.
This work is made possible by the generosity of individual donors and congregations. Please consider making a donation today.
Last updated on Friday, December 14, 2012.
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