The Morristown UU Fellowship begins it search for its next “called” minister next Summer after it has selected a Ministerial Search Committee. In preparation for the search, the congregation must select the members of its Ministerial Search Committee.
The overall process of finding and calling your next minister is described in the Settlement Handbook (click here to read it) published by the Transitions Department of the UUA (Unitarian Universalist Association). From years of experience, our search committees, ministers, and UUA staff have refined this process. It works well for our congregations. This is a brief outline of how the congregation will select the Ministerial Search Committee by next June.
A congregation in search for its next settled minister needs a strong Ministerial Search Committee (MSC). A strong MSC will:
- Represent the entire congregation.
- Be trusted by the congregation.
- Understand the changing nature of the congregation.
- Establish a good process for itself, for the Fellowship, and for the ministers it interviews.
To select the members of the seven-member Ministerial Search Committee, the Board of Trustees begins this process by working with other congregational leaders to contact you, the members, youth members, and active friends of the Fellowship. Each leader making calls will ask you to nominate up to three people you think would serve will on the MSC (self-nominations are allowed). It’s essential for a strong MSC that anyone nominated have the following qualities:
- Nominees will serve the interests of the congregation as a whole above any subgroup – so, for example, someone with an agenda (“I’m making sure the next minister is not like/is exactly like Rev. Miller”!) will not serve well on an MSC;
- Nominees must understand the demands and time required to serve on a search committee. Search committee members will read the Settlement Handbook, complete their work, and attend every meeting. The time commitment requires roughly 8 hours a week of meetings and work from July to mid-November, 2023, then from January 2 until early April, 2024, and for 8 days in late April/early May. In addition to the 8 weekly hours, this commitment also includes a complete commitment to three weekends in February and March of 2024.
- Nominees are committed to maintain confidentiality, seek consensus, and mustbe able to work well on a team.
- Nominees will be capable of both self-assertion and compromise.
- Nominees are aware of what the Morristown UU Fellowship is like at its best, at its worst, and on an average day.
Each caller will explain the importance of these qualities and then will ask for nominations. Each member, youth, and active friend can offer up to 3 nominees. Callers then send these nominations to a data-manager. The data manager will send the top 12-14 names to the Board. The Board will then contact this group of nominees, asking them if they will accept the nomination.
The nominees who agree to run will be presented to the congregation. At a special meeting of the congregation in April, Voting Members of the congregation will each vote for 4 nominees. Absentee Ballots will be available by advance request to members who cannot attend that day.
The four nominees receiving the most votes are automatically elected to the Ministerial Search Committee. The Board will then appoint the final 3 nominees to serve on the MSC, working to assure a balance of age, gender, sexual orientation, active years at MUUF, and other diversities. No one else, including the members of the Search Committee, will know who was elected and who was appointed.
The Ministerial Search Committee will be presented to the congregation the Sunday after the special meeting of the congregations. At that point, the MSC will be trained for its work by the UUA and then begin its work. If you have questions or thoughts about any part of this, including serving on the MSC, Rev. Joel would be pleased to answer your questions – email him at jmiller@muuf.org.
Congregations can learn a lot about themselves in a search. And by finding a minister with the right skills, talents, longing, and calling, you and the minister you next call will begin an exciting new chapter of ministry together.