I have another blog post that I am working on, but I just read some of the materials that the UUA Board will be discussing at their next meeting and I am fascinated by some numbers.
First, the average congregation size is 151. In fact, over 68% of our UU congregations have 160 or fewer members.
Our smaller congregations are also growing, particularly in the south and midwest.
With these numbers, I am glad to read that the Board is discussing changing the bylaws to reduce the number of members required to join the UUA. This will also allow small, covenanted communities (of whatever form, congregation or not) to join and have a say in our present and future. That is exciting news.
I hope that these numbers mean that there will be more discussion about how the UUA can more effectively support these smaller congregations (who often feel overlooked) and other emerging covenanted communities. The numbers would indicate that they are our present, and our future.
Thanks for the head’s up about the proposed admission rule change.
You are most welcome! It is the very last thing, item 5, on the Emerging Congregations report. I am very excited about a lot that is in this report. http://www.uua.org/documents/boardtrustees/140410_emerging_cong_wg_report.pdf