Pennies and nickles from church school children, combined with larger donations from adult members, helped the endowment fund at Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist (UU) Church in Bethesda, MD (917 members), grow past a million dollars last year.November is Endowment Month at Cedar Lane, and that’s…

When the UU Church, Eugene, OR (214 members), started holding two Sunday services to relieve overcrowding, the reaction was mixed. Most people felt that the change, although it upset familiar routines, was necessary for growth to occur, says Martha Osgood of the membership committee….

We’ve all been there. The service is about to start and the moderator asks the dreaded question: Are there any announcements? Yes, it seems there are, and they go on forever. How best to handle them?…

Think back to the last time you were asked to chair or serve on an important congregational committee? Did it feel like: I thought you’d never ask. I was just going to ask you if I could do that. A death sentence. It may be too much to expect that we will be overjoyed when we are asked to take on…

What do you do when you’re asked to help at a school with no windows? If you’re a member of High Street Unitarian Universalist (UU) Church in Macon, GA (122 members), you make windows….

Q. We’re concerned about all the ways that members are getting asked for money at church. There are the musicians that bring tapes, Girl/Boy Scouts/school fundraisers, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the collection plate, the service auction, regular/capital pledges, a church used book…

The voice of experience belongs to Deirdre Shaw when it comes to attracting young adults to Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations. Three times in ten years she tried to form a Young Adult group in her own congregation. Twice she failed. But the third time she succeeded and now on any given…

When you first joined a Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregation, were there questions you wanted to ask, but no one to ask them of? Were you reluctant to bother the church staff with something you were sure they had heard a hundred times before?…

Congregations that want to grow might think that advertising is the only way to attract members. But there’s another option for UUs who are willing to put their principles to work. Social action can help build your membership, even as it boosts your local community. It’s also much less expensive…

Q.My church has about 175 members. We have always had a fulltime minister and part-time secretary and custodian, but we began paying our half-time director of religious education about ten years ago and recently began paying a quarter-time music director….