Philocrites, in the last entry, picked up on the probable red-flags in the “top 36′ list. I knew that James Reeb Unitarian Universalist, Madison, Wisconsin, would falls off the list as it reported large membership losses.
But Unitarian Universalist Meeting House, Chatham, Massachusetts, stood out more. A UU congregation founded in Massachusetts in 1988? That had to be a merger.
It isn’t, an in fact an article from Interconnections from 2002 suggests why they thrived, and why if you read between the lines, with leadership, this might work elsewhere.