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Emerging Ministries Quick Map

emerging_ministries_logoQuick, where can you go to find a glossary of terms for all different kinds of Unitarian Universalist ministries, a “Buzzfeed” style quiz about which kind of emerging ministry you should create and a fascinating report put out by a Methodist organization on what real change looks like?

 

If you answered www.uua.org/emerging, you’re correct!

 

As you may have heard, the Unitarian Universalist Association is rolling out a new support system for emerging ministries. Maybe you’ve been reading up on how this support relates to the new Covenanting Communities designation or seen how this initiative can support our outreach to millennials. You’ve probably seen this video that highlights some different styles of emerging ministries.

 

 

Emerging Ministries final

 

But have you taken the time to explore our homepage on the UUA website?

 

Here are the Top 6 Reasons you should go check out www.uua.org/emerging.

 

6. Take a fun quiz
. Come on, admit it, you’ve totally clicked on one of those “Which Harry Potter character will you be during the zombie apocalypse?” quizzes your friend posted on Facebook, haven’t you? On the right-hand sidebar of our webpage you can find a fun quiz that let’s you know which lane of the road to covenanted UU living is right for you! Of course the quiz is partially silly, but it was also designed to be useful and informative. The results might surprise you…

 

5. Read some serious case studies
. On the other hand, maybe you’re wanting to delve deep and get serious about the nitty gritty details of starting an emerging ministry. Scroll down to the “Learn more” section of our webpage and check out our case studies. Right now we have profiled three groups and we will be expanding with additional groups as we go. You can learn about their discernment processes, their financial strategies, how their ministries got off the ground or why they didn’t make it.

 

4. Get perspectives beyond Unitarian Universalism. 
Learning from our fellow UUs is crucial, but so is learning from both secular and non-UU religious groups. After all, UUs are certainly not the only ones looking at our changing religious landscape and trying to figure out how to respond faithfully. Right now we have pieces written by Methodists, a United Church of Christ minister and some Harvard Divinity School students focusing on secular groups. It’s all under “Learn more” and we’ll keep adding to the resources, keeping you up to date on how other folks are thinking about new religious and/or spiritual projects.

 

3. Figure out what we’re talking about.  Confused by “Covenanting Communities”? Mystified by “multisite ministry?” Wondering what it even means to be a member congregation? We use a lot of specific terms when we talk about emerging ministries, and while we try to avoid jargon and speak clearly, it can be difficult to follow along. Check out the glossary page that supplements our emerging ministries page, and you’ll be in the know in no time!

 

2. Start receiving support
. So you’ve got an idea or you’ve been working on a project for awhile and you want to get plugged into this support you keep hearing about. Well look no further. Scroll all the way down on our webpage and you’ll find the Emerging Ministries Inquiry Form. Fill it out and we’ll be in touch with you. We get to know more about who’s working on what in the emerging ministries field and you get regular check ins from national and regional staff and the opportunity to apply for project grants and join learning communities. It’s a win, win!

 

1. Be inspired. Do you ever feel disillusioned about our world and the future of our faith? This webpage is a great place to find hope and maybe even the spark of your own creative idea. In the sidebar you’ll find videos including “GA Talks” (short TED Talks style presentations from our UUA General Assembly) that explore new forms of ministry. Under “Learn more” you’ll find blogposts from the BlueBoat “Spotlight Series” that highlight how emerging ministries are working with young adults. And throughout the page you’ll see our bold life-giving faith reflected back in words, pictures and videos. The possibilities are endless!

 

Of course as this endeavor develops over time our webpage will change and grow. Check back regularly to see what’s new at www.uua.org/emerging and you can have fun, get serious, learn from others, clear up confusion, find support and be inspired all at once.

 

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GonzalezMilliken_AnnieRev. Annie Gonzalez Milliken is a lifelong UU from the midwest and serves our faith as Young Adult and Campus Ministry Associate for the Unitarian Universalist Association.  She has lived in 7 different states and been part of 8 different UU communities throughout her life.  She currently lives in Boston with her partner Lucas and some lovely housemates.  A firm believer in both established and new ministries, she is a member of First Parish Dorchester, founded in 1630, and The Sanctuary Boston, created a few years ago

 

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Associational, Resources

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Analysis of The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life

2015RLSpromo640x320Religion data geeks everywhere rejoiced this month when the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released its newest study of the American religious landscape. Pew made waves a few years ago when it published a sweeping report that pointed to the rise of the “nones,” the increasing numbers of American adults who have no religious connection. This year’s study updates Pew’s massive 2007 study, and gives us valuable trend information.

