CERG

These resources are provided by Mark Bernstein, CERG Growth Development Consultant. We also recommend you visit the UUA Resources Pages for additional resources listings. Of particular note is the Top Picks for Growth on the UUA website.

Web-based Resources

• Interested in the yearly Breakthrough Congregation Videos? You can now view them online at http://www.uua.org/growth/breakthrough/index.shtml
• A Religion for Our Time video series highlights inspiring work in Unitarian Universalist congregations, including innovative projects relating to worship, social justice, membership, and fellowship. New episodes will be added every few weeks to this multimedia page: http://www.uua.org/multimedia/religion/index.shtml
• New UUA Resources for Small and Midsized Congregations. The UUA is creating new website resource collections for small and mid-sized congregations. If your congregation has up to 150 members, or up to about 125 at worship, please see www.uua.org/smallcongregations There you will find connections to information and opportunities especially for small congregations. There is a page also posted on UUA.org for Midsize Congregations at ht These resources are a work-in-progress and the Growth Services Program (Susanna Whitman and team) will be expanding these in the weeks and months to come.
• CLF resources subscription for small congregations http://clf.uua.org/churchonloan/
• Do you want to make your Sunday mornings run smoothly, from greeting to coffee hour? Learn how the UU Fellowship of Centre County, PA created a ministry of hospitality teams. 
• A sermon on The Five Kinds of Growth by Jan Gartner.
• In this seven minute clip, Alban senior consultant Alice Mann describes the toughest congregational size transition--from pastoral- to program size. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP41mskMnok&feature=BF&list=UL_AI-YPoZp4A&index=3

Books:

• Liberating Hope: Daring to Renew the Mainline Church Michael S. Piazza and Cameron B. Trimble.  201: The Pilgrim Press.
• The Almost Church: Redefining Unitarian Universalism for a New Era. Michael Durall. 2004: Jenkin Lloyd Jones Press at All Souls Unitarian Church.
• The Almost Church Revitalized: Envisioning the Future of Unitarian Universalism. Michael Durall. 2009: Commonwealth Consulting Group.
• Memories, Hopes and Conversations: Appreciative Inquiry and Congregational Change. Mark Lau Branson. 2004: Alban Institute.
• Behavioral Covenants in Congregations. Gilbert R. Rendle. 1999: Alban Institute.
• Holy Conversations: Strategic Planning as a Spiritual Practice for Congregations. Gil Rendle and Alice Mann. 2003: Alban Institute.
• Close the Back Door: Ways to Create a Caring Congregational Fellowship. Alan F. Harre. 1984: Concordia Publishing House.
• Salted with Fire: Unitarian Universalist Strategies for Sharing Faith and Growing Congregations. Scott W. Alexander, Ed. 1994: Skinner House Books.
• Moving On from Church Folly Lane: The Pastoral to Program Shift. Rev. Robert T. Latham. 2006: Wheatmark.
• Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future. Margaret J. Wheatley. 2009: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
• Healthy Disclosure: Solving Communication Quandaries in Congregations. Kibbie Simmons Ruth and Karen A. McClintock. 2007: Alban Institute.
• Big Ideas for Small Congregations: A Friendly Guide for Leaders. Jane Dwinell and Ellen Germann-Melosh. 2007: Spirit of Life Publishing.
• Taking Your Church to the Next Level.Gary L. McIntosh, 2009.  Baker Publishing Group.
• Staff Your Church for Growth. Gary L. McIntosh, 2000. Baker Publishing Group.
• Serving with Grace: Lay Leadership as a Spiritual Practice. Erik Walker Wikstrom, 2010. Skinner House Books.
• Community: The Structure of Belonging. Peter Block, 2009. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

DVD's:

• Ideas for Growth: Welcoming the Newcomer. Available through the UUA Bookstore.
• Making a Case for Unitarian Universalism. Rev. James Kubal-Komoto. Available directly from the author. For more information on this item, contact Mark Bernstein.