We are continuing to work through the steps for preparing to seek an interim minister. As we mentioned before, the church constitution requires that the congregation authorize the Board to seek an interim minister. The meeting on this question is at 1:00 p.m. on this Sunday, April 23. The process envisioned under our church constitution after that is fairly similar to the process for hiring generally. Specifically that, after a vote by the congregation authorizing the hiring of an interim minister, “the Board may hire the minister”.
However, we have concluded that it is important to have non-Board members involved in working through this critical next step for our church community. The extremely tight time frame for preparing materials needed in seeking an interim minister and reviewing and interviewing applicants for the position necessitate a significantly more streamlined committee and process than we will use for calling a settled minister. The entire process of hiring an interim minister is likely to be over by mid-May or late May.
So, the Board is constituting an Interim Minister Search Committee comprised of 5 people: 3 Board members and 2 other members of the congregation who are not serving on the Board. This committee will recommend the candidate who should be hired by the Board as the Interim Minister.
We are pleased to announce the members of the Interim Minister Search Committee:
Board members:
Miranda Bradley
John Henderson
Sharon Snyder
Non-Board members:
Charles Alexander
Emily Tien
We recognize that this is a rapidly unfolding process. And our church (including the Board) has not been through a process like this in a very long time. So we will work to keep the whole congregation informed as we move through the steps ahead. We understand that there are certain to be questions as we move forward. The Unitarian Universalist Association has a Transitional Ministry Handbook and other good information regarding interim ministry at http://www.uua.org/careers/ministers/transitions. And please feel free to reach out to a Board member with any questions about this, or other issues, during this time of transition.
Also, we would like to take a moment to thank all of those who have stepped up to help ensure our church keeps making progress during this period. Special thanks to the people who are serving as stewards in the Annual Budget Drive, so we will have the resources we need to move ahead; to the members of the Advisory Task Force, for all their work to gather the perspectives of the members of the congregation and help us move forward and for pulling together the Fellowship Dinner, so we can have a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and be joyful together; and to the people who organized and pitched in on Blue Jeans Saturday, to spruce up our buildings and grounds.
In faith,
The UUCSS Board of Trustees