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The Unitarian Universalist Church of Greensboro, North Carolina, had all the ingredients to provide a warm, considerate, and inclusive new member experience, but they were struggling to find their ideal recipe for welcoming.
They tried having new member classes on weekdays, but tired parents and professionals found it hard to attend after a long day. They tried compressing the classes into a single jam-packed Saturday session, including icebreakers, a scavenger hunt to familiarize people with the building, and hours of information. The timing wasn’t always convenient for people’s schedules and meant back-to-back days at church if they wanted to come to Sunday worship.
“We had to build more welcoming infrastructure—quality children’s programming and childcare in our budget—so that we could support a religious exploration hour for all ages after worship,” said Rev. Sadie Lansdale.
UUCG made room in its budget for “welcoming infrastructure,” such as quality care, programming, and resources for children.
A year ago, they decided to change the Sunday service time from 11 a.m. to 10 a.m. and break up the new member classes into four modules: Unitarian Universalism and Your Spiritual Journey, Religious Exploration, Faith in Action, and Membership and Church Operations. The classes could be self-paced and taken immediately after nearly every Sunday service. The change was convenient because people were already at church and children could go to programming or the on-site childcare.
The reorganization seems to be working by reducing barriers to participation.
“What we have seen since then is that people who are new come back in numbers like they have never before,” Lansdale said. In fact, they’ve had to turn a portion of her office into an additional meeting space.
Potential members are also given a punch card with tasks that lay out the pathway to membership, such as taking an adult RE class, engaging with the congregation, and signing the membership book. Carrie Helton, new member class facilitator, said the punch card keeps things fun and engaging.
“People are interested; they come back, and they’ve been getting involved in the life of the church,” Helton said.
Appealing to UUs of All Ages
UU congregations across the United States are finding different ways to embrace new approaches to welcoming that prioritize intentionality. As people continue to search for community given the political climate and other adversities, churches are gearing up with trainings, wraparound resources for families, and more.
One such person who’s taking notice is RayAnne Climer.
When Climer and her family, who lived in Denton, Texas, and were part of the UU fellowship there, decided to sell their home and live on the road in an RV in 2022, it was very important that her young kids stayed connected to their religious education. So far, they’ve been to over twenty states and an equal number of UU congregations.
Congregations that seemed to be thriving had resources for families and multigenerational services, Climer noticed. She encountered members who immediately shared their contact information or invited them to dinner; some congregations had posted calendars for group events like potlucks, and one even had a list of UU-friendly babysitters nearby.
Climer often hears congregations say that since they do not have families coming consistently, they can’t set aside their budget for programming, but she hopes those folks reconsider.
“We need to kind of think of unique ways in our congregations, no matter the budget size, on how we can send a flag out there that we are a progressive spiritual space that is welcoming of families,” Climer said.
To lower participation barriers, UUCG changed its service time and broke up new member classes into four convenient modules.
Before hitting the road, Climer and her husband were Our Whole Lives lifespan sexuality education facilitators, on their Religious Education Council, and one of the founders of their local Parents of UU Preschoolers group.
Climer said she’d like to assist congregations and the UUA in any way she can to ensure that all UU congregations are leaving space for families within their programming and strategies for welcoming.
“We have to put in the welcoming space and the programming for the families to drive in the families, not wait for the families to come before we make the programming,” Climer said.
Forming a Radical Welcome Task Force
Like Climer, Caren Smith, a member of Horizon UU Church in Carrollton, Texas, has also been to quite a few UU congregations as she’s moved to different states. She joined her first congregation after her husband died in the ’90s and remembers how she was welcomed and embraced back then.
Thriving congregations are intentional about welcoming families, says RayAnne Climer, a UU who has visited congregations in more than twenty states.
From Texas to Utah, she’s seen the good and the bad, including a time she pledged—and yet for months no one spoke to her. Smith, who’s been a greeter and an usher at her current congregation, stressed the importance of making a lasting first impression.
“We’re getting so many newcomers, so many people visiting, so many people who want to know what this is,” Smith said. “They want community. It’s just vital that we embrace them and make sure they understand they’re seen, and they’re heard.”
Horizon UU has a Radical Welcome Task Force. Sandy Steele, who has been part of the congregation for nearly twenty years, said the task force formed after members took a Transgender Inclusion in Congregations workshop series, offered by the Transforming Hearts Collective, in 2023.
Originally, they focused on welcoming transgender, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming people. They’ve since opened the fold even more and try to look at where the power is within the congregation and observe those outside those power dynamics, Steele said.
“If we wanted to have the Beloved Community that we envision, then we needed to make space for people that are on the margins and provide a safe space for them. Not just space, but a safe space,” Steele added.
So far, the group has designated gender-neutral bathrooms and made their seating more accessible to people with disabilities and different body types. They’re introducing a hearing device for those who are hard of hearing and are looking into language translations, too.
Horizon’s minister, Rev. Chris Rothbauer, said the task force has done an amazing job of looking at how various issues might impact welcoming and the congregation.
“I think it is showing [results] because one of my older members actually remarked the other day that it’s kind of shocking that we’re turning into a younger, much more diverse congregation,” they said.
Smaller Changes Can Make a Big Impact
Changes to become more welcoming have also been subtle. The UU Church of Boulder, Colorado, for example, stopped putting the number of years a person has been part of the congregation on their name tags, to avoid creating an insiders-versus-outsiders environment between older and newer members. They’ve also cut back on the overuse of acronyms and jargon that newcomers might not understand.
“I think context and congregational culture matter a lot, and I’m aware that the things that work here don’t automatically work elsewhere,” said Rev. David Schwartz, lead minister.
Back in Greensboro, Lansdale said they are looking forward to a Radical Welcome training that addresses microaggressions. She encourages congregations to lean on each other, especially congregations who’ve encountered and overcome similar problems, to learn new ways to succeed.
“There are some great ways of thinking about it that help to mature all of our systems and make us more welcoming and more able to integrate and incorporate new energy into the life of our congregations and serve more people,” Lansdale said.
From Radical Welcome to Long-Term Belonging
Now is a critically important time for everyone in the congregation to get the training and support they need to offer newcomers, visitors, and returning members a radically inclusive welcome and a path to long-term belonging. UUA Congregational Life staff and our colleagues at the UU Association of Membership Professionals have a wealth of resources to help.
- Tending Congregational Life: Guiding the Membership Journey, a training from the UUA and UUAMP, on membership orientation and integration processes
- The UU Institute’s Widening the Welcome greeter training for individuals or teams
- Tips and strategies for intentional external communications and outreach
- UUAMP’s resources on building a vibrant life cycle of membership
- The UUA’s Five Practices of Welcome Renewal for renewing our commitments to being a Welcoming Congregation for LGBTQIA+ people
- The Mosaic Hub supports continued work on antiracism, anti-oppression, and multiculturalism