UNITED OF CHRIST SUMMARY CHURCH PROFILE

United Worcester,

Senior Pastor

Southern Conference, Central Association

December 2020

1. POSITION POSTING a. LISTING INFORMATION b. SCOPE OF WORK c. COMPENSATION & SUPPORT d. WHO IS GOD CALLING TO MINISTER WITH US?

1a. LISTING INFORMATION

Church name: United Congregational Church Street address: 6 Institute Rd. Worcester, Massachusetts 01609 Supplemental web links: http://www.ucc-worcester.org/

Additional ecumenical affiliations (e.g. denominations, communions, fellowships): Worcester Interfaith

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Advent Pageant with shepherds arriving as the angels sing

Conference: Southern New England Conference Association: Central Massachusetts UCC Conference or Association Staff Contact Person (Name, Title, Phone, Email): The Reverend Kelly Gallagher

Central Association Minister

E-Mail: [email protected]

Office Phone: 508-875-5233

Summary Ministry Description:

United Congregational Church is a vibrant faith community that worships and does mission work in the heart of New England’s second largest city. We welcome all into Christian fellowship, and seek to follow God’s commandments to bring about a more just and caring world.

Our church is searching for a pastor who can help strengthen our faith, give pastoral care to our members, and encourage new ways of carrying out God’s call in the larger community. Our church is spiritually engaged, curious, and open to the creative ways that the Spirit moves us.

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Our church feels blessed to be situated in an urban area, which has fostered socio- economic diversity in our congregation. Our location has also led to the development of our mission ministries which help alleviate some of the tremendous need in our vicinity. This work, in turn, leads to spiritual growth within our congregation. The demographic diversity of local residents has helped us become more accepting of differences, and more aware of the necessity for social and economic justice.

Outdoor worship in November; Children with instruments See narrative for story

United gifted our large church building and our $5,000,000 endowment in 2010 to Worcester Area Mission Society (WAMS). We now share the building with WAMS, the Central Association of Massachusetts UCC and with the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance CMHA (primary tenant). We are working on growing our close mission related relationship with our building partners.

Annual Church Picnic

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MLK Book Collection in Sarah Whitman Gallery formerly the sanctuary

Current size of membership:

Our last Annual Report listed 96 official members. Adult participation in our Sunday worship services averages around 50. We have 4-6 children in regular attendance.

In March we successfully moved to Zoom worship due to the Covid-19 crisis. We continue to have 40-45 in attendance. We had two successful outdoor services in the parking lot this fall (October and November) also well attended. We are planning an additional outdoor worship in December. These outdoor worships have included a mission component either a food drive or a mitten/sock collection.

We have some members who are not able to Zoom. Spiritual Life and Diaconate regularly reaches out to those individuals as does our Bridge Pastor.

We continue to work on creative ways to involve as many as possible in worship and the life of the church during this pandemic.

Languages used in ministry (other than English):

Our services are conducted in English. Our congregation has a number of participants who are bilingual, and sometimes they lead us in a bilingual prayer or hymn.

Position Title: Senior Church Pastor

Position Duration: Settled

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Compensation Level: 20 hours per week

Does the total support package meet conference compensation guidelines?

Our package meets conference compensation guidelines.

1b. SCOPE OF WORK (using the Call Agreement Workbook as a base)

