Path to Membership
We've learned the importance of having clear information about the path to membership and how newcomers start that journey.These resources have worked for others. They could be useful for your congregation:
- Thoughts
on "Focusing on Member Talents & Gifts"
- Volunteer Coordination and New Member Integration, Jefferson Unitarian Church, Golden, Colorado
- Jefferson Unitarian Church's (Golden, Colorado) "Path to Membership Class" (PDF)
- All the documents needed by a Membership Committee from InterConnections
- "The Membership Journey" (PDF, 53 pages)
- Small Group Ministry is a way for people who are relatively new and want to connect to more people at church can become involved in a way that feeds their spirit.
- Breakthrough Congregations of 2007:
- Carbondale Unitarian Fellowship, Carbondale, Illinois
- Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church, Camp Springs, Maryland
- All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, Kansas City, Missouri
- First Unitarian Universalist Church of Portland, Portland, Oregon
- See "Adding Worship Services: A How-to Manual" (PDF, 49 pages)
When people leave our churches it is not always apparent immediately. Some leave because they move away, some die, and some stop attending. The reasons people stop attending can be many. Some people have a change in life circumstances that causes them to stop attending, while others leave due to difficulties they have had at church. Exit interviews (Word) (PDF) conducted by thoughtful membership committee members can help a congregation to find out if it has work to do in retaining members who otherwise might have stayed. These can be conducted by letter, by phone, by email, or in person, using, or adapting, the series of questions in this exit interview text. An introductory note about the interview, such as the one shown in this resource is a courtesy. Doing exit interviews can help your church to learn more about how involved its members and friends feel.
The resource Congregations Count can help a congregation to find out if it is doing a good job of retaining members.
Combining exit interviews and Congregations Count could be highly effective at identifying next steps for member retention and improved ministry to existing members.
Additionally, the UUA Bookstore offers a number of useful resources:
- New Member Gift Set
- Hospitality Sampler
- Certificates for Member Milestones
- Visitors’ Pamphlet Assortment
- Religious Edsucation Pamphlet Assortment
- Articulating Your UU Faith
- A Chosen Faith
- The Unitarian Universalist Pocket Guide
- Letting Go: Transforming Congregations for Ministry (from The Alban Institute Bookstore)
- The Complete Guide to Small Group Ministry
These resources can help your congregation welcome guests, include them more fully in the life of the congregation, and find an accessible path to membership and leadership. At heart, these resources are about deepening and sharing our faith.
After reviewing these hospitality materials, please visit the marketing resources web pages. Marketing outreach and hospitality go hand-in-hand. Advertising can help bring folks to our congregational doors. It is the welcome extended to our guests from that point on that will determine whether they call Unitarian Universalism home.
For more information contact growthresources @ uua.org.
Last updated on Wednesday, October 17, 2007.
