How to Become a Member of UUFR

Anyone striving to be in accord with the UU principles is welcome to join our Fellowship. You may become a member of UUFR by signing our Membership Book (separate from the Visitor Book) and committing to participate in the Fellowship as demonstrated by contributions of time, talent, or treasure. If you have any questions about becoming a member of UUFR, please feel free to talk with a Board member or Membership Committee member, or you may email the Membership Chair.

Hospitality Teams

All UUFR members are assigned to a hospitality team and friends can request to be on a team. We currently have three teams so a leader will contact a new member once the Membership book to be an official member is signed.

Hospitality teams are a great way to share your time, talents, and treasures. The hospitality teams provide an expedient way to stay in touch and disseminate information whenever necessary. Teams assist with caring for the congregation. The Hospitality Team Leaders will assume the responsibility, on a rotating basis, to have a welcoming Sunday service by asking those on their team to sign up for greeting and/or the kitchen crew. This way we can be assured that the duties required for each Sunday service are fulfilled to be a welcoming community.

Greeters will fold, add the order of service to the cover and distribute the Sunday bulletin along with welcoming visitors; Kitchen crew will ensure that coffee and water is available; provide simple refreshments; clean up the kitchen; remove trash; check that the building is ready to be closed and secure it before leaving. (Please take a moment to refer to the To-Do lists posted in each area to make sure everything is completed). This is one of the easiest ways to get to know others and to be of service. Without these helpful members and friends, a vital part of our community would be missing.  “We cannot live only for ourselves.  A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow man” ~ Herman Melville

What is the difference between

a UUFR Member and a UUFR Friend?

Member:

Choosing to be a Member at UUFR is a significant shift. When you do take this step, you become a part of our UU family. As a member, you help make critical decisions for UUFR and commit to following the UUFR covenant. As a member you are also eligible to vote for leaders at the annual congregational meeting and/or take on a leadership role yourself, such as becoming a member of the Board of Stewards or Trustees. And only members are eligible to vote for by-law changes.

Additional member voting opportunities include the decision to hire and keep a minister and choosing design options for the building expansion. Members receive, in the spring and fall, a copy of UU World, the magazine of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), and Members may attend the UUA annual General Assembly.

Other perks of membership include: being in the fellowship directory, having a personal log-in for MyUUFR on the uufrva.org website and having one’s birthday posted in the Chalice newsletter. UUFR does ask that Members share their time, talents and treasures to keep the fellowship healthy and operating efficiently.

If you would like to explore being a Member further, please speak with anyone on the Board. Our Membership Chair, Kelly Maitland, will make it official.

Friend:

Friends of UUFR have access to most UUFR activities and events and UUA materials and resources. Friends are a part of the fellowship directory. Friends may also create a login for MyUUFR on the UUFRva.org website to access the fellowship directory. We hope that Friends will share their time, talents, and treasures to support the ongoing good that UUFR does. Friends may serve on committees and assist with events. Friends, however, do not have a voice or vote at congregational meetings nor may they participate in UUA-sponsored activities. Please speak with anyone on the Membership Committee to be added as a Friend of UUFR.

Visitor:

A visitor is someone who occasionally visits for Sunday services. Visitors are not expected to share their time or talents but may add to the Sunday basket. A visitor may attend fellowship events with the hope of making connections to become a UUFR friend or member.

Stories from Members

“I love that UU’s believe in the freedom of religious expression. To quote David O. Rankin, that “all individuals should be encouraged to develop their own personal theologies, and to present openly their religious opinions without fear of censure or reprisal.” I have certainly found that to be the case at UUFR.”
Hank

“After years of increasing dissatisfaction with dogma and hypocrisy at a local Methodist church, I followed my husband to UUFR and have found my spiritual home in this little church that looks like a lighthouse, nestled in the woods.”
Nancy

We have found UUFR to be a place where we can share our ideas and feelings within an open and supportive community. The members of the fellowship are wonderful, loving people who come from many different backgrounds and religious traditions.
Carolyn Osolinik & Eddie Correia

When we retired and moved to the Northern Neck from Arlington we thought we had discovered the perfect place except – there was no UU church there. I had previously attended the Arlington church sporadically and wanted to get deeper. Elaine had attended occasionally with her friend in Maryland. But we moved to Lancaster anyway. Then one day I saw a little ad in the Rappahannock Record about UU’s meeting and to call Lorie Lowery about time and place. We visited once and were immediately attracted to this small group of free-thinking, friendly folks . . . . 

We joined and have made it a central part of our lives. We have both contributed our time and money to encourage its growth and see it thrive. While the original few have mostly moved on, it has been a joy to see UUFR grow as newer members join. What I like best is being inspired by a caring group of people that share my values and thoughts about how we should live.
Bob and Elaine Weekley

Lois Williams and her late husband joined the Unitarian Church in Princeton, NJ in 1965, and for 50 summers the family has spent a week at the Star Island Family Conference Center (UU and UCC) at the Isles of Shoals off Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  At the urging of their daughter, Jane Elkin of Urbanna, who cited the UUFR as one of the attractions, in 2013 they moved to the RW-C continuing care community (and UUFR!) from Potomac, Maryland. With UUFR’s Tom Kinney, Lois just published a history of the land on which our building stands, titled The Lees of White Stone (Amazon).
Lois Williams

In the early 1970’s, we were committed to a small Presbyterian church near Detroit. We headed Vision and Planning and chaired Children’s Religious Education. We team-taught the church high school class, emphasizing life skills with a tiny touch of theology. When paving the parking lot became more important than supporting those in need in the community and a new minister believed dinosaurs and humans coexisted, it was time for a better match with our beliefs and life’s priorities . . . . 

A convenient transfer to GM’s Opel in Germany provided the opportunity to break those ties and research alternatives. Upon return, we joined the Birmingham (MI) UU church. Our 1989 retirement to the NN missed the UU connection until 1997 when we began meeting with other UU’s in private homes. That allowed us to join hands with a great group of people down the path to the UUFR of today.
Tom and Shirley “Charley” Kinney

UUFR is home. I walked into the lobby on a Sunday in December, about a year after I moved to the Northern Neck. In this area, church is where you can meet people and get to know them. That’s why I came. Paula Greenwood greeted me at the door with a lovely big smile and welcoming words. I had dressed thoughtfully, not knowing how casually or formally folks would be dressed. I saw the full gamut, from shorts & Birkenstocks to tailored outfits. I was very pleased that my relaxed outfit fit in fluidly. Because of the variety of clothing, I understood that conformity was unlikely — my kind of place . . . . 

Having drifted away from the Roman Catholicism of my youth, I studied the comparative philosophy of religions in college and practiced Nichirin Soshu Buddhism in my 20’s. I attended a Unity church with an amazing minister in my 30’s-40’s and studied energy medicine in my 60’s. I was looking for something and some place I could feel comfortable and unconfined, a group of which I would enjoy being a part.
I kept coming back. I made friends. We sing songs. We support each other in our joys and sorrows. We welcome new ideas, and speakers from within and without the fellowship. We share food and conversation. And, oh yeah, sometimes I get to bring my dogs with me to the service. Now, I am not only a “stay here” Northern Necker, I am a “stay here” UUFR’r. Thank you all for helping me feel so very welcome. I try to do the same for all of you and for those who have yet to find and join us.
Peny Gallogly and CH Buffy