To the Members and Friends of FUUSN:                                                  January, 2022
As most of you know, Rev. Erin Splaine will be leaving FUUSN at the end of this church year. Her departure this summer will begin the process of calling a new settled minister for FUUSN. The first part of that process is selecting an Interim Minister to serve for two years while the congregation undertakes a thorough, thoughtful, and self-aware search for its next settled minister.

Why do we need an interim minister? What does an interim minister do?

The Interim Minister (IM) partners with the congregation to perform the ministerial functions of FUUSN – giving sermons, providing pastoral care, being the face of FUUSN to the community – during the period before the next settled minister is called. The IM helps to guide the congregation through the process of closure on the prior minister’s service and doing the work necessary to successfully begin the next chapter with a new settled minister. The IM helps the congregation to deal with the practical and emotional challenges of this interim ministry period. The IM also helps the congregation to identify opportunities for growth and development that may arise during this period.

What is the process for selecting the interim minister?

The UUA has a well-established process for matching UUA congregations with prospective interim ministers. Because the IM must be in place immediately after Erin’s departure, the selection process is relatively brief, starting with the formation of an IM search committee. Historically, the IM search committee is a subset of the Board of Trustees. This year’s committee (selected by the Board in December) is Stephanie Kendall, Chris Krebs, Barbara Schmitt and Naomi Wolfe. The committee has already started meeting and will submit an initial brief notification to the UUA in early February regarding our need for an IM. By the end of April we will submit a complete application package. Interested ministerial candidates will also be submitting their applications to the UUA. The process will end in mid-May with a match day when our preferred ranking of ministerial candidates is matched with the candidates’ congregational preferences. The committee will have personally interviewed all the finalists before submitting our final rankings.

What qualities do we want in an interim minister?

The Board and the IM search committee have spent much time considering what qualities will be most important in FUUSN’s IM. We will hone these ideas as we prepare our submission to the UUA. We welcome your input and are also seeking input from the FUUSN staff.

We believe that the qualities that will be most important fall into three general categories:

First, the IM must have the ability to work effectively with all members of our community to help maintain engagement with FUUSN and work to attract new members of FUUSN during the interim period.  This includes connecting with adults, children, youth, and staff, as well as responding inclusively to the needs and concerns of staff, members and potential members from all sociocultural identities and backgrounds.

Second, the IM must have the ability to readily connect with people and understand the group dynamics of the congregation to better move us through the transitional period in a constructive and productive manner, ensuring that all elements of FUUSN feel heard in the process.

Third, the IM needs to have the ability and willingness to facilitate our continued commitment to the Pledge to End Racism and our ongoing consideration of adoption of the 8th Principle.
We urge each of you to reach out to one of us with any comments or questions you may have on the IM search process.

Sincerely,
FUUSN 2022 Interim Minister Search Committee
Stephanie Kendall stephjkendall@yahoo.com, 617-455-2585
Chris Krebs chriswallacekrebs@gmail.com 617-699-6058
Barbara Schmitt celeryelectric@gmail.com 617-827-2529
Naomi Wolfe nwolfe48@gmail.com 617-678-2268