The Membership Journey

1
The Membership Journey

• Heartland District
• Annual Meeting 2006
• Lisa Presley, Interim District Executive

2
Congregation SizesUUA

• 1042 congregations in UUA
• 65 fewer than 150 members
• 31 between 150-549
• 4 more than 550 members

3
Congregation SizesHeartland

• 53 congregations in Heartland
• 62 fewer than 150 members
• 34 between 150-549
• 4 more than 550 members

4
Congregation SizeUUA/Heartland
5
Congregational Status

• UU Congregations are growing and declining across
  congregation size and the nation
• Between 2000-2005
• Growing congregations added 17K members
• Declining congregations lost 9K
• Net gain in membership 8K in 5 years

6
Congregational Growth UUA 2000-2005
7
Congregational Growth Heartland 2000-2005
8
Faith Communities Today

• Interfaith study completed originally in 2000 by
  Hartford Seminary
• Over 500 UU congregations participated
• Follow up study in 2005 by Cooperative
  Congregational Studies Program

9
FCT 2005 Preliminary LearningsGrowing
Congregations

• Have a congregational identity
• These include
• Working for justice
• Spiritually alive and vital
• Clear mission and vision
• Does not include
• like a close knit family

10
Membership Facts

• Congregations lose 10 of membership through
  attrition (death, move, choice)
• First 10 of new members are simply
  replacements
• Being in a growth area not enough
• Need to be growth friendly to grow

11
Whats Different

• UU congregations annually receive about same
  number of visitors as have members (ie 200
  members, 200 visitors)
• What we dont do well is move visitors into
  members
• Two reasons
• Were not right for everyone
• We dont do membership journey well

12
Membership Journey
Testing
Affiliating
Recruiting
Joining
Attracting
Being Sent
Going Deeper
13
Spiral of Engagement
Being Sent to Service Growth
In the Church In the World
Involvement Or Affiliation
Joining or Committing
Testing
or Inquiring
Awareness
Going Deeper
Contacting or Recruiting
Attracting
14
Circles of Affiliation
People have differing levels of awareness of and
involvement in their Church.
15
Spiral of Engagement

• People move into the community along a path a
  spiral - of engagement.

16
Spiral of Engagement

What needs and desires drive people along the
spiral of involvement?
17
ATTRACTING
Due to the greeting process at Potter Creek
Fellowship, First- time visitors rarely become
second-time visitors.
18
Why People Come to Congregations

• 52 have recently moved.
• 38 experienced a life crisis.
• 10 have a new life partner

19
How They Get There

• 86 visit for the first time because friends and
  family invite them.
• 14 attend for the first time because of
  organized outreach.
• 55 are from the same denomination, 42 from
  another denomination.

20
Ways To Attract

• Sign on the congregations lawn
• Bumper Stickers, Billboards
• Ads on the local NPR station pooling
  contributions gets you these
• Door-to-door flyers
• Website
• Newspaper columns, community event listings
• Postcards/letters to newcomers to neighborhood
• Others?

21
More Membership Facts

• Half of visitors contacted by a member within
  five days will return
• Number of visitors who will become members
  increases if you have Sunday services and/or
  programming in the summer
• Time between visiting and becoming a member
  decreases in proportion to established process of
  membership

22
More Membership Facts

• Half of new members who are not actively
  recruited to become involved in congregations
  active life will fall away within two to three
  years
• If you intentionally want to welcome visitors
  unlike you, may wish to explore anti-oppression
  resources and training offered by UUA

23
R E C R U I T I N G
Banford Valley UU stoops to raw commercialism in
its attempts to increase attendance!
24
Why They Come? (again)

• 86 come because invited by family member or
  friend

25
How Often UUs Invite

• Once every 27 years!!!

26
Recruiting

• Reasons we dont invite
• They wouldnt want to be here
• (And dont you wish someone had told you
  earlier?)
• I dont want to proselytize like they do
• (So do it differently!)
• All our friends are already here
• (So make new friends!)

27
How to Recruit

• Bring a Friend Sunday specially designed for
  visitors/friends
• Give subscriptions to UUWorld
• Wear UU stuff and tell folks about it
• Give Beacon books
• Newspaper column (usually in smaller markets)
• Others?

28

• TestIng

29
Testing

• Time when people want to know if you walk your
  talk behavior, social justice, acceptance,
  diversity supporting
• Time when people want to know what it is UUs
  believe and the answer is not anything you
  want!
• Is the culture here one I want to be part of?
• Is this where they need to be?

30
Testing Supportive Activities

• Invite people to attend social events, with
  someone as their host
• Provide information about UUism, your
  congregation, faith development
• Explain all the symbols and what you do
• Put them on the newsletter list
• Have people speak to them in social hour after
  services
• Others?

