Should UU Be More Like the Y to attract YAs?
In thinking about the issues of attracting and then tracking Young Adult (YA) members from a church's perspective, I was thinking that maybe churches should have a membership program that works more like your local YMCA and less like, well, churches. Here's what I've been thinking about this... First: Income/Pledges. Now, every UU church I know of, even if they have a minimum expected pledge, will waive that pledge for financial hardship, but it's often awkward to ask for or to have to explain, and many people fell put-out by being asked for money in churches. There's a big issue around pledging in churches, because people have negative experiences from other churches sometimes, as well. At the Y, on the other hand, they have a very set guidelines of what membership costs, and you pay it, and if you don't you're not a member. They also have a philosophy that everyone should be able to be a member, and therefore they will work on a sliding scale. Th...