This is the homepage of UUCB’s 2014-2015 Ministerial Search Committee. Here you’ll find information about the Search Committee, our church, the ministerial search process, and updates on our progress.
Ministerial applicants may wish to start with our Search Packet.
Rev. Kelly Groves Dignan (center) and the UUCB Search Committee
It’s official: On Sunday, May 3, the members of UUCB voted to call Rev. Kelly Groves Dignan as our Settled Minister…and she accepted our call! Her ministry with us will begin in August, after she finishes her current contract with the UU Church of Greeley.
This was the hoped-for and joyous end to our Candidate Week, in which Rev. Dignan attended 30 (thirty!) events including an all-church potluck and a dessert open house, small social gatherings, and many, many meetings with the affinity groups, councils and committees of our congregation. As she said on Sunday morning, the positive energy of our match was palpable in every room!
Although the Search Process is now complete, there is plenty of work ahead for all of us as we prepare for the transition to Rev. Dignan’s ministry and our shared future at UUCB. Thank you for joining the Search Committee on this journey. We can’t wait to see what’s next!
Yours in faith,
The UUCB 2014-2015 Ministerial Search Committee
Jim Rowe (chair), Sharon Belew, Ted Burnham, Jason English, Jenny Fitt-Peaster, Diana Maiden, Barb Richards
A Special Congregational meeting is being called on May 3, 2015, at noon for the sole purpose of voting on the resolution to call Rev. Kelly Dignan as our settled minister. You must have been a member for 60 days to vote. There will be childcare and a kids’ activity during the meeting.
For those members who cannot attend the meeting (since there is no absentee voting) or for friends who would like to give a statement of support for the resolution, you can send a message to Jim Rowe (jim.rowe@gmail.com) by Saturday, May 2. These statements will be compiled for the meeting.
Chalice Lighting and Opening Words – Sharon Belew, Search Committee
Call to Order – Will Kropp, Moderator
Declaration of Quorum – Judith King, Clerk
Reading Covenant of Respectful Relations – Moderator
Introduction of Parliamentarian – Moderator
Parliamentary Procedures – Ted Burnham, Parliamentarian
Road to a New Settled Ministry – Jennifer Skiendzielewski, Board
Selection of Candidate – Jenny Fitt-Peaster, Diana Maiden, Jason English, Search Comm.
Resolution on Calling Rev. Kelly Groves Dignan – Jim Rowe, Search Committee
Congregational Vote by Secret Ballot – Moderator
Declaration of Results to Congregation – Clerk
Closing and Extinguishing the Chalice – Barb Richards, Search Committee
Adjournment – Moderator
Whereas: A Ministerial Search Committee (“the Committee”) was elected by the membership of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder (“the congregation”) in accordance with its Bylaws; and
Whereas: The Committee has followed the process defined by the Unitarian Universalist Association for finding a Ministerial Candidate; and
Whereas: The Committee has chosen the Reverend Kelly Groves Dignan as that Ministerial Candidate; and
Whereas: The congregation has had many opportunities to meet and independently assess Rev. Dignan; and
Whereas: Rev. Dignan has reviewed the mission and goals of the congregation and has committed to work together to achieve them;
We, the Congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder, resolve that the Reverend Kelly Groves Dignan be called as our Settled Minister for an indefinite tenure, in accordance with our Bylaws and the terms stated in the Ministerial Agreement.
For more information about the vote, see Calling Rev. Dignan as Our Settled Minister. See you Sunday!
Yours in faith,
The UUCB 2014-2015 Ministerial Search Committee
Jim Rowe (chair), Sharon Belew, Ted Burnham, Jason English, Jenny Fitt-Peaster, Diana Maiden, Barb Richards
Your Ministerial Search Committee is excited to announce that our Ministerial Candidate will be Reverend Kelly Dignan!
Because of her warm ministerial presence, high emotional intelligence, passion for our faith and clear vision of shared ministry with lay leaders, we believe Rev. Dignan is the best match to support and guide this congregation as we grow into a bright future.
The past seven years of Developmental Ministry with Rev. Howell Lind have prepared this church to form a lasting and successful partnership with a called minister. After learning from you about the hopes, desires and needs of the congregation and after conducting a nationwide search in which we met and were deeply impressed by several excellent ministers, it is clear to us that Rev. Dignan is the spiritual leader this church has been seeking. She knows and loves this church and feels a personal call to be our minister.
Please explore the Our Ministerial Candidate section of this website to find more information about Rev. Dignan’s personal and ministerial history; the process by which this committee reached our decision; and the opportunities you will have to meet and get to know Rev. Dignan during Candidate Week from Saturday, April 25 through Sunday, May 3.
The final decision now rests with the members of UUCB, who will have the opportunity to vote to call Rev. Kelly Dignan as our settled minister at the final event of Candidate Week: a Special Congregational Meeting at noon on Sunday, May 3.
We look forward to joining with you and Rev. Dignan during a thoughtful and joyous Candidate Week, as this church moves forward in loving and covenantal partnership toward a settled ministry.
Yours in faith,
The UUCB 2014-2015 Ministerial Search Committee
Jim Rowe (chair), Sharon Belew, Ted Burnham, Jason English, Jenny Fitt-Peaster, Diana Maiden, Barb Richards
Deepening Faith, Living Well, Enacting Justice: UUCB’s “simple church focus” continues to guide your Ministerial Search Committee during this exciting and busy time as our search moves forward.
In early January we began the next phase of our search process, starting with the Beyond Categorical Thinking (BCT) workshop facilitated by Eddy Carroll. We were thrilled by the turnout, 36 UUCB members and friends who accepted the challenge to examine our own biases and the ways in which they might affect the search process and cloud discernment. Thanks to this experience, the Search Committee is confident that we are prepared to consider our applicants as complete, complex people and evaluate them based on ministerial skills rather than our own assumptions.
