As Promised, how to not kill a religion.

But what if you don't want to kill our religion -- what can you do? Here are four steps to prevent denominational death:

1. Reaching Out. Make sure youth are not separated from you and the congregation. Know all the youth in your congregation by name. Introduce youth to those younger and older than themselves. Minister to youth, allow yourself to be ministered to by youth, and get the congregation and the staff to do the same. Offer them an age-appropriate class like The New U (many Coming of Age programs fill this role). Afterwards, invite them to sign the membership book and explain to them the benefits and responsibilities of membership -- be explicit about the privilege of voting and the need to pledge. Recognize all new members, including youth, during a Sunday morning worship service.
2. Integration. Integrate youth into the wider life of the congregation. You can't rely on one youth advisor (especially one who is not a member of your congregation) to do this. If you have four members of your congregation act as youth advisors, it's easier on the advisors (and much, much easier to recruit them) and gives the youth four times as many adult contacts. But you need to go beyond that. Have the youth run at least one worship service a year, and help them plan it (don't take over the planning yourself, of course). Explain to youth how to negotiate church politics and how they can share power with adults. Make sure there is a youth representative on your governing board. Help youth join committees, especially search committees. When youth become members, remind them when to vote in congregational meetings.
3. Growth of Affection. When youth and adults work together, play together, and worship together, you find that they begin to make friends with each other. Needless to say, both youth and adults value these friendships. When there is more affection between individuals, you'll find that more and more ministry is being done together. As more and more ministry is done, people gain affection for Unitarian Universalism and they become more devoted to the causes of liberal religion (their pledges tend to go up, too).
4. Moving On and Staying in Touch. Youth grow up. When they grow up, more often than not they move away from the communities they grew up in. But we can help them stay in touch with Unitarian Universalism. When they are still youth, get them to continental events like General Assembly or district events like youth conferences or district meetings, so they get a sense of the wider UU movement. When they move away from home, recognize that transition with a bridging ceremony. Make sure they continue to get the congregation's newsletter for at least a few years. Send them printed copies of sermons for a few years, or give them a subscription to the Church of the Larger Fellowship's Student Service. Give them the address of nearby UU congregations and advice about how to get involved in a new church or fellowship. Make sure they are on the mailing list for Ferment, the UU young adult newsletter. Put them in touch with the UU Young Adult Office.

And help complete the cycle in your own congregation. When young adults who grew up as Unitarian Universalists walk in the door of your congregation, recognize that they are not the same as "come-outers," adults who come out of other faith traditions. Contrary to popular belief, young adults who were born UUs do not require as much orientation and will be ready for leadership much sooner than middle-aged newcomers.

This scheme is guaranteed to be effective in strengthening Unitarian Universalism. After a few years, you will see increased enthusiasm both in youth and in adults. Soon, large numbers of born UUs will augment the refugees from other religions, and we'll be on our way to increasing our numbers so that we can change the world with our liberal faith. There's even a name for this plan. It's called love. And now you know how we can hold on to our youth and young adults. Now that you know, what are you going to do about it?