Happy Friday! It’s time for some numbers. This is the beginning of a series on Religious Education Enrollment. These are self-reporting numbers by UU congregations in the United States representing the number of children and youth enrolled in their religious education programs.
This week we’re looking the numbers reported in February 2015, a snap shot of this past year. “Who are we now?”
Our UU congregations are created by 180,617 adult members and 56,429 enrolled children and youth across the United States for a total of237,046 UU people. 23.8% of our communities are children and youth.
I break down the congregations by 7 different sizes, because I primarily prepare analysis for Congregational Life. I’m a practitioner supporting the work of other practitioners. We recognize that each size category has special needs and characteristics.
Next week I will dig deeper into the size differences by region. This is where similarities and differences are teased out. And after that I’ll begin to shed light on growth trends of Religious Education Enrollment. Stay tuned…
________________________
Rev. Tandi Rogers loves numbers because they help us see ourselves more clearly and break down assumptions.
One piece of my job is working with new Unitarian Universalist emerging ministries. There are many ways of becoming a Unitarian Universalist group, including becoming one of the newly formed Covenanting Communities. See
It is an honor and a privilege to work with these folks. Prior to my coming on the the Southern Region’s congregational Life staff, I was a creating a new congregation in upstate New York.
As with any ministry, there is so much work at hand. It is my job to help emerging ministries to focus. I have four areas that are critical in their formation.
The first is spiritual depth. Because there is so much work facing these folks, their own spiritual life will diminish unless they are intentional about tending to it. This involves self-care. I encourage all them to be diligent about their own daily spiritual practices, and pay attention to balancing family and friends, their work, and their congregational commitment. But beyond self-care is going deeper into the Unitarian Universalist faith. If they are going to create a Unitarian Universalist, covenantal faith community, they must know what that means in a deep way. As leaders, they must grow in depth in order for the community to grow in size. They, therefore, must live with each other in a covenantal way.
The second is Unitarian Universalism. In order to be able to grow this wonderful faith, we must understand our theology and heritage. We have values that have stood the test of time. We must know what those are and how others have sacrificed for them in order of us to have the privileges that we enjoy. We have a life saving and giving faith. We must be able to understand that relationships and how we behave (covenant) affects how we interact with the world. Our world is hurting and broken. We must know ourselves so that we can be in relationship with others who are different from us in order to search for wholeness.
The third is purpose. It is critical for new groups to have a sense of coming together for something larger than themselves. It is so easy to create the “church for me.” So many people get seduced into thinking that this is their opportunity to create the congregation that they have always wanted with the kind of worship that they like, etc. This is the thinking that will kill it. There must be a sense of creating a space for those that we have not thought about yet. I like to think that when the martians find us they will say, it’s those UUs that have it going on! But we must be creating something special for others, not ourselves. Having a purpose beyond themselves must stay central. I ask things like how are you changing the world? And I expect real answers.
And, lastly, generosity. While each of the others leads nicely into the next one, generosity needs to be the lens through which they view everything else. Questions I might ask are: How are you being generous with yourselves? How are you being generous with Unitarian Universalism? How are you being generous with your local community, and how is that helping to define your purpose? Many well established congregations ask me how they can become generous. That is much harder to do later, but at the beginning you can tend to generosity and feed it. If you become a generous people from the beginning, it becomes part of your culture and your values.
These are the things that I hope to get into a groups’ DNA as they are forming. If they can get these four things right, what could be more joyous? Really, in one form or another, isn’t this what we want for all of our congregations? How are you doing in these four areas? Let me know. Please add your news in the comment section.
______________________
Kathy McGowan, Congregational Life Staff, is one of seven field staff on the Southern Region team. She lives in the triangle area of North Carolina with her son and two cats. She has been a Unitarian Universalist since the mid-eighties and has a deep love of this faith tradition. In addition to her work with new and emerging congregations, she focuses on intercultural sensitivity and is the primary contact for the congregations in Virginia and North Carolina in the Southern Region of the UUA. She is excited to be coaching groups on how to live out their Unitarian Universalist faith in a deep and covenantal way. KMcGowan@uua.org
Partnerships sometimes emerge in strange but exciting ways. The Partnership of the UU congregations in Binghamton NY and Cortland NY is a mix of contrasting sizes, ages and histories. But these contrasts bring strength to the relationship.
The very small, historic UU Church of Cortland and the mid-sized UU Congregation of Binghamton, founded in the mid-20th century, are forming a Partnership of shared preaching, teaching, ministry and social justice work. And they are seeking funding from FAITHIFY donors to help them get things off the ground this year.
