4037 Getting Ready to Grow

"There are many congregations that are growing successfully," said Sue Stuckey, convener for the Growth Group of the Unitarian Universalist Association Board of Trustees. She introduced representatives from three Unitarian Universalist congregations that have experienced significant growth over the last several years. These representatives, from small, mid-sized, and large congregations, shared their thoughts on what has helped their congregations to grow.

Small congregation: Unitarian Universalist Metro Atlanta North (Georgia) (UUMAN)

Rev. Greg Ward, parish minister from the Unitarian Universalist Metro Atlanta North congregation said he has two basic rules. "Don't get in the way of doing something that is working well," Ward said. The second rule: "try and help people in the congregation understand and intuit what isn't working well."

UUMAN was founded in 1990, and now has 177 members. Ward has been serving the congregation for 5 years. When he arrived, there were 75 members, which means that over the past five years they have had a growth rate of 30% per year. Since its founding, UUMAN has grown 15% per year.

Early on, UUMAN moved its location 6 times in 4 years. But Ward said, "The church was not a place for them, the church was a movement ... I mean that in both senses of the word." UUMAN has had 3 capital campaigns in six and one-half years, most recently a campaign to build a sanctuary that raised $450,000.

Ward also said one of the most important things for leaders of a congregation to know is their own personal religious story. "Why are you there?" he asked. "How is the church changing your life?" Ward tells his own story to show how he has a personal investment in the congregation. "I credit church for saving my life," he said. "I do think the church has an important role in people's lives."

Leaders should also know the congregation's story, because it "will act out every day of every week of every year." Congregations can be bound by past events, and it is important to understand how the past affects the present. For example, UUMAN was rocked by theological conflict early in its history. They were able to deal with the conflict productively, albeit after undergoing a fair amount of pain as a community. "One of the things they learned was that their identity as a community was not based in theology, but in growth and community," said Ward.

Mid-sized congregation: Horizon Unitarian Universalist Church, Carrollton, Texas

Handout: Report from Dennis Hamilton, Horizon Unitarian Universalist Church in Carrollton, Texas

Rev. Dennis Hamilton, parish minister of Horizon Unitarian Universalist Church spoke next. He went to the congregation 17 years ago as an extension minister with the goal of "growing a full-service church." When he began, there were 32 members, and now there are between 325 and 350 members.

"Every church has its bumps and its roadblocks," said Hamilton. He listed some roadblocks that may stand in the way of growth.

"The main roadblock is a lack of vision," said Hamilton. "You've got to know what you're there to do." Part of this is having a sense of mission. "If you don't have a clear cut sense of mission as a church, you're going to wind up being self-serving, and probably devolve into being inwardly directed."

Another roadblock to growth that Hamilton sees is a lack of leadership development. "We need to have leadership training and leadership development," he said. He offered several possible solutions, including asking the nominating committee of the congregation to seek "the people who share the vision of the congregation, and who are mature, who are willing to fulfill the mission of the church." He also recommends annual retreats with the Board and staff, to review the congregation's mission and to develop behavioral covenants.

Hamilton identified a number of attitudes that he said inhibit growth. "An anti-authoritarian attitude will stifle growth," he said. Congregations must learn to accept and trust their leadership. "In order to grow, we need to be able to elect, train, and trust our leaders," he said. Hamilton mentioned less than successful congregations that are "held hostage by a group of anti-authoritarian people who, in fact, have absconded with the power themselves," as representing a lack of trust and an essentially anti-democratic attitude.

Hamilton also claimed that the "extreme informality" of many Unitarian Universalist congregations can inhibit growth. "It's wonderful," he said, referring to this informality, "but it will give people the impression it's much more difficult to come in to the congregation." Instead of informality, Hamilton called for an attitude of hospitality.

Hamilton also criticized the "consumer mentality" of many congregations. "This is something that needs to turn around in our churches," he said. "To paraphrase John F. Kennedy, it's not about how churches can serve people, it's how people can serve their church communities. We need to ask more of our members, and we don't have to take care of every feeling.... When I look at churches that are successful, they ask a lot from their members."

Large congregation: East Shore Unitarian Church, Bellevue, Washington

Handout: Five Concrete Steps That East Shore Has Taken To Create A Culture Of Growth
Handout: How We Currently Grow Membership At East Shore

Rev. Peter Luton, Senior Minister of East Shore Unitarian Church spoke next. Luton has been senior minister at East Shore for 10 years, and in that time the congregation has grown from 450 to 650 members. On a typical Sunday morning, there will be 450 adults and 300 children at the church.

"The reason for existing has to be more than taking care of ourselves," said Luton, adding, "Intimacy is exclusionary." At the same time, a key problem for large congregations is to create programs where people can find intimacy. "In order for a congregation to grow, you have to make sure you can have intimacy in spite of size.... As we grow -- and grow we will -- we will not lose our intimacy, because we have this program, and this program, and this program," he said. However, congregations should not see committees as substitutes for programs that truly foster intimacy.

Carmen McDowell, Membership Coordinator at East Shore Unitarian Church, gave the audience some specific ways to create programs that create intimacy in a large congregation. McDowell, who had previous experience in volunteer coordination, works 30 hours a week, concentrating less on "how to get people in the door," and more on how to retain those who do come in the door.

"We have built really good system for welcoming people, in addition to building that culture of hospitality," she said. She tries to find a balance between details and the big picture. The details can include things as simple as being sure there's plenty of toilet paper in the bathrooms on Sunday morning, and as important as having plenty of cut flowers in the church "so that it's a really beautiful space." The big picture includes general coordination of all programs.

McDowell believes that the "Welcoming Congregation" program was a useful guide. Although the "Welcoming Congregation" program is designed to make congregation more welcoming to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered persons, McDowell said the effect was wider than that. "We looked at what it meant to become truly welcoming, truly understanding what it means to be hospitable," she said, and as a result the congregation became more welcoming and hospitable in general.

McDowell pointed the congregation's Web site as another concrete tool for growth. East Shore Unitarian Church gets about 175 visitors a year, and almost half found out about the congregation through the Web site. "It becomes a very important step for first time visitors," she said, adding that visitors often show they have spent a fair amount of time reading and thinking about what's on the site.

Pointing out how large congregations are different, Luton said that the minister's role is different. "My job as the minister is not to be everybody's intimate friend, not to be the point of contact for the church, but to put forward the vision of the church." McDowell added, "The membership grows the membership, and my job as Membership Coordinator is empowering leaders to be welcoming and hospitable."

Reported for the web by Dan Harper; edited by Lisa Presley.

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