Ministerial Search Committee Report
January 26, 2014
The Ministerial Search Committee is pleased to announce that we have chosen three pre-candidates for the job of being our settled minister next year.
About the beginning of the year, we received a list of ministers interested in being our minister. Although we have all been trained in thinking beyond categories, we did notice that the list included 12 women, 5 men, and one co-ministry team. One applicant was single and one was widowed; otherwise everyone described themselves as married or partnered. Three self-identified as gay or lesbian, and two described their race as something other than white.
Ignoring those categories as much as possible, we read everything they had written for their Ministerial Records on the UUA website. We studied additional information they provided in their packets, their websites or their blogs. We read, listened to recordings of, or watched videos of their sermons. Our evaluation focused on (1) effective sermons, (2) administrative experience and (3) familiarity with policy-based governance.
Then, beginning about two weeks ago, in a period of six days and four hours, we met and talked for hours to identify several of the best applicants, called them to schedule phone interviews, conducted those phone interviews (huddled around a speakerphone in the Community Room), talked again for hours to discuss what we had learned, ranked the ministers we had interviewed, called our top three choices, and successfully scheduled all three for pre-candidating weekends.
In the next six weeks we will meet these pre-candidates and attend a service presented by each at a church in some other town. Let us remind you that much of this process is secret to protect the pre-candidates, who may not have told their current congregations that they are in search. After the last pre-candidating weekend, this committee will, we expect, once again meet and talk for hours to make our final choice.
At noon on April 3, this church will make an offer to our chosen candidate. If and when that offer is accepted, we will schedule a week and two weekends in late April or early May when everyone can meet the candidate. After Sunday Service at the end of that week, members who attend the congregational meeting will vote to call that candidate as our next settled minister.
We have been asked about the gender of our pre-candidates. As an exercise in thinking beyond categories, we would like to assure you that each one of them has a gender. When you meet the candidate in May, we hope you will look for qualities beyond categories.
John Marohn and Kenneth Manly, Co-Chairs
The Ministerial Search Committee is pleased to announce that we have chosen three pre-candidates for the job of being our settled minister next year.
About the beginning of the year, we received a list of ministers interested in being our minister. Although we have all been trained in thinking beyond categories, we did notice that the list included 12 women, 5 men, and one co-ministry team. One applicant was single and one was widowed; otherwise everyone described themselves as married or partnered. Three self-identified as gay or lesbian, and two described their race as something other than white.
Ignoring those categories as much as possible, we read everything they had written for their Ministerial Records on the UUA website. We studied additional information they provided in their packets, their websites or their blogs. We read, listened to recordings of, or watched videos of their sermons. Our evaluation focused on (1) effective sermons, (2) administrative experience and (3) familiarity with policy-based governance.
Then, beginning about two weeks ago, in a period of six days and four hours, we met and talked for hours to identify several of the best applicants, called them to schedule phone interviews, conducted those phone interviews (huddled around a speakerphone in the Community Room), talked again for hours to discuss what we had learned, ranked the ministers we had interviewed, called our top three choices, and successfully scheduled all three for pre-candidating weekends.
In the next six weeks we will meet these pre-candidates and attend a service presented by each at a church in some other town. Let us remind you that much of this process is secret to protect the pre-candidates, who may not have told their current congregations that they are in search. After the last pre-candidating weekend, this committee will, we expect, once again meet and talk for hours to make our final choice.
At noon on April 3, this church will make an offer to our chosen candidate. If and when that offer is accepted, we will schedule a week and two weekends in late April or early May when everyone can meet the candidate. After Sunday Service at the end of that week, members who attend the congregational meeting will vote to call that candidate as our next settled minister.
We have been asked about the gender of our pre-candidates. As an exercise in thinking beyond categories, we would like to assure you that each one of them has a gender. When you meet the candidate in May, we hope you will look for qualities beyond categories.
John Marohn and Kenneth Manly, Co-Chairs