● Preparation and leadership of Sunday worship including scripture study, crafting of liturgy and bulletin, preparation, guiding and working with Spiritual Life and Diaconate Ministry (SL&D) to find lay liturgists, planning of music in coordination with Minister of Music, preaching, offering of prayers, etc. ; Leading worship utilizing Zoom and other technology. Working with the congregation on a few technologies to improve virtual, hybrid or outdoor worship. ● Pastoral care in collaboration with lay people. This includes outreaching those who are sick and grieving. Pastoral care of those who are housebound and those who need outreach to reconnect to United will be shared with lay persons. ● Faith formation and vitality through prayer, Bible study, identifying resources and opportunities and helping lay persons take advantage of them. ● Provide assistance to the congregation on a Christian Education plan for our children ● Energizing and deepening spiritual connections and faith understandings of others ● Study and prayer to increase faith and improve skills so as to lead, teach and preach better ● Welcoming to new worship participants and follow-up with those individuals in conjunction with SL&D ● Weddings and funerals for participants in the worshiping community ● Consultation to Stewardship, Community & Fellowship and Mission/Outreach Ministries as time permits ● Participation in conference and association annual meetings ● Exploring alternate ways to be vital and connected during the pandemic; continuing to fulfill our faith mission.

Core Competencies:

Our three foundational core competencies are: Inspiring, Flexible and Compassionate

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We choose inspiring first because preaching and excellent are very important to our congregation. 85% of the congregation participating chose “An effective preacher whose sermons inspire, clarify and stimulate” as a top quality/skill they want most in a Pastor in the survey conducted for this profile.

Flexible came up on the survey as a top quality as well. We are a changing congregation in a changing world and we are looking for a pastor who embraces change and can adapt as needed.

We chose compassionate because we are looking for someone who cares for us and for the world. We want that compassion and concern for each other and for our world to translate into our mission and social action. c. COMPENSATION AND SUPPORT

Salary Basis: This is a half-time 20 hour position. The total compensation package ranges from $47,000-$64,000 per year, based on experience and insurance needs.

Benefits:

● We offer health insurance (full coverage) as part of the total compensation package. ● There are budgeted funds for professional expenses (mileage, books etc.). ● There is $500 budgeted for continuing education ● The position has 4 weeks’ vacation ● The church follows Massachusetts laws regarding sick time and FMLA

What is the expected living situation for your next minister?

The church does not have a parsonage. It is the expectation that the minister will live within commuting distance of the church.

Comment on the residential/commuting expectations for your next minister.

The minister would be on-site and/or visiting in the surrounding community generally 10-12 hours a week (including Sundays).

It is expected that the Pastor will come to the Church Office at least once a week. During the Covid-19 crisis the Pastors have been on site at the church for the zoom service on Sundays for the worship service. That practice would continue to be our expectation. Most other church activities (such as counseling or meetings) can

6 generally be scheduled to accommodate the Pastor. Since Covid-19 many of the pastoral duties have been conducted by phone or the Internet.

United Congregational Church would, however, be reluctant to consider a candidate whose commuting time averaged an hour or more, as they do occasionally need to quickly respond to emergencies requiring a pastoral presence.

State any incentives

• A week of study or retreat per year after the first year. • One month paid reflection/study sabbatical every 5 years. • There is a designated fund (Parker Fund) which is a fund to enhance salaries of church staff. It is allocated annually following specific guidelines. After a year, depending on the income from the fund, settled Pastors receive a range of $2600- $3000 annually as a salary supplement.

Describe peer and professional supports available for ministers in your association/conference:

There are association and conference meetings and workshops held in Central Massachusetts. The Central Association’s office is located at 6 Institute Road with United. Worcester has an Interfaith meeting group which the pastor may choose to participate in as well.

If applicable, describe how your church will adopt part-time adjustments in the pastoral schedule to support a minister’s bi-vocational employment:

United is offering a part-time position. We have successfully had a part-time pastor for the last 10 years (since we gifted the building and endowment).

We work closely with the minister to make sure the schedule fits the needs of both the minister and congregation including the scheduling of meetings most of which are held in the evenings or on Sundays. Similarly, our few special worship services or church gatherings can usually be adjusted to accommodate the Pastor.

1d. WHO IS GOD CALLING TO MINISTER WITH US?

Describe the ministry goals you envision your next minister co-collaborating with the congregation to achieve.

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We posed this question to our congregation both in a survey short answer format and in discussions.

