Ministerial Search Committee
In February 2019, our congregation selected seven people to serve on the ministerial search committee and guide the congregation through the process of finding a new minister. Our members are Susan Carlton (chair), Emily Eckwahl-Sanna, Tom Hempfling, Sandy McNabb, Steve Serikaku, Jordan Strueber, and Alice Swan. Learn more about us here. We’ll update this page regularly with new information as we move through the search process.
You can contact us with any questions or comments at: ministerialSearchCommittee@ucevanston.org
Virtual Candidating Week
With the call of a settled senior minister, UCE is embarking on the next phase of our ministry. From now until the congregational meeting and vote on January 24, we encourage you to reflect on the expectations you have of our senior minister. If the congregation calls Rev. Eileen, what actions do we take to support her ministry and continue, with her guidance, to create the Beloved Community?
To provide opportunities for us to reflect and discuss together how we move forward in our shared ministry, the Search Committee is hosting a virtual Candidating Week with meetings starting January 13. We encourage all members of the congregation to participate in one or more of the meetings below.
In addition, there will be three open forum meeting dates:
In preparation for attending one or more of these meetings Rev. Eileen has asked that we reflect on and come prepared to discuss the following question:
What do we (meaning each of us and all of us together) bring to the shared ministry and mission of UCE moving forward?
Here is a definition of shared ministry and some thoughts about how it plays out in a congregation: Shared ministry is commitment to fulfill the mission of UCE as a mutually accountable partnership. Shared ministry lives out the affirmation that all people are called to ministry. As members of a faith community, we are invited to serve together in a spirit of mutuality as partners. Working cooperatively, we strive to discover, develop, utilize, and support the gifts of each person and, as responsible stewards, to participate in the ongoing creative and restoring activity in our communities and the world.
This text, found on the UU Community Church of Washington County website, with a minimum of change has been borrowed from Sharing the Ministry: A Practical Guide for Transforming Volunteers into Ministers by Jean Morris Trumbauer, 1995.
Zoom links are provided, along with other additional information, so please check this page frequently for the most updated schedule.
If you have questions about Candidating Week, please reach out to the Ministerial Search Committee at ministerialsearchcommittee@ucevanston.org
News and Updates from MSC
UCE Congregational Record: December 18, 2020
After spending the last several months gathering information about our congregation and what we are looking for in a new senior minister, the Ministerial Search Committee has completed work on the Congregational Record, a document that honestly and completely describes our congregation. Questions range from a description of Sunday services to UCE's history to expectations of the senior minister and include the feedback that we received from members fo the congregation in the focus groups, cottage meetings, and congregational survey. You can read the completed version of the congregational record - all 50 pages of it! Read [...]
Ministerial Search Committee Final Report: November 24, 2020
Thank you to everyone who attended the Search Committee’s presentation of our findings from the cottage meetings, focus groups, and survey data and who participated in our Q&A after the presentation. Your feedback and questions are important to us and to the process of finding a new settled minister. For those of you weren’t able to join us on Sunday, November 22, you can use the buttons below to view a recording of the presentation on YouTube and/or download a pdf of the slide show. Discernment Process Conclusions Presentation MSC Final Report Zoom Recording
Hear the MSC Final Report: November 13, 2020
A big thank you to everyone who filled out the survey and participated in our focus groups and cottage meetings! The Ministerial Search Committee has been hard at work going through all of your comments and feedback. The final result is the Congregational Record, a compilation of answers to over 50 questions that provide information to prospective ministerial candidates about topics ranging from our building and grounds to the congregation’s organizational structure to UCE’s priorities for a new minister. We will be submitting this record to the UUA by December 1. Before we [...]
Upcoming Cottage Meetings: September 25, 2020
So you’ve completed the ministerial search survey, entered the raffle prize, and shared your thoughts about our congregation. (Thank you!) What comes next? The next step to the search process is a series of cottage meetings—group conversations where members of the congregation come together to share their thoughts about our congregation, our future, and how a minister can help us get there. Each cottage meeting will be held over Zoom and will last for 90 minutes. We’re interested in hearing about why you’re proud of our congregation, who’s lives we touch, and the skills you look for in [...]
From the MSC: September 11, 2020
Dear Friends: This week it was brought to the Search Committee’s attention that the question included in the Congregational Survey regarding personal feelings about calling a minister based on several different categorical identifications caused unintended but very real harm in our church community. We are grateful that we are in relationship with members in our congregation who can bring this to our attention in clear, direct ways. We sincerely apologize and are committed to putting in place a process that will allow us to begin a return to right relations. We immediately closed the survey and removed the [...]
UCE Ministerial Search Congregational Survey: Have your voice heard!
Take the UCE Congregational Survey! An important part of the Search Committee’s work is hearing from you and including your opinions and experience in discerning the next settled minister. We want to hear about your experiences at UCE. What inspires you about our congregation and what keeps you involved? How do you envision our church’s future? What skills and experiences would be helpful in a settled minister? We encourage you to take our anonymous survey and let us know your thoughts. Your answers will inform the information we share with potential ministers about the congregation and help [...]