Chapter 1. A Public or a Private Church?
Chapter 2. Why Unitarian Universalism Hasnít Grown and How To Turn That Around
Chapter 3. Leadership Makes It or Breaks It
Chapter 4. Creating Committed Members: New Ideas, Lasting Results
Chapter 5. Focus on Things That Are Important
Chapter 6. Making the Annual Pledge Drive Obsolete
Chapter 7. Five Helpful Heresies
Afterword: My Plea to Unitarian Universalism
This is an uplifting book. Most readers of The Almost Church found my challenges to Unitarian Universalism’s sacred cows engaging and thought-provoking. But others felt I was negative, not offering suggestions about how to do things better. This book contains scores of ideas that will help UU congregations become more influential in their communities and more effective in achieving their hopes and dreams.
The Almost Church Revitalized is all new, not a reworking of the previous edition. Its purpose is to bring readers an enlightened glimpse of congregational life today, from our own tradition and from other faiths, as well. UUs may differ with other denominations theologically, but churches of many faiths are extraordinarily progressive and offer much to be learned.
This is also a realistic book. Back in the 1950s, most people went to church, at least on Sunday. Those who didn’t felt they probably should. Most Americans held a positive view of the traditional church. Before the interstate highway system created a mobile American society, many churches presented a Norman Rockwell portrait, with three generations of families in the pews, wearing their Sunday best. That era is long gone.
Today, in church terms, the fastest-growing segment of the population is the un-churched. Only about two percent of congregations nationwide, of all faiths, have grown by five percent or more over the past few years. (1) In Unitarian Universalism, this means fewer than 100 congregations have seen meaningful growth, while the remaining 950 have experienced membership plateaus or have gone into decline. I’m not being negative. I’m just the messenger.
Established churches today face two cultural groups of people. The first group, born before about 1955, came of age in the disappearing world of the traditional, respected church. The second group includes younger generations born into the emerging non-church world. If young people have an interest in religion at all, it’s likely to be in a church of their same-age peers, or they view private spirituality as more appealing than the institutional church. (2) And there’s the rub. The methods used by established churches to reach younger generations fall on the deaf ears of those raised in an un-churched culture.
What’s a congregation to do? If established churches adapt their methods to reach young people (for instance, contemporary music) this may cause distress among older generations. This is not to say that young people alone are Unitarian Univeraslism’s salvation. But traditional churchgoers today live in a rapidly changing society that is increasingly indifferent to religious expression. This altered environment calls for a far-reaching new perspective if Unitarian Universalism is to maintain its place on the American religious landscape. Time is not on our side, and gradualism will not do. Systemic change needs to occur in the very short term.
In this book, I make the case that many of Unitarian Universalism’s most valued traditions are in actuality its greatest liabilities. UU churches build on many strengths. But a hopeful tomorrow will require discarding a sizable number of practices that have outlived their usefulness. This is a significant challenge.
But I also contend that countless alternatives exist. Many are extremely attractive and offer hope for the future. Throughout this book, we’ll take a look at how UU congregations can evolve to meet the challenges of a new tomorrow.
Readers may rest assured that the alternatives I present do not include a rock and roll music, wave-your-arms-in-the-pews, video screen church that is popular today. In his book, Who Stole My Church? Gordon MacDonald writes compellingly about the loss that parishioners suffer when new leadership transforms the church into something they no longer recognize. (3)
My intention in writing this book is to help clergy, lay leaders, and people in the pews understand more fully the nature and character of their congregations. In doing so, I hope they will become more adventurous, mischievous, and successful in their roles.
Michael Durall Boulder, Colorado February, 2009