UUA Transitions Team
Newsletter
Serving Congregations & Ministers
March 2026 |
The UUA Transitions Team is a partnership between Ministries & Faith Development and Congregational Life staff, supporting good matches between congregations and ministers |
In this issue we have news regarding...
- Soft Deadline for Primetime Contract Ministry Applications
- Preparing for a Smooth Offer and Negotiation
- Ranking and Matching: Settled, Developmental, and Primetime Contract Searches
- What Happens on Offer Day
- What if There is No Match
- Ministers in Search
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Soft Deadline for Primetime Contract Ministry Applications
Most contract search teams are conducting their final discernment conversations and are preparing their rankings. Most search teams which scheduled visits with top applicants have had these visits already. Some search teams are already letting recent applicants know that they will consider them first if they are still in search in April.
As of this week, if any minister applies for a primetime contract position, the UUA Transitions Team will hold that application until the open search which begins on 01 April, unless the search team lets us know that they would still welcome applicants for evaluation before rankings are due on 23 March.
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Preparing for a Smooth Offer and Negotiation
Search teams and ministers should continue to be in contact with one another with any final questions before ranking. In particular, be sure to explore any expectations or hopes related to salary and benefits. A search team can confirm if a top applicant or pre-candidate has an expectation for salary which can be met by the congregation if a match aligns without signalling that an offer is likely. Make sure everyone knows what they need to know for a smooth negotiation if a match aligns.
For contract and developmental search teams, if you need to have governing board input or approval before ranking, please do so. If you need to share the identity or materials of a top applicant, get their consent before doing so and educate the board on search confidentiality and the ranking/matching process. If you are matched, there is no second round of evaluation by the board. Your congregation is expected to make an offer to the minister with whom you match.
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Ranking and Matching: Settled, Developmental, and Primetime Contract Ministry Searches
It’s almost time! Search teams should remember to keep in mind the needs and hopes of your congregation and your team’s commitments to reduce bias as you rank your top applicants or pre-candidates. Unanimity is pretty rare in such a big decision, but an inclusive process usually yields a good consensus. If you cannot come to a decision, please reach out to the Congregational Transitions Director, Christine Purcell, for support.
On or by 23 March, search teams should use one of these forms to indicate their rankings of applicants:
The rankings forms issue confirmation emails. If the UUA Transitions Team does not receive your rankings, we cannot match you. The person who completes the form will receive email updates at the email address they list on the form.
Here’s an example of the matching process from the Ministry Search Handbook:
If Rev. A and congregation X identify each other as mutual first choices, it’s a match! This is the most common scenario.
If Rev. B identifies congregation Y as their first choice, and congregations Y and Z both identify Rev. B as their first choice, Rev. B has a match with congregation Y. The UUA Transitions Team would then check for an alignment between congregation Z and their second choice. Occasionally, the ranking is more complex to sort through.
The time between submitting the ranking form and hearing from the UUA Transitions Team about a match may feel longer than you might expect. We share information as soon as we have it, usually the day before offer day. Ministers and search teams with mutual first choice alignments and folks with no possibility of a match may hear their news earlier because these announcements are simple and obvious. When we’re matching tied first choices or second or third choices, we ask folks to confirm that they are still enthusiastic about moving forward before notifying the other party. UUA Transitions Team staff also meet with parties whose highest alignments they ranked as maybes and folks who submitted tied rankings to support their discernment before offer day if their revised ranking would make a difference.
All ministry searches are linked and interrelated, as the result for one party may depend on choices others have made. UUA Transitions Team announcements depend upon the timing of ministers and search teams confirming that they are happy to move forward with their tied first choice or second or third-ranked yes before we inform the other party...and inform all the ministers and search teams whose matches depend on whether this alignment works out. Please plan to be very responsive to messages from the UUA Transitions Team between 23 and 25 March until you learn about your match.
Search teams should wait until noon ET on 26 March to extend verbal offers. Most ministers and search teams will learn about their matches on 25 March, though we will let you know about them as soon as we can tell how you have matched, even if that’s before the 23rd. The only advantage to submitting your list early comes if the corresponding lists from ministers or search teams come in early, as well. This rarely happens.
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What Happens on Offer Day?
The search team verbally offers the position to the minister with whom they matched on 26 March at noon Eastern time, and the minister verbally accepts the offer. Your congregation’s negotiating team should be pulled into the circle of confidentiality, at this point, and negotiations may begin immediately.
Before making the happy announcement to the congregation:
- Have total agreement or signatures on the employment agreement
- Initiate a criminal background check on the minister you are hiring or calling using the process your congregation already uses for staff and key volunteers
- Wait for the minister you are hiring or calling to give consent for this announcement, as they may need to announce their departure to their current congregation or employer first.
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What If There is No Match?
For search teams, the Congregational Transitions Director and Regional staff will be with you in this challenging moment. This result does not negate the good work of the search team; it simply means that the right match has not occurred yet. Those in developmental ministry searches should see how a continued search plays out during the interim ministry search (mid-April to mid-May). Those in a primetime contract search will likely pivot to the open contract search (details in the handbook). Those in a settled search can explore their options with the Congregational Transitions Director. Remember, no match by a particular date is so much better than a poor match. It may suggest that your search team remained mindful of the needs and hopes of the congregation and did not rank a minister who would not work well with the congregation as a yes. It may mean that the right applicant has not come along yet. Try to keep your standards and spirits high.
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For Ministers in Search
If you are in search this season, and if you have more than one opportunity to rank, consider yourself fortunate.
Ranking opportunities for ministry is as much an exercise of the heart and gut as it is in your head.
No two opportunities are identical, and you probably won’t be called on to bring the same set of gifts for two different places.
Knowing that you are one-half of the equation, and that the search team is the other, you can ask yourself what seems like the most nourishing path forward for this next chapter in your, “…one wild and precious life.”
The Transitions Team wishes you great good luck on this part of your next venture!
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With you all the way,
Interim Settled Ministry Director
Congregational Transitions Director
Transformational Interim Ministries Director
Transitions Administrator |
Transitions Office
24 Farnsworth St, Boston, MA, 02210 |
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