Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Stanislaus County

Becoming a Member

We suggest that you visit us for 3 - 6 months, and that you attend an orientation meeting, or have a conference with our minister, before you become a member. (note 1) While you are a visitor you can do almost (note 2) anything a member does - attend services, attend Adult Classes, sing in the choir, join the potlucks and Circle Dinners, help prepare and serve dinner for the homeless or dig weeds with the Buildings and Grounds Committee, to name a few.

When you are comfortable with us - when you feel you've found your spiritual home - you sign the membership book, and become a member. We usually make a little ceremony of it. Every three months or so we have "New Member Sunday", when all of the new members stand up in front of the congregation. Someone will introduce you to the congregation, you sign the book, then the congregation reads a welcoming statement. If you are terminally shy, you can sign the book in the Minister’s study and avoid the ceremony.

While the ceremony is simple, the commitment is real. We four basic expectations for our members:

• Regular attendance. It takes over a dozen people to put on a worship service (see a list) and 10 - 20 hours to write a sermon. It isn’t fair to let all that effort go to waste. You won't be able to come every Sunday, but we'd like to see you more than four times a year.
  
  
• Financial support. Our budget runs about $169,000 per year. We get about 80% of our income from annual pledges by members. We've never refused membership to anyone based on their income, but we have had people who have remained "Friends" for years instead of joining, because they could not afford to pledge. We pay $86 annual dues to our district and national organizations for each member, ($26 to the PCD, $60 to the UUA.) and another doller each to two UU organizations. That totals $88 per person and $176 per couple. If you can't afford to pledge that much, your membership will be a net financial loss to our fellowship. Read more.
  
  
• Volunteering with the work at church. We have two dozen committees. See a list. Whatever your talent and inclination, we can use you. Volunteers make the coffee every Sunday, bring snacks to the Sunday School children, teach the Sunday School classes, plan some worship services, paint, prune, weed and trim. Our choir, web master, circle dinner coordinator and Chief Financial Officer, among others, are volunteers.
  
  
• A commitment to ongoing spiritual growth. Stay after the sermon to talk about it. Take a class, borrow a book from our library, read the UU World magazine, discuss theology at your circle dinner. We don't have all the answers. All we can promise you is that we'll ask interesting questions.
  
  

Links to the things mentioned above in one handy alphabetical list:

Adult Classes
Circle Dinners
Committees
How many people help put on a worship service.
Orientation meetings
Pledging your financial support

Note 1: We realize "How do I become a member?" isn't a question most first-time visitors will ask, but this seemed to be the best place for this page.

Note 2: Members can vote at the congregational meetings, and we waive the building rental and Minister's fee for their weddings or memorial services. Visitors can't vote, and have to pay the fees.