When the Leadership of the two congregations met in person to start to create their Covenant of Partnership, it was uncertain if they could find common ground to work together. But during discussions, each group developed a deep appreciation of the gifts that the other congregation had to offer. Binghamton was drawn to the historic depth and sense of community rootedness found in the Cortland church. And the Cortland leaders were thrilled by the energy for ministry in the Binghamton congregation and it sense of mission.
Both congregations found they shared a deep call to reach out to their larger communities to share the good news of Unitarian Universalism. And they are now moving forward together in new ways.
And they need help from the larger UU community to help jump start this important new work and realize their joint potential. Please consider giving to their efforts through Faithify.
___________________
Rev. Joan Van Becelaere is the Central East Regional Lead and lives in “partnership” in Columbus Ohio with her spouse, Jerry, and three cats – all named after different Hebrew Bible prophets.
Our survey showed that youth want greater ways to connect with their congregation. We know that one of the major markers of future religious participation is increased connections between adults and youth. The National Study of Youth and Religion tells us that 81% of youth have never shared a personal problem with a member of their ministry team. Anecdotes from Unitarian Universalism lead us to believe that the vast majority of pastoral care for youth in our congregations is provided by other youth.
Youth invest in their congregations
At General Assembly, our Youth Media Volunteers asked their peers to share their personal UU history. Almost every response began with some form of “I have been a member of my church since I was two” or, “My family has been members since before I was born.” For those who grow up in a congregation, who grow up in Unitarian Universalism, they are innately invested in their congregation. A large number of our youth go through intensive UU identity curricula like Coming of Age and Our Whole Lives. They claim membership because they are invested deeply in their congregation.
Youth want their congregations to invest in them
From Almost Christian, “The more available religiously grounded relationships, activities, programs, opportunities, and challenges are for teenagers, the more likely they will be religiously engaged and invested…Stated negatively, churches that do not invest in their youth find that youth are unlikely to invest in them” (203). From our survey, youth want “more opportunity for youth leadership” and “[more] teen-based sermons.” Youth are members of your congregation just like any other and they have needs that need to be met as well. If you invest in your youth and their leadership, there will be an exponential growth in volunteer capacity.
Youth want their congregation visible in the world
For a large majority of our youth, when they tell someone they are UU they get this look. A great way to break that trend is for your congregation to show up in your community. Your youth will join you on the frontlines because challenging racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, and ableism is important to them. They and/or their friends face oppression every single day. Already doing justice work in your community? A service trip is a great way to deepen youth’s faith.
Share: Our more in-depth Youth Ministry Survey with the youth in your congregation! This time, we are more interested in how youth connect with UU theology and values.
____________________
Bart Frost serves as the Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries at the UUA. As a raised UU, Bart’s passion is creating opportunities for younger leaders in our faith to share their skills with the world. When not at 24 Farnworth St working for the UUA, he is usually in New Orleans (where his partner Amelia resides) snuggling his two cats (and being harassed by the third) while watching hockey.
Last week I posted the global growth numbers. This week let’s look at UU membership growth trends by congregational size breakdown…
(Edited to explain size catagories) In the following graphs I use 7 different catagories instead of the traditional 4 or 5. The reason is that congregations behave differently and have different needs depending on their size (and other variables.) The primary audience I prepare data analysis for are practitioners in the field, mostly Congregational Life staff. And those front-line growth experts that serve and support our congregations use the following size catagories:
Fellowship/Tiny (0-60)
Small Pastoral Congregations (61-160)
Midsize Pastoral Congregations (161-300)
Awkward/Transition Congregations (301-400)
Program Congregations (401-600)
Large Program Congregations (601-800)
Corporate Congregations (800+)
Yes, you read that correctly. There is a category I call “Awkward” — it’s the hardest size to breakthrough. A couple years ago I asked leaders of congregation in that 301-400 bracket if the name was offensive. Most laughed and said, “no, it’s actually pretty accurate.” There is a Facebook group for the two smallest categories called “Small & Mighty.” There are just somethings that only congregational leaders in your size category will understand. It’s good to compare notes, share ideas, learn from the challenges and celebrate the blessings.
This is a ten year span we’re looking at. Here’s the raw data:
Don’t panic about our largest congregations. The majority of them got real about what it means to be a member of their congregation and “cleaned the membership books.” I see this as a strong sign of organizational maturity.
These two graphs really hit home what a difference the time span you’re looking at can make.
______________________________
Rev. Tandi Rogers spends about an eighth of her job researching and analyzing data on behalf of the UUA Board, Leadership Council, and Congregational Life staff. She also serves on the Faith Communities Today interfaith consortium of religious data geeks.
