Music feeds our souls and many of us wouldn’t stay in our congregations without it, but to do it properly takes vision, time, and talent. Ten years ago, when Tom Benjamin, a choral director who had recently moved to the area, was asked to build a music program at the Unitarian Universalist (UU)...

When Mitch Levy's wife asked him for a divorce three years ago, he hadn't seen it coming. He'd just moved to the Seattle area for a new job and she was to join him. But then she called, saying she'd decided she didn't want to be married. In shock, and in a new town with no friends and no support,...

When the congregation of the First Unitarian Universalist (UU) Church of Duluth, MN (190 members), made the decision this past winter to begin raising money for a new church building, it seemed like the time might also be right to consider changing the name that would go up on the new building.

Getting members out at midweek for a "church night" is a tradition for many of our congregations. It's an important time to build those community connections in a more relaxed atmosphere than on Sunday morning. Members of the Unitarian Universalist (UU) Church of Berkeley in Kensington, CA (555...

When a congregation adds to its space by building or remodeling, it has cause for celebration. But there are right and wrong ways to perform these ceremonies. Rev. John A. Buehrens, Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) President, has participated in more than one hundred building dedication...

Asking the right questions is a key part of learning how well your congregation functions. The new book, Churchworks: A Well-Body Book for Congregations, by Rev. Anne Heller, district executive of the Pacific Northwest District, includes checklists for committees and boards of trustees. Here are...

For three years, Stefanie Samara Hamblen, director of children and youth programs at the Unitarian Universalist (UU) Fellowship in Gainesville, FL (290 members), met every Sunday night with the three teenage boys who comprised the congregation's youth group.

Jean McCormick continues to be amazed at what comes out of the mouths–and hearts–of people she thought she knew. For four years she has been one of the coordinators of Unitarian Universalist (UU) Religious Odysseys, a program at All Souls UU Church in Kansas City, MO (317 members), in which...

Rev. James Robinson, minister at First Parish in Brewster, MA (715 members), is a believer in having lots of small groups as a way to connect members and build a congregation, not only in numbers, but in faith. And for good reason—he gives much of the credit for a seven-fold growth in membership...

Most of us have the front door pretty well covered on Sunday morning. We have our greeter teams in place, we make our visitors use red coffee cups or special nametags, we introduce them to our friends, and we make sure they know where the bathrooms are....

If any committee is a natural for Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations, it should be the booktable committee.

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....

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...

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?...

We see them under our coffee cups at social hour. They are the little people darting around our kneecaps. Or they are the teenagers and young adults lurking on the edges of our congregational gatherings. We see them but we don't always have much to do with them, busy as we are with our own...

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....

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...

When visitors come through our doors most of us are pretty good about making them a nametag, introducing them around, and making sure they know where coffee hour is held. But once they become members, sometimes we're a little less sure of how to relate to them....

Could your bathrooms pass the sniff test? How you answer that and related questions can make all the difference when visitors decide whether your church is worth a second look. When Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations think about attracting visitors the very next thought is often of...