Continuing the thread Philocrites started, I’ve found it interesting that, after 287 congregations have reported that 41 report the exact same number as they did last year. That’s about one in six. “No growth, but no decline,” you say, and thus no foul. Perhaps. But it also suggests that the statistics were just […]

Philocrites, in “Fundamentalist no more” asked, “who?” after suggesting he might fit better identifying with William Henry Ryder or James Martineau than the retired-and-his-fifteen-minutes-are up Episcopal bishop of Newark.

I suppose it was too much to ask, but Ryder (1822-1888) was one of the Universalist greats, despite his near anonymity.

A historical note from the Provincetown […]

Sure, new large and programatic church starts are sexy, but I suspect real (and affordable) numerical growth will come from the small- and medium-sized members of the UUA.

Been crunching numbers, and now that 255 congregations have been certified, I can report again.

Bad news: of those 255, there is a net gain of 805, […]

Prowling the Internet tonight for websites related to the dissemination of practical information to persons in developing countries, an interest I’ve had since childhood. (Yes, I was a bit of an odd child, but then again, I figured once The Bomb dropped, and assuming I survived, I thought it would be worth knowing how to […]

A quick Google search of the following words {new self-sufficient church} came up with a number of interesting links for those Unitarian Universalists interested in church growth.

A sampling:

http://www.rca.org/growth/multiply/manual.php

From the Reformed Church in America: New Church Development Manual: An Introduction

excerpt:

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http://www.mennochurch.mb.ca/resources/missional/

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http://www.gadisciples.org/sowing/ACase.htm From the Georgia Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) A Case for New Disciple Congregations in Georgia

excerpt:

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Time to read as much as I can about the United Church of Christ. Found some polity course syllabi, and ordered books from what I used to call “the broke seminarian’s friend” - not bad for ministers without an expense account either - Congregational Library.

Got a shipment of four books yesterday. They are:

[…]

With 157 congregations reporting, my own database shows a rather thin net increase between those congregations of 773 members. This is particularly bad since 310 of these are from the Church of the Larger Fellowship.

First Universalist, Minneapolis and White Bear U. U., Mahtonedi, Minnesota are the top two gainers, so far, reporting 79 and 65 […]

OK, here’s the deal. If you are a member of the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association, and are serving a church or membership organization that needs new membership software, I’ll be happy to let you try out my new toy, Infocentral, a “PHP/MySQL membership and management database intended for use by churches and non-profit organizations to […]

Those who attended the UUCF’s Revival 2003 would have met Kalen Fristad, who, with his wife Darlene, are Destined for Salvation Ministries. They were set to begin their travelling ministry on July 1, 2003, but I haven’t heard anything of them since. (Admittedly, they are based out of Newton, Iowa, so I’m not likely to […]

Annoyed about Homeland Security overkill? The demise of American hospitality? What about just doing the right thing?

No, I’m not going to ask you to write a letter, but send money to the New England Seafarers Mission, a good organization I know a bit about. From their website:

On Christmas Day of this year, one of […]