Arnold, Eastport, Cape, Epping, Sherwood, Highland Beach, Downtown, West Annapolis, Crofton, Bowie–these are but a few of the areas Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis members and friends live. The staff at UUCA are interested in helping you form easier social connections with people in the same general area. Wouldn’t it surprise you to know that some of the people you live next to are also members or friends of the congregation?
We imagine that these zipcode groups will fellowship, share sacred time for reflection, do community service, and lay pastoral care together, to name a few. We also imagine that these groups will be an effective place to share and receive communications on anything pertinent to our congregation. This Small group Ministry model will be different from the one’s in the past. We hope there will be many more groups and a greater impact on how you connect with new and older members and friends.
With this in mind, the ministers are piloting a zip code group starting with about 14 people in Arnold, MD. I chose Arnold because it’s the area I live in and I wanted to know the church members there. We are meeting with the Arnold group in March during 2 separate middle hours and plan to start the “Arnoldians” as soon as possible afterward.
Once we have tweaked and gotten the Arnold group running smoothly we will “role out” or open the zip code groups to the entire congregation by August 2016. There is much more to say on this and I’m sure there are questions. We are still figuring things out but wanted you to know what’s coming soon. I leave you with the words from former UU President, Bill Sinkford who said this regarding small group ministry:
“SGM is one of the great grassroots movements in Unitarian Universalism today. It is also one of the healthiest. It is helping us shape a faith that affirms real, lived human experience in all of its complexity. It is helping us live out our individualism in ways that not only support but enhance our sense of community.”
