Stories, resources, ideas, and practices shared by congregations in the spirit of creative interchange, group learning, and emerging practices.

A 120 member congregation sets and meets a goal of a 20% pledge increase to bring their staff up to UUA compensation guidelines.

Make joining more accessible and inclusive by allowing potential new members to find their own way to membership.

A team from the UU Church of Akron, Ohio created this series of teaching videos to help others learn how to avoid microaggressions in their interactions.

Stories from UU Congregations showing growth, creativity and vitality in the program that ran from 2005-2019.

All congregation sizes based on certified membership at the time the stories were shared.

Shifting from a humanist fellowship to a more spiritual and inclusive community helped them reach the goal of owning their own building.

Making welcoming part of everyone's responsibility, and putting energy into small group ministry helped this congregation achieve sustained growth.

They chose to give up a historic building they dearly loved in order to build a new, larger home as their gift to the future.

A multiracial congregation offers a liberal sanctuary in a conservative area.

This congregation thrives because "This congregation says 'yes!' "Newcomers feel warmly welcomed, there are lots of activities aimed at getting people together, people feel their talents are appreciated.

They moved beyond their former mentality of scarcity and invest in new facilities, programs, and personnel, and…we needed to become a fair compensation congregation.

A church where people grow spiritually, and then out of that give to the larger world.

The congregation's leaders said there were seven values that sustained and guided them: we value everyone's voice; it's okay to ask for help; we value the advice we receive; we value the generosity of angels; we value the growth of liberal religion; we value social justice; and we value fun.

A family-oriented and welcoming congregation

This congregation grew from 250 to 500 members and its budget has grown from $144,000 to $740,000 in ten years.

A church boldly faced its problematic behaviors and focused on navigating the diversity already in its midst, and grew from 350 to 520 members.

This congregation was a committed multi-racial church, growing and extending its influence in the wider community.

To celebrate their Centennial, they planned to raise and give away $100,000 and perform 100 hours of service, which helped unify the congregation.

A 300+ year old church renews itself by focusing on mission, covenant, and welcoming.

A suburban congregation looks to renew its sense of mission by buying a building in a diverse neighborhood.

After a major conflict, the church rebounded from 160 to over 500 by embracing its multicultural values and its spiritual connections.

Focusing on key values and core mission enabled the congregation to grow without straining their budget.

Currently the congregation has more than 1000 active members, and its leaders believe they have broken through "unseen and powerful barriers by taking care of the church building, planning for the future, and welcoming visitors."

A congregation in a community of 8000 grew from a house church to 220 members, partly on the strength of the religious education program.

A church focuses on shared ministry, community building, and religious exploration as a growth strategy.

With Branches in Socorro and Edgewood, First Albuquerque grew in depth and in numbers (564 to 715) in five years.

Hear lay and professional leaders describe how they have grown in depth and in numbers (93 to 128) in the past five years.

Lay and professional leaders describe how they have grown in depth and in numbers (304 to 405) in the past five years.

After an intentional decision to grow out of a 30-year 250 member plateau, they grew the membership to 400 in eight years.

During the 5 year period when they grew from 170 to 240 members, they made an intentional effort to keep the long time members connected, and most stayed.

First Unitarian Society of Madison, WI, the largest Unitarian Universalist congregation in North America, grew from 400 to 2,000 members in 17 years.