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MUF MINISTERIAL SEARCH NEWS May 15, 2005: The Search is over! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Meet our Interim Minister through July 2005: |
Last updated June 5, 2005 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| About the Ministerial Search Committee At the March 2003 Congregational meeting, Fellowship members elected Helene Ferm, Janet Kreha, Tony Rutigliano, Stuart Sendell, Carol Todd, Annette Tyler and Joe Uhrhane to serve as the Search Committee for our settled minister. The Committee is following the UUA guidelines for conducting a ministerial search. More information on the search process is available in the Settlement Handbook for Ministers and Congregations - see www.uua.org/ministry/settlement. We receive guidance from Doug Rhodes of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton, who is our Ministerial Settlement Representative. We have chosen Carol Todd as chair of the committee, and Annette Tyler is the Recording Secretary. We are representative of the congregation and bring many skills and talents to our charge. We are passionate and optimistic and are enjoying working with you as we guide our selection process. Please contact any of the committee members with any questions or concerns you might have. MSC NEWS The Future Is Here Candidating Week will take place May 7-15 (from Newsletter, March 2005)
The Ministerial Search Committee is very excited about the ministers we have met, and the ministers are very excited about what they have heard about the Fellowship.
The committee’s most recent adventures have included pre-candidating weekends during which we have met with our potential settled ministers. We have talked with them, eaten with them, taken rides and tours with them, and attended a Sunday service presented by each of them.
During the month of March the Search Committee will make a final decision. During March and April we will complete and execute a ministry agreement, which is subject to a call to our candidate and acceptance by the congregation. Stu Sendell, Tony Rutigliano and Shari Loe comprise the negotiating committee, which will conduct this process. The MSC will then announce the candidacy to the congregation.
Candidating Week will take place from May 7-15. The Candidating Week Committee makes the arrangements, including services on both Sundays, when our chosen candidate will speak. During the week in between there will be plenty of opportunities for Fellowship members and friends to meet and spend time with the minister. On May 15 we will have a congregational meeting at which we vote on whether or not to extend a call to our candidate. Shortly thereafter, if the minister accepts the call, her/his ministry will begin in August.
The Roller Coaster (newsletter January 2005)
The Fun Phase (newsletter December 2004) As usual the Ministerial Search Committee has been busy and is about to get even busier. During the last month we celebrated the posting of the Congregational Record (CR) with the Unitarian Universalist Association Settlement Office. We thank all of the people who contributed to this effort—with a special cheer for Joe Uhrhane. There are copies of the CR available in the Fellowship office. Ministers now have access to official information about us, and interested candidates have submitted their Ministerial Records (MR) online for us to review. The MRs give lots of information about ministers who have shown an interest in becoming the next settled minister of the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship. Every member of the MSC will read these records and evaluate them before we get together at our next meeting to discuss them. We are excited; we are anxious; some of us are biting our nails. We are happy to have started this phase of the search. As if we have not been busy enough at home with our computers, a few Sundays ago some of the MSC members travelled out of the District to scout a church in which one or all of our pre-candidates may speak—UU tryouts, which take place after the MR/CR and Packet exchanges and evaluations. We highly recommend visiting other Unitarian Universalist congregations when you get the chance. It’s interesting to compare services and welcoming, or lack there of, practices. On this particular Sunday we sang a number of familiar hymns, including “Go Now in Peace” to sing the religious education people out of the sanctuary. Consensus Can Be Fun (Sunday Bulletin 11/21/04) The Search Committee is in the process of evaluating the first batch of Ministerial Records. What an interesting endeavor; the ministers have such varied backgrounds and experiences! We will exchange Packets with those who look like they would be a good fit for our Fellowship. Come to the Congregational Meeting this afternoon to get a fuller picture of the search process. The Fun Phase (Sunday Bulletin 11/7/04) Now the fun and really hard work begins! The Settlement Office of the Unitarian Universalist Association has made the first Ministerial Records available to our Ministerial Search Committee. Each of these documents gives lots of information about ministers who have shown an interest in becoming the next settled minister of the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship. Every member of the MSC will read these records and evaluate them before we get together at our next meeting to discuss them. We are excited; we are anxious; some of us are biting our nails. We are happy to have started this phase of the search. The Light at … (from our November 2004 Newsletter)
During one of our October meetings the Ministerial Search Committee celebrated the posting of the Congregational Record (CR) with the Unitarian Universalist Association Settlement Office. We thank all of the people who contributed to this effort—with a special cheer for Joe Uhrhane. Ministers now have access to official information about us, and in the next few weeks we will receive Ministerial Records from interested candidates. We are excited about the next steps in the process. Copies of the CR are available in the Fellowship office*, and copies of our “Packet” will shortly be available there. This collection of documents and pictures of Fellowship life, which paints a broad, beautiful and interesting picture of who and what we are, was put together under the direction of Joe Uhrhane and Janet Kreha. In the next months we will be in contact with ministerial candidates by e-mail, phone and in person. We will be getting to know them, and they will get to know us, as representatives of the Fellowship, in depth. Carol Todd (Chair), Helene Ferm, Janet Kreha, Stu Sendell, Tony Rutigliano, * Web Manager's note: The CR is accessible online at our Members Only Area, for those with an approved username and password. Contact the Web Manager at webmaster@muuf.org if you need information on obtaining this access. TIMELINESept. 2004 – Aug. 2005
MUF SURVEY October 19, 2003
Based on input received from nearly 200 people in Focus Groups this summer, the Ministerial Search Committee has conducted a survey to determine what's most important to the people at MUF when it comes to Sunday services, Fellowship life, issues that we face as a congregation, and choice of a settled minister. Thank you for your help in determining the future of the Fellowship! View Survey results in PDF format (free Adobe Acrobat Reader vers. 4 or higher required) Carol Todd Chair, Ministerial Search Committee Ron Corey President, Board of Trustees
May 14, 2003 A Visioning Process Begins Who are we as a congregation? Where are we going? What role do we want to play within the Morristown community? How can we best meet the needs of members and friends? IT IS CRITICAL that the Fellowship answer these and other important questions before we begin our search for a settled minister. The answers will help shape a clear, compelling vision for the future. Not only will they help ministerial candidates know exactly what MUF offers, but, more importantly, these answers will be critical in determining the talents, experiences, skill and approach that we seek in our next minister.
In order to move forward together, we must each consider where we stand on each of these questions and begin to share our thoughts and feelings with each other.
With the sponsorship of the Board of Trustees, the Ministerial Search Committee will launch a congregation-wide Visioning Process this month that will provide opportunity for all members and friends to participate. The Search Committee is seeking your help as follows:
First, all members and friends of the Fellowship will be given a chance to participate in small Focus Groups that will be conducted in June and July. The purpose of these groups is to help the Search Committee identify the most critical issues before us. The Focus Groups will also give us a chance to share with each other in small groups our individual visions, and find common ground.
Next, a congregation-wide Survey will be crafted in the fall to present to the larger community the results of the Focus Groups and to give all of us the chance to vote on what our direction should be. Finally, the data we gather in the Survey will help us express with certainty what our vision will be. These findings will be presented to the congregation and will serve as a beacon to us as we move toward the future. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last updated June 5, 2005 Contact the Web Manager (webmaster@muuf.org)
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