Hi, I'm starting to get involved in my congregation's participation team which is basically a committee organizing starting point sessions, help recruit people for other committees and teams, and try to increase overall participation in activities beyond just Sunday service.
My overall goal is to help increase ways for youngerish members (basically zoomers, millennials) to get involved and to try to help the congregation do a better job of increasing awareness that we exist and always welcome to new people. (Not talking about evangelizing but I think having our congregation grow is vital for long term sustainability once the greatest generation demograph is extinct.).
Anyone else in a similar position with their congregation have any tips or ideas that I could explore with my group? I'm new to all this so any helpful ideas are much appreciated! :)
Edit: I'm in my early 30s so that's kinda why they're eager to get me to help.
I wrote this on another thread, but make sure there is an attitude of abundance coming from everywhere in the congregation. Young people, especially, can smell anything that's giving MLM type vibes. On the other hand, many people are craving real connection, and our communities offer that.
Attractive: "We've got a good thing going on and we don't want to keep it a secret. There's room at our table, come join in!"
Unattractive: "We're worried about the future of our church if we don't attract more members. We need more people to fill the volunteer jobs and keep the lights on."
Lol'd at the MLM comparison, very good point. I cringed when last month before every service they'd beg for new pledges. They also did this during starting point. It almost scared me off tbh.
I feel one thing UUs need to do is be more involved in social justice than just talking about it. I have ideas about that but I feel talk is cheap. What do you think?
I'm not sure what your "starting point" is. We have one session for brand new people who want to ask questions. Then there's another one for people who have been around for a bit and are considering membership, or just want to get more involved. They're both run once a month or so.
As for social justice, one good strategy is to form long-term partnerships with organizations already doing the work, and run by the communities you hope to serve. Probably there are folks in your congregation who work with organizations like this already. UU churches can connect those groups with people who have resources and are willing to take a support role.
Starting point is basically a Saturday 4 hour session for anyone considering membership. We conduct it quarterly and the minister leads it. Apologies I figured the term "starting point" was a UU wide term.
Good advice on social justice. Wonder if we can help give support to a group like food not bombs. We just had a service about food justice so might be a natural next step.
That's the right time to talk about the church budget and pledging, since a pledge is usually an expectation for members, and as a member you are responsible for voting on the annual budget. But it should feel frank, and not like begging.
Food Not Bombs is an awesome group, they definitely seem like a natural ally.
I hear you, and of course the money has to come from somewhere. But the way they went about it came off as seriously entitled and out of touch. There was even a comment that went something like "if you could give 10k you should consider it" or something like that. Very boomeresque. I stumbled upon a fair share contribution guide many congregations use and honestly I hope it's something my congregation will consider using in future starting points. It's what I'm using to determine my pledge.
Agreed. I'm looking to get involved with them this month !
We use the fair share guidelines. Expected pledges should always be relative to people's financial situation. Our minister also always says, "we have people who pledge two figures annually, and people who pledge five figures annually, and those represent an equal commitment."
A high school senior manages our IG account. Other high schoolers help with music during services. Our challenge, like many UU churches, is getting the late 20s folks to see us.
That's what we're trying to fix. I know social media game is important.
I would suggest visiting other churches once a month and getting a feel for what success might look like for your congregation
I am not 100% sure what you're asking about. Getting current attendees involved in committees? Recruiting new attendees? Getting current attendees involved in committees to recruit new attendees?
As far as getting people involved in committees...
There tends to be a circular problem, where people don't want to get involved, so those who do get involved end up with large responsibilities, which burn them out and discourages others from getting involved.
Be clear about what they can expect: "This committee meets monthly on the 3rd Tuesday at 6pm, and meetings normally last about an hour. Childcare is (or is not) provided. Members may be asked to take on additional responsibilities as they are willing and able, but this is not mandatory."
Come up with things that need to be done for a range of personalities, interests, abilities, strengths, and limitations. Things that are social, and things that are solo. Things that are active or less active. Things that are a one-time commitment vs. ongoing responsibility. Things that can be done remotely.
Make it clear that any contribution is valued, and volunteering doesn't have to mean taking on full responsibility for what is basically a second unpaid job or anything like that.
Look into barriers to contributing and how you might address them. Maybe this person would love to be more involved but has small children and no childcare, or is already working 60 hours a week. Maybe more people would be willing to help out with RE but don't want to totally give up their own service attendance to do so. Younger members are more likely to have limited time due to jobs and family responsibilities, childcare issues, and things like that, while older members who are retired an whose kids are grown may have more available time, but more physical limitations due to health.
Just looking for ways to attract and keep new members! Sorry if I wasn't clear. That will be one of my responsibilities. Just crowd sourcing ideas.
Hosting a geocache or two is low key but can be a way to get people who might be interested on the grounds.
If your community has a group that does clothing swaps, especially for the trans community, they often need space to hold swaps. Depending on the community you might also be able to host name change and paperwork clinics. Churches can feel unsafe for some people, for others they might offer useful cover. But whatever that support group is? Be in touch.
Having a pet blessing is always a fun thing to do and is a special event people might be comfortable coming to.
Hosting a textile community if you don't can be great.
Having a reading group where everyone just comes and reads quietly together seems to be an increasingly popular form of socializing for young people and I love it, have a different room set up with coffee and maybe snacks where people can talk.
Wow these are really good ideas. As a trans woman I love the clothing swap idea.
Wonder how I'd get the church to be willing to host these and how to connect with these groups? Any tips?
I have generally found the church is easy and queer groups can be a little careful about religious spaces, so reaching out to the people who do support is just good anyway, but with a plan for a very specific event is also great because groups get a lot of "lets get coffee sometime" so specific plans look more serious and thoughtful
We have a queer group called Queerly Beloved that just socializes once a week. It’s great.
I think they're going to reboot a queer group so that's something I'd love to be part of.
What about things like the geocaching? That sounds like a lot of fun! I'm also getting involved with my local Rotaract organization so maybe that's another idea...
Here are the guidelines for placing a geocache
https://www.geocaching.com/play/hide
Puzzle caches are a lot of fun to create but you could start with a really standard one or find someone who has set them up in your community and work together.
This sounds fun. I'm gonna try one when I'm able so ty!!
My congregation and a few others in our region host the local PFLAG groups. Historically, PFLAG groups have been community support for parents and friends (allies) of LGB folks. In the 10 years I have been involved, our local (Northern Virginia) groups also host a safe space for LGBTQ+ teens to socialize and support each other. In the past 3 years we have started a "Young Adult LGBTQ+" group in another room, which recently renamed itself to "Queer Adults" as some of it's participants were a little less young. We consider this support to the queer community as part of our Social Justice work and a great way to be known to more people in the community who might eventually join.