Messages and communications from the Ministerial Search Committee will be posted here in date order (latest and most current being first).

11/16/2011 E-mail to the Congregation:

MINISTERIAL SEARCH COMMITTEE (MSC) NEWS

Our Congregational Record (CR) is now on line with the UUA, and, according to Rev. Barbara Child, we already have ministers indicating they are interested in us.  We have to be patient and wait for the UUA to release the list of ministers in search who indicated an interest in us so that we can read their ministerial records, interview them, and check on their references.  Our packet will be done this week.  It is very comprehensive and will allow ministers to know a lot more about us.  Kees tells us the packet is 80 mb and is in a ZIP file because it is too large for an email!

Imagine opening our packet and reading six letters welcoming you to learn more about UUCFW!  Our letters are from Evan Davis, our MSC chair; Rev. Jennie Barrington, our interim minister; Rebecca Reeder, the president of our Board of Trustees; Rev. Dr. Laurie Proctor our minister emerita; Rev. Dr. Lisa Presley, our Heartland District executive; and Rev. Dr. Cynthia Landrum, president of the Heartland Chapter of the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association. Other important information in the packet is about our ministerial search committee and process of our search, the history of UUCFW (including a ministerial history), our congregational record, congregational survey, constitution, bylaws, annual report, and finances.  We included several photographs and a lot of information about our community. Lisa Johnson was very helpful in providing us with information regarding the housing market to include in the packet.

We couldn’t have done the packet without Dennis Shipley, Kees deWit, and Evan Davis.  Dennis got the ball rolling, Kees did the computer wizardry, and Evan is our editor extraordinaire. We are hopeful that ministers in search will be very impressed with both the UUCFW and Fort Wayne.  Toni Kring has developed a set of telephone interview questions for both the ministers who indicate an interest in us and for contacting and interviewing their references over the telephone. Because she has extensive experience in interviewing we are very confident we are using tried and true questions as well as those recommended by the UUA and questions that will get at the qualities our congregation has indicated are most important to them in a settled minister.  Remember, we can’t tell you who we are interviewing and who will be asked to be a pre-candidate, but we will keep you posted on our progress.

Terry Mihlbauer
MSC Secretary

08/22/2011 E-mail to the Congregation:
(and the announcements at the 08/21/11 Sunday Service)

Dear Member/Friend of UUCFW:

We are in the search for a new settled minister and we are gathering information about the membership and friends that will be used to present our church to prospective ministers.

The Ministerial Search Committee is conducting a congregational survey, and your response would be appreciated.

A large response is a good indication that our congregation is very interested in calling a settled minister.

The survey has in total 54 questions. The fixed portion of the survey should take about 30 to 45 minutes to complete. There are several open ended questions at the end.

At the bottom of each page there is a "prev" and "next" button. With these buttons you can navigate through the pages. The last page of the survey has a "Done" button. By clicking "done" the survey will be stored and can no longer be edited or changed.

Here is a link to the survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=etK_2boy9_2blippNg3AJvHm1A_3d_3d

This link is uniquely tied to this survey and your email address. Please do not forward this message.

If more than 1 person uses your E-mail account, the second person will need to access the survey through the following web link https://www.surveymonkey.co/s/MSCUUCFW2011

Thanks for your participation!

The UUCFW Ministerial Search Committee.

08/16/2011 E-mail to the Congregation:
(and the announcements at the 08/14/11 Sunday Service)

This year we are starting on a wonderful new adventure in our search for a new minister.  The search committee has been meeting weekly, working hard, are ready to kick off the first step in this adventure, and we need all of you to help.  We will begin our congregational survey next Sunday (August 21), with the beginning of our church year.  The survey will be available online and, for those who need a print copy, it will also be available at church next Sunday (or you can call Kirsten and she will send it to you).  We are asking for your thoughtful input on all the questions within a 2-week window.  So pick a quiet time, get yourself a drink (non-alcoholic), and settle back for the first “time and effort” that you are asked to provide in this search.  The Rev. Barbara Child informed us that the closer we get to 100% participation, the better it looks to prospective ministers – so now the pressure is on you to take us to the 100% bar!!!!  ARE YOU READY!!!??

We are also asking you to participate in focus groups to give us additional input into what you want our next minister to be.  We will be facilitating groups on: Monday 8/22 from 1 - 2:30 PM; Saturday 8/27 from 10 - 11:30 AM; Sunday 8/28 from 12:30 – 2 PM; and Tuesday 8/30 from 7 - 8:30 PM.  Check your calendars and sign up on the table in the gallery (they will be moved onto our bulletin board after Sunday Service).  We, on the search committee, feel confident that you will join us in a diligent effort to gather as much information as possible to attract a minister that will be a good fit for our congregation.  This is the first step.

The members of the committee are willing to listen to your thoughts and suggestions and share whatever we can on the process without breaching the confidentiality that is required in the search.  You will also be getting updates on the search process monthly in the newsletter and on the bulletin board in the gallery (next to the kitchen).  Keep yourself informed and our journey together on this adventure will hopefully have a wonderful outcome.  Here we go!!!

08/01/2011 E-mail to the Congregation:
Greetings from the Ministerial Search Committee (MSC).

For those of you who were not present, Congregational President Rebecca Reeder introduced us to all of you on a Sunday shortly after we were elected by the congregation on June 12, 2011.  On behalf of the board and the congregation, she officially commissioned us with our responsibility to lead our congregation in our search for a new settled minister.  As you know, Rev. Jennie Barrington, our Interim Minister, is with us until the end of July 2012. 

To date, we have met as a committee three times.  This past Friday night and all day Saturday, we met with Rev. Barbara Child for our retreat.  We now have our official roles and agreed upon ways to work together.  We know a lot more about the recommended UUA process to conduct our search and UUA resources.  In this process, we have also gotten to know each other a lot better and we have lots to accomplish over the next few weeks and months.

Stay tuned for more information which will arrive via email, our congregational newsletter (the nUUz), our website, and a variety of other ways.

All seven of us have on our nametags that we are on the Ministerial Search Committee and we all want to welcome you to fully engage with us (and each other) in the process of searching for our new minister.

Larry Curtis, Evan Davis, Kees deWit, Dee Koehl, Toni Kring, Terry Mihlbauer, and Dennis Shipley
Ministerial Search Committee