One growing category of note is the regiously Unaffiliated. The Pew survey identified 7.3% of adults as being unaffiliated when growing up, and 16.1% report they are unaffiliated now. This trend is affecting all faiths. Unitarian Universalism was one of four groups (along with Buddhists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and New Age groups) with members more heavily made up of people who have switched beliefs. Jehovah's Witnesses and Buddhists had among the lowest retention rates-only 37% of those raised as Jehovah's Witnesses and just half of Buddhists still practice those faiths. In contrast, 90% of Hindus were raised Hindu, 89% of Catholics were raised Catholic, and 85% of Jews were raised Jewish.

The study also examined the demographic differences behind these trends. Black adults are the least likely group to be unaffiliated (only 12%), while Asians are the most likely (23%). Most Hispanics, 58%, identify as Catholic, but 24% of this group identify as Protestant. Age counts, too. More than half of those age 70 or higher who have changed affiliation did so within the same religious tradition. Of those under age 30 who have changed, nearly 75% left one religious tradition for another, or for no tradition at all.

You can read the original report online. Check out some of the TV, radio and newspaper coverage on PBS, NPR, and the New York Times. And those who want to see what our UU bloggers have to say, have lots of choices, including Philocrites' Survey: 0.3% of Adults are Unitarian Universalists, PeaceBang's Shopping for Religion, Yet Another Unitarian Universalist's Statistics, Percision and Slide Rules, and Transient and Permanent's, How Many UUs Are There in the USA?

This is the third in what I hope will be a 38-part series, sharing photos of our worship spaces with one another. We've run San Francisco and Visalia so far. I'm hoping each of our congregations will send in a jpg, along with the name of the photographer, and a brief description of what we're looking at.

Those who responded to the survey tended to be younger than our current demographic; 60% were under 50, and 35% had children at home. 13% identified as part of the GLBT community, and 11% as people of color. Most were former UUs (33%), liberal Protestants (29%) or Catholics (23%). Fewer were Buddhists (17%), atheists (14%), Jewish (9%) or Humanist (7%).

The survey asked people if they planned to return. The positive feedback was terrific! Comments from those who were not likely to come back, included these:

• "The services are too flat for me. I don't feel engaged."
  
• "Busy family life. Hesitation to throw myself in with a group that's a catch-all for so many belief systems, some of which may have little in common with mine."
  
• "I like being in a larger younger community like in SF or Berkeley. (This church) was too old for me."
  
• "I haven't decided yet. I would like to go, but my husband and son are resisting."
  
• "I will come back in mid-February. Right now my Sundays are filled with football."

This kind of data is teaching us a lot, and can be invaluable to our outreach efforts. Participating congregations receive all their information, including the demographics and comments made by their visitors. Participation is very, very easy, so if your congregation wants to be a part of this, let me know.

Our UU Legislative Ministry has also been hard at work on behalf of marriage equality, and took the lead on the interfaith amicus brief. The California Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on the case this coming Tuesday, March 4th, from 9 a.m. until noon. The session will be televised on cable channels and available for later viewing on the Internet. For more information, see the UULM web site and the Judicial Council of California's News Release.

Too good! Cheers to the seminarians who created this parody of Starr King School for the Ministry's newsletter! All who love SKSM will delight in this ultimate demonstration that seminarians do have a sense of humor, from its "mood" rating (orangeish-green), to its sponsorship (Frito-Lay and Exxon Mobil), to its announcements of 15-minute officer term limits and, of course, some new MFC requirements.

Popular UU musician Jim Scott will appear in concert at our Santa Rosa congregation on Friday, March 14 at 8:00. See http://www.glasercenter.com/events.php for more information.

Congregations may now place brief announcements in UU World Magazine, to honor their milestones and achievements. Recent announcements have celebrated founding anniversaries, building dedications, social justice work, and volunteer recognition. A "congregations only" fee of $75 is charged for up to 50 words, a savings of $100 off the price of a standard 50-word classified ad. The deadline for the summer issue is March 14, 2008. Future deadlines are: June 15 for the Fall issue; August 29 for the Winter one; and December 15 for the Spring. For more information visit www.uuworld.org/advertising and select Place a Congregational Announcement, or call (617) 948-6502.