The seven-person Ministerial Search Team elected by the congregation in June includes Steve Carlson, Sallie Dacey, Rosemary Daszkiewicz, Greta Essig, Laurie Mann, Roberta Ray and Michelle Vaughan. We had our first meeting on July 12 (see photo) and will spend more time over the summer getting to know one another. We'll have our official retreat in early September.

The Unitarian Universalist Association offers deep resources to help with this process, including establishing a timeline that all congregations conducting searches follow, best practices ideas, and document templates we can use as starting points for our own work. We are still sorting through all this information.

Next steps include learning more from the congregation about our collective priorities in this ministerial search. This will include asking folks to complete a congregational survey and scheduling many opportunities to verbally share thoughts/dreams/hopes for our shared future. We will also be scheduling a congregational workshop in late fall/early winter to help everyone be best prepared to welcome a new senior minister. You’ll all be hearing more about all of these in the new church year. 

We’ll be updating you as we go in the Gatewayenewsletter, on our News blog and on the Ministerial Transition & Search page (under the ABOUT US menu) on the church's website. When you see us around church, don’t hesitate to ask questions, provide encouragement and/or submit suggestions.