Belonging to the church is simple. Getting to the point where you want to belong is not so simple.  The simple part takes less than 30 seconds.  You sign the membership book.  Period.

There is nothing else required, at that point.  Within the next 12 months, our bylaws require that every member make a contribution of record.  This can be financial, or a time commitment, serving on a team or committee, helping at an event etc.  What happens when you join is this:  You get to proclaim, “I am a Unitarian Universalist.”  Without joining, you are only a UU wannabe.

There is no raising the hand and pledging adherence to some theological dictates; or rejection of some theological dictates.  Nope. You become a UU by signing on the dotted line.  Period. It is really simple.  So simple but for many very difficult. Oops, full disclosure here:  there is one requirement:  you must be at least 13 years old to hold membership.

The difficult part is coming to the decision that you want to become a Unitarian Universalist.  Many people who  join left a former religious community in anger, disbelief and betrayal.  Others felt they outgrew their faith.  Yet, from the previous association there were times of pure joy and love.  Those elements create a loss for any of us.  Many new members speak about the conflict of being glad they are not longer a ____ (fill in the denomination as you wish), but admit they miss some parts of it.  We understand it takes time to become ready to sign up.  Some made the decision after a few months, others after a few decades.

There is, you should know, no way to tell who is and who isn’t a member.  All can participate equally – with just these two logical expectation.  Non-members may not vote, nor serve in leadership positions.

Clearly we enjoy sharing Unitarian Universalism with visitors, new comers and friends.  Yes, we would like to be a larger congregation.  Often small churches work to increase membership so there will be more people to serve on committees.  Not us.  In fact we rewrote our bylaws and reduced our standing committees from ten to three. We want people to join because together life becomes better for us all.