31
A F F I L I A T I N G
New members at Sandy Hill Church were often
overwhelmed by intense pressure to get involved.
32
Affiliating

• Moving in more deeply
• Attending on a regular basis
• Looking for connection, way to be integrated (if
  people dont find 6-8 new friends within 6
  months, will not stay)
• Want to know what the norms are
• Either very enthusiastic or holding back some

33
Affiliating Supportive Actions

• New member and other adult ed classes
• Invite into covenant or small groups
• Invite to social events (with a host)
• Invite to social justice activity
• Invite to help with single task clean up,
  greeting, etc but dont overwhelm!
• No committees, no RE teaching
• Others?

34
Membership Facts

• No one comes to church to join a committee or
  give away money
• Survey Data re feeling at home
• 42 immediately
• 10 within one month
• 6 within three months
• 14 within six months to a year
• 10 when I joined

35
Membership Facts

• People need places to land
• Members of historically marginalized groups need
  to know that you really walk your talk theyve
  been kicked out of other places before (literally
  and figuratively)
• They want to know what membership means
• They often want to be asked to join

36

• Joining

37
Joining

• Ask what is required of a member
• Ask how to get involved
• Often seen as the last stage of membershiponce
  they sign and pledge, thats it
• Movement from membership into ministry
• Really join when face first disappointment

38
Joining Supporting Actions

• Develop list of expectations of members
  (attendance, service, pledging, spiritual
  development, work in larger world)
• Ask them to join
• Hold new member orientation and classes
• Celebrate membership with ritual
• Institute mentor programs
• Others?

39
Joining and Youth/Young Adults

• Many congregations dont invite their young
  people to become members
• Consider having a Bridging Ceremony to
  recognize young people becoming members of
  adult community
• Create special affinity groups or celebrations
  for young adults
• Consider alternative worship services to support
  young adult ministry

40

• GoIng Deeper

41
Going Deeper

• Now that Ive found it, how do I live out my
  Unitarian Universalism?
• Time for deepening understanding of tradition,
  history
• Time for deepening own spiritualityknow what
  brought you, but what is keeping you
• Time for involvement in congregations
  ministries

42
Going Deeper Supportive Actions

• Hold adult religious education classes (Evensong,
  BYOT, world religions, etc.)
• Create small (covenant) group ministry
• Create meaningful ways to interact within the
  congregation
• Create affinity groups around theology and
  other special areas
• Create transition support groups
• Others?

43
Membership Facts

• Many who come are unchurched and need to be
  taught about what it means to be in religious
  community
• If people dont connect outside of worship, may
  not create ties to sustain responsibilities of
  membership
• Todays people often look for spiritual
  connection, as well as human connection
• Many young adults seeking first church

44
Membership Facts

• Groups who are not visibly present in
  congregation may need assurance they are welcome
• Consider accessibilityphysical mobility,
  hearing, sight, environmental sensitivity
• Most young adults seeking a religious home use
  the internet to find you

45

• BeingSent

46
Being Sent

• How live out UUism in their family
• How live out UUism in the congregation
• How live out UUism in the workplace
• How live out UUism in the world
• Doing ministrywhat makes them come alive
• Want both support and challenge for this work as
  important, sacred

47
Being Sent Supporting Activities

• Personal ministry groups to identify and support
  sense of mission/ministry
• Organized work in the community
• Covenant groups to deepen spirituality
• Praxis reflection adult programming
• Spiritual retreats
• View church work as ministry
• Others?

48
Other Ideas

• How is your space? Worship, RE, parking, social
• Do an audit of congregation as seen by visitors
  or team up with another UU congregation to send
  spies
• Team up young visitors with RE pal
• Check your backdoordo people care when others
  dont show up?

49
Other Ideas

• August is shopping monthwhat are you doing in
  worship and RE?
• Try telephoning a number of no returns and ask
  why they havent come back to learn truths about
  your congregation
• Is your entry way inviting? Do visitors know
  where to go? Are their young people welcoming
  children?

50
Visitor Follow Up

• Does someone call them personally within five
  days, and not the minister?
• Are they asked their impressions?
• Are they asked their questions?
• Are they assigned a buddy to follow up?
• Are they personally invited to social events?
• Are they invited to an orientation session?
• Are they invited to become a member?

51
Outward Orientation

• Talk with someone you dont know at coffee hour
• Dont do business at coffee hour
• Wear your nametag at every service
• Tell a visitor youre glad they came back
• Intentionally sit next to a visitor
• Tell a non-member about an adult program

52
Outward Orientation

• Talk to non-members about your church
• Attend a cluster, district or national gathering
• Buy a copy of a UU sermon you like and give it to
  a non-member friend
• Tell someone about the provocative thought you
  heard at church
• Use a UU coffee mug at work
• Others?

53
Resources

• UUA Websites
• www.uua.org/cde/education/
• www.uua.org/interconnections/
• Congregational Websites
• www.jeffersonunitarian.org/programs
• www.pathwaysuu.org/newcomer.htm

54
Resources

• Churchworks, by Anne Heller (UUA)
• Belonging The Meaning of Membership, by
  Commission on Appraisal (UUA)
• Making Your Church More Inviting, Roy Oswald
  (Alban)
• The Inviting Church, Roy Oswald and Speed Leas
  (Alban)
• Assimilating New Members, Lyle Schaller
  (Abingdon)