Sample letter about stewardship to be given to prospective members at New Unitarian Universalist (UU) classes and to be sent immediately after joining, along with a pledge card and letter from the membership chair....

A package of two classes to be offered before religious services on Sunday morning or at a brunch after church, or at an evening session. The first session focuses on information about the denomination, the second on an individual congregation. Newcomers should be encouraged to attend both. These...

This is a model for a two hour Newcomer Class session from the Michael Servetus Unitarian Universalist (UU) Fellowship, Vancouver, WA (200 plus members). It is either offered in connection with a brunch after church on Sunday or as an evening dessert event in a private home....

This document is intended as a guide for use in forming and organizing membership committees. It is based on a two hundred to four hundred member congregation, but its numbers and functions can be expanded or contracted to meet the needs of your particular congregation....

Collected thoughts and inspiration for Membership Committees from InterConnections, the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) newsletter for board members and professional staff of all Unitarian Universalist congregations. —Don Skinner, Editor Visitors must be greeted and talked with at coffee...

August 1: Have full greeting teams in place to respond to increase in visitors. August is a prime month for church shoppers. September 1: Have all congregational publications updated, printed and available for visitors and members. October: Hold New Unitarian Universalist (UU) classes....

These membership bylaws are meant as examples only. Please amend them to fit your own needs. Article III Membership Active Members: Any person sixteen years of age or older who agrees with the purposes of this church may become an Active Member by signing the Membership Roll in the presence of an...

The following suggestions were taken from a workshop presented at General Assembly 2004 in Long Beach, CA, by Wayne Clark, UUA (Unitarian Universalist Association) director of Congregational Fundraising Services: To be carefully interviewed and appropriately matched to a meaningful role....

Everycongregation has a story about someone who visited a couple of Sunday mornings,but didn’t really feel a connection, and then joined an adult education courseand then another and pretty soon had made a bunch of friends and become soconnected to their new religious community that any thought o...

Being welcoming to visitors is the easy part. When someone visits your congregation it’s not a stretch of the imagination to greet them warmly at the door, give them a packet of information, talk with them at coffee hour, and invite them back again. But if they do come back again—and again, then...

The question comes up often on Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) email lists: “We’re thinking about advertising on our National Public Radio station. People who listen to NPR...

There was a time when visitors to Jefferson Unitarian Church in Golden, Colorado, were afraid to take a red visitor’s cup, says Pat Emery, the church’s volunteer coordinator. “I think it was about ten years ago when one of us overheard one visitor tell another, ‘Don’t take the red cup,...

There are people for whom going to church is akin to visiting a hazardous chemical site. The experience can induce severe allergic reactions. These people suffer from what is sometimes called multiple environmental sensitivities. For these folks someone’s perfume, the chemicals used to clean the...

Carmen McDowell, membership director at East Shore Unitarian Church, Bellevue, WA, invites friends and members to welcome visitors by thinking of three personas: "First there's the Forrest Gump introduction. Forrest wouldn't miss a beat if he inadvertently mistook a founding member for a newcomer.

Jeff Hutchins hasn't seen the start of a church service in years at the Unitarian Universalist (UU) Church of The North Hills in Pittsburgh, PA (174 members). The reason: He's out in the foyer welcoming just one more late-arriving visitor. When InterConnections asked congregations for names of...

Sometimes it's not the big things we do for children, but the little things that show how much we care for them and how vital they are to our religious communities. Certainly it's important that we pair adults and children in Secret Pal Sundays and do Youth Sundays and Religious Education Sundays.

When people join our congregations, how much do we ask of them? Are we so grateful they've chosen us—and so fearful they might leave—that we ask little? Do we create the impression that our congregation is a place where they will be served without having to do much? That may be true for some...

At First Unitarian Universalist Church, Rochester, MN (322 members), people who used wheelchairs had to be pushed up a steep hill to get into the sanctuary. And then they still couldn't get to other parts of the building without help. It was an awkward situation. Other people worried that if they...

When high school youth leave your congregation for college, jobs, the military, or other endeavors does anyone other than their parents notice? An increasing number of congregations are marking that transition from teendom to young adulthood with bridging ceremonies. A bridging ceremony is a...

When visitors decide to join the congregation, we celebrate in a number of ways—with ceremonies, by taking them to lunch, by giving them books, with a hearty handshake. Then comes the hard part. How do we integrate these new folks into our religious communities? And not only how, but when? The...