Unitarian Universalist Association Membership Statistics For 2013 Are "Less Than Inspiring". . .
In an article headlined 'UUA membership is flat in 2013' the UU World propaganda organ reports that The Tiny Declining Fringe Religion™ is tinier and declinier than ever.
Here are the pertinent quotes -
"The Association reported 160,100 members and 1,048 congregations in 2013, a decline of 1,407 members and six congregations from last year. But almost all of that drop in membership took place in one congregation—the UU Church of the Philippines."
"If the Philippines data are excluded, the 2013 numbers look different, showing a statistically insignificant decline of 181 members, or 0.1 percent. That translates into 159,086 members in 1,047 congregations."
"UUA President Peter Morales highlighted trends in the membership data in a report to the UUA Board of Trustees during its April meeting in Boston April 18–21."
"Morales’s report excludes membership data from one of the UUA’s largest member congregations, the UU Church of the Philippines, which posted a drop from 2,235 to 1,014 members this year. The church is an anomaly in the UUA because it is the only national church body directly affiliated with the UUA; it consists of 29 local congregations, and it changed its membership reporting rules this year to include only Filipinos who contributed at least 25 pesos a year."
In other words, President Morales’ report excludes 1,221 U*U "people of color" to cover-up and hide the rather embarrassing fact that the UU Church of the Philippines either lost almost half of its members in a one year period, or refused to keep these members on the UUCP's official membership roles because they were unready, unwilling, or just plain unable to contribute at least 25 pesos to the UUCP during the 2012-2013 "church year".
A peso for your thoughts U*Us. . .
"Smaller congregations are faring poorly. Congregations with fewer than 60 members are in serious decline."
This could be a very serious problem for the UUA in that a high percentage of certified UUA congregations fall into that under 60 members demographic. . . The UUA can look forward to losing more UU congregations in the coming decades, as "less than viable" UU "churches" suck their endowment funds dry, and that DO kinda suck don't it U*Us?
At the conclusion of his first term as President of the UUA Rev. Peter Morales is saying, “We really need to look at how we can help congregations turn themselves around.”
No kidding Peter. Why didn't you think of that four years ago?
"Overall, 426 churches grew, 434 declined, and 164 reported exactly the same number of members as the year before. “There’s no way that’s true,” he said, of so many congregations having completely static membership. “Our numbers are at best approximate.”"
LOL! Glad to see that Rev. Peter Morales is actually capable of saying, “There’s no way that’s true.” I look forward to him saying so with regards to various other "less than True" claims made by U*Us, such as the ludicrous blasphemous libel accusation that the UUA brought against me almost a year ago now, but has yet to responsibly withdraw and publicly apologize to me for bringing against me in some shamefully hypocritical, and stunningly hubristic. . .
Lance Armstrong style legal bullying.
"The Southern Region was the only one of the UUA’s five regions to show growth, gaining 346 members since 2009. The greatest decline was in the Central East region, which lost 1,142 members, and New England, which lost 1,057. The MidAmerica Region lost 655 members. The Pacific Western Region lost 392."
Woo hoo! The Southern Region of the UUA gained a whopping 346 members. That might be impressive if we were talking about one single congregation that gained 346 members, but we are talking about one whole region of the UUA. . . Correct me if I am wrong U*Us, but didn't Rev. Morales run for President of the UUA on a platform that promised growth?
"The Southern Region was also the only one to show gains in religious education enrollment. Three districts show dramatic decline: Joseph Priestley, Massachusetts Bay, and Metro New York. The explanation may simply be demographics, Morales said. “We are having fewer kids. In congregations nationwide, the generational mix is older.”"
Please note the use of the adjective "dramatic" to modify the noun "decline". . . I doubt very much that the fact that Americans are having fewer children accounts for such a *dramatic* decline in UU RE Enrollments that has now been going on for over a decade. It is not so much a question of Americans having fewer children, as fewer American parents are choosing to entrust the religious education of their children to Unitarian Universalist churches. U*Us need to ask themselves, "WHY?"
"Not counting members in the Philippines, the UUA reported 159,086 members at the end of February 2013, compared to 159,267 a year earlier. Including the Philippines, UUA membership dropped from 161,502 to 160,100 this year."
"Morales noted that UU congregations attract more than a quarter million visitors each year. “We get far more people coming to check us out than we have members,” he said. “The churches that are thriving lose fewer members and retain more of these people.” He emphasized the importance of genuine hospitality for visitors."
As opposed to genuine hospitality towards visitors, as is too often the case in The Tiny Declining Fringe Religion. . . Consider this Big Fat U*U Fact U*Us more than 250,000 persons of inherent worth and dignity visit UU congregations every year but vanishingly few choose to join the UU "church", not even enough to offset existing members who leave the church for one reason or another. I have said it before but it bears repeating, Unitarian Universalists need to ask themselves WHY? so few persons of inherent worth and dignity choose to actually join UU "Welcoming Congregations". . .
President Morales said, “If I attend a congregation for the first time and I’m treated coldly, it doesn’t matter what the marketing is that got me there.”
No kidding Peter. Thanks for underlining the Big Fat U*U Fact that the Bill Sinkford UUA administration flushed millions of dollars down the proverbial toilet on national and regional marketing campaigns, because it failed to take steps to ensure that UU "Welcoming Congregations" actually are genuinely *welcoming* to most Americans. . .
