Help Us Create an Effective Search Committee!
Beginning this week, church members are able to nominate fellow congregants to serve on the Ministerial Search Committee and help to choose the church’s next settled minister. The seven-member committee will begin its work in March and will oversee the process of defining what we’re looking for in a minister, presenting our church to ministerial candidates, and finding the best fit for our congregation.
The Board of Trustees has designed a nomination form for members to use to indicate who they’d like to see speak for them on the Search Committee. We’d like to see as many members as possible fill out the form before January 25 and list the 3 – 7 UCE member who have the qualities needed.
The number of nominations each person receives will be tabulated, and a short list of candidates who are willing to serve will appear on the eventual ballot. For an electronic version of the nomination form, go here.
Nomination forms were distributed after both services last week, and they can also be picked up anytime from the church office. A box is available in the lobby for returning the forms, or they may be mailed electronically to the Communications Coordinator, Melanie Kitchner at admin@ucevanston.org . Completed forms should be returned by Fri, Jan 25. Only church members may make nominations to the Search Committee.
At a meeting at 12:15pm on Sunday, January 6 Rev Amy Shaw, the UUA’s Regional Transitions Coach, described the ministerial search process and listed the major attributes a Ministerial Search Committee member should have. Rev Shaw’s speech and the presentation by Board of Trustees Chair Jeanne Kerl, which followed, were video-taped and can be viewed online at https://youtu.be/bjrZHjqNUzY.
According to Shaw, “Ministerial search is one of our most important tasks as a congregation.” Each member of the committee must act on behalf of the entire membership. “Ministers come and go, but the congregation is constant,” she said. She suggested we look for a minister who matches with the congregation in all of its imperfections.
Rev Shaw, who serves the Lake Country UU Church in Hartland, WI, went on to observe that ministerial search is not a job interview. “It is a call,” she declared. Before you start you need to know who you are and what you need in a minister. She went on to say that we’ll need to work with our Interim Minister Greg Stewart to heal any broken places in the congregation and to decide our goals for the years ahead. The Board has the task of forming the Search Committee, setting budget priorities and listening to the congregation; but it’s up to the Committee to do the rest of the work of selecting a new minister.
According to Rev Shaw we need to make sure every constituency within the congregation is represented within the Search Committee. If some group is missing, a member of the Committee may need to commit to speak for them – be they members of Women’s Circle, college students, or theists.
The main work of the Search Committee will start in March. Members will need to commit to spending approximately 20 hours / month on committee business. Some months will be relatively light. The committee members should be good listeners, good at building a consensus, and committed to UU pluralism. Members will need to serve as committee Chair, Treasurer, Communications Director, Scheduler, Survey / Opinion Gatherer, and Web Specialist.
During her presentation, Board Chair Jeanne Kerl encouraged those attending the special ministerial search meeting to spread the word to their friends in the congregation, so everyone knows how important this task is and how vital it is for everyone to participate. If we all work together, we will find ourselves a new minister, who is a perfect fit for our congregation by August 2020, Jeanne said. “The congregation needs to think deeply about who should represent them,” she continued.
According to Jeanne, a vote will be taken in February from the short list of candidates who are willing to serve and who receive the most nominations. The top four vote-getters from the congregational vote will be included on the final slate, and the remaining three members will be chosen from among the second-tier of candidates to assure the full committee represents all of the various constituencies within the church. Current Board members can be nominated for the Search Committee, but they will need to resign their board position before they begin serving on the Committee.
This final slate of seven people will then be put to the congregation for an up or down vote.