Serving Congregations & Ministers

January 2025

• Happy New Year from the UUA Transitions Team
• Settled Search Statistics
• For our Search Teams
• For Ministers in Search

Statistics

• We have 13 congregations in settled search this cycle and 25 applicant ministers for these positions so far. This approximates the 2:1 ratio of searching ministers to searching congregations which we see in most search years.
• We have a range of 4-10 applicants per settled search with 6 as the mean. The range is more narrow than in recent years, but the mean is typical. 
• This cycle, ministers in the settled search applied to an average of 3 settled positions plus 2.05 contract positions. Year after year, the number of settled positions for which ministers apply continue to trend downward. Limited settled ministry opportunities and increased geographic rootedness are likely the main factors driving this trend.
• 75% of settled search applicants also applied for contract ministry positions.
• If you'd like more context or statistical information about this search cycle, please reach out to Christine Purcell, Congregational Transitions Director: cpurcell@uua.org.

• By now, your team should have reviewed or be reviewing the material which applicants submitted to you, and be moving toward interviewing applicants.
• If you have not done so, please send the link to your documents packet to each applicant. Make sure that the sharing permissions are set in such a way that anyone with the link can access your view-only materials.
• If you haven't received contact information for references from your applicants, you may request it at any time. Remember that you may only contact provided references at this phase of the search process.
• Be prompt, courteous, and open-minded as you interact with your applicants. They are learning about your congregation through their interactions with you.
• Ministers would rather know that they are not in consideration than wonder if they are. Please use the "dismiss" button in the search system to initiate an email letting ministers know that you will not move forward with them as soon as your search team decides that you cannot imagine an alignment.
• 16 January is the last day you could receive additional applications.
• 23 January is the day on which you will send your pre-candidate invitations to your top applicants. No hints or plans should be communicated to applicants about your intentions before this day.
• 24 January is the first day on which applicant ministers may accept pre-candidate invitations.
• Please review phases 4 and 5 in the Settlement Handbook, starting on page 81, and refer to the settled search calendar as you plan and engage the applicant and pre-candidate phases of search.
• Need help? Christine Purcell, Congregational Transitions Director, holds open office hours for settled search teams on Thursdays between 3:00 and 5:00 PM Eastern: https://uua.zoom.us/j/91354359680. She may not hold office hours on the 16th, as she will be on a work trip with an unpredictable schedule. She will be very responsive to email: cpurcell@uua.org.
  

• You will receive applicant names and search materials as they come in. We release new applicants every weekday.
• Please send a quick email to acknowledge each application promptly and include the link to your documents packet. Make sure that the sharing permissions are set in such a way that anyone with the link can access your view-only materials.
• Be prompt, courteous, and open-minded as you interact with your applicants. They are learning about your congregation through their interactions with you.
• Ministers would rather know that they are not in consideration than wonder if they are. Please use the "dismiss" button in the search system to initiate an email letting ministers know that you will not move forward with them as soon as your search team decides that you cannot imagine an alignment.
• Remember that your applicants have likely applied to other congregations. If they are participating in the settled search, they may not be able to make final decisions until the end of March or early April. Be prepared to make offers before mid-March so ministers will know everything that is open to them when making final decisions.
• The Transitional Ministry Handbook is your guide for the search process. Please review the contract ministry section, which begins on page 58, as you move forward in your search process.
• Need help? Christine Purcell, Congregational Transitions Director, holds open office hours for transitional ministry search teams on Tuesdays between 3:00 and 5:00 PM Eastern: https://uua.zoom.us/j/95425414067. She may not hold office hours on the 14th, as she will be on a work trip with an unpredictable schedule. She will be very responsive to email: cpurcell@uua.org.
  

• Be in close contact with your primary contact on regional staff as you create and shape your developmental ministry goals and work on your search profiles.
• Once your profile is complete, save changes on all section pages, click "complete record" on the main profile page, and invite your primary contact on regional staff to offer feedback on the profile. Leave a few days at the end of the month for feedback and responses/editing.
• 31 January: publication day for search profiles!
• The Transitional Ministry Handbook is your guide for the search process. Please review the developmental ministry section, which begins on page 47, as you move forward in your search process.
• Need help? Christine Purcell, Congregational Transitions Director, holds open office hours for transitional search teams on Tuesdays between 3:00 and 5:00 PM Eastern: https://uua.zoom.us/j/95425414067. She may not hold office hours on the 14th, as she will be on a work trip with an unpredictable schedule. She will be very responsive to email: cpurcell@uua.org.
  

• If you do not hear from a search team promptly, check your spam folder! Please let the UUA Transitions Team know if your application has not been acknowledged. We'll be glad to check in with search teams on your behalf.
• There are congregations in search which would welcome additional applications. Please email us at transitions@uua.org to learn more.
• 23 January is the first day you may receive pre-candidating invitations in the settled search. 
• 24 January is the first day you may accept pre-candidating invitations in the settled search.

• The congregation in Edmonds, WA raised their compensation for their short-term contract ministry. 
• The congregation in Auburn, ME has posted a new multi-year, full-time ministry position
• The congregation in Mississauga, ON has posted a new multi-year, full-time ministry position
• Four congregations will post developmental ministry searches on 31 January. Check the jobs board for details.