Category: Church development

Formerly “Conceiving the church”.

Asking Micah Bales’s question: Are we capable of planting churches?

A cautionary tale. I’ve worshipped with Micah here in D.C. so I sawa little of what he described but I’m certainly no Quaker, and (happily) have since gone back to my old church. But the critical mass issue is one that Unitarian and Universalist Christians are going to have to grapple with, in part because… Continue reading Asking Micah Bales’s question: Are we capable of planting churches?

So, one new congregation in the UUA this year

The UUA October Board packet is up, and the good news is that there is a action scheduled to admit a new member congregation to the UUA. I don’t recall an application going this far and not being accepted, so let’s assume it’s going to happen. But that means that for the second year in… Continue reading So, one new congregation in the UUA this year

How much church can you get for minimum wage?

I ask the question “How much church can you get for minimum wage?” not to suggest that low-waged workers should be segregated into their own parishes, but consider the proportional sacrifices and ability to give. I routinely advocate for the formation of new churches: to keep up with population growth, to replace those declining and… Continue reading How much church can you get for minimum wage?

Filing for non-profit status: hope and help for smaller organizations

Ever been stymied getting a non-profit organization together? Got word from the IRS yesterday that a draft form 1023-EZ was being make available for review, for possible use this summer. And little wonder: the form 1023 is what an organization files to acquire its tax-exempt status. It’s a beast to complete, and the filing fee… Continue reading Filing for non-profit status: hope and help for smaller organizations

Watching Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act, 2014 edition

I’ve written before how state adoption of the Revised Uniform Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act — look; RUUNA, a UU acronym with no Unitarian Universalist reference — can make church organization easier and polity more organic, rather than always borrowing the idiom of corporations or trusts. It is being considered this year/session in two states: South… Continue reading Watching Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act, 2014 edition

The neighborhood of Boston, mapped and planned…

From the October 20, 1921 issue of the Unitarian Register.   The map is familiar; the idea of a program launching after a 90 minute meeting is pheonomenal. But why should it be so? What might a group of people, meeting over a long lunch say, accomplish or at least propose? The Boston Circle The… Continue reading The neighborhood of Boston, mapped and planned…

A map of British Unitarian churches forthcoming

The annual meeting of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches took place recently, and (to mark the occasion) I have taken to reading the annual report (for 2012, PDF). Minister and blogger Stephen Lingwood referred to it in early March. Grim numbers. So little wonder I had a parallel concern with the… Continue reading A map of British Unitarian churches forthcoming

A Unitarian Universalist wish list

Sometimes it helps to ask: “what would you like to see? what resources do you wish could exist? what connections do you wish existed? what problem would you like to resolve?” Think about issues that might concern many congregations, but may or may not be normally handled by denominational staff. I’m thinking within the Unitarian… Continue reading A Unitarian Universalist wish list