MINISTER SEARCH NEWS
| The meeting began with the announcement that Jeanette Monterio, our transitional consultant and Spiritual Leader will complete her assignment at Unity of Indianapolis at the end of her contract in February. Jeanette will lead her last Sunday Service on February 7. Jeanette described ministerial search activities that will take place in the remaining weeks of December as well as January and February of 2010. Below is the projected time line to begin the search and prepare for Jeanette's departure: |
| DECEMBER 6 COMMUNITY MEETING OVERVIEW |
- Those interested in serving on the Search Committee must have their
application submitted by December 31. If you were not at the meeting
and would like an application, please see Angie Miller. - The Board of Trustees has/will appoint(ed) three members to the Search
Committee. - Angie Miller will receive the Ministerial Search Application from the
Association of Unity Churches by December 15 and begin filling it out. - Applications for three open positions will be reviewed and filled. When
six committee members have been selected, they will select a seventh
member. - Also at the January 3 meeting, the congregation will participate in
developing the qualities most important to them in a minister. - The Search Committee will meet for the first time the first week of
January. - Once the qualities for a minister have been decided and added to the
Association of Unity Churches application, it will be sent back to the
Association. The Association will distribute the information to
prospective ministers. - There will be an update on the search progress at another CommUNITY
Meeting on January 17. The timeline will also be updated if necessary.
| Below is a PDF of the Hiring a New Unity Minister--Recommended Procedures Manual and the Association of Unity Churches qualifications for becoming a Unity Minister and the . |
| When you see the dove flying with minister search news you can click on it to reach this page! |
| Unity Ministerial Search Manual |
Qualifications to
Become a Unity
Minister
Become a Unity
Minister
| JANUARY 3 COMMUNITY MEETING OVERVIEW |
| 1. The deadline for applications to serve on the Search Committee has been extended to Sunday, January 17. Those present were assured that this will not delay the overall search for a minister. 2. Jeanette Monterio explained that her last official day in her current position will be February 9. She stressed the importance of everyone assuming responsibility to keep the church running smoothly until a minister is hired. Those who had not yet signed up to serve on a committee were asked to do so. Although the Board is primarily responsible for keeping things on track, they will depend heavily on committee chairs and members to follow through on planned activities and support fund raising events and efforts. 3. After a brief meditation, Jeanette explained that, although the input given at this meeting is important in defining qualifications, after candidates are identified and recommended by the Search Committee and presented to the Board for further review, the congregation will also have an opportunity to hear minister applicants speak during a Sunday service and can take a class taught by each applicant. They will then be given an opportunity to indicate whether they could support a ministry led by each individual potential minister. The results of this information will be tabulated by the Board for a final decision. 4. Those present were asked to shout out what qualities are important to them for a minister. A long list was compiled. Then by counting raised hands it was determined how many people felt that each quality named was important to them. Each person was to limit their votes to the three (3) qualities most important. This narrowed the list considerably. There were four (4) categories that emerged as most important: INSPIRATIONAL Is Motivational, Charismatic, Visionary INTEGRITY Is Ethical, Honest and Open MUSIC Understands the Role of a Strong Music Program as an Important Part of Our Spritual Experience FAMILY MINISTRY Undertands the Role of Youth Education in supporting children, youth & families and positions Unity of Indianapolis as an incubator for future Unity members. |
| JANUARY 17 COMMUNITY MEETING OVERVIEW |
| FROM ANGIE MILLER, BOARD LIASON FOR THE SEARCH COMMITTEE Maria Burgess, the Search Committee Chair, announced that she and/or Angie Miller would be in touch with applicants to schedule short discussions, question/answer sessions and then name the committee members by the following Sunday. it’s important to review the actual responsibilities of the committee with the applicants and ensure that the tasks are in line with what they expect….we would like to avoid having an applicant appointed and then find that it’s not the kind of work that they thought it would be. Following these discussions the list of applicants will be given to the Board ….the board is responsible for appointing the final committee (with the exception of one member who is selected by the appointed committee members themselves). |
| FEBRUARY 7 COMMUNITY MEETING OVERVIEW |
| Maria Burgess, the Search Committee Chair, announced the names of those appointed to the committee: Janell Collins, Mike Coyle, Dena Elbracht, Mike Ferns and Jim Graber. Angie Miller is the Board Representative on the committee and Doris Ogborn and Stella Patrick will act as Alternates. Alternates will attend all meetings and take over if a someone cannot continue serving on the committee. There first meeting will be Sunday, February 14 at noon. Although the committee cannot respond to questions about specific applicants, the number of resumes received will be communicated as the process continues. The committee's progress will be reported at the CommUNITY meeting on the first Sunday of each month. |
| Nine applications have been received to-date. The committee has been busy watching videos and reading resumes. One candidate has been interviewed by the committee and passed on to the Board for consideration. |
| MAY 2 COMMUNITY MEETING OVERVIEW |
| JUNE 6 COMMUNITY MEETING OVERVIEW |
| Angie Miller, the Board Laison to the Search Committee spoke about the progress of the Committee so far. Mike Ferns, a Committee Member displayed a diagram of the Search Process and where we are in that process at this time. A PDF of the diagram is included at the right. 10 applications have been received 9 applicants processed completely 1 applicant left to be processed 3 applicants forwarded to the Board for their review 1 applicant rejected by Board 2 applicants to be processed by Board. It is possible that we will receive more applicants. A question was asked about the fact that speakers are scheduled through the end of July and if that meant that no Minister applicants were expected during that time. Those present were told that if the Board believes it is appropriate to bring in a Minister applicant during July a guest speaker would be cancelled or rescheduled. Guest speakers are told this when they are scheduled for a particular date. Angie also explained that we are putting money aside to pay to bring applicants to Indianapolis and also that we need to make sure that the church is in the financial position to support a Minister's salary. Income has been lower than expected in the last few months. |
| Search Committee Process Diagram |