"Association Sunday" 2007 to fund marketing and growth efforts

The UUA's special fundraising Sunday is taking shape. Earlier flyers sent to UUA member congregations called this Growth Sunday. This Sunday is the - the next in the Ministry Sunday and Youth & Young Adult (Mind the Gap) Sunday series. Below are details from the new Association Sunday webpage.

Association Sundays

What are "Association Sundays"?

We at the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations know our congregations can do more together than alone, and that is why, as part of the "Now Is The Time" comprehensive fund raising campaign, we are organizing a series of Association Sundays. Because our surveys indicate growth is the highest priority, these Sundays will be devoted to Growing our Numbers, Spirit, Leadership, Witness and Diversity. The first Association Sunday is scheduled for October 14, 2007. The theme will be: Growing our Faith through Growing our Numbers. Funds raised will be for national marketing and Growth Outreach Projects.

Why do we need Association Sundays?

We need to bring our congregations together to more effectively pursue our mission of affirming the "inherent worth and dignity" of every person in the world. We are "better together," and we can help one another, by combining our resources to have more of an influence on others, and our country. These Association Sundays will increase our connection and effectiveness. Now is the time for our congregations to grow stronger and more vital because we believe our religious values are needed to help heal the wounded world.

How do I organize this Sunday in my congregation?

1. Register with the Stewardship and Development Office at AssociationSunday@uua.org by May 1, 2007
2. Schedule October 14, 2007, or a Sunday close to it, for your Association Sunday service and special collection;
3. After registering you will receive a resource packet containing worship and educational materials;
4. Share your enthusiasm with other and get them involved. You can post flyers (PDF ) on your notice boards.

Who can I contact for further information?

Send an email to AssociationSunday@uua.org , or email Reverend Stephan Papa at spapa@uua.org . You can also call Cherisse Haakonsen at 617-948-6544 or send her an email at chaakonsen@uua.org .

SGM 911: Getting Dangerous with Small Group Ministry Report

Below is a link to a report & set of recommendations I shared with the Rev. Terry Sweetser, UUA Development Department and Special Advisor to the President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, in April of 2006. It outlines why I think many small group ministries are failing and what we could do to help them given the funding.

SGM 911: Getting Dangerous with Small Group Ministry (PDF)

I'm posting this doc because recently I've had several UUA staff members and UU parish minsiters ask if I think there is a problem with our existing model(s) of small group ministry. SGM911 communicates my take on this issue.

I invite you to share this document at will, print it, post it, whatever you'd like. Anything to get a conversation going. Especially a conversation with the UUA's board and staff.

Have thoughts on how SGM is doing? Post a comment below.

Thandeka's ENTIRE Star Island RE Week theme talk for $17.50

This Summer I had the pleasure of leading a weeklong young adult workshop on Star Island, a beautiful mish mash of UU evangelism, campus ministry, and small group ministry.

The theme speaker of the week was Thandeka, a very popular UU writer and theologian. I won't explain what the talk was about. You can look at the description of the 2006 RE WEEK page.

I will say that after every talk of hers I've been to people go Wow! or Whoa! Though Thandeka admits that people later have trouble remembering exactly what she said. Given this Thandeka was very intentional about boiling it down to easy to remember phrases.

If you are a Thandeka fan or are interested in what she calls "Affective Theology" then this is a must have. The week started off with this: "Our bodies make believers of us all."



$17.50 for 3 audio CD's with a whole week of theme talks including shipping!



The CD details
http://starreweek.com/themeCD.html



Star Island
www.starisland.org

Star Island RE WEEK
www.starreweek.com

Check out America's top "Innovative Churches"

The January/February 2007 issue of Outreach magazine featured a list of the top 25 most innovative churches in the U.S. The Outreach editors and a panel of experts compiled this list.

Kevin D. Hendricks, of the blog Church Marketing Sucks, has made a Squidoo Lens out of the list. Nice thing about this list is that there are links to the websites of listed churches and you can vote to move items up or down the list (thanks to Squidoo's very cool Plexo technology).

The Top Innovative Churches list on Squidoo

UU ministers and lay leaders, are you following any of these churches? Reading any of their books. Many of them publish resources sharing their innovation. My personal favorite is North Point Church and the books written by Andy Stanley.

My bank was just invaded by Fox News

A flat screen TV featuring FOX NEWS just appeared in one of our local banks. Advertisements before movies. Ads on flat screens in check out lines. Those of you feeling that your environment is being attacked by hostile media may join me in the purchase of the TV B-GONE Universal Off Button Keychain. After complaining about the TV proliferation a friend recommended it. A small keychain with an off button that works on most televisions. Nice.

Get your TV B-GONE Keychain

Note: I tend to try and keep posts on this blog to UU related matters. People, if businesses are going to follow the trend and put flat screen television up everywhere and set them to FOX NEWS - its a bad thing. Maybe if our news stations weren't so biased.