Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, VA
UUCA
- Ministerial Search Committee
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UUCA Congregational Survey Results
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Sunday, April 9, 2006UUCA Welcomes Mary McKinnon Ganz as Team Minister for Community Building!
UUCA's Board of Trustees & Ministerial Search Committee is pleased to announce the congregation's overwhelming approval of Mary McKinnon Ganz for UUCA's Team Minister for Community Building. Mary will begin her duties at UUCA in August.
We have a candidate! - March 14, 2006 Mary McKinnon Ganz has been chosen as UUCA's Ministerial Candidate. Candidating week is April 2 - April 9. Mary will preach on both Sundays, meet with the Board of Trustees and various church groups during the week, and then be put up for the congregation's vote of approval on April 9 at 2:00 p.m. New members - please note: Members who signed the membership book on or before January 9, 2006 are eligible to vote. Click here for the MSC official announcement.
Progress of the Search - January 1, 2006 The Ministerial Search Committee has received ministerial records from 21 ministers in response to our “want ad” (congregational record) that was posted on the UUA website in October. If you’re interested in seeing our congregational record, go to www.uucava.org and click on “ministerial search committee.” A copy is also available in the church library. We have selected 13 of the 21 ministers whose experience, professional interests, and other relevant characteristics we want to explore more deeply to determine their appropriateness for the vacancy we are charged to fill. We are in process of exchanging “packets” with them. The next step is a fairly exhaustive “vetting” process that includes both telephone and personal interviews, attending services conducted by the most promising candidates, and careful reference checks. By March we should arrive at a decision on the candidate we will recommend to the congregation. He or she will be invited to spend eight days with us, from April 1 to April 9. The candidate will conduct the Sunday services and preach on April 2 and April 9. During the week he or she will meet with as many church groups and individuals as possible in a variety of settings. On Sunday afternoon, April 9, there will be a meeting of the congregation where all eligible members will vote on whether to call the minister. Unless the candidate receives at least 85 percent of the vote, he/she is unlikely to accept the call. The MSC hopes to recommend a candidate who will be received enthusiastically by the congregation.
November 1, 2005 MSC Defines Search for New Minister The Ministerial Search Committee has completed its “help wanted” ad for a Team Minister for Community Building, primarily responsible for social justice and social action, membership, and pastoral care. UUCA will seek a candidate who will fully participate in the life of the congregation, typically leading Sunday worship at least monthly. Building on the work of the previous search committee, the MSC has posted the ad on the UUA’s website. It plans to begin interviewing candidates later this fall. Based on conversations with the team ministers, Board of Trustees and members of the congregation, the committee will look for candidates with a track record, in or out of the ministry, of demonstrated leadership, who will inspire us toward effective social justice/social action and outreach to our community. The congregation’s discussions point to UUCA becoming a more visible and powerful public voice for social and economic justice in our community and across the globe. The want-ad notes that our congregation seeks greater participation from under-represented groups in our congregation and community and that we welcome applications from ministers who are of different races, ethnicities and sexual orientations. While committee members will continue to seek advice from members of the congregation, the church leadership has settled on the broad parameters of the search. Over the next several weeks, the committee will refine a packet of material about the church that can be exchanged with candidates with whom we find mutual interest in the position. The committee hopes to narrow its search to a few candidates after the holidays. Committee members expect to observe the candidates in the pulpit. If all goes well, a single candidate will be presented to the congregation for approval in early spring.
October 1, 2005 In June the congregation elected a nine-member search committee to continue the task of finding a successor to Rev. Emerita Joan Gelbein. Since then, the committee has elected Julia Sayles as its chair, assigned tasks, and begun assembling the documents that comprise the notice advertising the candidacy for a UUCA Team Minister. The committee will seek a Team Minister for Community Building able to invigorate the church’s social justice and social action initiatives, develop a program to attract new members, oversee pastoral care, and participate in the worship life of the congregation from the pulpit and through various church groups. The human qualities the committee seeks include those named by the congregation: a warm, caring, enthusiastic, energetic, compassionate leader with a passion to serve our myriad interests. Through the fall and winter, the committee will review the qualifications of interested candidates, interview a handful of prospects and, if all goes well, present a finalist to the congregation in the spring. The committee members: Ray Anderson, a UUCA member since 1988, served on the Interim Task Force and helped UUCA use its office space more efficiently. He retired in July 2004 from his position as principal of H-B Woodlawn School, where he interviewed and hired more than 100 teachers, custodians, and secretaries over 33 years. Pat Findikoglu, a UUCA member since 1998, has been on the RE Council and currently participates in the Anti-Racism Transformation Team and the monthly ADORE meetings. She is a teacher in the Arlington County Public Schools and is the mother of a son, who lives in Turkey, and a daughter. Bennett Minton, a UUCA member since 2002, has been a member of the Donor Development Committee and an RE teacher. He has two school-age daughters. Bennett met his fiancée, Laurie Erdman, in Fellowship Hall. Professionally, he has been involved in congressional affairs for 20 years. Catriona Rogers grew up in UUCA and became a member in 2002. As a teenager she founded a Teen Seminar and the Youth Action Committee at UUCA. She has helped organize the Solstice celebration. She and her husband, Terry, adopted a daughter last year. Julia Sayles (chair), a UUCA member since 1981, was a former Board chair, member of the Music Search Committee, and choir chair. Since retiring from full-time law practice in 2001, Julia splits her time between pro bono work assisting low-income elderly and a small home-based private law practice. Kathy Spahn, a UUCA member since 1997, has served on the Social Action Council, organized the annual services auction, and taught RE. She is a nurse and is employed by SOME (So Others Might Eat). Kathy is a caterer and has provided many wonderful meals at UUCA events. David Tilson, a UUCA member since 1958, was a Board chair and member of the Committee on Ministry. He chairs PhotoNet in the Communications Division. After retiring from federal service, Dave worked at the National Academy of Sciences and served as executive director of a foundation on gerontology for three years. Ann Ulmschneider, a UUCA member since 1991, has been an RE teacher, a member of the Task Force on Racial Diversity, and chair of the hospitality committee. Ann and her husband have three daughters, one of whom is adopted from Korea and another from Vietnam. She is employed in a parenting program for Fairfax County Public Schools. Rosemarie Wilcox, a UUCA member since 1992, recruits and coordinates General Assembly delegates and cochairs the Fall Retreat Committee. Rosemarie has taught English at Howard University and currently teaches English at Northern Virginia Community College. You may contact the MSC at: search@uucava.org Additional information on MSC activities is found via the following links: UUA Ministerial Search ResourcesThe first is the Settlement Handbook For Ministers and Congregations
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