Ministerial Transition & Search

The two-year interim transition period provides the breathing space during which our congregation can review its goals, assess its programs, consider the quality of its life in common, and “tune up” for a new era. It allows our congregation to grow into and own its new identity, independent of both positive and negative feelings about the previous ministry and operational practices. The transition time can be exciting, even transformative, when devoted to self-examination and community renewal.

The interim period focuses our congregation within—to realize that our resilience transcends individual leaders. The first year of transition includes discernment, conversations, curiosity and self-awareness about our current and future states as individuals and as a beloved faith community. For example, grief can arise with change and can simmer or surface at different points during the transition time. Listening to what this grief has to teach us and our community is a part of the congregational work during the transition time. The second year of transition evolves through a process of renewal and innovation in the spirit of joy and growth as we build our bright future together and prepare for our permanent settled minister.

Openness and readiness greatly impact how our interim minister, staff, lay leadership, volunteers and church members work together. Telling stories of important experiences in the life of the church is a part of finding what makes our community unique. In addition to the inward facing work, the transition time also focuses our congregation outward—to thoughtfully discern what the world asks of us now and in the coming years.

Reverend Doug Wadkins is a specially trained and accredited UUA clergy member with extensive experience serving congregations as an interim minister. He was selected by a congregational search committee and hired by the Board to fulfill the pastoral, institutional, operational, and special organizational needs of the church during the two-year transition time.

An interim minister is not eligible for candidacy as the called minister in the church where they serve as interim. Reverend Doug assists the congregation in moving beyond its last ministry and equipping itself for a new, different ministry. Because interim ministers are intentionally temporary, they are well-positioned to shine light on difficult truths and to effect changes that help move a congregation toward greater health, readying them for a new ministry.

A congregation is a system of interconnected programs and relationships and one change may lead to others. During the interim period, it’s very common for a variety of leadership transitions to take place as people respond to changes in the system. Sometimes staff ultimately decide that the time is right for them to move on. Staff and longtime active lay leaders may decide to step back or shift roles, while others step up as they see new leadership opportunities emerge.

Discernment about matters of equity, diversity, inclusion and social justice is a natural fit with interim work – because it is part of the process of self-reflection and renewal. UUC’s unique history and culture, combined with the gifts and personalities of our congregants and staff, result in doing things a certain way and how our church operates.The transition period is a good time to question: Who in our community feels a true sense of belonging? Whose voices are heard? How might formal policies and processes, coupled with informal patterns, favor some individuals or identities over others? This is a time to openly explore norms, assumptions, and unconscious biases and to forge a pathway forward that welcomes all into our beloved community and allows us to live into our values.

The Transition Team and Reverend Doug meet at least monthly to reflect on a range of congregational topics that emerge during the transition period. The Team provides a conduit for suggestions, concerns and feedback from the congregation at large. It also helps determine priorities and focus for transitional work and advises on how best to facilitate communication and transparency. The Transition Team engages the congregation to educate, answer questions, and correct misinformation regarding interim ministry. At the end of the transition time, the team facilitates the creation of a “good goodbye” for the interim minister and assists in planning a welcome for our new minister.

UUC’s Interim Ministry Transition Team is not directly involved with the work of the UUC Ministerial Search Committee – other than to assist as needed or requested with communication and information exchange. See the Ministerial Search section of this page for more information.