This winter, the Parish Committee reached out to every church member to ask whom they’d trust to be on the Search Committee for our next settled minister. To avoid conflict of interest, Parish Committee members had agreed ahead of time to recuse themselves from the selection decision making process if they themselves wished to be considered for a role on the Search Committee. This way, the selection decisions would be made only by those who were not possible candidates for the committee, and anyone the congregation named in large numbers could be invited to join the committee.Â
We received responses from the majority of church members, yielding over 750 total recommendations (respondents could suggest more than one name each). Based on this feedback, we asked the individuals whose names were mentioned most often if they would be willing and able to serve the congregation on the Search Committee. We are delighted to announce the results of this effort, in which the eight individuals who were most frequently named were asked and accepted this request to serve. We are grateful to them and to all of you in helping make this a successful process.
Once confirmed, the Search Committee will continue to assess the needs and desires of the entire congregation, through surveys and other activities. Ultimately all of us will have the final say in April or May 2014, when we have a congregation-wide vote on the final candidate to be our next minister.
As the next step in this consensual process, we invite all church members to a meeting after the service on April 28 to confirm the Search Committee as a whole, voting not for individuals but for the entire group, in a vote of confidence affirming that the congregation believes this group has been fairly chosen and will be able to assess the needs of the entire congregation and perform the other duties required of the Search Committee.
The slate is as follows:
Lea Anderson (co-chair)
Ann Gordon (co-chair)
Sandy Hoyt
Susan Keyes
Bill Morrison
David O’Leary
Nathalie Thompson
Stephen Winthrop
If you have questions about the process for selecting the Search Committee, please contact any Parish Committee member. Â