UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CONGREGATION OF COLUMBIA

Board of Trustees

Minutes of CALLED MEETING  April 6, 2015

Attendance

Regina Moody, Marc Drews, Patty Drews, Sandy Chubon, Bob Whitaker, Richard Culler, Caroline Eastman, Gareth Fenley, Tim VanDenBerg, Ivy Coleman, Robin Scherer, Dot Brown.

Absent:  Janet Swigler, Neal Jones.

Call to Order

Regina Moody called the meeting to order.

MINISTER’S RESIGNATION

This meeting was called because our Minister, Neal Jones, resigned effective June 30, 2015.  Regina has talked with several people from the UUA: Connie Goodbread, the District Executive; Rev. Ken Hurto, Regional Lead, Southern Region; and Rev. Keith Kron from the Office of Transitions in Boston.  Apparently we will be working most closely with Connie Goodbread.  She will be in Columbia Tuesday, May 12, 2015 and we will be meeting with her at 6:30 PM.

Neal has recommended strongly that we hire an interim minister for a year or two while we search for a settled minister.  The UUA staff with whom Regina talked concurred with Neal’s recommendation.  After some discussion, Marc moved that the Board would apply for an interim minister.  Bob seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.

The UUA has a well defined process by which congregations obtain interim ministers; they cycle through the process twice a year.  The next deadline to apply for an interim minister is April 17.  The staff assured Regina that meeting that deadline is doable.

The process of obtaining an interim minister is carried out by a 3-person task force, called the Interim Task Force (ITF), usually a subcommittee of the board of trustees.  The board reached immediate consensus that Marc Drews should serve on the ITF.  Other members who were able and willing to serve volunteered and an election was held to select the other two members: Dot Brown and Sandy Chubon.  The ITF will submit the application for an interim minister; the UUA staff will select interim minister candidates who match our needs and send their applications to our ITF.  When our ITF finds a suitable match, they will recommend to the board that we hire that individual.  When the board agrees with the ITF’s recommendation, we will make an offer to the applicant.  The congregation is not involved in this process; we do not meet the interim minister until after he/she is hired.  THE PROCESS IS HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL.  THE ITF DOES NOT REVEAL ANY INFORMATION ABOUT CANDIDATES UNTIL THEY RECOMMEND ONE TO THE BOARD.  Regina assured us that any member of the ITF who violates the confidentiality of the process will be removed from the ITF.

When an interim minister is chosen a Transition Team will be appointed by the Board of Trustees.  This will be a group of 5-7 members widely known and respected and well acquainted with the congregation’s history.   Their role is to provide the Interim Minister with insight, organizational and facilitative talent, and willing hands.  No one who has served on the Shared Ministry Committee during the tenure of the last minister will be eligible to serve on the Transition Team.

When we are ready to find a settled minister, a search committee will be formed.  The congregation will be much more involved in that search.  We have some provisions in our bylaws about the selection of a settled minister so our process will follow our bylaws plus the recommended steps advocated by the UUA.

Minutes recorded by

Sandy Chubon

Secretary