Dear WUUs,
Happy New Year! We, the members of the Two-Services Task Force, are excited to share an update with you about the work we’ve been doing.
As you may recall, our strategic plan calls us to re-launch our two worship services with the goal of ensuring that there is room on Sundays for everyone who is drawn to our message, and that both services are sustainable, vibrant worship options. You may have noticed that our 11:15 worship service and RE program are thriving and nearing full capacity, while attendance at our 9:45 worship service has hovered around 20 people. This is not sustainable. Our board and Rev. Laura have agreed that new ideas are needed to revitalize the early service and create room for more people to participate on Sunday mornings.
That’s where our Two-Services Task Force comes in. We’ve begun by studying what’s working and what’s not working so well with our current two services model. To that end, we’ve been meeting with lots of key stakeholders, including worship associates, choir members, worship staff members, and board members. Still to come are café conversations with the congregation at large and parents/guardians of children in our religious education program. That’s where you come in! All are invited to participate in a series of café conversations this month:
- Sunday, Jan. 6 after the 11:15 service—open to congregation
- Sunday, Jan. 13 after the 9:45 service—open to congregation
- Sunday, Jan. 13 after the 11:15 service—special session for parents & guardians of children
Also, stay tuned for an online survey inviting your additional feedback, coming soon!
As we continue to gather your feedback, we’ve also been doing road trips to nearby Unitarian Universalist congregations with a thriving program of two services on Sundays. Big thanks to the leaders of the UU Fellowship of the Peninsula in Newport News and the First UU Church of Richmond for their generous hospitality to our team members.
The last step of our work will be to generate options and make recommendations for our board to consider. We can’t wait to share what we come up with.
In the meantime, feel free to reach out to us at twoservices@wuu.org with feedback, questions, or anything else that’s on your mind. Thank you!
Your Two-Services Task Force,
Eva Burke, John Chowning, Lesa Craig, Rachel Delbos, Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Paul Luchsinger, Austen Petersen, and Janna Roche