Frequently Asked Questions (Vol. #4)

Interim Minister Search and Transition Committee

Frequently Asked Questions (Vol. #4) – December 2012

7) Who is our new Interim Minister, and how did we hire him?

After compiling the data from our survey of the Congregation, we composed a “job description” for the first Interim Minister role. Of the applications received, we asked two of the candidates to come for interviews with the Chair of our Committee and a sub-committee of the Prudential Committee (Seth Popinchalk, Jeanine Beratta, Laura Kirshenbaum and Scott Hayman). After interviewing both candidates and doing background and reference checks, we unanimously recommended that Reverend Gary Kowalski be offered the position. We are delighted to report that Reverend Kowalski has accepted our offer and has been hired as our Minister for the remainder of the current church year, beginning February 1, 2013.

Reverend Kowalski earned a B.A. cum laude from Harvard College in 1977 and a Masters in Divinity from Harvard Divinity School in 1982. He was a Merrill Fellow at the Harvard Divinity School in 1996 and has served as a religious professional for over 30 years as both a settled and interim minister. He was called by the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Seattle, WA in 1982 where he served until 1989 and was then called by the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington, Vermont, where he served until 2010. 

He recently served as the Interim Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and was the Interim Minister most recently at the First Parish of Sudbury, Massachusetts.  Reverend Kowalski has authored and published several books, numerous articles and received a number of prestigious awards.  

Reverend Kowalski’s references reported that he was strong in the areas of pastoral care, management, and organization.  We were particularly pleased when we were repeatedly told that, in their view, Reverend Kowalski is one of the best (if not the best) “pulpit preachers” they had ever experienced. The references also told us of his commitment and persistence in challenging congregations with respect to fundraising and stewardship, and they described him as both “gracious and skillful.”  

We are delighted to have hired Gary and are very excited to see that he is already hard at work, actively preparing for his ministry to the members of our Parish and his entry into the community where we (and his daughter, who is currently a graduate student at Clark University) live. Gary has been married for 31 years to attorney Dori Jones. In addition to their daughter Holly, they have a son Noah who is earning his master's degree in international relations at American University in Washington, D.C.  

David Spanagel, Interim Minister Search and Transition Committee Chair

davidspanagel@comcast.net