We, the UUCC Minister Search Team, are just days away from a milestone we have been working toward for the last nine months. On March 28, we will be able to offer the role of Settled Minister to one of the candidates we interviewed. We can tell you now that we have completed the process of “pre-candidating” with three well-qualified Unitarian Universalist ministers, who were chosen from a significantly larger pool of applicants whose names we first received on January 2.
Over the past several weeks, the seven of us spent the better part of a weekend, from Friday dinner through Sunday brunch, with each of those exceptionally engaging, capable, and compassionate ministers. We watched as each led a service at a different UU congregation in our region. We engaged in deep, enriching, and sometimes emotional conversations with them about our hopes for the UUCC – and their visions for meaningful, relational, and inclusive ministry.
Each candidate is aware of the challenges facing our congregation after years of pandemic separation, the loss of two ministers, and divisive debates over UUCC and UUA bylaws. We believe they have the intellectual capacity, personal courage, and pastoral skills to help us process and work toward resolving our ongoing grief and uncertainty.
All of us play a role in making our next settled ministry successful, and our candidates seem prepared to accept the challenges of being our spiritual, pastoral, moral, and administrative leader. We as a team are proud of the work we have done. And we are profoundly grateful for these ministers’ deep commitment to our faith and to the candidating process that has required so much of their time, energy, and attention.
Without breaching the confidentiality required of the search process, we can tell you that each of our candidates is exceptionally skilled at creating sacred space and making us feel welcome in their presence. We welcomed them warmly to Charlotte, and as we interviewed them, they ministered to us and our spiritual needs. They each toured our building at 234, had some time to look around the city, and engaged in multiple conversations about the past, present, and future of our UU Community – and the larger community.
In the next couple of weeks, once the selection/offer/negotiation process is complete, we expect to be able to introduce you to our candidate. As with any recruiting and negotiation process, there can be delays and complications. We ask for your patience in advance.
What we can say is that we fully anticipate bringing the candidate back to Charlotte for what we call Candidating Week, April 28 to May 5. The candidate will lead services on consecutive Sundays and meet with members and staff over that eight-day period. We also are planning some relaxed and fun activities, so each of you can get to meet the candidate in more casual settings. The week will culminate in a special Congregational Meeting after the service on Sunday, May 5, to affirm our choice of candidate.
The Search Committee strongly urges every member to participate in as many of these activities as possible – especially the vote on calling the minister on May 5. We also encourage you to participate in the special Congregational Meeting on Sunday, March 24, in which we will have the opportunity to consider changing our Bylaws to allow absentee voting on a ministerial call.
This is an exciting time in the life of our UU Community. The Search Team is encouraged by our progress so far in finding the best candidate available to serve us in ministry in the years ahead, helping us live into our vision of a “loving, liberating religious community.”
Your UUCC Minister Search Team,
Barry Ahrendt
Althea Clark
Mic Elvenstar
Ellen Holliday (co-chair)
Rebekah Visco (co-chair)
Dave Warren
Kathryn Whitfield
Email us at: ministersearch@uuccharlotte.org