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Congregational Record Dear Congregation, Welcome to the 2018-19 Ministerial Search Congregational Record! This document was written by the Ministerial Search Committee, based on five months of research, conversation, and discernment including the results of the congregational survey and six focus groups. (The complete survey results are available separately on our website, http://firstuustlouis.org/ about-us/ministerial-search-committee.) The questions were given to us by the UUA and are standardized across all congregations currently in search. The purpose of the Congregational Record is to convey to ministerial candidates as complete and honest a portrayal of our congregation as possible. Although we hope and believe that the document will also serve as material for ongoing conversations in the congregation, that was not its intended purpose. Also, please be aware that it has already been shared with candidates and can no longer be changed. As a reminder, these are the principles we have committed to uphold throughout the search process in our covenant with the congregation, and which we have kept in mind as we wrote this Congregational Record: 1. Recognize and remain grateful for the trust bestowed upon us by the congregation. 2. Follow the search process and best practices as determined by the UUA Transitions Office based on the experiences of congregations and ministers over decades of time. 3. Conduct our work with due diligence and to the best of our ability. 4. Keep the congregation informed of the search process. 5. Maintain transparency in the search process, while keeping some information confidential as necessary. 6. Strive to discover what is best for our church, not what may be best for ourselves or a small group of the congregation. The Policy Board, Church Council and Transitions Team will be helping to facilitate further conversation over the coming months. We are also hopeful that the information in the Congregational Record, and the discussions that follow, will help prepare all of us to welcome a new minister in August. Sincerely, The 2018-19 Ministerial Search Committee First Unitarian Church of St. Louis Settled Minister Saint Louis, Missouri | MidAmerica Region Anticipated Start Date: August 2019 Term: N/A Percent Time: 100% Time Minimum Salary + Housing: $80,000 | N/A Benefits: Self-employment offset tax; Retirement Plan; UUA Health Plan; Other Health Plan; Disability Coverage; Term Life Insurance; Dental; Professional Expense Allowance Questionnaire 1. Describe the minister's role in relation to other paid staff: Per our Bylaws, the Lead Minister is in charge of supervising all hired staff and will retain and terminate all employees, in consultation with the Policy Board and the Church Council. The Lead Minister is the leader of the spiritual life of the church and all of the church’s worship activities and religious education activities. 2. Describe the primary areas of focus for the minister in this role: Our highest priority for the minister is leading Sunday worship, endorsed as “very important” or “extremely important” by over 85% of respondents in our congregational survey. Congregants would like the minister to preach three or more times per month and appreciate sermons that are intellectually stimulating, emotionally engaging, inspiring, and thought-provoking. After preaching and worship, the next highest priorities cited by respondents were community-building and membership growth, with an emphasis on social action and outreach. Our congregation wants a collaborative leader who can work well with the staff and Policy Board, assist with conflict resolution to unify groups within the church, and be a voice for social justice in the wider St. Louis community. Pastoral care and spiritual guidance were also ranked as important areas of focus, with some respondents also hoping for ministerial involvement in child and adult religious education. 3. List and describe the desired strengths for the minister: Open-mindedness was the #1 quality endorsed by 95% of congregational survey respondents as “very important” or “extremely important” for our next minister, closely followed by empathy and approachability. Over 80% of respondents also value multi-cultural sensitivity, professional competence, a sense of humor, and a collaborative approach. Our focus group discussions and open-ended survey questions similarly reflected this emphasis on interpersonal qualities, with over 150 mentions of friendliness, warmth, approachability, compassion, and empathy; the next most widely mentioned qualities were intelligence, education, and strong preaching abilities. Our staff has expressed a desire for a minister who is responsive, engaged, and respectful of others’ time and gifts. Many of us also want someone with a good sense of humor, a respect for and appreciation of diversity, strong organizational and administrative skills, and a commitment to social justice. We hope for a minister who is inspiring, enthusiastic, authentic and honest, self- aware, spiritual, accessible and receptive to feedback, involved, creative, and humble...as one person added, “maybe they can walk on water too!!” 4. Describe any ongoing momentum at your Congregation which the minister should continue: Our congregation has been working for several years on balancing respect for and appreciation of our rich heritage with openness to change and new ideas about how to “do church.” There is momentum building to create a unique fusion of past and future, tradition and innovation, reflection and commitment to action. There is also momentum and a strong call within the congregation toward truly appreciating (and growing) our diversity – of thought, theology, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and even political leanings. This call seeks to improve this inclusion and understanding as the church touches the community, as we plan and learn, as we connect with the pulpit, and as we engage at coffee hour. First Unitarian has a long history of involvement and leadership in the St. Louis community, and there is momentum toward continuing and building on that engagement, particularly in the area of racial justice. We are uniquely situated in time and place to have been galvanized by the shooting death of Michael Brown in nearby Ferguson in August 2014. This is magnified by our church's location in the city two blocks from Delmar, a major dividing line in St. Louis that separates the community racially, economically, educationally, and socially. During our transition period we began a series of Fireside Chats in which participants could share thoughts about various topics. Some of the topics included: what brought us to First Unitarian and what keeps us here; what was our religious background/history and how does that inform our expectations; what is our governance structure and how do we communicate with each other about church business; and how do we connect with the wider community of St. Louis. This proved to be a popular and useful venue for exploring our diversity and learning how to talk with one another about our differences and appreciate various points of view. Interestingly, many of these issues were also brought up by congregants in our Search Committee focus groups. It is important that we continue conversations in these areas. After some recent challenges, our office staff was reconfigured and is now strong and functioning well. A new minister should continue regular meetings and supervision. We are working this year on strengthening our planning process, to include regular meetings at the governance and lay leadership level, identifying goals, priorities, action steps, and assessment processes. Recent conversations surrounding the ministerial search have also included calls for openness, transparency, and better access to the governing body. We are initiating a leadership development workshop series, and this is an important area that will need ongoing work with input from the minister. Support of the Membership Committee work and engagement of new members will also be critical if we are to thrive in the coming years. The church has begun efforts to be more family friendly in recent years, though there is still much work to do in making families with children feel welcome and included. We have worked to involve children in worship service more, and have several intergenerational traditions, such as the annual Christmas Pageant, Blessing of the Backpacks, and Cardboard Play Day. Of concern, our RE enrollment has declined steadily over the past 10 years, and our RE Committee has met sporadically over the past year. Our newly hired RE coordinator came on board in September 2018, and we plan to continue to explore new ways to engage families and children. Involvement of children in the life of the church community reflects our values and is critically important to our health as a church community. 5. Describe any programs or traditions which the minister should maintain: Aside from maintaining our long tradition of vibrant Sunday worship services, we have many programs and events throughout the church year that we hope to continue, including the Clark Lecture, UnFish Fry, Fellowship Dinner, and Hanging of the Greens. We hope our next minister will support our many long-standing committee efforts such as Welcoming Congregation, Partner Church, Ministerial Intern Program, sandwich-making for the homeless, the church gardens, and our exceptional music program. Within services, we hope to maintain the tradition of a Story for
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