How
is the second Interim Minister search going?
We’re in the middle, but still going
strong! As you know, Reverend Kowalski told us early on that he came to us
“pre-fired” – that he would be leaving us this at the end of June. As far as we
can tell, there isn’t anyone who’s looking forward to his leaving. But that’s
what we’re faced with next, and the process we’re now undertaking is this:
Your Interim Minister Search and Transition
Committee is poised to review and recommend Interim Minister candidates to lead
us for the coming church year. Coincidentally, the Church will be just
beginning its more extensive search for our next Settled Minister and will soon
be identifying a slate of Nominees for that Search Committee.
Over the past many weeks, the UUA has made
it known to those ministers interested in Interim work, that we will have an
opening this summer and that we wish to employ someone for a 12-month
assignment on or about August 1st of this year. Interested
candidates have or will have contacted the UUA and expressed their interest, and
on Tuesday, April 23rd, the UUA will provide us with the
names and credentials of those persons. [At the same time and date, all other
churches seeking Interim Ministers are informed of the candidates who’ve
expressed interest in their churches.]
Our Interim Minister Search Committee will
then begin an intense and deliberate review of all those candidates, including
comprehensive interviews, background checks, reference checks, etc.. We will have
just 10 days from the date we will receive the candidates’ names to complete the
process and identify the candidate we’d like to hire. On Saturday May 4th,
the Church will make a formal offer to the selected candidate. [Again, all
churches seeking Interim Ministers are on this same schedule and all will be
making their offers on the same date.] If, for some reason, we’re not
successful in securing our top choice, the Church will make an offer to the
second choice, etc. until we have our next Interim Minister.
For obvious reasons, the Interim Minister
Search Committee cannot discuss any details of the candidate review process
once we receive the candidates’ names. Until then, if you have any questions
regarding the process, please feel free to contact any of the Committee
members: Jane Beckwith, Rudy Cepko, Marc Deshaies, Wendy Innis, Mike Keating,
Alicia Lenahan, or myself.
David
Spanagel, Chair, Interim Minister Search and Transition Committee
We’re very (very) pleased to be able to announce that we have secured our next Interim Minister. The Reverend Tracey Robinson-Harris has accepted our offer. Beginning in August, she will serve as Interim Minister at First Unitarian for the coming year.
ReplyDeleteReverend Robinson-Harris brings a breadth and depth of experience gathered through thirty years in ministry – from life-span religious education to a settled ministry to a leadership position in Congregational Services at the UUA and finally to her recent Interim Ministry posts. Her current interim assignment, coincidentally, is at the First Parish of Sudbury (where Gary Kowalski served as their Interim Minister before coming to Worcester)!
On April 22rd, our Committee was presented with application materials from several candidates who’d expressed interest in our Church. They were seasoned and impressive candidates who came from several different parts of the country. Our task during the next ten days was to review their materials, read or listen to available sermons and prayers and interview each candidate via phone to identify our preferred candidates. At noon on Friday May 3rd (the same date and time that all other churches seeking Interim Ministers made their phone calls!), we made our first call to the candidate at the very top of our list. Reverend Robinson-Harris delighted us by accepting the offer!
In her candidacy packet she stated, “The ministry I hope for is one in which we are deeply engaged in the task of building beloved community where all souls are welcome as blessings and the human family can live whole and reconciled …. Whatever the challenges and opportunities may be, I hope for a ministry where I can guide and assist the congregation in preparing for the next chapter of its life story.”
We’re all very pleased to have Reverend Robinson-Harris as our next Interim Minister, and we trust that you will be as well.
From the Interim Minister Search and Transition Committee
(from now on, you can just call us the “Transition Team”)