Membership in First UU Society of Syracuse is both simple and not simple.  To officially join the church as an active member you sign the membership book and make a donation of record, meaning you make a donation of money in such a way that we know it was from you.   Dropping cash in the offering plate is greatly appreciated but still we do not know it came from you. So that part is simple.

But what does membership involve?  First it means that you can vote in the congregational meetings that we have about once or twice a year.  Only active members can vote.  In our tradition, congregational structure, each congregation is self defining, and self governing.  So it vital that we have voting members.  Only the congregation at a congregational meeting can approve the budget, elect officers, decide if the congregation will take a stand for or against a particular social justice issue.  Only the congregation can decide to call a minister and to get rid of the minister. Voting is important in our congregation.

And we are a covenanted community.  It sounds fancy but really it is not.  What we mean is that we gather together as a community having committed ourselves to our community’s covenant, or set of promises.  You can find that convenient here.  Our covenant means that we promise to work together, and not just each person for themselves; we promise to respect one another, to listen to one another.  Not only are we gathered together because of shared values, we also promise to be committed one to another.