January Innovation Session: Building a Digital Path to Membership

Happy New Year, friends!  This is Peter Bowden, trainer, coach and founder of the UU Growth Lab.  I’m excited to shared details for our January 2025 Innovation Session.

Members of the UU Growth Lab may register now in our member area. The remaining seats will be released the week before the session. 

Here's a video overview of this session and how these live monthly innovation sessions work.

What are lab innovation sessions?

These monthly live online facilitated Zooms sessions are a chance to dive deep into a key area related to leading and growing UU congregations.  They are dynamic collaborative sessions designed to accelerate our learning growth and innovation by combining focused training, small group discussion, crowdsourcing and synthesis of insights, and Q&A. 

In January, our focus is "Building a Digital Path to Membership."

Session Details!

UU Growth Lab January Innovation Session
Topic: Building a Digital Path to Membership
Date:  January 28, 2025
Time: 1:00 PM Eastern Time
Duration:  2 Hours   

Today the path to membership starts online for almost everyone!  When people consider visiting your congregation, their first step is almost always digital. Whether they’ve seen a banner outside your congregation or stumbled across your website, they’ll research you online before attending in person.

This self-guided online exploration is now their FIRST VISIT and it’s critical to make it a great one. Questions like “Who are these people? What are their values? Will I feel comfortable here? Who are the leaders? What's this UU thing all about?” all need to be addressed online in advance of a live visit.

The Plan for This Session

Here’s what you can expect during this live, interactive session designed to accelerate our learning, growth and innovation.

⭐  Introductions: We’ll kick things off with rapid introductions via 5 minute breakout groups to help everyone connect.  We're talking quick name, congregation, role and a focus question related to our session.  

⭐ Focused Training: I’ll lead a 30-minute training on Building a Digital Path to Membership, sharing proven strategies, updates, and insights from my work with congregations.

⭐ Collaborative Discussion: After a brief Q&A, we’ll break into groups to crowdsource wisdom—what’s working, challenges you’ve faced, and emerging ideas.

⭐  Synthesis: Return for full group discussion and additional Q&A. 

⭐  Closing: My final remarks, plans for other sessions, and that's a wrap!  

This isn’t just a training—it’s a collaborative process to accelerate our learning, growth, and innovation! 

How to Join this Session

• Clergy, staff and volunteer leaders in the new UU Growth Lab member program may register now in our member area.
  
  
• Remaining seats will be released the week before the session via a UU Growth Lab newsletter post. Subscribe here.
  
  
• Join us!  Become a UU Growth Lab annual member here.  
    

UU Growth Lab Member Benefits:

✅   Live Session Early Access:  Get first access to claim seats in monthly live (Zoom) innovation sessions.  Seats limited.

✅  On-Demand Training & Resources: Members will receive enhaced on-demand training content informed by this innovation session and associated resources in our member area.  Think of the live session as research and development for what you'll receive soon after! 

✅  Exclusive Newsletter Content: Member-only posts connect you with on-demand content and related resources.

Thank you for your leadership and being part of the UU Growth Lab community. 

I'm excited to work together to make 2025 a year of learning, growth and innovation!

Peter Bowden
The UU Growth Lab

PS - Help spread the word!  Tell others about our this program and invite them to learn more at www.uugrowthlab.com

PPS - Have questions?   Contact me here.