Once again, a big thank you to all of you who were able to attend the second of our four congregational workshops about the transition process! There was great energy and lots of voices shared in discussing five areas that we all agree are important in the life of our fellowship:
- Life span faith development
- Worship life
- Social justice activity
- Caring for each other
- Social activities - (we added this one as so many of us enjoy the fellowship of activities such as Friday night potluck, sewing circle, Wednesday morning discussion group, movie night, Readers’ Theater, etc.)
In our small and large group discussions, we identified strengths that we already have and areas where we recognize we desire more. We are so thankful people who took part were willing to talk about their hopes for our fellowship as well as areas of disappointment where we could meet needs more fully.
We are now coming back to you with our next step in our transition process. Since we all agree that these are important areas, we now want to find ways to look fresh about them. To that end, we are going to take a look at a couple “breakthrough congregations,” congregations singled out by the UUA for having achieved significant and sustained numerical growth, and to share what they’ve done and how they’ve done it.
The two congregations are Harmony, located in the small town of Landen, Ohio, and the second is the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ogden, Utah. We are sending you the link to each of these articles about these congregations, and, as well, we will have hard copies of each available at the fellowship on Sunday mornings.
Harmony, the ‘un-church’
http://www.uuworld.org/life/articles/290443.shtml
‘We know why we’re here’
http://www.uuworld.org/life/articles/199638.shtml
We encourage all of you to read these articles prior to the next (third) of our four congregational workshops about the transition process. We will gather on Sunday, March 23, 12:30 - 2:00 pm, to consider the topic: “Unchurching Church: Exploring New Ways to Think about Ourselves.” Please come to help us think fresh about our future!
Lunch will be provided, and child care will be available; please contact Norma Bailey (baile1nj@cmich,edu, 989-560-3952) if you need child care.
In love and peace, Your Transition Team
(Norma Bailey, Jim Dealing, Laura Frey, and Joyce Henricks)
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