Q: How does a Membership Committee accomplish anything at all when the doors to its sanctuary are closed to congregants and visitors alike?
A: With extraordinary amounts of creativity, hard work, goodwill, and even a lot of fun.
I had the pleasure of sitting in on a couple of UUSM’s Membership Committee meetings recently and learned a great deal about this mighty crew and their work in these Covid times.
They’ve been offering virtual visitor meet-ups every week. Nine “Faith Forward” Zoom sessions have proven popular, especially those that featured our Minister, a catalog of adult RE options, or a tour of our beautiful campus. One member will be working closely with the Communications Team to develop social media outreach and connection. Our Membership Packet has been completely revised and is now sent instead of handed to new members. There are virtual “Meet the Minister” gatherings for new members, with the next scheduled for May 22nd, to be followed by a video New Member Ceremony on Sunday, May 23rd. Bios of our new members will appear here soon so we can say hello when we meet them in Zoom or in person. The one thing that is on a back burner until we can meet in person is a celebration to honor longtime members. As a potential honoree, I am happy to wait a few more months for this event.
On the Membership Committee this year: Barbara Gibbs, Gretchen Goetz, Carol Ring, Sarah Robson, Shanna Shaked, Adrienne Sumpter, and Larry Weiner; Cynthia Cottam and Norm Richey are the co-chairs.
A lot of this work is not yet reflected in increased membership numbers, as the ever-present attrition takes its own toll. But I am prepared to welcome a rush of new visitors and members once we can meet and greet them in person on a sunny Sunday morning. And I’ll be saying both tacit and spoken thanks to the hard work of our Membership Committee. Excelsior!
Barbara Kernochan
Just Because
WELL WRITTEN, BARBARA!! NATALIE