Become a Member

Becoming a member means you're making a statement about who you are and what you believe. "I am a member of Olympia Brown UU Church" is, after all, a different statement from "I attend Olympia Brown UU Church". Joining also connects you to a quarter of a million other Unitarian Universalists from over 1,000 congregations in the United States and the world through the UU Association's national bi-monthly magazine "UU World". Most importantly, being a member allows you to vote on decisions our congregation and the international UU General Assembly makes and allows you to run for elected office in our church and the UU denomination.

Whenever you feel it is time -- after you have attended long enough to feel that you know what our church stands for and that you want to be a part of it. Some people join after attending for a few months, others take years to make the decision and a few, though they participate fully in the life of the church, never do join. We recommend you attend a 3-session course called The New UU before joining, but it's not required.

According to our bylaws, you must:

• be at least 18 years old OR have been affirmed
• be willing to contribute to the life of the church in at least one of the following ways
• attend Sunday services
• participation (usher, serve on a committee, sing in the choir, host coffee hour, teach Sunday School, etc.)
• financial (annual pledge to the church)
• attempt to live by UU principles and values
• be voted into membership by the church's Board of Trustees (This is a legal procedure: the Board affirms your decision to affiliate with us; it does not debate whether to accept a person as a member except in extraordinary circumstances.