We know from studies of contemporary religious affiliation that upwards of 500,000 US Americans consider themselves Unitarian Universalists, of whom some two-thirds have no formal affiliation with a UU congregation. It raises very interesting questions for those of us who are affiliated. Do these folks want to belong to a UU church but haven’t found a welcome there? Is there a way our congregations could be serving their spiritual needs, regardless of whether they become members in the way we currently define membership? Should we within congregations join forces with these folks outside them in our social justice work? It’s hard to know the answers to these questions without knowing why they consider themselves UU and why they’re not members of a congregation. Tandi Rogers, who works on growth issues for the Unitarian Universalist Association, has created a survey to try to learn a little more.
If you identify as “Unitarian,” “Universalist,” or “UU,” but you don’t belong to or regularly attend a UU congregation, I hope you’ll have your voice included in this 13-question survey of “Free Range UUs” (LOL). You also might be a good candidate for this survey if you describe yourself as “spiritual but not religious.”
Sermons in Stones 
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November 3, 2011 at 7:07 am
Chrystal
I am a member of a congregation, but have posted a link to your blog on Facebook, asking any friends who might be interested in this to respond to the survey.
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November 3, 2011 at 9:31 am
Amy Zucker Morgenstern
Cool! Thanks! I think this is a very interesting initiative. I wish Ms. Rogers luck and I hope she and her team keep thinking beyond “how can we turn these people into members?” (though of course I want to remove any barriers to their joining if that’s what they want) and on to “what are these people telling us about how best to fulfill our mission?” The carrying-out of our mission doesn’t always have to take place in a church, nor is it limited to members of congregations.
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November 4, 2011 at 2:12 pm
Kathleen Bardin
I just posted a link to this survey on Facebook last night, after running into it via other UU channels. It has now been shared with more youth and young adults who may not identify with a congregation, thanks to my friend, Michael Tank who has been instrumental in work with young adults here in the PCD. I wonder what kind of response will be received.
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November 4, 2011 at 5:58 pm
thalassa
My husband and I have recently become members, but had attended UU congregations for awhile prior without becoming members…for us, it was partially the fact that we finally moved close enough to a congregation to make regular attendance worthwhile, and partially that our oldest child was old enough to start attending RE classes, but really, the part that cinched it, was that the congregation we found to attend has a Pagan group.
I think one of the things missing for some people is the aspect of worship…particularly as someone that went from a liberal Christian tradition to a Pagan one, I can say that in my case, at some of the congregations I went to, I left feeling really smart…but not very warm; if that makes sense?
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November 5, 2011 at 7:40 am
Amy Zucker Morgenstern
Yes. Something I’ve noticed in our “getting to know the church / the tradition / each other” sessions (we call them Discovering UUCPA and hold them bimonthly) is that when asked what they are looking for, people almost always say, in one way or another, community. They want to connect to other people. It seems as if there are some baselines: yes, those people have to be smart and engage our minds, yes, they have to be more or less theologically compatible–but these are the elements that seekers verify via our website before they even visit. When they get there, they want to know, “Am I welcome? Could this become my home?”
Congratulations on finding that warm place, and to them for welcoming you!
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