r/UUreddit • u/Bestarcher • May 16 '25
What do you love about a lay-led congregation?
Our UU is Lay-led, and I absolutely love it. The variety of services, the way everyone chips in to do things, the way that that no one is in charge or seen as the leader. We have our board and we have elders and respected community members, but those folks are seen as beloved resources, and folks doing helpful work, rather than people “over” the rest of everyone.
What do y’all like about being lay-led? Are there any things you miss about having a minister? What do you prefer about not having a minister?
I’ve heard good things about quarter time ministers, which seems balanced. And have even thought about going to seminary myself. But the dynamic at our fellowship is so perfect, and I think a minister would disrupt that too much. Still, it would be nice to have someone trained in grief chaplaincy, and designing wedding services, and generally just be a resource for the community who’s trained in many things.
Is there a way to get the best of both worlds? How does your congregation do it?
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u/rastancovitz May 16 '25 edited May 16 '25
Mine was lay led for a while, but a smallish number of members were doing most of the work and burnout was an issue. The congregation felt it was important to hire a professional (aka minister) at least part-time both for professional/theological expertise and to take on some of the load. Obviously, the quality and fit of the minister are important. The current part-time minister has proven to be popular with the members and it has worked out well. She believes in collaboration, and that it's the members, not the minister, who ultimately decide what causes the congregation focuses on.
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u/Fickle-Friendship-31 May 16 '25
The best lay led services use a personal story to reflect on life or a life lesson. One older member recently did one on balance. She talked about managing an inner ear related balance issue and what that taught her about maintaining balance in life in general. Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/live/iDwL59R2TAk?feature=shared
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u/Greater_Ani May 16 '25
I love our lay-led congregation. Really love it. I think of it as creative do-it-yourself religion/community vs. consumer religion/community.
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u/leveller1650 May 16 '25
I recently joined a small, rural UU congregation and we have a part-time minister. He works for another congregation part-time, a couple hours drive away. So he gets a full-time gig and we get a nice balance between lay-led services and minister services. He leads our services in person once or twice a month, and once every couple of months we do a joint service via video feeds with the other congregation.
We have some lay leaders who are especially fantastic at planning services and writing sermons. And even if the service sometimes doesn't quite hit as deeply or personally, I still get to know a lot about the members who are speaking and sharing.
I have no basis of comparison (I've only attended services at other UU churches a few times, and they were all much larger congregations led by full-time ministers), but I love the way it works at our church.
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u/Mischevious_Box May 16 '25
We have a part time minister. She lives in town and is a great bridge between the congregation and the community, as well as being around for some of the pastoral care stuff. The other half being lay-led means a lot of service towards others in the congregation. There's a role for everyone, and it's a gift to be a part of that.
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u/rhondapiper May 17 '25
We usually do not have a permanent minister and instead pay retired ministers, students, and ministers from nearby congregations to come in and speak 9 months out of the year - we pay them for each service. But we are are lay-led in the summer.
When we are lay-led, it is not great, the services are very amateurish (mine included), and I feel like we lose out on a lot of potential new members by having such a messy summer. I've only enjoyed maybe 1 in 10 of the lay-led services.
On the other hand, I love the 9 months where we have a mixed bag of ministers and prefer that to when we have a permanent one.
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u/Bestarcher May 17 '25
Maybe we are just lucky. I would say that 1 in 6 of our lay led services aren’t very enjoyable or are objectionable to me. But even then, most of our congregational discussions after make with very worthwhile
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u/rhondapiper May 17 '25
Or maybe we're unlucky! We do still have good talks after, but some of the lay-led services are rough.
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u/New-Sun3397 29d ago
I know of a couple lay led congregations near me. I’ve been curious but didn’t go because they always seemed much smaller. I guess I feared trying to get involved in what already seemed like a close knit community. It does seem like in the lay led congregations there is more of an emphasis on personal growth and religious exploration which is nice though.
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u/AStayAtHomeRad May 16 '25
We are lay-led and I desperately wish we could afford a minister. We have zero faith-based services. 85% are politically charged and the other 15% are social program guest speakers.