So what does Pew report? Well, for starters, the “nones” are still rising. Since 2007, 19 million Americans have joined the ranks of the nonreligious. 19 million! That’s 23% of adults, trending up from 16% in 2007. And, as before, the increase of nonreligious adults comes from the losses of traditional Catholic and Mainline Protestant faiths. Pew is pretty much the gold standard for this kind of data, but for what it’s worth the decline of religious affiliation is a trend so robust that it shows up in every other similar survey.

Younger generations continue to lead the bleed away from traditional religious practices, with about 35% of Millennials claiming no affiliation. But, and this is one of my favorite parts of the new study, every generation has seen an increase in the number of unaffiliated adults since 2007! Baby Boomer unaffiliateds, for example, have gone from 14 to 17% of their peers. Friends, the waters are still churning amidst this sea change in American religion, and there’s no sign of them slowing down.

The researchers at Pew thoughtfully included a breakdown just for Unitarian Universalists (there’s actually one for every faith tradition they track, but I’m still appreciative). Compared to eight years ago, we are getting younger and less wealthy. In self-identification, or the number of people who tell researchers they are UU, we are overall holding steady at 0.3% of the adult population which, given the increases in the US population, implies we’ve grown by 54,000 in the last few years to 735,000. However, keep in mind that we’re not seeing this growth in self-identification reflected in our congregational membership reports. Maybe someone should dig into that intriguing divergence…

Check out the Pew data for yourself! I’ve only made it through the summary so far, but the full report looks worth a read. Pew also says they are going to publish more detailed reports on religious affiliation soon (hopefully great stuff like this gem), and I can’t wait to see what insights emerge.

What else do you see in this research? Add your thoughts in the comments.

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cmcdonald_headshotCarey McDonald is the UUA Director of Outreach, total data geek and trend-spotter.

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Numerical Indicators, Uncategorized

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Covenanting Communities

cropped-lucy-stone-0077-copy
Lucy Stone welcome table, a Covenanting Community

 

During the last year, the UUA Board of Trustees and UUA staff have been up to something pretty cool. Though historically the only way to become an official part of the UUA is through a congregation, we’ve been working on a new way for independent groups of Unitarian Universalists to be in relationship with the wider movement. In March, the Board created a flexible new status for those groups called “covenanting communities.”

What is a “covenanting community?” It’s a community that claims and is claimed by Unitarian Universalism, borrowing a turn of phrase from our friends at Faithify. A covenanting community is NOT a member congregation of the UUA, nor is it an interest or affinity group of UUs who are already members of congregations. Covenanting communities are the primary ways that their members or participants connect to Unitarian Universalism.

Covenanting communities can look and feel very different. That’s actually the point. We want people to imagine new ways of living out their UU faith and values, and to feel like they can do that while still being a recognized part of the UU family. Covenanting communities may look like Sacred Path, which used to be an emerging congregation before deciding that the covenanting community status suited them better.  Or they could look like Lucy Stone Cooperative, an intentional living community grounded in UU values that is exploring the covenanting community status to see if it fits with their mission.

The development of the covenanting community status started out with a pilot project last fall. This pilot project reached out to UU groups who might be interested in the covenanting communities status see what might be a good way of structuring this relationship. Through those conversations, we learned what’s really important to uphold (connection to UU principles and the wider movement) and what’s ok to leave to full-fledged congregations (bylaws, voting at General Assembly, size requirements).

It also turned out that, even though some of the groups we approached about the covenanting communities status weren’t interested, just having a conversation with local leaders about their goals and their UU identity was valuable. Some even decided to restart the process to become full member congregations. This just highlights the need for supportive, ongoing relationship between all levels of the UU faith movement.

The best part about the covenanting communities status is that it is a part of an entire system of support for emerging ministries. Not every group connected to Unitarian Universalism will want to become a covenanting community, and that’s ok. What’s important is that there are now more ways than ever for people to express their faith in covenant with the wider UU movement.

The first round of covenanting communities will hopefully be recognized at General Assembly this year, so stay tuned! And check out other articles on emerging ministries on this blog.

 

 Application and more information: Covenanting Communities Fact Sheet.

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cmcdonald_headshotCarey McDonald is the UUA Director of Outreach and has been working closely with the UU Board on the development of this new status. He is also known as the Future of Faith Guy.

