Friday, May 22, 2009

The Almost Church Revitalized: Envisioning the Future of Unitarian Universalism

Friends,

The Almost Church Revitalized: Envisioning the Future of Unitarian Universalism, the sequel to Michael Durall's book The Almost Church is now available!

If you recall, The Almost Church: Redefining Unitarian Universalism for a New Era pushed UU leaders to have some much needed discussions about how we do church, how we want to be in the world, and the future of our movement.

I was at the conference when it was released and people everywhere were reading it. People were inspired, pissed off (oh yes), and engaged like I had never seen. To me it felt like the majority of our leadership had signed up for a huge association wide book group. Very cool....

Whether you agreed with Durall's perspective, there is no doubt that the conversations resulting from The Almost Church have been invaluable. I know many church boards that read and discussed the book together.

I hope you'll join me in reading this new volume. If I know Michael this new volume will be the catalyst for another round of exciting discussion and debate.

You can order the book through Durall's website, www.vitalcongregations.com, as well as through the UUA Bookstore.

Table of Contents:

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


From the book's introduction:

"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.... "
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