Seasons Greetings from the TJMC Board of Trustees!
The Board of Trustees has been in deliberation over the future of the church’s ministry for the past several weeks. We have tried to keep the congregation apprised of our discussions and debates as best as we can through email updates, Congregational Conversations, social media posts and monthly Board meeting minutes.
We are grateful to the many congregants who reached out with ideas and opinions about how to move forward with the church’s ministry and the volunteers who offered to make themselves available to work on a ministerial search. We are thankful for the support and guidance given to us by the regional and national Unitarian Universalist Association staff. And the Board is especially grateful to our own staff at TJMC who gave us candid advice and heartfelt encouragement as we attempted to make a decision that would reflect the immediate needs of our congregation as well as the long term health of TJMC.
I am therefore pleased to report at the December Board Meeting this past Wednesday, the Board voted to hire an interim minister. The interim will start work in August 2020 and we anticipate the term of employment will be from 1-2 years depending on the needs of the congregation.
The next step will be for the Executive Committee of the Board to meet and lay out the process for completing the Interim Minister application. The application is due on or before April 2020.
The Board’s decision to hire an interim minister has not been swift or easy. Several times we felt like we had our answer. Then new information would come to light and we would go back to the drawing board. Several board members recall TJMC’s previous interim ministers with much dissatisfaction while others have experienced very positive and healthy interim ministries at other churches. We have tried to balance both of those realities and recognize that TJMC needs a full-time minister to be in relationship with our congregation and support our hard-working staff in the day-to-day operation of the church. It is with all of these truths in mind that we voted to hire an interim minister.
The Board will continue to work to keep everyone informed as we begin the hiring process. It is one of our priorities to maintain transparent and accurate communication between the Board, the congregation and the staff.
Please watch for updates via the Friday emails and the Sunday Announcements. If you have questions or comments please ask any Board Member or email the Board at board@uucharlottesville.org. Your comments will be recorded as part of the minutes from the Board Meetings.
Thank you to everyone who has followed along or assisted the Board in our deliberations. Your contributions to the wellbeing of our congregation and the success of our church and our ministry are encouraging to us all.
May the spirit of the season be a blessing to you and your family.
See you at church.
Lorie Craddock
President, TJMC-UU Board of Trustees