Dear Unity Church Congregants,
As you have hopefully seen in various communications, the workshop Forward Together: Next Steps is scheduled for Saturday, November 5, at 9:30 a.m., in Parish Hall, which we hope you will attend either in person or online. If you are unable to attend or experience technical difficulties during the Zoom session, this event will be recorded and shared with the congregation when it is available.
The Board of Trustees and Executive Team (ET) worked over the summer and fall to listen and learn about the events leading up to the congregational vote on May 22, 2022, that resulted in the congregation not calling our next senior minister. The November 5 workshop will provide information about our key takeaways and the interim work that lies ahead for the Board and congregation to be ready for the next search.
The Board has been careful not to make quick, reactive decisions about next steps based on any one source of information, and has purposefully taken time to reflect on the wider body of information we have gathered.
On October 11, the Board and Executive Team had a facilitated conversation with Laura Park to identify learnings from the sources of information. The Board and ET will share what they have identified as important, although likely not exhaustive, action items from this discernment. In preparation for the workshop, the Board decided it is important to share the following documents with you:
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The Ministerial Search Team (MST) report to the Board by MST members who chose to participate in the report.
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Former Interim Minister Rev. Kathy Hurt’s one page outline
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Summary Reflections of Board and ET meeting with Unitarian Universalist Association Regional Lead Rev. David Pyle (there was no formal report)
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Themes that emerged from the circle conversations provided by Rev. KP Hong, Minister of Faith Formation.
There were also many emails from congregants that we are unable to share due to confidentiality issues. You will find the above listed documents on Unity's website. Please understand that these are internal documents shared in the interest of transparency with the congregation directly impacted by and engaged in this work, and not for wider dissemination that risks loss of context and accuracy of content. It is our expectation that the contents be reviewed, reflected upon, and lifted up in faith and love to serve our way forward. We invite you to review them prior to the workshop.
The Board and ET hope that this information and the November 5 Forward Together workshop will help ensure we will be better prepared to call our next settled senior minister. In the meantime, we all have work to do and we are eager for everyone’s participation.
In Service,
Louise Livesay-Al, Chair
Unity Church Board of Trustees
