Risk-Taking, Reaching Out Help Congregations Grow
July 15, 2007
The four congregations that were named Breakthrough Congregations this year by the Unitarian Universalist Association's (UUA) Growth Task Force grew for a variety of reasons. They spoke out in their communities, attracting people who wanted a church that took a stand on important issues. They reached out with advertising and a new sign. One grew after it looked inside itself and fixed the negative ways members were treating each other. Another sought professional leadership after years of being lay led. Yet another worked to become truly multicultural and found that the Unitarian Universalist (UU) message reaches across racial lines.The largest of the four is First Unitarian Church in Portland, OR, with 1,100 members. The second is All Souls UU Church in Kansas City, MO (528) and the third is the Carbondale, IL, UU Fellowship (186). The smallest is Davies Memorial UU Church in Camp Springs, MD (150 members).
If you know anything at all about First Unitarian Church of Portland, OR, you know the story of the red ribbon. How in 1992 when Oregon voters were asked to vote on an anti-gay measure, the church wrapped its whole downtown block in a red ribbon, calling it a hate-free zone.
The church grew 40 percent that year as it became known as the church of justice. It had also called a new minister just before the ribbon-wrapping, Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell, who became deeply involved in the community and further raised the congregation's visibility.
First Unitarian grew from 675 members in 1992 to 1,100 today. Sewell credits worship that is "alive, and high energy," the church's extensive engagement in social justice work, a religious education program that has grown to include six hundred children and youth, and dozens of places for people to connect.
She also credits the congregation's willingness to take risks. Sewell led one hundred congregants to the 1999 World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle to protest trade policies. Some members left because of that, but many more came, says Kate Lore, the church's fulltime director of social justice. "They couldn't believe there was a church that would stand up to corporate domination and greed."
Other reasons for growth: The congregation has set aside $2,000 to $3,000 annually for leadership training and is raising that to $10,000 this year. Music director, Mark Slegers, introduces as much music variety as possible into worship. First Unitarian claims the Association's largest music program with more than three hundred children, youth, and adults singing or playing instruments in eleven musical groups.
All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in Kansas City has fluctuated between three hundred and four hundred members for much of its life. Several years ago it began a period of steady growth. In November 2006 it reached five hundred members and in June 2007 the figure stood at 528, with 112 children and youth.
All Souls' first breakthrough came in 1994 when, in the aftermath of an acrimonious dispute over the remodeling of its building, the congregation called in two consultants, UUA district executives Nancy Heege and Helen Bishop. They showed the congregation the negative ways that members were behaving toward each other. That led to a series of discussions about topics that had been taboo, according to some. People listened to each other, understandings developed, and the culture began to change.
The next breakthrough came in 2003 when the Kansas City metro area was chosen for the UUA's pilot media campaign. The campaign forced All Souls to take a new look at its greeting practices. Says Chloe Mason Seagrove, director of membership, "We learned that even though we thought we were ready to help nurture and integrate visitors we were not. Sometimes we barely acknowledged them. So we got busy and developed a formalized greeting program."
The congregation took a risk, borrowing from its endowment to bring on a membership director and a minister of religious education, both fulltime. "The move more than paid for itself in the first year by the increase in new families," says Mason Seagrove.
All Souls worship aims to "enrich, inspire, and sometimes surprise," says senior minister Rev. Jim Eller, who has been at All Souls since 1999. Intern ministers have also helped it grow. One focused on young adults, creating a substantial young adult ministry. Eller notes, "When young adults come and see young people on the staff they're more likely to come back." The current average age at All Souls is 43, down from 55 in 1993.
The Carbondale Unitarian Fellowship was founded in the 1950s by Southern Illinois University faculty. For much of its history the lay led fellowship's Sunday services consisted of professorial talks and the membership hovered around one hundred. Today it is at 186.
Increasing maintenance on its 1910 building caused the congregation to decide to move and grow. It called Rev. Bill Sasso as its first minister in 1999. Having a minister, says President Jerry Molumby, gave the congregation more visibility. "We felt like we had a representative in the community," he said.
Then came a capital campaign in 2002, which raised pledges of $780,000 for a building. Four individual "angels" donated another $100,000 each. The congregation built a $1.86 million building and moved into it in 2004, and that spurred more growth.
Member Cheryl Robinson says the congregation's accomplishments are due to seven values: "1) Everyone's voice must be heard; 2) we have been willing to ask for help when we needed it; 3) we have valued the advice we have received; 4) we have believed in the generosity of angels, who have often been anonymous; 5) we value the growth of liberal religion in this area of the heartland; 6) we value social justice locally and globally; and 7) we value fun and try not to take ourselves too seriously."
Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church was founded in the 1950s in a Washington, D.C., suburb. It thrived in the 50's and 60's, but lost members as much of the white population left the area. Deciding to stay in predominately black Prince Georges County, MD, the congregation in the mid 90's resolved to make its congregation look more like its community.
Rev. Don Cameron, later joined by Rev. John Crestwell Jr., had a vision of creating a multicultural congregation. Crestwell, who is black, became Davies' sole minister in 2005 and continued that quest. With financial help from the UUA and the Joseph Priestley District, the congregation reached out with mass mailings and a new sign. Growth came by fits and starts. Many people of color came, attracted by advertising, personal invitations, and by a dynamic black minister in a UU pulpit. There were 48 visitors in 2002, 70 in 2004 and 83 in 2006. Membership rose accordingly, from 101 in 2001 to 150 in May 2007. Thirty-five percent of members are people of color, making it one of the most racially diverse congregations within the Unitarian Universalist Association.
There was also increased focus on religious education, with the hiring of Dawn Star Borchelt as director of religious education (DRE). She grew up in a multiracial church and was commited to creating an religious education (RE) department where everyone would be welcome. Sixty percent of children and youth at Davies are of color.
Crestwell has written a book about Davies' journey to become multicultural. Charge of the Chalice is available from the Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church.
For more information contact interconnections @ uua.org.
Last updated on Friday, April 18, 2008.
