Micro UU Churches

In his blog, boy in the bands: Universalist Christian theology, Scott Wells sites an article on Micro Churches posted on coolchurches.com. I find Scott's comments on the UUA's large church initiatives and this micro-church approach very intersting. Take a peek.

Moving away from UUA politics/policy on large churches and getting back to small group ministry, I think that there is great hope for micro-uu-churches. Think about the success of Howard Dean's grass roots effort through meetup.com. We are discovering how to use grass roots organization in new ways. This is a great example of the internet assisting with political grass roots efforts. What about a grass roots UU effort? People are hungry for both community and meaning. What better way to get people together than small, medium, large and MICRO sized churches. Of course, you can hardly talk micro without talking small groups.

Thoughts on micro uu churches?

Question: We keep an open chair to welcome newcomers as is recommended. Consequently, we have people come join a group for 1 or 2 sessions to check it out. Then they stop coming, or come irregularly. It is hard to keep track of the actual members. The size of a group will vary, and membership becomes casual rather than being the committed group relationship that we held as our ideal. Neither Bob's book nor any other info we've seen has dealt with nitty-gritty details such as: Should we take role? Should newcomers from outside the church be required to give complete contact information the first time they come? Are these tasks that facilitators should understand as part of their job? Should we require a joining ceremony? A quitting ceremony? My feeling is that these should all be answered YES.em>


My thoughts: Should you take role? One aspect of the ministry in SGM is paying attention to people and their involvement. I wouldn't do a roll call, but I'd have all of your leaders note who is present. I would also have a member of the group volunteer to call those not present. No one should ever miss a meeting and not have the group reach out to them to check in.

Should newcomers from outside the church be required to give complete contact information the first time they come? I like to have facilitators meet every person before they check out a group. I think groups are better when open, but a good one on one is important. Newcomers can be invited to meet the facilitator before or after a service. If they won't go to church then that tells you something. If they are new and are not planning on going to church you can have them meet you for coffee some time outside of church. Still, good to let them know that being a full part of our church community is an expectation. The small groups are not designed to stand alone. And yes, get their full contact info.

Are these tasks that facilitators should understand as part of their job? Yes. We have incredibly low standards for facilitators. That is why I do not call them facilitators, I call them leaders. In my groups the facilitation of the group is a shared responsibility. Being responsible for the life of the group and connection with the larger congregation is a serious act of leadership. This is another example of our suffering as a faith from low expectations. Raise your expectations and a bunch of people will leave. With those who stay you'll have stronger finances a stronger shared ministry and be on your way to changing lives and our world.

Should we require a joining ceremony? A quitting ceremony? Good to pay attention to these events and spend some time in group on it. However, if you have groups that never end save for certain points when people can opt out or change groups, there will never be a group joining or quiting. As for joining, it is good to review the covenant with a new member before they come to the first meeting.

Some congregations, especially San Jose, have created standard session add ons. Small rituals and words to use when certain things happen. This is a great idea. You can identify frequently occuring events and with your facilitators prepare some standard words or responses to them. A great thing to do in monthly (or more) leadership meetings.

The question of newcomers brings up the issue of how quickly to add newcomers. This can vary by group. I do think it is good for groups to always be adding at least one or two people per year. Otherwise the group becomes closed and isn't really fullfilling the larger vision for sharing our faith. Without reaching out to newcomers within and outside of the congregation small group ministry can easily degenerate into small social clubs. Being open and connected to the larger congregation's ministry is essential. Some groups will want to be closed. In that case you may need to assess whether they are to remain part of your small group ministry.

Open Chair Success Stories?

Politics - Fuel for transformation

This year has been hard for us. Our diverse communities are quite naturally filled with very diverse views. This includes political views. Though we may all be religiously liberal, indiviudal political views fill a very broad spectrum. It gets hard when attention is kept focused on one area for a very long time, such as with the war with Iraq and terrorism. What was once a vibrant diverse community can over time start to feel polarized and not very welcoming.

Are our congregations places where political views should be shared? God yes! You know the religious right is making it their mission -- perhaps even a mission charged by God -- that they lobby for their moral and political positions. Given this, I think we must. I also think that we can't be truly religious and spiritual beings without fully living our faith and that includes how our faith sheds light on our political views.

What role should congregations play? Ours differ so much that it is hard to say. Should all churches wage peace campaigns? Maybe not. Should they all have forums where people can explore how their beliefs and religious views inform their politics? Yes.

Should this happen is small groups? Having watched our groups respond to needs after the 9/11 terrorist attack, I think it is safe to say that politics and world events will always come up in groups. The question is not whether or not we should allow politics to come up in groups, but how do we handle political issues.

I think we can use politics to help people integrate their spirituality, religious beliefs and opinions. When politcal issues come up, try and move away from debate. Ask questions that relate to peoples spiritual and religious life and identity. I like to always keep some cards with the UU principles and purposes handy. Do your political opinion, your gut or emotional response, your view of the world, and the principles all agree? I always try and weave in threads of Unitarian Universalist theology, identity, history and members individual experiences, beliefs and spiritual practices into discussions.

The key is to bring it back to the person. When we do this political issues turn into fuel for personal transformation.

Ideas for dealing with politics in church?

Is the empty chair symbolic?

There is a lot of talk in our UU SGM literature about the "open chair". It is held up as an important aspect of the model. It is important to keep a chair open to symbolize that the group is open and there for others.

Symbolic?

I don't know where the idea of a symbolic empty chair came from. My understanding and conviction is that if a group is an open group, there is a plan to fill it. Otherwise the empty chair is more symbolic of our failure to share our faith, that UU's are reluctant to share what we have with others.

Save the symbolic empy chair for passover.

If you want your small group ministry to be an extension of the ministry of the church and have it serve to promote personal and spiritual growth, cast a vision for open groups with REAL people in the chairs. We have to much work to do in the world and to much to share to keep seats reserved for imaginary Unitarian Universalists.

Let me add that it is a good idea to have an extra or empty chair. But don't have it be symbolic. Fill it. Not necessarily every session, but often. That is, depending on the kind of group you have. Maybe your covenant could specify the rate at which new people will be welcomed into the group...

Do you have an empty chair?

Put your Budget where your ministry is!

Now is a great time to try and increase your small group ministry budget for next year. What? No budget???

This is common. Many congregations have little or no budget for small group ministry resources, training and support. Why do you need a budget? There are many reasons. Here are a few things you can do with a larger SGM budget.

* Celebrate your leaders. Hold events to celebrate your small group ministry including food ($).
* Put ads in the paper ($) about small group ministry.
* Invite a guest speaker to preach ($) each year.
* Hold enrichment workshops ($) for your facilitators. You can do this or you can bring in an outside consultant. Either way, food is a must. If you don't know what you'd do as an enrichment program you might pay ($) to consult with someone like me who can help you design a program.
* Have a retreat at a confernece center or hotel ($) for your top SGM leaders & coaches where you explore spirituality, personal growth, and vision for the coming year.
* Just ask yourself what you could do to support your ministry and shared ministry leaders if money was no object!

Obviously it is an issue. But it is essential you remember that the quality of your ministry is what leads to larger pledge units and more pledge units. Multiplying ministry and increasing its quality is a guaranteed way of raising funds. Yes, it is kind of a chicken and the egg deal. Which comes first, the pledge units & funding or the vision & ministry?

I think the vision and ministry must come first. If you have ideas for Small Group Minsitry budget items, please let me know. That would be a great new resource.

Budget ideas?