All nine members of
the Committee on Appraisal were present to give an overview of their latest
report, "Belong: The Meaning of Membership," and to answer questions from the
more than 200 attendees.
Chair Lisa Presley began the session by introducing the nine members and Secretary
Art Ungar gave a short historical overview of the Commission's past reports.
More detailed information on the Commission's function is available from the
UUA's COA Web site.
Individual members of the committee gave a short review of one of the chapters
of the report:
- The Process of Commitment
- Theologies of Membership
- Measures of Membership
- Creating Thriving Congregation
- The Challenge of Incarnation
- Pathways to Growth
- Investing in Youth and Young
Adults
The Rev. Earl Holt , incoming Vice-Chair,
explained that membership is a process that begins with self-identity as a UU,
then progresses to becoming affiliated with a congregation before the final
step of becoming a member of that congregation. There are 3-4 times more self-identified
UUs than are reported to the UUA by our congregations.
Often, after a person has become a member of a congregation, they run into the
challenge of handling the first disillusionment rising from an unmet need. How
that person responds to this first incident of disillusionment determines if
that person stays or leaves.
The Rev. Roberta Finkelstein of Sterling, VA, when asked to give a one-sentence
description of the report, tells people that it's about taking membership seriously.
As members come to think of our congregations as places where they can gather
together in mutual covenant to help one another in their spiritual journeys,
we will not be seen as a stepping stone from the Methodist church to the golf
course.
On the subject of "Quantity of Membership," Commissioner Joyce Gilbert of Rochester,
NY, began with, "There are lies, damned lies, statistics, and then there's membership."
"How does a congregation accurately come up with a yearly membership count?"
is a frequently-asked question for the committee. Some congregations have regular
members, newsletter members, voting members, non-voting members, Religious Education
members, youth members, associate members, members emeriti, active members,
inactive members, and other categories. The UUA bylaws are clear on this: all
full or partial voting members are to be counted in the membership count. However,
it's entirely left to each congregation to define in its own bylaws the requirements
of a voting member.
Although "weeding" does produce a more accurate membership count, it is also
the opposite of growth. Whenever a line is drawn, some people are left out and
others are left in. Liberal churches may be more conflict-prone because they
are more democratic and liberal congregations are the only ones who fight about
the use of inclusive languages rather than the sin of premarital sex. It's not
the number of conflicts, but the types of conflicts that define congregational
health. Conflicts tend to be over ideological differences rather than interpersonal
differences in healthy congregations.
Growth is measured in more than just the number, Commissioner Janis Sabin Eliot
of Portland, OR, explained. It's measured in four dimensions:
- Numerical
- Maturational
- Organic
- Incarnational
Numerical growth is somewhat problematic
as congregational rolls are notoriously unreliable. Maturational growth suggests
an increase in faith, a deepening of spirituality and an expansion of the religious
imagination. A congregation is liken to a living system such that an organic
growth is reflected in an intentional creation of community resulting in an
expanded network of human relationships. Incarnational growth is putting our
words into actions.
Commissioner Janice Marie Johnson of New York, NY, addressed the challenge of
incarnational growth and how to make real our faith. One area of progress has
been our anti-racism work. She remarked that there has often been confusion
since there is a Janis and a Janice on the committee. When people try to tell
the two apart, no one mention the obvious: that one is black and the other is
white!
Using the analogy of the welcoming table where everyone is welcome, Johnson
talked about our diversity and inclusiveness but questions if this is perhaps
the time to discard the old table and build a new one which would include ways
of making visitors feel welcome and acceptance of transgender folks.
Regarding "Pathways to Growth," the Rev. Lisa Presley pointed out that many
self-identified UUs belong to extra-congregational organizations and independent
affiliate organizations, some of which are membership-based and many have local
groups at the district or congregational level. Some of these organizations'
membership requirements may implicitly require membership in a UU congregation,
and others do not. Someone may say that he is not a member of any UU congregation,
but attends Star Island once a year. How do these people fit in? How can we
make room in our congregations to support these extra-congregational groups?
What does belonging to these groups do for you? Answers to these and other related
questions will open up new pathways to growth.
Commissioner Art Ungar of Lafayette, CA, shared a few emails gleaned from the
memb-l email list discussing
the controversial issue of youth membership. Some congregations treat the Coming
of Age program with the intention that the youths sign the membership book and
become full-fledge members. The youths who have gone through such a program
are more committed to membership than their elders who have not had a similar
exposure to UUism before they sign the membership book. Many young adults are
more involved with CUUYAN than they are with local congregations partly as a
result of their mobility, and partly because local congregations may not be
big enough to support them. The Internet has done much to connect young people
across geographically diverse locations.
One workshop attendee expressed his concerns for minority groups like the economic
and social conservatives being marginalized and was assured by the committee
that they have had inputs from such minority groups. A minister shared that
during the Sunday service, his congregants say their covenant across the aisle
to one another. This is impressive for visitors to see and hear. He has seen
a 15% growth in membership in the last two years.
The Commission of Appraisal's report has been mailed out to all congregations
and extra copies are available from the UUA Bookstore for
$12 each.
Reported for the
Web by Kok Heong McNaughton; formatted for the web by Kasey Melski.
General Assembly 2001 · Program Grid
