Unity's Ministerial Search Team is asking the congregation to participate in all three of these opportunities to help shape our collective future as we search for our next settled minister.
As we embark on a church year of transition, the Ministerial Search Team invites you to complete a survey exploring who we are as a congregation, where we’ve been together, and where we hope to be in the future. The survey covers Sunday services, programming, our congregation, and asks for demographic information. All of this information is critical to the search process. The MST will use it to understand the hopes, aspirations, and anxieties of our congregation in this time of transition, and to communicate who we are to potential ministerial candidates who will be eager to learn more about us.
We’ll be honest. The survey is long. We have done our best to consolidate questions and tailor the survey to align with the congregational record that will be shared with potential applicants. You can expect to spend 20-30 minutes completing this survey. We thank you in advance for your time and care in filling this out with openness and honesty. The survey will remain open until September 30. |
The Ministerial Search Team is holding a series of Listening Sessions to gather responses to important questions regarding the search for our next settled minister. Each session will be one and a half hours long, with participants dividing into small groups so that all voices are heard. This is a chance to have a conversation with others in our community about our future. Please see below the special invitation to BIPOC members of Unity Church.
Listening Sessions via Zoom (online)
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Part 1: Friday, October 15 • 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Part 2: Saturday, October 16 • 1:00-2:30 p.m. Please plan to attend both workshop sessions. The Beyond Categorical Thinking workshop, for all congregants at Unity Church and led by a skilled trainer from the Unitarian Universalist Association, is designed to promote inclusive thinking and prevent unfair discrimination during a congregation’s search for a settled minister. Unity’s participation will send the message to prospective candidates that we are eager to mitigate a narrow mindset that might otherwise affect the search process and limit our options to the detriment of our community. This is the work of building a community free from systemic oppression. |
Special Invitation for BIPOC Members
Our search for a new settled minister is underway and we need your help. If you identify as BIPOC we would like to invite you to make your voice heard at a Listening Session for BIPOC members only.
You have no doubt heard that the MST is hosting a series of Listening Sessions during September and October. These are open-invitation sessions of various sizes, designed to engage congregants in this phase of the ministerial search. We want to learn how the congregation perceives Unity today and what is most important as we move toward a new settled ministry.
As BIPOC (Black, indigenous, people of color) members of Unity Church we may be few in numbers but our opinion matters greatly when we think about the present and the future of the church. We’d like to learn what you believe to be the role of BIPOC members as partners in the leadership and visioning for Unity. We’ll also talk about what qualities of ministerial leadership are important to the meaningful welcome and inclusion of BIPOC members into this community.
To that end, we invite you to participate in a special Listening Session. Your participation in this Session means you will not need to attend any other Session but are welcome to do so if you wish. We will schedule this Session and designate a “meeting place” (could be a physical room or a virtual one) as soon as we learn how many are interested in participating. We are well aware that until now a BIPOC group such as this has rarely if ever been gathered together in this way but as a valued members of our Unity community we hope this will spark more such opportunities.
If interested or if you have questions, please respond by September 19 to: lia.rivamonte@gmail.com.
We are excited to meet with you and hope to hear from you soon.
Lia Rivamonte, Avi Viswanathan, and Morgan France-Ramirez
BIPOC members of the Ministerial Search Team
You have no doubt heard that the MST is hosting a series of Listening Sessions during September and October. These are open-invitation sessions of various sizes, designed to engage congregants in this phase of the ministerial search. We want to learn how the congregation perceives Unity today and what is most important as we move toward a new settled ministry.
As BIPOC (Black, indigenous, people of color) members of Unity Church we may be few in numbers but our opinion matters greatly when we think about the present and the future of the church. We’d like to learn what you believe to be the role of BIPOC members as partners in the leadership and visioning for Unity. We’ll also talk about what qualities of ministerial leadership are important to the meaningful welcome and inclusion of BIPOC members into this community.
To that end, we invite you to participate in a special Listening Session. Your participation in this Session means you will not need to attend any other Session but are welcome to do so if you wish. We will schedule this Session and designate a “meeting place” (could be a physical room or a virtual one) as soon as we learn how many are interested in participating. We are well aware that until now a BIPOC group such as this has rarely if ever been gathered together in this way but as a valued members of our Unity community we hope this will spark more such opportunities.
If interested or if you have questions, please respond by September 19 to: lia.rivamonte@gmail.com.
We are excited to meet with you and hope to hear from you soon.
Lia Rivamonte, Avi Viswanathan, and Morgan France-Ramirez
BIPOC members of the Ministerial Search Team
Ministerial Search Team Covenant
- We welcome each other with all our differences and needs, acknowledging that we all have good intentions, and always seeking to deepen our bonds.
- We will speak openly and take initiative, yet practice humility and grace.
- We will acknowledge the past, present, and future within, among, and beyond us.
- We will center Unity’s mission, values, and ends in this process.
- We will honor and abide by the wisdom of the UUA Settlement Handbook.
- We will safeguard the sacred trust of our congregation by informing as transparently as possible, listening with an open heart, and engaging broadly.
- We commit to seeking equity, justice, and inclusion throughout the search process, mindful of our own personal, cultural, and social biases and assumptions so that, to the best of our ability, they are not a barrier to a fair and fruitful outcome.
Ministerial Search Team
The Ministerial Search Team, appointed by the board and congregation in the fall of 2019, has begun the work that will result in the selection of new minister(s) in the spring of 2022. To contact the MST please send an email to mst@unityunitarian.org.
Transition Updates
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Meet The Rev. Jen CrowUnity's transitions coach from the UUA is The Rev. Jen Crow, senior co-minister at First Universalist Church of Minneapolis (and a former Unity Church intern minister!). Rev. Crow led a special meeting of the congregation to help build our understanding of how the search for our next called ministers will be conducted.
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