Planning a worship service to engage the congregation in ministry to active duty military personnel, veterans, and their families.

Explore the challenged faced by military families.

IntroductionThis workshop considers issues which have engaged philosophers, ethicists, and people of conscience for centuries, giving participants the opportunity to explore ideas in a covenanted faith community. The moral issues surrounding war and peace challenge all people in our congregation,...

In the video, ministers (including military chaplains), lay veterans, active duty military personnel, and military family members present a compelling case for UU military ministry.

The Military Ministry Toolkit program draws on several books which can also support your congregation to explore or implement military ministry.

Overview for facilitators of the Military Ministry Workshop Series.

This toolkit challenges our faith communities to become truly welcoming to a group of people who have sometimes felt unwelcome.

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.

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.

A president of one of our congregations reports their unwelcoming experience visiting another UU (Unitarian Universalist) congregation.

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.