Executive Summary

The United Church of Gainesville (UCG) is a spiritually vital congregation with a highly engaged, long-serving, and progressive membership deeply committed to social justice. While in-person worship attendance has declined since 2019, it has stabilized. The church is financially manageable, and its primary opportunity for growth lies in connecting with its immediate neighbors, whose values (tolerance, economic justice, climate action) strongly align with UCG's, but who are largely unaffiliated with any church. However, the congregation faces significant internal challenges, primarily resistance to change and a history of conflict. These issues are hindering its health and ability to move forward.

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Congregational Profile & Demographics

Based on 249 survey responses, the congregation is:

• Long-Term: The majority (71%) have attended 10+ years.
• Highly Engaged: 76% attend worship at least several times a month or more.
• Predominantly Older: 65% of respondents are over 66 years old. 71% of households contain an adult over 65, while 17% contain children.
• Racially Homogenous: 95.3% of respondents identified as White / Non-Hispanic.
• Highly Educated: 70% have completed grad. school.
• Local: 70% of congregants live within 5 miles of UCG.
• Financially Stable: The 2024 budget of $938,868 was met by giving and other income. 51% describe the finances as "tight but manageable."

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Strengths

• High Optimism: 87% of members are excited about

the church's future.

• Strong Values: Over 90% agree UCG is spiritually vital, has a clear mission, works for social justice, and is like a "close-knit family."
• Social Justice: The church is highly active in community work, prioritizing food insecurity, affordable housing, and marginalized people. Members reported over 9,800 congregational and 15,000 non-congregational volunteer hours.
• Welcoming in Principle: Over 90% believe the congregation wants to be racially diverse and is welcoming to all races, sexualities, and genders.
• Survey respondents would love to see a greater sense of community and hope, calling a new minister, and growing in congregants and spiritual life.

Challenges

• Recent Major Conflict: This is the most significant threat.
• 95% have experienced conflict in the past two years.
• 74% of those said it was a major conflict where people

left the congregation or withheld donations.

• Only 58% believe disagreements are handled openly.
• 44% have received no training on healthy conflict.
• Resistance to Change: Members are ambivalent about change.
• 87% say UCG is "always ready to try something new," but...
• 65% say the congregation is "more comfortable when things remain the same."
• 62% say "putting a new idea in action takes a long time."
• Attendance & Engagement:
• Worship attendance has declined from 300+ in 2019 to 162-230 in 2024 (though it has been steady since 2021).
• While 90% want to be welcoming, only 52% of members make a point to speak to new people in worship.

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Community & Opportunity

There is a stark difference between UCG's immediate neighbors (1-mile radius) and its wider neighbors (5-mile radius).

• Immediate Neighbors (1-mile): Are younger, more racially diverse, and have a dramatically lower average income ($56,500 vs. $242,000).
• The Opportunity: These immediate neighbors are 73% unaffiliated with a congregation, yet their strongest social beliefs (tolerance, environmentalism, economic justice, diversity) align almost perfectly with UCG's values.

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Key Takeaways

CONFLICT: It is essential that your congregation undergo continued work on healing and building healthy communication and healthy conflict skills. I know you have worked hard to develop a behavioral covenant. Yet even once the covenant is adopted, the work is not done. When unhealthy communication occurs, we must be willing to name it and offer whatever pastoral care is needed to end it once and for all.

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Once you are all trained and equipped for the living out of healthy communication and good boundaries, you may still need a formal conflict transformation process for people who are continuing to grieve or litigate past conflicts. The goal of such a process would be to determine if such people in your congregation are able to move forward together in love and support of the congregation despite their past experiences. If such a way forward is not possible together, a graceful transition may be needed where some are given a blessing to find a congregation that will be a place for them to heal.

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CHANGE: You will need to intentionally develop your change skills. There is no way to truly listen to what God is calling your church to do and be without being open to doing things in new ways. You are likely all weary of change, and yet when we don’t change as congregations, we decline.

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The first way to build your change skills is to take time to reflect on the spirituality and theology of change - change is built into any spiritual journey, and finding God in change is something we all need to practice. Change brings gifts and challenges, and being upfront about the challenges is key, as well as supporting one another through them.

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Then, try small new things frequently. Become a congregation that experiments and innovates. Be a permission-giving congregation. This approach will help you welcome newcomers and all their new ideas and respond when God calls the congregation in new directions.

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ROLE CLARITY: During times of transition, it can be challenging to have clarity around roles and responsibilities. You recently went through a realignment of administrative and programming positions which took a great deal of time and attention. This process, like all major organizational changes, was not without fallout. However, to ensure a healthy and life-giving pastoral transition, continuing this work is essential. We know that you have been working on your bylaws and organizational charts. We suggest that if you have not already done so, you examine:

• All your formal and informal roles and responsibilities. Exactly who is actually doing what at UC Gainesville? What is not getting done?
• How decisions are made and who will put them into action once decided.
• Any overlaps or informal power systems that cause tension with formal roles?
• How you measure success. Is it measured against an archetype of 20th century Protestant church? Or some other idealistic view of the past?
• Your polity. Do you still need all the roles present in your bylaws?
• Whether some voices overpower others due to affection or influence.
• Which leaders and volunteers are over functioning because of more positions than volunteers or unclear responsibilities. They are at risk of burnout and harm.

Be open and clear about your work in this area. Talk often about how clear roles and responsibilities will pave the way for a healthy pastoral transition.

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ALIGNMENT/FOCUS: To get out of a focus on what has gone awry in the past, you will need to spend time discerning together who you want to be beyond simply calling another pastor. Discern how you are called to impact the lives of your participants and neighbors. While your values can be expansive, your calling for 2026 should be specific, actionable, and achievable at your current capacity and size. What will you do and why? Be as specific as possible. UC Gainesville will do ________ in 2026 for our community.. How much money, time and energy will it require? Who will do the work and keep things moving?

Alignment and a sense of calling can increase both participation and giving, as well as make decisions about hiring, programming, and budgets clear and easy. You can measure this feeling of engagement in mission/calling by the number of connected adults giving generously and participating in something at least a few times per month. You can then celebrate every impact so that people can see and feel the difference they are making through your congregation.

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How to decide? We would love consensus or unanimous support, but we must also honor that your polity suggests that God speaks through the majority in a

congregation and commit to the direction the majority feels is best.

This will be a great opportunity to practice your healthy communication

skills and put that new behavioral covenant into action!

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