United is looking for a pastor who helps the congregation to stay grounded through vibrant and meaningful worship. We are looking for a pastor who helps us grow in our faith and challenges us to do so through organized, thoughtful and relevant sermons. The congregation is looking for a minister who talks about current concerns and ways for us to address those through actions of faith.

United’s vision is to work together with our new pastor in expanding our efforts in social justice, mission and on climate change. There is a strong feeling of the importance of increasing our mission and outreach in the local community. We would like a minister that is committed to furthering our congregation’s deeply held values around equality and justice.

United would like to expand its diversity and sees opportunities to collaborate with our pastor in reaching out to our direct neighborhood which will undergo more change over the next year as buildings near-by are being renovated.

While growing the church is not generally a goal expressed by the congregation there is a desire to become more diverse and to be a place where people can feel safe and can express opinions. Members want to ensure that individuals of all backgrounds feel welcome and at home at United.

United members want to be more welcoming to families by expanding our Christian Education to our youngest members. This was a theme throughout most discussions. We are looking for our new pastor to help us work on a plan to accomplish this goal.

We are a congregation that feels led by the Holy Spirit and we will work closely with our pastor on goals we mutually decide to pursue as we grow and learn together.

Describe how your vision of the minister you are now seeking will assist the congregation in making an impact beyond its walls.

We are looking for a minister that will provide strong advocacy and support for mission related initiatives. We are hoping to build on the work of the Mission Outreach Ministry through finding new ways to strengthen our mission focus.

We have a particular emphasis on homelessness prevention, housing support and hunger relief which are also a focus of the tenants on our building. We are interested in ways to use our combined efforts to increase our impact in the City of Worcester. We envision our new pastor working with us to grow these connections. 8

We have recently formed a Creation Justice team and are looking for ways to engage in efforts locally and globally around climate change. In addition to this team, United wants to continue our efforts in the area of social justice. We are looking for a pastor whose sermons will inform and inspire this work and advocacy and who supports mission efforts to preserve our environment through our church’s practices, volunteer projects and the spending of our resources.

Specify language requirements or culturally-specific capacities preferred in a next ministerial leader, and why those matter to the congregation’s sense of calling.

We seek a Pastor who is welcoming to all who come to worship and who has a deep appreciation and practice of diversity and inclusion.

Worcester is a diverse community (some say the most diverse, at least ethnically, in the Commonwealth). We strive for our congregation to reflect that diversity. Although knowledge of more than one language (Spanish would probably be the most useful) would be an undeniable asset, it is more important that our pastor embrace, encourage and celebrate our diversity as an essential aspect of who we are, and as major draw for those who have joined us for worship and become members.

Being inclusive, reaching out to our neighborhood and increasing diversity are themes in all our conversations about our future.

Describe four areas of excellence from The Marks of Faithful & Effective Authorized Ministry

These are the four areas of excellence from The Marks of Faithful & Effective Authorized Ministry that we would like our next minister to display in order to further equip the congregation’s ministry in these areas:

Engaging sacred stories and traditions: We are looking for a pastor who will bring to life sacred stories and traditions in worship and lead us in faith formation across generations. We are looking for a pastor who teaches and guides us through worship and urges us to put our faith into action. We thrive on storytelling as well as the more scholarly approach to scripture.

Caring for all Creation: United believes that climate change will become the defining public health and social justice issue in the coming decades. We are working toward becoming a Creation Justice Church.

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Working together for Justice and Mercy: Mission and outreach are very important to our congregation. We try to practice the radical hospitality of God. The congregation wants to expand our work and study in the area of social justice. We believe that God calls us to go outside the church doors, and work for peace and justice in all of God's creation.

Strengthening Inter - and Intra- Personal Assets: We are looking for a Pastor who loves, appreciates and enjoys us. During these difficult times the congregation needs someone who can communicate in a genuine and compassionate way to everyone in the congregation. We are a quirky, diverse and creative church and seek a pastor who relishes our colorful spirit.

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