On Replacing Michael

Comment

Comment by John L. Bohman on January 14, 2012 at 11:47pm

The search committee that seeks a settled minister will be elected by the congregation.  In accordance with UUCA bylaws, the Nominating Committee recommends a slate of nominees for the search committee to be voted on by the congregation.  Additional nominees may be submitted by petition in advance of the congregational meeting or from the floor.  The Board has not finally decided when the election will happen, but there will be plenty of notice.  

Comment by June Herold on January 14, 2012 at 8:00pm

Thanks Natty and John. When will the congregation elect the search committee? If there's not specific date, can you please share a relative time such as 3Q 2012, or a month or something like that? Do we run for positions on the search committee? If not, who selects those individuals to be put forth to the congregation? Thanks

Comment by Natalia Averett on January 4, 2012 at 10:42am

The Board may hire ministers to serve on an interim or consulting basis but the permanent hire of a minister is a congregational decision, not a Board decision. The permanent hire involves a search process, handled by a search committee elected by the congregation. As you referenced, the search process involves the search committee interviewing and reviewing candidates, visiting other congregations ('neutral pulpits') and witnessing candidates conduct worship, and ends with a congregational vote on a candidate recommended by the search committee and endorsed by the Board. The election of the search committee and the vote to "call" (hire) a minister requires two congregational meetings, the review of candidates takes several months, and the active search process is usually preceded by congregational surveys and other activities to inform the search committee about what the congregation is looking for. At the end of the process, a successful vote of the congregation, an offer to the minister and the minister's acceptance results in a contract, with no end date, executed between the minister and UUCA (the Board/Board Chair representing UUCA in the signing).  Because it is a big decision, and takes time to make, congregations have found it challenging to execute a successful search on a condensed timeline. Many advise against jumping straight from one settled minister to the next.

 

 I think it's worth noting that Rev Carlton was hired to serve in the interim period between when Rev Mary left and when UUCA called a new lead minister, a new team minister or both so his hire was not a quick filling of her position, it was the establishment of an interim period between one settled team minister and the settlement of her replacement. The Board hired Rev Carlton as consulting because there is more flexibility in hiring a consulting minister and because we wanted to find out when Rev Michael was retiring and, if possible, hire the new lead minister prior to permanently hiring a new team minister.

 

While some are very comfortable with the way things are and would comfortably and happily move into a situation that would keep circumstances as close as possible to what they are now or what they have been in the last decade or so, there are many who would advise against aggressively pursuing this option. In addition to many congregations, as referenced above, among those who advise against skipping the interim period, are the UUA, the UUMA (the ministers' association), and most individual UU ministers that members of the Board have spoken with, including Rev Michael, Rev Carlton and Rev Linda.

The current planned timeline and process allows the Board and the congregation a great deal of flexibility and time in deciding what it wants for the future, who will best serve those desires and how it can best move forward in calling ministers. While parts of the process are open to change, it is extremely unlikely that the Board would choose to enter into search immediately rather than have an interim minister work for 2 years beginning this summer. It is unlikely that we would advocate a search timeline that puts us outside of the normal recruitment process and period that UU ministers and congregations participate in, which opens and closes at specific times in the year. To operate outside of the process brings the number of available ministers to zero or almost zero (which is what would happen if we aimed to have a new lead minister by December 2012). 

 

We hope that individual members of UUCA with years of experience, who have been through several transitions, will again be patient as the congregation moves forward in deciding what type of ministry the congregation as whole would be best served by and who among the available candidates would best serve the congregations needs and desires.

Comment by Natalia Averett on January 4, 2012 at 10:42am

 

On the topic of stewardship, I think that stewardship and surety about the future would be hard to measure and correlate at UUCA. In recent years, when we had 3 settled ministers and no one of indicating that he or she was about to depart, pledges from existing donors were flat. In the last two to three years, those who are donating to UUCA have been increasing their pledges. The challenge we face now is to increase our membership, increase volunteer participation, develop lay leaders, and keep stewardship on par with or surpassing what we need to manage increasing expenses and fulfill our desire to make a bigger impact in the community, to be significant contributors, in talent AND treasure, to organizations like Culpepper Gardens, VOICE, PAG, UUSC, ALIVE, Peace Camp, Beacon House, etc.  and to recruit and retain new and existing ministers and other staff at levels of pay that we and they can be comfortable with and proud of.

 

The coming years will demand a lot of focus, coordination, participation and collaboration between and among, the professional, lay leaders of our congregation and all of our congregants, I have witnessed that there is enough willingness to work for the collectiveness good, willingness to participate in activities that discern our collective identity and desires and help fulfill those desires. This, combined with the fact that there is plenty of optimism among many congregants about the future, leads me to believe that we will be able to make valuable use of the interim ministry period and that the congregation will be well served by it.

Comment by John L. Bohman on January 2, 2012 at 7:06am

Roger,

Thank you for your comments.  For some additional background, go to the Board section in the October Arlingtarian, which is on this website.  Click here to see that issue.

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There you will find an outline of some of the preliminary decisions the Board has made on the process for finding and calling new ministers.