We are now fully engaged in evaluating candidates and will be moving to the interviewing phase over the next several weeks. As our chairperson Jim Rowe described to the congregation on January 11, the numbers tell the story of both where we have been and where we are going.
104: The number of you that met face to face with us as you welcomed the Search Committee to your various groups and Search Light gatherings…
159: The number of members and friends who took the Ministerial Search Survey…
11,102: The words used to capture the character and desires of our church in our Congregational description, known as the Packet (which you can read using the links at the right of this page)…
38: The number of Unitarian Universalist congregations seeking a full time, settled minister this year…
86: The number of UU ministers that expressed interest in one or more congregations…
21: The number of ministers who have expressed interest in becoming our next minister (nearly one-quarter of the ministers seeking a settled parish!)…
2: The number of chalices we have lit during the search process. Our second chalice has remained lit to remind us of the important work we are doing and to hold a sacred space for our next minister.
May our hearts be open, our minds keen and spirits welcoming as we evaluate all our potential next ministers and move to our final number — One — our new settled minister.
Yours in Faith,
The Ministerial Search Committee
Jim Rowe (chair), Sharon Belew, Ted Burnham, Jason English, Jenny Fitt-Peaster, Diana Maiden, Barb Richards
Facilitator Eddy Carroll leads UUCB’s Beyond Categorical Thinking workshop on Jan. 4, 2015.
The Search Committee was thrilled by the turnout for the Beyond Categorical Thinking workshop on Sunday! 36 UUCB members and friends were in attendance as Eddy Carroll, of the First Unitarian Society of Denver, facilitated.
BCT was a fantastic learning opportunity that challenged us to examine our own biases and the ways they might affect the search process — especially when it comes to ministerial candidates of color, those who identify as GLBTQIA, or those with physical or mental disabilities. Thanks to this experience, the Search Committee is confident that we are prepared to consider our applicants as complete, complex people and evaluate them based on their ministry skills rather than our own assumptions.
Thank you to everyone who participated, and especially to Eddy for making it possible!
Thank you, thank you, thank you to the 159 members and friends (more than two-thirds of UUCB’s membership!) who responded to our Ministerial Search Survey, and to the 104 who participated in our Searchlight Gatherings! We feel confident that we have a broad and representative sample of the church community, and we are already drawing many important insights from your feedback.
We know you’re curious, so we have provided a summary of the survey results for your number-crunching enjoyment. Please note that to protect respondents’ anonymity, we have removed open-ended and write-in responses. The Search Committee will combine those responses with the comments made during Searchlight Gatherings to analyze the “unquantifiable” aspects of our congregation, which we know are at least as important as the numerical results of the survey.
Click here to download the survey results
As the Search Committee prepares to engage in our discernment process, the trends and patterns revealed in this data will help us gain a deeper understanding of our congregation and the kind of minister we need. We also recognize that a survey is not a ballot. We will be careful to take every perspective into account, and not to place undue emphasis on popular survey responses.
Thank you again for the time and energy you put into attending Searchlight Gatherings and completing your surveys, and for the faith you have placed in us to do this sacred work.
In fellowship,
The Ministerial Search Committee
Jim Rowe (chair), Sharon Belew, Ted Burnham, Jason English, Jenny Fitt-Peaster, Diana Maiden, Barb Richards
Photo: Capture Queen
Dear valued members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder (UUCB):
The Ministerial Search Committee has created a survey to gather information from all members of UUCB. We would greatly appreciate if you could complete this survey by Oct 26.
Click here to take the survey!
The survey serves two very important purposes in the Ministerial Search process:
1. Collects information about you and your involvement in UUCB so that the Search Committee can accurately characterize the congregation in our search
packet profile and during interviews with prospective candidates.
2. Provides an opportunity to share your views on ministry, worship, church goals, and the skills and experiences needed in our next minister. Please
respond in the context of what you think is best for the good of the church as a whole.
The survey should take from 15 to 30 minutes to complete. The survey is also available in hardcopy format at the UUCB office. While your individual answers are strictly anonymous, data about the congregation as a whole will be made public.
We encourage you to explore this website to learn more about the committee members, search process, and church goals.
In fellowship,
The Ministerial Search Committee
Jim Rowe (chair), Sharon Belew, Ted Burnham, Jason English, Jenny Fitt-Peaster, Diana Maiden, Barb Richards
Left to right: Rev. Gretchen Haley (retreat facilitator), Ted Burnham, Diana Maiden, Jenny Fitt-Peaster, Sharon Belew, Barb Richards, Jason English, Jim Rowe (Chair)
On Saturday, July 12th, your ministerial search committee, elected by the congregation this past spring, met for the first time. We were pleased to have Rev. Gretchen Haley as our facilitator for the day as we began to understand more deeply the multiple roles and duties of the committee.
One of our first acts was to elect Jim Rowe to be our chairperson. The other members of the group–Jenny Fitt-Peaster, Sharon Belew, Jason English, Ted Burnham, Barbara Richards and myself–have taken on other lead duties for the committee. One of our main goals will be to regularly update the congregation on the work of the committee. You can expect regular articles in the Clear Light Messenger and we will look for multiple avenues to inform the congregation of our progress.
We are excited and honored to take on this important work on behalf of the congregation. After our day’s work with Gretchen we understand even more deeply the sacred duty to fully represent the needs and goal of our church as we plan for our future. Please light a virtual candle for all of us as we move forward.
In Covenant with you,
Diana Maiden