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Associational, Organizational Maturity, Resources

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Announcing (new and improved!) UUA Support for Emerging Ministries

emerging_ministries_logoThere are so many ways to be a Unitarian Universalist religious community today! And these diverse communities provide more possibilities than ever to live our faith in the world.

 

Emerging Ministries are any new group or project that is grounded in Unitarian Universalism and brings people together in covenanted and intentional ways.  New congregations are emerging ministries and so are campus ministries, multi-site ministries, intentional housing cooperatives, missional communities, prison ministries, military ministries and more.  They are emerging within congregations, beyond congregations and in between congregations.

 

These new ministries are all moving in the same direction: toward covenanted UU living. These groups and projects are like diverse vehicles – cars, bikes, scooters, vans, and skateboards – moving in different lanes depending on the form and function of their ministry.

 

However, there is no magic road map or GPS that can chart the perfect path for these groups. The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) knows we need versatile responsive support systems to get these new endeavors ready for the journey.  A cross-department, cross-regional team of UUA staff is ready to maintain this multi-lane highway toward UU living and is set to staff the tune up stations and rest areas along the way. We can help vehicles figure out which lane is right for them, connect them with experts who have made similar journeys before, and support them in raising the money they need to make this trip.  We’re also working on making it easier to get on this road by adding on-ramps such as contacting your regional staff or checking out our Emerging Ministries webpage.

 

For example, a skateboard might ramp on through the Church of the Larger Fellowship and get into the Meeting Group lane and then through experience with an on-line group coaching webinar realize they want to switch lanes to explore MultiSite options. The highway is about resourcing projects and groups in their early development and getting them the connections, perspective, community of pioneers (convoys, if you will,) and tools the need to realize their vision and answer the call of their wider community.  An integrated, dynamic support system will make it easier for innovators to get what they need. We will live into a refreshed expression of our congregational polity and covenant in the way these ministries will be connected through learning communities and peer support.

 

In the short term, the Congregational Life, Outreach, and Ministries & Faith Development staff groups of the UUA have joined together to inspire, support and sustain emerging ministry efforts.  By mid-fall of 2015, this comprehensive network of support will include programming such as: Innovative Learning Circles, online material sharing systems, a centralized online “hub” for UU emerging ministry efforts, and a Congregational Life Emerging Ministries Coaching Team. In the initiative’s second year a Mentor Program will connect established ministries to emerging ministries to amplify synergistic learning, connection, and sustainability. We will also add lanes to the highway and improve capacity.  In the third year our attention turns to a proactive ministry-planting strategy for the UUA.

 

Over the course of the next couple weeks we will feature different aspects of Emerging Ministries Highway on this blog: overview of preliminary UUA.org resources, introduction to the Emerging Ministries Regional Coaches, preview of the General Assembly Emerging Ministries Laboratory.

 

Support for Emerging Ministries is made possible through generous gifts from UUA President’s Council members and friends like you. Thank you!

Emerging Ministries final
Video about UU Emerging Ministries by Rev. Erik Martinez Resly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Associational, Organizational Maturity, Resources

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Multi-site Pioneers

sheshmapThe idea of congregations coming together to gain strength, support and resources from one another is not a new concept. Witness the experience of the Sheshequin congregation and its congregational neighbors.

Founded in 1808, the “Old Sheshequin Church”, located in Northeastern Pennsylvania, just south of the New York border, was an early pioneer of Universalism in this rural and conservative region, said by some historians to be the “mother church” to six other Universalist congregations it helped to plant in the area.

But beginning in the great depression of 1870, the church began to struggle. In fact, church records from 1884 lament that “the society is dead and has not enough vitality left to get up a respectable funeral.”

But just a few years later, the church began collaborating with other congregations in the area, most notably Athens and Towanda. From 1895: “There has been quite an awakening from the Rip Van Winkle sleep of the Society, and some young blood has been added, which it is hoped will redound to its good. Bro. G. A. King, aided by Rev. G B Russell of Athens and Rev. Leonidas Polk of Towanda, held a series of meetings during the winter which resulted in increasing membership and interest. Twenty nine persons were baptized and received into full membership in January.”

Whatever came out of those meetings helped to revive the Sheshequin Society and, in 1896, the church record indicates that “our prospects are favorable for success.” The congregations in this area continued to collaborate and share ministers over the years, as part of an alliance called the “North Branch Association.”

Today, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Athens and Sheshequin, located in Athens, PA, stands as a proud religious community “dedicated to service, spiritual growth, and ethical living.” It is also a testament to the power of congregational collaboration.

