Faith Forward: From Visitor to Leader is a guided path for Unitarian Universalists to follow in their congregations, helping them navigate from building connections early on, to finding their sense of belonging as a member, to serving as a leader and boldly living their faith. It was developed by First Unitarian Church of Dallas, and is now available to Unitarian Universalist congregations everywhere.

Faith Forward is made up of three paths: CORE, Advanced, and Leadership.

CORE Path

OBJECTIVE To shorten the visitor to member cycle; to help new and existing church members understand and explain our faith with confidence, to strengthen UU identity, and to encourage members to engage in daily practice, weekly worship, monthly service, annual retreat, and once-in-lifetime pilgrimage.

• Inquirers Series (9 weeks)
• Roots (1 class)
• Beyond Inquirers (5 weeks)
• Spiritual Practice (12 weeks)
• UU History 101 (7 weeks)
• UU Elevator Speech (3 weeks)

ADVANCED Path

OBJECTIVE To deepen understanding of our faith, connection to the church, and continued spiritual development.

• UU Theology (6 weeks)
• Coming of Age for Adults (6 weeks)
• Turning Points in UU History (6 weeks)
• Deepening Spiritual Practice (8 weeks)
• Biblical Literacy for Unitarian Universalists

LEADERSHIP Path (Not available yet)

OBJECTIVE To develop well-rounded church leadership knowledgeable in discernment, governance, and all aspects of congregational life.

Offering will include UU Leadership, UU Discipleship/Eldership, Polity/Governance, UU Evangelism, Mentorship, Theological Reflection

Tree of Life is now offering Inquirers and will be scheduling Roots and Beyond Inquirers soon. We hope to add many other offerings Fall 2020. The Inquirers Series is offered every Sunday to welcome newcomers into the congregation. Nine topics are covered, one per session, and then repeated throughout the year. They may be taken in any order.

The goals of the Inquirers Series are as follows:

• Make our church values and culture transparent and known to newcomers, so that they may make an informed decision about membership in our church
• Introduce newcomers to church staff, ministers, and lay leaders
• Establish a space for newcomers to learn more about the church in the form of a regularly scheduled small group designed for their needs

SAMPLE SCHEDULE

11:45   Meet & Greet / Coffee for Visitors

12:00   Gather Inquirers & Check-In Newcomers

12:05   Chalice Lighting & Opening Reading  

12:10   Check-in/Intro Question(s) (related to the day’s topic)

1:35   Guest Speaker Presents Topic   

1:00  Extinguish Chalice & Closing Words

If you have questions about Inquirers or Faith Forward in general, please contact Marc Stettner stettner.marc@gmail.com or Judy Stettner office@treeoflifeuu.org