Circle Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

Our Membership Journey

Making New Friends and Keeping the Old

Facts about Seekers in Our Congregations

Studies show that those who enter our doors as seekers are looking for

• Stability.

• A place that feels like “home.”

• A place to be personally recognized and welcomed.

Feeling comfortable is not something that happens right away. Also, feeling

comfortable means different things to different people. We need to explore

further with members what contributes toward their feeling comfortable and

to learn, from both those who do not return and those who leave, what

contributed to their discomfort.

When survey participants were asked how long it took them to feel at home in

their congregation,

• 42 percent said “immediately!”

• 10 percent said “within one month.”

• 6 percent said “within three months.”

• 5 percent said “within six months.”

• 9 percent said “within a year.”

• 10 percent said “when I joined.”

We also know that it will take time for people to actually decide to join a

Unitarian Universalist congregation:

• 26 percent took one to three months of attending to decide.

• 36 percent took three to twelve months to decide.

• 12 percent took a year to decide.

• 18 percent took more than a year to decide.

• 4 percent have not joined.