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Historical information provided by Rev. Darcey Laine.

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markMark Bernstein is a member of the Multi-Site Midwife Team and believes that in an earlier life, he attended several meetings of the North Branch Association.

 

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Associational, Organizational Maturity

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The Theology of Dragon Age

I am a very good assassin. Oh, and mage, archer, and sword-wielder. I can sneak around, plunder booty, plant traps and pounce on enemies with the best of them. As long as I don’t have to go head to head with a quick-reflexed middle-schooler, I stand a chance of kicking some serious hiney.

 

I played Pong, PacMan, Asteroids, and Tetris long before the high-def graphics and complex controllers of modern video games. I’ve made uneasy peace with the blood-spattered, first-person shooter world of today’s games. What I’ve never made peace with is the misogynistic, often outright racist and almost always exploitive storylines of modern games, where women are tiny-waisted, big-busted trophies when we appear at all.

 

But then I happened upon the world of Dragon Age, where women are diplomats, generals, villains, warriors and loyal companions. They are all wearing clothes, all the time. There are also beings with a stunning array of skin color, gender expression, accent, talent, variety of evil, and level of spiritual maturity. There are people with wicked strong bodies hidden under tough armor with short hair and women’s voices.

 

Inquistion

 

It’s no wonder that the latest version of Dragon Age just won special recognition at the GLAAD Media Awards.

 

Bioware, the creators of Dragon Age, have done something all congregational leaders can learn from. They’ve taken a platform which is at best mono-dimensional and at worst offensive and made a thoroughly engaging world of rich diversity. By avoiding assumptions about the kinds of lives players want to create and by not setting technical limits on that imagination, the creators allow players – and our identities – to roam free in the game space. They’ve abandoned the dominant culture of gaming and retooled it to reflect more of who more of us are.

 

As congregational leaders we could think of ourselves as creators of playful platforms where we remove barriers to imagination and participation and give our people lots of ways to experiment and roam freely. People are so hungry to play in worlds that reflect who we want to be and how we want our world to be! Our churches can be those worlds.

 

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Sue's blog postRev. Sue Phillips may or may not have spent an entire weekend doing “research” for this article. She wouldn’t dream of boasting that she is a level 19 rogue with 200-defensive point armor who can crush malevolent spirits with paralyzing spells.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Spiritual Vitality

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Study Guide for UUWorld Article: Harmony Unitarian Universalist Community in Landen, OH

asset_upload_file300_290443Congratulations to the Harmony Unitarian Universalist Community in Landen, Ohio, for being the newest UUA Breakthrough Congregation! Each year the UUA’s Office of Growth Strategies recognizes a handful of congregations that have “broken through” barriers to achieve exemplary goals.

Harmony Unitarian Universalist Community is highlighted in the winter edition of the UUWorld, which will be hitting Unitarian Universalist members’ mailboxes at any moment. The following study guide is intended to accompany the article about Harmony.  We hope that this enables lively discussions for your congregational leaders.

 

Questions for Discussion and Deeper Study

 

With such a large ratio of children to adults, Harmony is very intentional in including children in the life of the community.

 

Questions for Discussion

  • What are some of the ways in which Harmony does this?
  • How is your congregation including children and youth in your community life?”
  • What changes would your congregation have to make in order to better include children and youth in community life?

 

Harmony prides itself on being “one-hundred percent volunteer-run.”

 

Questions for Discussion

  • What are some of the ways in which Harmony promotes volunteerism?
  • How prevalent is volunteerism in your congregation?
  • What are some of the barriers to volunteerism in your congregation and what are strategies to overcome these barriers?

 

The atmosphere at Harmony is low-key and friendly, with an emphasis on intimacy.

Questions for Discussion

  • How would you characterize the atmosphere at your congregation?
  • What are some strategies for implementation in your congregation to become friendlier and to achieve a greater sense of intimacy?

 

The Co-President calls Harmony “the un-church”.

 

Questions for Discussion

  • What are some of the examples cited in the article that give Harmony this title?
  • What emotions and thoughts does the phrase “un-church” raise for you?
  • What are some of the practices in your congregation that would be considered “un-church’ like?

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This Study Guide creator is Mark Bernstein, Regional Consultant for Growth Development with the Central Eastern Regional Group.  CERG offers many excellent growth resources. Please check them out! Thank you, Mark, for so generously serving our faith.

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Breakthrough Congregation

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