Update from the NWUU Minister Search Committee: February 17, 2023 The NWUU Minister Search Committee has completed the first round of interviews and our candidates did not align with Northwest for the first round of search. Our work continues and we remain hopeful. The consensus of the team is that we will explore the second round of search. In our desire to keep communication pathways open, we acknowledge that it is hard for the congregation to be in this transitional space. Our impulses may lead us to speculate about what exactly is going to happen, though we can't know that yet.
What we know is this:
There were 58 ministers in the first round for 35 congregations in search.
14% of the searching congregations did not have ANY pre-candidates.
4 of those congregations will likely continue with round 2.
One of those congregations is in the Mid-America region.
Another congregation opted to explore another type of ministry.
The NWUU Minister Search Committee will meet round 2 candidates starting in mid to late April.
The congregation will have the opportunity to meet and vote on a new settled minister in late May or early June, with the same official start date of August 1, 2023.
The UUA has shared with the NWUU Minister Search Committee:
20% of first round congregations have one pre-candidate.
20% have two pre-candidates.
We do not know which specific congregations have pre-candidates. This is confidential information; the search process is to protect both the congregations and ministers who are in search. We expect that round 2 will have additional candidates, due to a variety of reasons, not all candidates submitted a ministerial packet during round 1. We understand that this is a hard space for all of us to be in and the Search Committee remains committed to the process.
We are mindful of all the things we've heard from our congregants, in the surveys and cottage meetings and coffee hours, and put so much value in all you've given us to work with. We continue on our course in a spirit of hope for our beloved community.