MEMBERSHIP

A few weeks ago, I heard of a discussion about the pros and cons of growth. Apparently only two out of 10 people felt that growth’s pluses outweighed its minuses. Had I been at the discussion there would have been three on the side of growth.

There are many reasons to promote growth and only one masquerading in many forms to eschew it. Let me slay the dragon. Growth can be uncomfortable. That discomfort can be couched in many forms: the parking lot can’t handle it, it’s already too crowded in the social hall, it will force us into two services and I won’t see my friends any more, we won’t have enough teachers, etc. Nonsense! Learn to live with it. Recall that dictum about comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.

Looking at the positive side, it is the only way to remain a viable congregation. It is not possible to stay at a single size. A congregation either grows or gets smaller through attrition, death, and congregants moving. No matter whether or not we are attracting new members there will always be attrition through deaths and congregants moving.

It is important to grow for many reasons. New people bring new ideas and new energy. New members and active friends increase our income base allowing us to become more present in the community at large. New young couples mean more children in Religious Education, allowing our influence to spread wider. Would it not be wonderful if more people lived according to our principles?

We have 10 more pledging units and more than $20,000 in additional pledges this year compared to last year. We currently have the highest pledge base in at least the last six years. That additional money impacts the entire organization, and really it is still not enough. More impressively, we did this in a year with little but dire financial prognostications.

It is not enough to tolerate growth and let a few of us propound it. Working toward a larger, more diverse congregation is everyone’s responsibility. I use any opportunity to spread the Unitarian Universalist gospel. Are you doing the same?

Howard Bennett, Membership Coordinator