First Parish Unitarian Universalist
Canton, Massachusetts

Ministerial Search Committee

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Beyond Categorical Thinking (BCT) Workshop

The Ministerial Search Committee will be sponsoring a Beyond Categorical Thinking (BCT) workshop on Sunday, February 28, 2010, after morning service. It is important for members of the church to attend.

What is Beyond Categorical Thinking? The Beyond Categorical Thinking (BCT) program works with Unitarian Universalist congregations to promote inclusive thinking and help prevent unfair discrimination in the ministerial search process. During the BCT visit, we at First Parish will learn more about our institutional culture, examine ways we can be more inclusive in our consideration of ministerial candidates, and surface subtle and often unintentional, unconscious biases that would affect the search process.

In doing this work together, we as a congregation and the Search Committee as your representative can then be as open as possible to find and accept the right candidate for our next settled minister whether that person identifies as a person of color; as Latin/Latino/Hispanic; as bisexual, gay, lesbian, and/or transgender; or as a person with a disability.

Child care facilities with qualified personnel in attendance will be available.

The members of the Ministerial Search Committee encourage you to, and how that you will, join us in this important work of better understanding our own selves and our collective thoughts as a congregation.

Leadership Letter to the Congregation

December 17, 2009

Dear Members and Friends of First Parish,

While the search for a new settled minister by the Ministerial Search Committee is in postponement, the interim work of the congregation — the process that requires us to look within ourselves as a faith community for our strengths and weaknesses — is ongoing. Finding out who we are is the first step; determining and reflecting on what we want to become is the next. Rev. Cricket Potter, as our interim minister, serves as our facilitator in this all-important task, and is actively participating and guiding us in this journey of self-reflection.

The interim work thus far has involved two basic modes: Open Forums, where the entire congregation is invited to express views and give input regarding where we are as a faith community and Leadership Meetings where the various members of strategic committees meet to help understand the concerns of the congregation and formulate plan — a vision — for the future of First Parish.

This is an opportunity — maybe it's an obligation as well — for the members and friends of the congregation to actively become involved in helping to lay out the "“road map" for First Parish’s future. It is so important for each member to express — and to be heard — on the important matters that affect First Parish. Strengths, as well as weaknesses, must be explored. Shying away from either will serve no purpose.

Over the past several months both Open Forums and Leadership Meetings have been conducted, the most recent Open Forum was after Sunday services on November 8th and the last Leadership Meeting was held on Saturday, November 21st. That's right, Saturday. At this meeting, the leadership of First Parish took the hopes and concerns you shared at the recent Open Forum and formulated those into goals and priorities for us as a community of faith to focus on over the next year or so. We now need to review those goals with all of you and commit to what we will work on together.

We have scheduled an Open Forum right after the service on Sunday, January 10th, for this purpose. Childcare will be provided. We are hoping to see you there. The future of our congregation — your congregation — will be explored, and we all need to be a part of its success.

Please do read through the attached notes from our November Leadership Meeting because we will be using these notes as the basis of our discussion at the January 10th Open Forum.

Thank you for your engagement in this process,

/s/ Kitty McGregor, President, Parish Committee
/s/ Gary Casaly, Chairman, Ministerial Search Committee

Update (11/19/09)

The Ministerial Search Committee, in an effort to keep you updated, wants you to know that we have nearly completed the Congregational Record (the “Resume” of our church that will ultimately be “unveiled” to prospective ministers on the UUA website when our searching proceeds forward) and will shortly begin to assemble the “Packet” that will be distributed to interested ministers as they apply to be settled ministers at our church. While we continue our work in the “background” we will be among you and have our hands on the pulse of the church waiting for the signal from its leadership to proceed again with our active search. Be assured that your Ministerial Search Committee will be ready!

Leadership Letter to the Congregation

October 9, 2009

Dear Members and Friends of First Parish,

As you know, a Leadership Strategic Planning Meeting was held on Saturday, October 3rd, for your elected leadership to discuss the current health of our congregation and decide whether to add another year of interim ministry in order to more fully engage in essential interim work before calling a new settled minister. After a morning of discussion and careful consideration, the First Parish Leadership team reached a consensus decision to postpone the Ministerial Search process for one year.

