Faithful Fridays: Search and Call

Faithful Fridays

Friday, July 8, 2022

Open Bible on a lectern with pews in the background

The State of Search and Call

The Rev. Dr. Stephanie Perdew

As your Transitional Associate Conference Minister, I want to update you on my role, which includes ministry for “Pastoral Transitions.” I work with clergy who are searching for new calls; with search teams seeking interim, designated, or settled ministry; and with congregations considering shared ministries, mergers or absorptions, as well as legacy planning and church closure. I am here to assist clergy in discernment about whether to search for a new call, and how to update your pastoral profile using the new UCC Engage Profile platform.

As of this week we have fifteen open searches in the Illinois Conference for both settled and interim, solo, senior and associate pastors. This is a high percentage and that is somewhat true nationwide. Some searches that were underway were slowed by the pandemic, some pastors delayed departures or retirements, and we are now seeing the flow of movement increase. In some instances, clergy are leaving parish ministry, at least for a time (see the Barna Group report on Clergy well-being: pre-pandemic and at end of 2021). More churches are in search than there are profiles being directed to those searches. Clergy are understandably still reticent about relocating given lingering COVID and economic challenges. This presents a challenge for search teams that find the landscape has changed.

Still, we are seeing interim and settled searches filled in the Illinois Conference and we are welcoming new colleagues to Illinois! When clergy are considering new calls, they need trusted colleagues in discernment. All of us can benefit from a spiritual director, a coach, a therapist, a community of practice (or all four!). Confidentiality is a hallmark and expectation of the UCC Search and Call process, and if you would like to speak to me about discernment, please rest assured we will do so in confidence. I bring twenty-five years of parish ministry and the training of a spiritual director to my work of holy listening and discernment with you.

It is a privilege to navigate this search and call landscape together with you in the Illinois Conference!

National Minority Mental Health Month

National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month takes place each July to bring awareness to the unique struggles that racial and ethnic minority communities face regarding mental illness in the United States. Download this helpful flyer from Advocate Aurora Health to find ways your congregation and community can get involved during National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month.

Manual On Church Update

The Manual On Church team has an "audacious" goal of having a draft by December. It will be a guide for local churches. And it will be a little different from anything ever available in the United Church of Christ. Despite all odds, the long-awaited Manual on Church is coming together. Learn more here.

Mural in New UCC Offices

Muralist Cbabi Bayoc creates ‘a just world for all’ in the UCC’s new offices. A boy with a mask over his face – or is it a hand? A refugee with a backpack, holding tight to her child. A same-sex couple, kissing and embracing their son. A smiling young person – gender not evident. A migrant at the border, blocked by barbed wire. An Asian mom, cradling a young one. A Holocaust survivor, showing children the tattoo on his arm. Read more here.

Service Project Curriculum

The UCC has put together a new FREE youth service project curriculum and it is now available for download from the UCC Resource store. It can be used before, during and after your youth group engages a service project. Together you will explore topics of mission, justice, privilege and teamwork which will help center your service learning opportunity in a framework for creating a Just World for All. Download the resource here.

Celebrations in Pastoral Transition!

First Congregational “Old Stone Church” UCC in Rockton, Illinois and First Congregational UCC Pecatonica, Illinois have entered into a shared ministry covenant. Rev. Bob Wang is serving as their designated minister as they live into this covenant.

Rev. Nancy Fraley began her interim ministry at St. Paul’s UCC, Hinkley this month.

Rev. Leslie Ritter-Jenkins began her interim ministry with Church of the Three Crosses UCC/UMC in Chicago this month.

Rev. Steve Welker is beginning an interim ministry with United Protestant UCC/UMC of Grayslake in July.

Rev. Tim Rhodes is departing his interim ministry with Yorkville Congregational UCC and beginning an interim ministry with St. Peter’s UCC Elmhurst in July.

Rev. Barbara Lohrbach is serving as a bridge pastor to Yorkville Congregational UCC while their search continues.

Rev. Chuck Mize, who recently retired from Glenview Community Church UCC, is beginning an interim ministry with Southminster Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) in Arlington Heights.

Rev. Mariah Marlin-Warfield is concluding her service to Church of Peace UCC, Rock Island and is discerning what shape her ministry will take next.

Rev. Rudra Dundzila will begin his designated ministry with Hope UCC, Naperville at the end of summer.

You are receiving this email because you are listed on our Conference e-mail list, one of our leadership/committee email lists, or because you previously subscribed to receive our e-newsletters. PLEASE NOTE: if you unsubscribe from this email you will no longer receive our monthly newsletter.

This communication is made possible by your contributions to

Our Church's Wider Mission (OCWM)

FAITHFUL FRIDAYS is published by the Illinois Conference of the United Church of Christ, 1840 Westchester Blvd, Suite 200, Westchester, IL 60154. The Rev. Molly Carlson, Conference Minister; Sarah Lohrbach, Editor. Copy may be sent to: SarahLohrbach@ilucc.org.