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Congregational Self
Assessment Fulfilling the Promise Committee |
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Congregational Self
Assessment Fulfilling the Promise Committee |
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Speakers: Margaret Sanders and Rev. Ken Hurto
Why do we come together? How do we want to be together? How will know if we achieved it? Two new packages from the UUA help us answer these questions; "Understanding Ourselves" (in PDF format) and "Congregational Self Assessment Packet" .
Some churches report a membership turnover of 20% per year. If your church has significant turnover, you should reassess your congregation every 3-5 years. These new tools enable you to compare with other congregations.
Perhaps even more importantly, the process can lead to useful conversations. Suppose, for example, the older members conclude, "our congregation listens to the experiences of young adults to a great extent," while the young adults score this question with the response "to a small extent"? Apparently, the congregation has something to learn.
The organization Faith Communities Today (FACT), has an interactive web site that you can use to compare with other UU congregations or with other denominations. For example, how is your congregation doing on outreach, inviting, and including? Is our denomination mostly humanist, or are earth-centered perspectives overtaking humanism? How do other churches follow up on visitors? And how do UUs compare with Presbyterians and Methodists? To find out more, go to http://fact.hartsem.edu/Workbooks/intro.htm; 523 UU congregations have completed this survey and the results are compiled at http://www.uua.org/cde/education/fact.pdf (in PDF format).Reported for the Web by Mike McNaughton; photos by John Melski
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