Are You a Member?
"Beings have gathered for centuries seeking a higher purpose and deeper life than they could find alone. We are grateful that you have found your way here, and that you have decided to make a commitment to this faith community. We hope that you will allow yourselves to know and to be known, to minister to and to be ministered unto, to love and to be loved, by this community."—Rev. Victoria Weinstein, adapted
Membership in a Unitarian Universalist congregation is a rich and fulfilling experience. Congregations who are able to embrace all that it means to be a member are in the best position to ensure that members remain active and contributing parts of the community. What brought you to Unitarian Universalism and your own congregation?
A strong religious education program for children and youth is essential to healthy membership development and retention. With schedules as busy as they are today, families seek activities that they can do together and places that have meaning for them as a family. Excitement and ownership by the youngest members of a family will keep adults coming as well.
Covenant groups, affinity groups, supper clubs, neighborhood groups, book clubs, and groups that assist with specific difficult transitions—such as groups for caregivers of elderly parents—can all provide the type of support that will keep members connected to the community.
Our members know that we have many kinds of theological diversity in our congregations. Spiritual diversity is based on the differences in what we do—our practices. Our diversity is a blessing, and we encourage our members to explore their own experience with religious practice, with meditation, with understanding what language of the spirit evokes in them.
With a tradition of independent congregations and a long history of outstanding and courageous lay leadership, Unitarian Universalist congregations have long understood that membership means involvement. Our ministers share leadership with our lay leaders, albeit not always without some uneasiness. When the idea of shared ministry was introduced to our congregations in the 1990s, it gave a vocabulary for what we have long believed: that a congregation will only be successful if its members give of their time, money, and talents and if that ministry is more than what the professional minister does.
Being a member of a UU congregation requires as much “inreach” as outreach, for the development of a strong Unitarian Universalist identity is one way to ensure that adults stay involved and that youth and young adults seek guidance and comfort from their Unitarian Universalist religious homes when needed. New members are often attracted by the freedom and breadth of Unitarian Universalism. More seasoned members may be seeking depth. A congregation needs the ability to provide both authentic personal relationships and religious resources to engage the mind and spirit at the deepest levels. Membership in a UU congregation is an ongoing journey that does not stop when one “signs the book.”
Welcome, members of Unitarian Universalist congregations. We hope to serve you and your family well—no matter what stage you are on in the membership journey!
Last updated on Wednesday, October 8, 2008.