Inspired by Full-Week Faith, created by Karen Bellavance Grace through the Fahs Collaborative, First Parish Church of Groton decided to hold a Blessing of the Backpacks. Here are some nuts & bolts, in case you don’t want to reinvent the wheel: Don’t Do It the Night Before School Starts: We scheduled it for two nights before. Many families hadn’t seen each other since June. We had at least one new family who came so that their child could meet peers and have them be familiar faces on the first day of school.
Include Dinner: We planned it so that folks could eat (pizza; we asked for donations, but the church covered some of the cost) and then go home in time for the littlests’ bedtimes. We did ours 4:45 – 6:00pm. This may need to be adjusted based on your community’s rhythms.
Outreach – Early and Often: We had a save the date in June, but knew few would remember. Article in summer newsletter. Public Facebook event. We specifically asked some congregants to talk it up on their Facebook profiles, both to increase knowledge about the event and excitement. In the last two weeks, we upped activity on Facebook around the event. Use of visuals on social media is a must. For us, the most widely shared visual was a photo of our Main Street sandwich board, which ended up being shared over 1,700 times on Facebook! Go figure.
Inclusive Language: Since we were using school as a reference (“school is just about to start”) we were sure to reference those who are homeschooling. We also decided that to invite as much multi-generational participation as possible, we also included the School of Life – thus making it clear that anyone could receive a blessing.
The Actual Thing
We did it outdoors. Sidewalk chalk to keep kids and adults busy as we prepared to start. Kept kids joyfully occupied, parents happy.
Marked the end
of the summer by singing a silly camp song — enough of the kids knew it so they took over leading it.
Asked youth to sing and we assigned official blessing duties to the Coming of Age class.
We blessed not only backpacks, but all sorts of items including invisible (AKA forgotten at home) backpacks, briefcases, gym bags, cell phones, wallets, and shoulder of humans standing with us.
We handed out talismans — a HUGE hit: combining symbols of peace, or beads that said “UU” or the name of our church (our church initials, “FPCOG”).
These are the words of our blessing:
Even when you are away from First Parish, you carry the heart of Unitarian Universalism with you wherever you go.
May you feel curiosity all your days.
May your imagination catch fire.
May you find courage when it is necessary.
May confusion lead to better questions.
May you feel compassion toward those around you, and they towards you.
May you feel heard and seen; may you hear and see others.
May you speak up for those who are not heard, who are not seen.
As your spirit’s home, we are made stronger when you share what you learn. We ask you to bring what you learn of the world back to this place. If you agree, say – “we will.”
You are welcome and encouraged to borrow any part of this –change it up to make it your own. My only request is that if you are going to use the words of our blessing in print (hard copy or online) that you attribute them to me, Karen Johnston.
it’s Friday! Time to snack on data. I’ve been deluged with the question — But are we growing?!
Now, dear ones, you know that there are many indicators to growth. Impact is really the growth I’m most interested in. We’re working at fine tuning some data collection at the UUA to better measure impact. Until then, we classically measure by membership.
Most other traditions count Average Sunday Attendance, but for us that’s still soft data. Why? Because we’re still getting the hang of it. About ten years ago Religious Education Enrollment was also soft. Today, it’s much more reliable. In a couple years I think the majority of our congregations will be sending a solid count of everyone in the building on Sunday (or your other main day of all-gathered worship–whatever worship means to your community.)
So, are we growing?
Don’t get distracted with the squiggly line – On a larger scale it looks like a flat line growing by 1% over 15 years.
Interesting fact — Currently we have 1043 active congregations world-wide. 2% of our member congregation and 2% of our adult membership are abroad.
This represents active congregations for the year indicated belonging to US regions and CLF.
Religious Education is dropping significantly. And this is a ministry we are known to do well. Your Congregational Life staff and the Liberal Religious Educators Association are alarmed, too and trying to figure out what this means for us. When I was with my research counterparts in August we were all wringing our hands about the decline in children and youth. It’s everywhere.
The yearbook with the above data only comes out every-so-often. This is the most current data we have available.
I see opportunity. Many folks are leaving main-line Protestant traditions because of their behind-the-times stance on gay marriage and other liberal issues. We’ve got that. In spades. My question is how welcoming will we be to folks coming from other religions who don’t want to leave all their religious language and practices at the door? Will we make room? Will we be open to be transformed ourselves by expanded community and increased diversity in beliefs? May we make it so!
_________________________
Rev. Tandi Rogers spends about an eighth of her job researching and analyzing data on behalf of the UUA Board, Leadership Council, and Congregational Life staff. She also serves on the Faith Communities Today interfaith consortium of religious data geeks.
