Most of the people in our congregation (and many other UU congregations) do not interact much with the UUA, so their focus is internal – what is happening within their congregation. They see the staff, the Board, the Executive Team and the Committees as the work of the church. Many have never attended a Regional or Denominational event. It is easy to understand that the value of the UUA is not obvious to most congregants.
However, the UUA is an important part of our denomination. We do see our ministers, locally, but may be unaware of what is involved in recruiting, training, and vetting UU ministers and Religious Educators, as well as the process of matching ministers and congregations. There are many other activities supported by the UUA. For example, the UU the Vote Campaign last fall was very successful and was a UUA program. You can read more about the UUA and how it supports our movement and individual congregations, here.