Newsletter, Feb. 25: FAQs

      

Newsletter, Feb. 25, 2014: Frequently Asked Questions  

Q. What’s a “Pre-Candidate” and what’s a “Candidate”?

A. A “Pre-Candidate” is one of three semi-finalists to be our next settled minister. The MSC has invited each Pre-Candidate to a weekend-long interview. At the conclusion of this stage of the process, the MSC will deliberate and select a single Candidate to recommend to the congregation. The Candidate will then spend ten days—“Candidating Week”—meeting the congregation and conducting two Sunday services. Afterwards, the congregation votes on whether to call the Candidate as its next settled minister.

Q. When is Candidating Week?

A. From Friday, April 25, to Sunday, May 4. (Save the dates!)

Q. Why can’t the congregation meet more than one Candidate?

A. Every applicant in the large pool needs to be carefully and systematically vetted. Because the full congregation cannot devote the necessary time to get to know multiple candidacies as intensely, as efficiently, and as contextually as the MSC can, you delegated that work to us.

Q. When can the MSC approach its top Pre-Candidate and make an offer of Candidacy?

A. At noon on the first Thursday in April. All UU churches seeking to hire a minister make a phone call, at the same time and on the same day, to their top choice. A minister who gets more than one phone call gets to decide which church to accept.

Q. What happens if we get turned down?

A. The MSC needs to have decided in advance whether another Pre-Candidate is also an excellent match. If so, the MSC will call the next Pre-Candidate and offer Candidacy. If there is no such consensus within the MSC, or if all 3 Pre-Candidates accept other offers, then we’d need a new interim minister and a new search next year. (We do not expect that to happen!)

Q. When does the congregation vote whether to call the minister?

A. Sunday, May 4.

Q. What sized majority will a Candidate be looking for in order to accept the ministry of this church?

A. Typically, more than 90%. The need for congregational solidarity and forbearance toward a new minister is another reason why the process involves a single Candidacy.

Q. Who decides the terms of the contract?

A. The terms need to be negotiated, in advance of May 4, between the minister and the church. A Negotiating Team—one member of the Prudential Committee, one member of the MSC, and one additional member—negotiates the employment terms with the Candidate. The MSC member of the Negotiating Team will have discussed with the Candidate the job expectations, compensation and benefits, and the parties will have reached “near agreement” in advance. The Prudential Committee approves the final terms.