Created by Carey McDonald, UUA Outreach Director, Lori Emison Clair, Consultant, and Marie Luna, Director of Congregational Life and UUAMP Vice President
As Unitarian Universalists, we have a traditionally operated under a model of church that doesn’t acknowledge the changing social norms about religion. Historically, we’ve only kept track of one aspect of involvement in church life, “membership”, which typically means signing a congregation’s membership book and making an annual pledge. But in reality, people interact with faith communities in dozens of different ways beyond the traditional notion of membership, often deepening and stepping back over the course of their lives. If we truly believe that everyone in our faith movement matters, whether they are official members or not, it is clear we need to re-conceive what it means to be connected to Unitarian Universalism.
We created a spectrum to help congregations see that there are distinct levels of belonging to our faith communities. Together, as leaders in the UU Association of Membership Professionals and as UUA staff working on outreach, we offered a workshop at 2015 General Assembly about how to engage the whole spectrum.
Curious Individual
These are the people who know us and are in sync with our values, but not involved in our programs or ministries. Some examples would include those who participate in community activities related to a UU group, follow UUs on social media, share UU content, read UU books, see and/or support UU social justice actions.
Welcomed Visitor
Those who are involved with UU programs or ministries at a basic or fluid level, and may or may not identify as UU, are at this stage. They may attend events hosted by UU congregations, go to Sunday services occasionally or participate in UU community-oriented ministries and programs (e.g. day care, lecture series). Sometimes they have a friend or family member who serves as a tie to the congregation.
Succeeding in the first two stages (outreach)
Pay attention to how you show up virtually (website, social media, Yelp/Google/search functions, news media), so you look as beautiful from the outside as you do from the inside.
Create multiple entry points that don’t revolve around Sunday morning (get creative! Get passionate!) AND pay attention to visitor experience at all of these entry points.
One transition between welcomed visitor and connected friend is the traditional “pathway to membership,” but support is needed for all transitions.
Connected Friend
After attending services several times, those who attend a one time or low commitment activity outside of services have become a connected individual. This gives them better opportunities to meet people and start building relationships. Having several easy opportunities, like a Circle Dinner, one time small group, helping set up at an event or serving coffee give new folks a way to meet others without making a big commitment.
Engaged Individual
When a person gets involved in a regular activity, such as an affinity group, small group ministry, religious education teacher or serving on a committee, they have engaged with the community. All of these programs require ownership in one way or another, an expectations of regular participation and, in many cases, opportunities to share spiritual journeys with each other.
Integrated Leader
At the final stage in the spectrum, individuals emerge as leaders. We have found that as someone steps into the role of a leader they are more than simply engaged with a community, but they are also integrated. And by being integrated they are changing the community. They put their own personal twist on the programs they lead and that is a deeper level in involvement then just showing up, even on a regular basis. You become an integrated leader when you are willing to put your efforts into making the community better. Some examples would be a committee chair, small group leader or religious professional.
Succeeding along the spectrum (welcoming and membership development)
Make sure facilitators and leaders of groups know how to welcome newcomers at each stage as people enter the spectrum at different points.
Have training in place for leaders to ensure they have healthy boundaries and motives consistent with the mission of your congregation.
Have a tracking system in place to know where people fall on the spectrum. This will be an invaluable resource for recruiting for programs and volunteer opportunities, discovering emerging leaders, as well as those who need assistance in connecting.
We need to understand that there will be people who move both directions on the spectrum, and even leave our path. We want to support them in their journey and leave room for them to comfortably return should their path bring them back.
Looking at these stages calls us to pay attention to how we help people move from one stage to another. Again, most of us will move up and down the spectrum over time, but transitions between stages will always be important for religious leaders to support (the transition of “bridging” from youth to young adulthood is a great example). We hope this model will inspire UUs to think differently about their faith, from outreach to curious individuals all the way to spiritual enrichment for our integrated leaders. It can even include non-congregational groups, conferences or ministries. Embrace the full spectrum!
Created by Carey McDonald, UUA Outreach Director, Lori Emison Clair, Consultant, and Marie Luna, Director of Congregational Life and UUAMP Vice President
Last week I introduced some numbers from a high balcony. Let’s break down those numbers into regions.
And now membership by regions…
Is this what you expected? Anything surprise you?
Next week I’ll show you some growth trends…
____________________________
Rev. Tandi Rogers spends about an eighth of her job researching and analyzing data on behalf of the UUA Board, Leadership Council, and Congregational Life staff. She also serves on the Faith Communities Today interfaith consortium of religious data geeks.