Here are the pertinent quotes -
"The Association reported 160,100 members and 1,048 congregations in 2013, a decline of 1,407 members and six congregations from last year. But almost all of that drop in membership took place in one congregation—the UU Church of the Philippines."
"If the Philippines data are excluded, the 2013 numbers look different, showing a statistically insignificant decline of 181 members, or 0.1 percent. That translates into 159,086 members in 1,047 congregations."
"UUA President Peter Morales highlighted trends in the membership data in a report to the UUA Board of Trustees during its April meeting in Boston April 18–21."
"Morales’s report excludes membership data from one of the UUA’s largest member congregations, the UU Church of the Philippines, which posted a drop from 2,235 to 1,014 members this year. The church is an anomaly in the UUA because it is the only national church body directly affiliated with the UUA; it consists of 29 local congregations, and it changed its membership reporting rules this year to include only Filipinos who contributed at least 25 pesos a year."
In other words, President Morales’ report excludes 1,221 U*U "people of color" to cover-up and hide the rather embarrassing fact that the UU Church of the Philippines either lost almost half of its members in a one year period, or refused to keep these members on the UUCP's official membership roles because they were unready, unwilling, or just plain unable to contribute at least 25 pesos to the UUCP during the 2012-2013 "church year".
A peso for your thoughts U*Us. . .
"Smaller congregations are faring poorly. Congregations with fewer than 60 members are in serious decline."
This could be a very serious problem for the UUA in that a high percentage of certified UUA congregations fall into that under 60 members demographic. . . The UUA can look forward to losing more UU congregations in the coming decades, as "less than viable" UU "churches" suck their endowment funds dry, and that DO kinda suck don't it U*Us?
At the conclusion of his first term as President of the UUA Rev. Peter Morales is saying, “We really need to look at how we can help congregations turn themselves around.”
No kidding Peter. Why didn't you think of that four years ago?
"Overall, 426 churches grew, 434 declined, and 164 reported exactly the same number of members as the year before. “There’s no way that’s true,” he said, of so many congregations having completely static membership. “Our numbers are at best approximate.”"
LOL! Glad to see that Rev. Peter Morales is actually capable of saying, “There’s no way that’s true.” I look forward to him saying so with regards to various other "less than True" claims made by U*Us, such as the ludicrous blasphemous libel accusation that the UUA brought against me almost a year ago now, but has yet to responsibly withdraw and publicly apologize to me for bringing against me in some shamefully hypocritical, and stunningly hubristic. . .
Lance Armstrong style legal bullying.
"The Southern Region was the only one of the UUA’s five regions to show growth, gaining 346 members since 2009. The greatest decline was in the Central East region, which lost 1,142 members, and New England, which lost 1,057. The MidAmerica Region lost 655 members. The Pacific Western Region lost 392."
Woo hoo! The Southern Region of the UUA gained a whopping 346 members. That might be impressive if we were talking about one single congregation that gained 346 members, but we are talking about one whole region of the UUA. . . Correct me if I am wrong U*Us, but didn't Rev. Morales run for President of the UUA on a platform that promised growth?
"The Southern Region was also the only one to show gains in religious education enrollment. Three districts show dramatic decline: Joseph Priestley, Massachusetts Bay, and Metro New York. The explanation may simply be demographics, Morales said. “We are having fewer kids. In congregations nationwide, the generational mix is older.”"
Please note the use of the adjective "dramatic" to modify the noun "decline". . . I doubt very much that the fact that Americans are having fewer children accounts for such a *dramatic* decline in UU RE Enrollments that has now been going on for over a decade. It is not so much a question of Americans having fewer children, as fewer American parents are choosing to entrust the religious education of their children to Unitarian Universalist churches. U*Us need to ask themselves, "WHY?"
"Not counting members in the Philippines, the UUA reported 159,086 members at the end of February 2013, compared to 159,267 a year earlier. Including the Philippines, UUA membership dropped from 161,502 to 160,100 this year."
"Morales noted that UU congregations attract more than a quarter million visitors each year. “We get far more people coming to check us out than we have members,” he said. “The churches that are thriving lose fewer members and retain more of these people.” He emphasized the importance of genuine hospitality for visitors."
As opposed to genuine hospitality towards visitors, as is too often the case in The Tiny Declining Fringe Religion. . . Consider this Big Fat U*U Fact U*Us more than 250,000 persons of inherent worth and dignity visit UU congregations every year but vanishingly few choose to join the UU "church", not even enough to offset existing members who leave the church for one reason or another. I have said it before but it bears repeating, Unitarian Universalists need to ask themselves WHY? so few persons of inherent worth and dignity choose to actually join UU "Welcoming Congregations". . .
President Morales said, “If I attend a congregation for the first time and I’m treated coldly, it doesn’t matter what the marketing is that got me there.”
No kidding Peter. Thanks for underlining the Big Fat U*U Fact that the Bill Sinkford UUA administration flushed millions of dollars down the proverbial toilet on national and regional marketing campaigns, because it failed to take steps to ensure that UU "Welcoming Congregations" actually are genuinely *welcoming* to most Americans. . .
Comments
My guess, it will be very much diminished in 10....cracking by 20...and a shadow of its former self in 35 (The boomers will be gone and the young have no interest nor will they in the future).