Any time someone enters online or in-person congregational space, there are several opportunities for multiple connection points from which a long-term relationship can continue and grow.

Our mandate as Unitarian Universalists is to build Beloved Community in our congregations, and learning to draw our circles of welcome wider and wider is a growth opportunity for our churches.

5 Questions You Should Always Ask Veterans, 1 Question You Should Never Ask Veterans, and 15 Facts that promote greater understanding of our Veterans.

Think about the different needs of both the in-person and online participant when meeting in small groups.

Think about the different needs of both the in-person and online participant for Worship, Concerts, Theater, Poetry Readings, etc.

A selection of items to include in your visitor's packets.

How wide and warm is our welcome? Here are some assessment questions to help find areas needing improvement.

Practices and tools to provide radical hospitality.

When we talk about the need to become more diverse, inclusive, and equitable at a basic level we are talking about hospitality. How do we learn new practices of hospitality for our congregations and our ministries? How is the idea of recognizing past wrongs an extension of this hospitality?

Because hospitality is important to human relationships, learning how to host in online spaces is essential. People come with different levels of experience and comfort. Here are some tips to help host an online space that can help host an online space that can help build connections.

Practicing radical hospitality opens up possibilities for interaction with different people, allowing for diverse experiences and an expanded creative interchange.  And it’s about meeting people where they are.  It’s about learning together.  We are all works in progress. 

How might we see the impact of our hospitality with “fresh eyes?”

What if we hosted church like we would host an Ice Cream Sundae Party?

Opening our doors to people of all abilities is the less talked about test of inclusion in our congregations. This webinar discusses “disability etiquette” and explores the many ways in which our congregations can be more accessible and more welcoming to people with a variety of disabilities.

 Leaders understand that what they might want may not be what others want, and they are open to learning and understanding how the world is different for other people; they understand, too, that those who have been historically marginalized have places in our congregations, and our congregations need to expand their understanding of who is welcome in order to open wide the doors to those who find value in Unitarian Universalism.

Small congregations offer intimacy and inclusion, but can sometimes feel exclusive to newcomers. How might you bridge that divide?

Become more informed about and more comfortable with neuro-diversity (autism spectrum disorders, dyslexia, ADHD, Tourette Syndrome, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, etc) so that we can more fully live into a practice of radical welcome. With Linette Lowe(2015).

It is by building relationships and diverse community that we can transform ourselves and the world.

One congregation's way of re-imagining Joys and Concerns.

Following recent political changes and the social turmoil it has precipitated, UU Churches are experiencing an influx of first-time visitors and returning old friends. On social media, people are looking for community and are being pointed to our congregations. Gone are the days when a liberals...

I'm a "stealth greeter" in my home congregation. I go up to newcomers after a service and strike up a conversation about what brought them to church that day, and then I listen. 

The 1970's heart-throb boy band The Osmonds provided a disservice with their ear-worm hit song "One Bad Apple." They sang, ...

If we’re going to do effective outreach online, we need some insight into the experience of the large and slightly mysterious pool of people we call prospective visitors. Who are they? What do they want? And how do we design our websites for their positive UX?

Belonging to and being a part of a community is an important aspect of congregational life. Many of our members think of their congregations as a second home and think of the other members as part of their extended family. The relationships that we create and nurture by sharing the details of our...

Let’s get new people immersed in Unitarian Universalism! But how do we know what will delight them? What they’ll find meaningful?

We have many important entry-points for prospective Unitarian Universalists. Our literal front doors can be as important as our website.

Our websites are where we tell the world who we are, what we do, and why it matters.

This year, please try this. An empty chair, any empty place with the spirit of invitation swirling in and out of the open spaces throughout the circle.

Many years ago, I was working with employees of MBNA Bank at their branch headquarters in Newark, Delaware.  Over every door in the building, in big block letters, were the words, THINK OF YOURSELF AS THE CUSTOMER.  I was struck by that phrase and with the idea that putting yourself in the...

Like many Unitarian and Universalist ministers of yore, I’m a circuit-riding preacher: a perpetual guest minister. (Not many 19th century traditions merit revisiting, but this is one of them.) On any given Sunday, I pull up to an unfamiliar UU congregation, meet in person the lay leaders I’ve...

As late summer approaches so does the surge of church shoppers that many congregations experience. Here are tips to make sure your facilities and programs are prepared for them.

An April Fool’s Day collection of quotes and observations that will likely repel visitors.

In its 7th year and with about 40 adult members, a small congregation in the South realized it was stuck—its membership hadn’t increased in 3 years. True, a few new folks joined each year, but the new folks only replaced those who had moved or left for other reasons. ...

A 2008 Sermon by the Rev. Gail Geisenhainer describing her transformative first encounter with a UU congregation.

This classic 2008 video workshop from the Jefferson Unitarian Church in Golden, CO helps congregations improve welcoming and close the revolving door of membership by increasing engagement.

membership coordinator, and she focused much of her energy on integrating new and not-so-new members.

A couple of years ago I started wondering about how many visitors come to our churches. I found out that nobody knows. Even that, I find fascinating. Here we are, a movement that is made up of over 80 percent of people who were not born Unitarian Universalists. Converting visitors into members is...

If we are not so busy doing church business on Sunday mornings, we will be more welcoming to our visitors and attentive to the fact that they are guests.