Dedication of Black Lives Matter sign on August 23, 2015. Sign was defaced 10 days later.
Not long after I returned from the events in Selma, marking the 50th anniversary of the historic march it became clear to me, even though I was an interim pastor at the UU Congregation of the South Jersey Shore, that there was a compelling need at this time for a renewed civil rights movement, and for liberal congregations like ours to speak out and stand up, and we could no longer stand by in silence. Most important among the narratives and images that I brought back from Selma were the words of Mark Morrison-Reed, when he told us that it all begins with relationships; the powerful teachings of Opal Tometi, one of the founders of the #BlackLivesMatter movement; and the warmth, affection, and tenderness expressed by the families of James Reeb, Jimmie Lee Jackson, Clark Olsen, and Orloff Miller.
This great love, a love for humanity, for justice, for goodness, a genuine faith and a passion for what is best in humanity permeated the time we spent together. Walking toward that bridge amidst a throng of thousands, holding the hand of my adopted boy Seth, a child who lives with autism, I felt that day part of a great sacrament. I felt that a promise was made, to carry that spirit of love back to every town and city from which we had come.
Walking toward Edmund Pettus Bridge during Selma 50th Anniversary march
Soon, we formed an Anti-Racism Task Force. We talked about what we might do: study, have forums, outreach, a partnership with a mostly Black congregation. I knew that other UU congregations had put up banners saying, “Black Lives Matter,” so I threw out the query, almost as a kind of provocative idea: Would you suggest we post a sign? How about protesting by the road if there were an incident in this community? It was a surprise, then, when the team members, unanimously, said, by all means. And since this team consisted of some of the founders and most highly respected members of the congregation, we stepped out, with Love. It wasn’t just an idea, but something I felt deeply embodied in these ten or twelve people: they meant it.
I was out of town when the Board unanimously approved the sign. I was at General Assembly when the task force planned and held a beautiful vigil for the victims of the massacre at the AME Church in Charleston the Sunday after the shooting. But I had returned by August 23rd when we had an afternoon ceremony, attended by new allies and friends in the community, to dedicate our sign. The relationships we had begun to build already showed.
The entire afternoon was about love: for me, the image that captured my heart was that of a young, African-American boy from the neighboring AME congregation to which we had sent flowers after the shootings holding hands with an elderly Black gentleman, the father of one of our members, as we sang, “We Shall Overcome.”
I believe that we lived into our best selves that day.
Children from St. Paul AME & UU Congregation at Sign Dedication
Yes, we have been viciously attacked on Facebook and threatened. Yes, the sign was defaced, scrawled over with white paint by vandals. Yes. We hung it back up after we found it could not be cleaned. Each decision we have made has been to respond with love, not fear. If your congregation has, or is interested in, putting up a banner check out this resource page on The Power of the Black Lives Matter Banner.
I refuse to listen to the messages of hate and scorn. I refuse to listen to the rhetoric that calls “Black Lives Matter” a hate-filled, cop-hating movement. For us, they are three words that send a signal to the world: we care, immensely, and we intend to live into these words with actions that show it. Indeed, our task force has worked diligently to build relationships with law enforcement, and to learn more about their challenges as well.
Task Force members & Rev. Cain with Atlantic City officers on weekly walks through the neighborhoods of AC. We have joined the ACPD & community organizers all summer.
I sincerely believe that it is the nefarious design of institutional racism in this land, in which all white people are complicit, that has kept many of us from deep and genuine encounters with people of color. And it is only through proximity, and through building relationships, in which we listen, and open our hearts to love, that this will begin to be reversed.
I have learned this: as you build genuine relationships, you will stand up. As you make a stand, and take a stand, genuine relationships will follow. But you have to show up, and show up, and show up. This isn’t a flirtation, or a whim. White people, even liberals, have deceived, let down, and disappointed People of Color, and Black people specifically, in organizing for racial justice throughout history.
Don’t go in unless you intend to stay in relationship. And once you know, really know, the truth, you will never be complacent again, until all are free.
I feel so blessed to be a part of Unitarian Universalism in this time, when we are awakening to the new Civil Rights movement, and when we can be the people who show up, and stand, and move, with Love.
Our sign (two sides) on Pomona Road across from the entrance to Stockton University. We replaced the sign with damage after it could not be cleaned, feeling that was a “teachable moment” and people needed to see how far some were willing to go to shut down this conversation. We are currently planning forums with a primarily Black Methodist congregation in AC.
Growing Unitarian Universalism
Rev. Tandi Rogers loves numbers because they help us see ourselves more clearly and break down assumptions.
Posted by: 
Posted by: 