This important meeting had been scheduled by our interim minister, Rev. Cricket Potter, because she had observed, after just a few weeks with us that we may not have made sufficient progress on the developmental tasks of interim ministry to allow us to enter into a successful search for a permanent minister. Rev. Cricket shared with us that there are five developmental tasks, which are essential to any congregation’s process of accomplishing a healthy transition from a previous settled minister to a new settled minister. These five tasks are:

1. Claiming and honoring the congregation’s past and healing its griefs and conflicts;
2. Illuminating the congregation’s unique identity, its strengths, its needs, and its challenges;
3. Clarifying the multiple dimensions of leadership, both ordained and lay, and navigating the shifts in leadership that accompany times of transition;
4. Renewing connections with available resources within and beyond the Unitarian Universalist Association;
5. Enabling the congregation to renew its vision, strengthen its stewardship, prepare for new professional leadership, and engage its future with anticipation and zest.

Rev. Cricket astutely observed that these developmental tasks did not receive the appropriate time or energy during our first year of interim ministry. While the Ministerial Search Committee has done a lot of good and important work in pursuing the ministerial search process, the internal work that a congregation needs to do with its interim minister lagged behind significantly.

In fact, the Ministerial Search Committee was on track for fulfilling the critical task of completing the Application for Minister and Congregational Record by the Unitarian Universalist Association’s deadline of October 31st. The timing of our decision to proceed or postpone the search process was ultimately constrained by the UUA’s timeline, and we could not wait to make this important decision.

At the October 3rd Leadership Meeting, Rev. Cricket guided 23 members of the First Parish Leadership team through a discussion of where we are and where we want to be in relation to our Vision and Purpose Statement. If you recall, we adopted our Vision and Purpose Statement at the 2005 Annual Meeting as part of our Strategic Planning process to describe a future that we want to build together.

During the October 3rd meeting, the group reached a consensus decision that we need additional time to reflect and renew ourselves before calling a new settled minister. We considered the possibility that, without more careful examination of the interim tasks described above, we may not be able to call and attract the new settled minister that we seek. In addition, how might ministerial candidates perceive our ability to support and nurture a full-time ministerial position, when our current year’s budget woes led us to reduce the interim minister position to 3/4 time?

The leadership group also discussed how fortunate we are to have an interim minister who is particularly skillful at holding a mirror for us to use to reflect upon and learn from some of the hard truths that we may need to hear. In a relatively brief time period, Rev. Cricket has already shown us that she is willing and able to help us to grow through the interim process. Why wouldn’t we want to maximize our time with her? In conclusion, the First Parish Leadership team reached a consensus decision to postpone our ministerial search for one year and seek to extend our interim ministry with Rev. Cricket. As part of the consensus decision-making process, each leader agreed to support the decision of the group. Stay tuned to hear about next steps. The coming months should be a time of great excitement and energy as we re-examine our past, contemplate our present and envision our future.

So that we have a chance to hear from you regarding this decision, we have scheduled an Open Forum for Sunday, October 18th, following the worship service. Your input is important because ultimately this is our faith community and our interim process, and we will all be called upon to do our part as members and friends of First Parish. Childcare will be available for any individuals who need it, and more information about this open forum will be provided in next week’s mid-week announcements.

Submitted respectfully with great care and concern for the future of First Parish,

Parish Committee
Committee Chairs
Transition Team
Ministerial Search Committee

Survey Results

The survey results are in.

• Adult survey summary (PDF, 146 KB)
• Youth survey summary (PDF, 26 KB)

Cottage Meeting Notes
Compilation from 3 meetings (total of 28 attendees)

Compilation (same information as below) (PDF, 28 KB)

Question 1: Looking back after our minister has been with us for a year, what will success look and feel like at FP?

