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Membership

We have three categories (Visitors, Friends, and Members), but everyone is welcome at all UUCF services and events!

Visitors

On your first few visits to UUCF, we will ask you to fill out a temporary name tag. (We also ask all members and friends to wear name badges, so everyone else will be wearing a name tag too. Wearing name tags helps us learn one another's names and build community.) We will also invite you to fill out a Visitor Information Form. We would also be glad to tell you more about our congregation, introduce any children to our Director of Religious Education, or help connect you with any of our programs that you may find of interest.

Friends

If you begin to participate regularly, we will be glad to make a permanent name badge for you. When you provide us with your contact information (postal address, email addresses, and telephone number) we will add your name in our UUCF Directory.

Members

To become a UUCF Member, we ask that you attend our "UUCF 101: Pathways to Membership" class, which is offered approximately 5 times each year on a Saturday and is accessible on Zoom. For the date of the next class, email . That class typically covers the following topics:

  • 10:00 a.m. Welcome and Introductions
  • 10:10 a.m. UU/UUCF History
  • 10:30 a.m. Personal Spiritual Journeys
  • 11:30 a.m. Break
  • 11:45 a.m. “How & Why to Get Involved at UUCF”
  • 12:00 p.m. Stewardship
  • 12:15 p.m. How to Join Congregation
  • 12:30 p.m. “Ask Me Anything” with Rev. Carl
  • 1:00 p.m. End (or earlier)

After the class, you can let us know that you have decided to become a Member by either signing our Membership Book or notifying the Minister by email. In either case, please make sure you have provided UUCF with your contact information.Thirty days after becoming a Member, you become a Voting Member and are eligible to vote at congregational meetings.

To maintain UUCF Membership, all UUCF Members are required to make at least one “contribution of record” during each calendar year. This contribution can be:

  • financial - a donation connected to your name, which can include check, credit card, cash in an envelope with your name on it (available each Sunday morning on the table immediately outside the sanctuary with the Order of Service), or a recommendation to a donor-advised fund) or
  • time & talent - volunteerism connected to your name though emailing the UUCF Treasurer () with a brief description of at least one aspect your volunteering. Among many possible examples, volunteering at UUCF can include teaching a Religious Education class, assisting with a social event, contributing musically or artistically, participating on a team or committee, showing up to act for peace and justice, working with our Facilities Manger on buildings and grounds projects, helping with office and administrative tasks, etc.
  • waiver - email to request a waiver if you have extenuating circumstances.

We are grateful for all the ways UUCF Members and Friends give generously within their means both financially and through their time & talent to support our mission to encourage spiritual growth, build a beloved community, and act for peace and justice.

Online Members

With increasing options for digital accessibility (live-streaming Sunday Services and joining meetings/classes via Zoom), you do not have to live near UUCF geographically to become a UUCF Member. You only need to be committed to participating regularly (either online or in-person) and supporting the congregation. The same Membership process listed above is open to everyone, either online or in-person.

Welcoming Litany for New Members

It is important to recall on such occasions what makes Unitarian Universalism a non-creedal--but rather covenantal--religious movement. In the words of a former president of the UUA, "The memory we seek to embody is of forebears wise enough to put aside the creedal question of 'What do we all believe in common?' for more profound, covenantal questions:

  • How shall we treat and help one another here?
  • What hopes might we share?
  • What promises shall we make to help deepen one another's lives in the time we have?"
  • Minister: In that spirit, do you covenant to affirm and promote our Unitarian Universalist Principles and the living tradition we share that draws from many sources?
  • New Members: As free individuals, we enter into a covenant with the members of this congregation, promising our mutual trust and support.
  • Current Members: We have known you as friends, and we welcome you as members of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick. We celebrate your decision to journey with us, and promise you our mutual trust and support.

(The short link to this page is frederickuu.org/membership.)