Ministerial Search Committee NEWS - February 27, 2013 - THREE QUESTIONS AND THREE ANSWERS
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Toby Smith Ropeik
Feb 27, 2013, 11:08:14 AM2/27/13
to firstpari...@googlegroups.com
Three Questions & Three Answers
1. Why does the congregation only get to meet one candidate during Candidating Week?
Answer: The role of the Search Committee is to represent the congregation and put in the considerable time required to find the best minister for First Parish. This effort requires hours of reading, research, reference checking, interviewing, and listening to sermons. There is no way that the FULL congregation could devote that kind of time to get to know multiple candidates well enough to determine which person is the best choice. This decision is too important to rely on first impressions, brief interactions, or two sermons made during candidating week.
In addition, our next Senior Minister will want our vote to call to be in excess of 90% in favor. You can imagine that if our congregation met multiple candidates, that kind of plurality would be impossible to achieve. Instead, we would likely wind up with divided opinions. The search process we follow requires the congregation to place its trust in the members of this MSC, just as it has during previous ministerial searches.
2. How does the offer to the minister get made?
Answer: All UU churches in search this year make a phone call at the same time, on the same day to the candidate of their choice. Because candidates usually express interest in multiple churches, it is the minister who gets to decide which church to accept, if s/he gets multiple offers. This is why it IS POSSIBLE for us to extend an offer to a minister who then elects to go elsewhere. If this were to happen, the MSC would either extend an offer to a second minister we feel is also an excellent match. Or, if we haven’t reached consensus on a second minister, First Parish would then hire a new interim minister for one year and a new search committee would launch a new search during the 2013-14 church year.
3. When do we find out the name of the minister the MSC has chosen?
Answer: If the MSC extends an offer that is accepted by our minister of choice, then the Ministerial Compensation Committee gets to work finalizing a ministerial contract. That contract must be signed by both the minister and our Standing Committee BEFORE our candidate’s name is announced. PLEASE NOTE: the signed contract is contingent on a better than 90% vote in favor by the full congregation on May 5, 2013. If the margin of the vote to call is less than our chosen minister wants, s/he can decide not to come. If the margin is less than 90%, First Parish can also void the contract. The announcement of the candidate’s name will be made sometime in April before Candidating Week begins.
Please let us know if you have more questions. John Boynton (j...@firehousecapital.com), Caroline McCloy (cmcc...@aol.com), Rhoda Miller (rhod...@aol.com), Toby Smith Ropeik (t...@tobyasmith.com), Terry Rothermel (ter...@verizon.net), Mary-Wren vanderWilden (vander...@verizon.net), Fred Van Deusen (fredv...@gmail.com), Alec Walker (alecw...@aol.com)
Best, Toby
--
Toby Smith Ropeik
978.369.0007
E-mail: t...@tobyasmith.com
1. Why does the congregation only get to meet one candidate during Candidating Week?
Answer: The role of the Search Committee is to represent the congregation and put in the considerable time required to find the best minister for First Parish. This effort requires hours of reading, research, reference checking, interviewing, and listening to sermons. There is no way that the FULL congregation could devote that kind of time to get to know multiple candidates well enough to determine which person is the best choice. This decision is too important to rely on first impressions, brief interactions, or two sermons made during candidating week.
In addition, our next Senior Minister will want our vote to call to be in excess of 90% in favor. You can imagine that if our congregation met multiple candidates, that kind of plurality would be impossible to achieve. Instead, we would likely wind up with divided opinions. The search process we follow requires the congregation to place its trust in the members of this MSC, just as it has during previous ministerial searches.
2. How does the offer to the minister get made?
Answer: All UU churches in search this year make a phone call at the same time, on the same day to the candidate of their choice. Because candidates usually express interest in multiple churches, it is the minister who gets to decide which church to accept, if s/he gets multiple offers. This is why it IS POSSIBLE for us to extend an offer to a minister who then elects to go elsewhere. If this were to happen, the MSC would either extend an offer to a second minister we feel is also an excellent match. Or, if we haven’t reached consensus on a second minister, First Parish would then hire a new interim minister for one year and a new search committee would launch a new search during the 2013-14 church year.
3. When do we find out the name of the minister the MSC has chosen?
Answer: If the MSC extends an offer that is accepted by our minister of choice, then the Ministerial Compensation Committee gets to work finalizing a ministerial contract. That contract must be signed by both the minister and our Standing Committee BEFORE our candidate’s name is announced. PLEASE NOTE: the signed contract is contingent on a better than 90% vote in favor by the full congregation on May 5, 2013. If the margin of the vote to call is less than our chosen minister wants, s/he can decide not to come. If the margin is less than 90%, First Parish can also void the contract. The announcement of the candidate’s name will be made sometime in April before Candidating Week begins.
Please let us know if you have more questions. John Boynton (j...@firehousecapital.com), Caroline McCloy (cmcc...@aol.com), Rhoda Miller (rhod...@aol.com), Toby Smith Ropeik (t...@tobyasmith.com), Terry Rothermel (ter...@verizon.net), Mary-Wren vanderWilden (vander...@verizon.net), Fred Van Deusen (fredv...@gmail.com), Alec Walker (alecw...@aol.com)
Best, Toby
--
Toby Smith Ropeik
978.369.0007
E-mail: t...@tobyasmith.com
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