Rev. Bob Janis

A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece called “The Century Congregant: A Profile”. I wrote about what we might expect from a typical attender to our chapels and fellowships and churches – aware that none of us are completely typical, but trying to get a broad sense of what the needs and interests are of those who arrived at our doors.

If you don’t want to read the whole essay, here’s the short version: many of our congregants these days are spiritually curious; are open to different beliefs and complexities of thought; are painfully aware of injustice, power imbalances, and our ongoing ecological catastrophe; tend to move around frequently in life, both geographically and philosophically; spend a lot of time online, for better or for worse; may have grown up unchurched and aren’t really interested in the “mechanics of church” such as committees and annual meetings; may be unable to feasibly attend Sunday services regularly; is feeling stretched thin by life and economic precariousness, and yearns for authentic community.

Does any of that ring true for you? It’s a composite picture, and not an exact picture by any means.

At the end of that essay, I promised to follow up “probably in a week or two” (it’s now a month and a half – I’d say that’s close enough!) with a sequel about how the implications of the 21^st century congregant profile on how we “do church”. So here we go.

I begin with the assumption that congregations often have somewhat limited reserves of energy and enthusiasm. In our Unitarian and free Christian movement, we are blessed with incredible volunteers and talented ministers. But our congregations are on the small side, and most don’t tend to have the wherewithal to launch twelve-point plans with multi-staff teams. Furthermore, I don’t believe we need to. A congregation of four loyal people, who can put in an hour to help every now and again, can accomplish some pretty impressive things, I have found over the years. Here’s what I suggest.

• Focus on the why, more than the what. Keep reflecting on what your congregation is all about. Why does it exist? I recognize not every congregant is a navel-gazing, frustrated philosophy graduate like myself (I pity you 😊), but these ruminations don’t need to be complicated. What do you like, and what do you value? “We like to be together, see each other’s faces, get to know each other.” Great – if that’s the case, obviously finding time for social gatherings and getting to know each other is going to be a priority. “We feel a sense of connection to the generations in our historic sanctuary.” Amazing, start from there, think about ways you might connect even deeper on your history. “The growing inequalities in our society have us fed up, and the way the homeless outside our sanctuary are treated breaks our hearts.” YES – acknowledging this is powerful and holy. Talk about it, pray about it, call an organisation that deals with poverty, talk to your neighbours.