Finding your place
You don’t have to join to belong here. Coffee after the service, a small group, the choir, a committee that needs a hand — you’re welcome in all of it, member or not. Here are the ways in, and the path to membership for when it feels right.
Connect, find your niche, and become part of the community.
There are many ways to get involved at A2U2. Here are just a few:
- Stay for coffee and conversation after a Sunday service.
- Join a Spiritual Enrichment Group, our small-group ministry.
- Put your faith into action with the Social Justice Committee, or make signs and write your representatives at the weekly Friday Afternoon Call to Action.
- Volunteer with religious education.
- Find an affinity group that fits you.
You are welcome at anything here, including our spiritual enrichment groups, religious education, social action, and committee meetings. Coming as a visitor is a way to take your time and see whether this community is working for you. After you have had a chance to get to know us, we hope you will consider becoming a member.
Small groups and affinity groups
Our small-group ministry is the Spiritual Enrichment Group, or SEG: eight to ten people who meet twice a month for two hours, guided by a facilitator. Each meeting opens with an in-gathering and chalice lighting, makes time for every person to share, turns to a focused conversation on something to do with the spiritual life, and ends with a look back at the process and a brief closing. Groups covenant together around confidentiality, commitment, and other considerations. To join one, ask at the office.
Each year the congregation also reads the UUA Common Read together, a single book taken up across the denomination.
Beyond the SEGs, a number of affinity groups gather around a shared interest. Members and non-members are both welcome.
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Dawn Redwood Meditation
Named for the dawn redwood in our courtyard. Each week a member picks an online dharma talk we all listen to at home; meetings hold sitting and walking meditation and a conversation about the talk.
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Women’s Group
Women talking through the challenges and joys of our lives. Each meeting takes up a topic, with a leader to guide it.
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Men’s Group
An open, supportive circle of UU men sharing experience, insight, and good times. Members take turns leading the conversation.
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Elder Salon
The challenges, revelations, and perplexities of “the third, third” of life. Members take turns facilitating.
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Knitting Ministry
Prayer shawls and lap blankets for members who are grieving or ill, and warm items for organizations serving people in need.
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Food Co-op
A cooperative buying the best food at the best prices while protecting the environment and supporting the community. Orders go in every four weeks, and each member works a co-op job of about one and a half to two hours a month.
A few more gather too: a Pagan group, a Lectio Divina poetry group, a moms’ group, and open-mic nights. Watch the weekly newsletter for what’s coming up, or reach any group through the office at office@a2u2.org or (207) 747-3299.
Sing with us
The adult choir sings at the 10am service and rehearses Thursday evenings, 7–8:30pm, under Music Director Dale Churchill, and has a wonderful time doing it. Experience ranges widely, from a love of singing to a formal musical education; reading music helps but is not required, and the choir welcomes and encourages new voices. The selections are eclectic, across a large variety of genres, and always fun to sing. Soloists and small ensembles have a place too, and some members also sing with the Choral Art Society and Women in Harmony.
To sing with the choir, take a solo, or join a small ensemble, reach the office at office@a2u2.org or (207) 747-3299 and we will connect you with our music director.
Care in hard times
When life gets heavy, through illness, loss, or a stretch that is simply hard, you do not have to carry it alone. Our Pastoral Care Team and the minister are here for members and friends of the congregation, with visits, a listening ear, and practical help. The Knitting Ministry sends prayer shawls to people who are grieving or seriously unwell.
If you or someone in our community could use support, reach the office at office@a2u2.org or (207) 747-3299.
Your next step
The simplest way to begin is to come on a Sunday and stay for coffee afterward. Say hello to the minister, or to anyone wearing a name tag; we would like to meet you.
When you would like us to know you, fill out the Welcome Form. It tells us a little about you, and it starts the weekly e-news, so you will hear what is coming up.
You will find good company, too, in our justice work and in the many ways to give. And when this starts to feel like home, you may want to make it official.
Becoming a member
Most people connect first and join later, when it feels right; there is no test, and no fee. Membership is simply a way of saying you are in this with us. It means sharing in the mission of the church and in its ministry: an acknowledgment that we are in this together, and that we can make a greater difference together than any of us could alone.
The path runs through two short classes.
- New to UU
- Where the Unitarian Universalist tradition comes from, and what it asks of us.
- New to A2U2
- How this congregation runs, what stewardship looks like, and the many ways to get involved.
If you were raised UU, or you are transferring from another congregation, you take only the second. After the classes, you sign the membership book and our covenant if and when you are ready, and you are welcomed in a worship service the following month.
Members vote at congregational meetings on the decisions that steer the church: calling a minister, taking congregational stands, the budget, the building. Members can chair committees, serve on the Board, or join a ministry like Pastoral Care. And members may use the building and the minister for weddings, memorial services, and child dedications at no added fee.
In return, you make a pledge of time, talent, and treasure, in an amount that fits your circumstances. More on giving.
When you are ready, email the Membership Committee through the office and we will tell you when the next classes meet.
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