Unitarian Universalist

The biggest impression with which I walked away from SWUUC Fall Conference in November was that most UU congregations are, in one form or another, integrating technology into their worship services.

Here at UUWaco, we are actually ahead of the curve in a lot of ways when it comes to technology. For one, our website is a model for others to follow. Second, other congregations would kill for our sound system. And now, our leaders have access to premier e-mail and web services that allow for collaboration in any situation.

What we do lack is a vision for visual presentation. Survey after survey has shown that the newest congregants want—nay, demand!—visual components to the service. Some of our largest UU congregations have opted to have early contemporary services, in addition to regular services. This has proven to be a big draw for new members and their growing membership numbers have more than paid for their investments in these technologies.

Does merely having the technology mean more revenue? No. What is also required is a continued commitment to the program by the minister and Worship Team. However, I don't think we have a problem there.

What we have to ask of ourselves is: Can we do more to make our church appeal to a broader cross-section of people searching for spiritual growth? I think we can. Unfortunately, I think my vision for technology is a lot different than that of our elder base. It's a generational gap. Rev. Stone has his work cut out for him to find that happy medium. What we cannot afford to have happen is for our church to stagnate while we work out the differences.

Technology is coming. That's a fact. We've missed the boat to be early adopters, but will we miss the trip altogether? I hope not. I think many of us won't be content to stay a small congregation forever.