UUA Transitions Team
Newsletter
Serving Congregations & Ministers
August 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 for all...
- Welcoming to the 2027 Search Cycle
- Regarding Interpretive File Summaries
- Settled Search Teams
- Contract Search Teams
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Welcome to the 2027 Search Cycle
The UUA Transitions Team joins you in hope and excitement for what is ahead. We will issue periodic newsletters to keep folks on track with the search process, often timed to precede significant waypoints. Please contact our team any time we can assist you.
- Rev. Patrice Curtis, Transformational Interim Ministries Director: administers the Break Barriers, Build Beliefs (B4) program and supports ministers in transitional ministry searches, pcurtis@uua.org
- Rev. Eric Kaminetzky, Interim Settled Ministries Director: supports ministers in their searches for settled and contract-to-call ministry opportunities, ekaminetzky@uua.org
- Christine Purcell, Congregational Transitions Director: supports board and search teams with their searches, cpurcell@uua.org
- Amy Szen, Transitions Administrator: helps with forms and technical issues with the search system, aszen@uua.org
- To reach the whole team: transitions@uua.org
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Interpretive File Summaries on Pause for the 2026/27 Search Season
A message from your Transitions Team
For decades, the UUA Transitions Team has offered Interpretive File Summaries (IFS) to settled ministry search teams (only) to provide information about pre-candidates/finalists from the files the UUA keeps on ministers. In recent years, search teams have reported that they have not found the file summaries necessary, possibly because the summaries originated in a time:
· before internet searches were possible/useful
· before regional staff organized and became available to search teams for research calls
· when search teams needed the reassurance of clergy credentials and status
To provide information beyond what is included in modern ministerial records/search profiles to search teams, the Transitions Team would have to share old and possibly dated or biased information, such as a board member’s thoughts about a minister’s approach to ministry from several ministries ago. We encounter evidence of growth and change in ministry every day and would not want search teams to attach outsized importance to old stories. While the practice of issuing IFS began in a time when there were 80+ settled ministry searches per year, and settled ministry searches felt like the gold standard, we are uncomfortable with the practice of giving additional information only to settled search teams.
We decided to pause the practice of issuing Interpretive File Summaries for the 2027 cycle as part of our commitment to reducing the effects of bias and inequity in our work. We are using the staff capacity that pausing IFS generation frees up to further improve ministerial records/search profiles, in alignment with the robust requirements for search teams’ profiles. For this experimental year, we are confident that settled search teams can learn what they need to know about finalists from updated ministerial records/search profiles, internet searches, research calls with regional staff, references, and their own experiences with top applicants. We feel good about every search team having the same access to information, regardless of the type of ministry search.
This is the only significant change to the search process for the 2027 cycle, as we look forward to receiving the recommendations from the Transitions Review Task Force next Spring. Please send us your questions and comments: transitions@uua.org. |
For Settled Search Teams
We will have 13 congregations in a settled search this cycle. Most of you have had your retreat programming already, and ALL of you are on track! As you begin to wade into the early tasks of the settled ministry search, please be sure to focus on the following:
- Review the search profile to learn which questions you will need to answer
- Prepare your congregational assessment/survey. If you still need a copy, have your survey coordinator contact Christine Purcell (cpurcell@uua.org). Most settled search teams launch their survey around the time of in-gathering/homecoming/water communion
- Sign up for the Break Barriers, Build Beliefs (B4) programming – dates are assigned as applications come in. You improve your chances of receiving your dates the sooner you complete and pay for in-person requests. Reach out to Patrice Curtis (pcurtis@uua.org) for more information and to answer any questions
- Make plans for your small group listening sessions
Christine Purcell, Congregational Transitions Director, holds open office hours for settled ministry searches on Thursdays between 3:00 and 5:00 PM Eastern: https://uua.zoom.us/j/91354359680. Please drop in! |
For Contract Search Teams
We are still in the open search phase of the 2026 search, but we are gearing up for the 2027 primetime search, which begins officially with the publication of search profiles on 01 December. For search teams who are still searching from 2026, take heart! A new search cycle yields new possibilities. For 2026 and 2027 search teams, if you would welcome support in doing some listening work within your congregation as you prepare for the primetime search, please reach out to Christine Purcell (cpurcell@uua.org).
If your search team is interested in the Break Barriers, Build Beliefs (B4) anti-bias training that we offer to congregations in settled search, we have a version just for you that allows you to bring a team and join with other congregational teams! Please signal interest here, and we will keep you informed. Reach out to Patrice Curtis (pcurtis@uua.org) for more information and to answer any questions.
Christine Purcell, Congregational Transitions Director, holds open office hours for contract ministry searches on Tuesdays between 3:00 and 5:00 PM Eastern: https://uua.zoom.us/j/95425414067. Please drop in! |
With you all the way,
Interim Settled Ministries Director
Congregational Transitions Director
Transformational Interim Ministries Director
Transitions Administrator |
Transitions Office
24 Farnsworth St, Boston, MA, 02210 |
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