• More people in the pews.
• We'll be thinking about possibilities, not limitations.
• Not consumed by financial issues; we are spending energy being a church.
• Not defined by financial limits.
• More diverse congregation (gay, people of color, varied ages, more kids)
• FPUU more known in the Town of Canton for good things.
• More social action; more externally focused.
• More outsiders are using our facility for weddings, funerals, etc.
• More interchange with other UU and other faith communities.
• More regular attendance at Sunday services.
• Considering year-round services.
• More kids in RE.
• RE program attracting families.
• Sermons would be more nourishing to men to encourage attendance on Sunday mornings.
• Children's Garden Pre-school more integrated with FPUU church life.
• Most people have not left FPUU.
• People smile as they walk in the door and as they walk out.
• We will feel the minister knows us as individuals.
• Sense of forward direction.
• We are looking forward to 2nd year.
• We will have a sense of direction.
• Sense of wholeness within to start tackling outreach and community work.
• More diversity in pews.
• Variety of ages in sanctuary on Sundays.
• Having children who want to be here.
• Feeling we can accomplish anything regardless of difficulties encountered.
• Experiencing much excitement as we prepare minister’s installation.
• Sense of belonging at FPUU.
• Good attendance at FPUU sponsored events.
• Feeling inspired by services.
• Inspiring service with direct contact/inclusion/engagement by minister to congregants.
• New staff (minister, DRE) working together successfully.
• All are fully engaged due to minister.
• Feeling there is enough - $$, volunteers – to do all we want to do. Living within our means and not feeling we are lacking resources.
• Larger membership, new members.
• We will look more like a religious institution and less like a business, moving from a business model to stewardship model.
• More children.
• Thought provoking sermons with subsequent discussions ie: sermon circles that include minister and guest ministers.
• Prompts from sermon at coffee hour to stimulate further discussions/conversation.
• Have a place to discuss current issues.
• Place to discuss current stressors in our lives ie: job transitions, perhaps in a covenant group model.
• Change our culture to be less individually oriented and to develop more of a group church culture; need to discuss within church community.
• Hold issue oriented discussion groups that include minister.
• Church to be prepared for 'fallout' of discussion groups.
• At end of year begin assessing whether we are on right track together with minister.
• Do survey on regular basis to assess where we are and need to go and to evaluate church leadership.
• Better communication among us, especially with those who can not attend Sunday service.
• More comprehensive newsletter.
• Occasional worship services at alternative day/time.

Question 2: After a year, what will we know and love about our minister?

• Their heart is shared with us.
• They have a pleasant speaking voice that facilitates enjoyment of sermons.
• Good public speaker.
• Shares our values.
• Is enthusiastic, energetic and has a sense of humor.
• Knows how to take care of self and us – boundaries between personal life and church life are not an issue.
• Has a love of children.
• Joyous, sociable, outgoing, extroverted.
• Likes to be connected to ALL congregants (not just to those in leadership roles).
• Connected to Canton and larger community.
• Empowers congregants to take on roles as caregivers, connect with others and plan activities.
• Knows how to delegate.
• Is comfortable talking about Judeo-Christian faiths, so as not to exclude those who celebrate their religious backgrounds.
• Respects and uses a "language of reverence," including references to g/God (by whatsoever name we worship).
• Does not feed our phobia of spirituality.
• He/She is fully engaged.
• Sense of humor.
• Feels inspired.
• Is intellectually inspiring (or not).
• Minister helps us know and help ourselves – is a catalyst for cohesiveness.
• Has brought us together.
• Is positive person, likes music, likes children, thinks positively.
• Cares for and knows our youth.
• Is 'warm and fuzzy (?)' – sincerely caring and warm.
• Is creative and insightful.
• "Gets" us and has pride in what we have pride in.
• Is willing to embrace spirituality at all FPUU gatherings including didactic mtgs.
• Will have a friendship with minister – know about their family, interests/sharing.
• Minister is not afraid to try new things even when there is conflict – will address conflict and facilitate us moving forward.
• Is willing to listen to old and new members.
• Is a facilitator, nurturing and supportive.
• Is prompt, organized.
• Service begins and ends on time; makes adjustments if Joys/Concerns too long/too brief.
• Has good balance/boundaries of their needs and those of congregation.
• As minister their calling is to care for others vs. need for private space – need for balance.
• Is more present in the FPUU community, more local, less commute time.
• Accepts our prior traditions and backgrounds as individuals.
• Knows and practices 1st and all 7 UU Principles.
• Age preference? Attendees expressed wish for experienced minister, with life experiences if not lengthy ministerial experience to add interest to sermons and to "handle" congregation as "we are difficult." Others suggested considering a recently graduated minister due to our small size and salary considerations.
• Is self-assured enabling him/her to do all other aspects previously stated.
• Acknowledgement that we will have to work with minister to help him/her meet our expectations.
• We will feel comfortable speaking directly with him/her.
• They are available yet have good personal boundaries.
• Emphasis on boundaries to be different from current policy/contractual boundaries.
• They will lead by example and not just by words.
• They are open to listen to different ideas and don’t solve problems unless asked.
• Is hospitable and welcoming.
• Flexibility with their time availability, choices of what to get involved in and arranges coverage when not available.
• Understands their role.
• Good communicator.
• Has inspirational relationship with our children/youth.
• Is geographically close so is more involved in our community.
• Doesn’t hibernate in office/home; is accessible.
• Helps us grow, supports change and is capable of facilitating difficult discussions/decisions.
• Keeps us organized and focused.
• WALKS ON WATER YET IS HUMAN!!!!