Sunday, October 29, 2023, 1 pm
In-person in the Sanctuary and Online
Purpose of the Meeting. The Ministerial Search Committee has completed its discernment process and has recommended that the congregation call the Rev. Chris Jimmerson as its Settled Minister. This is your official notice of a Congregational Meeting to determine whether the congregation affirms this recommendation.
Ballot Language. “Do you affirm the Ministerial Search Committee’s recommendation to call Rev. Chris Jimmerson to be Settled Minister for First UU Church of Austin?
___ Yes ___ No”
Place and Time. Votes may be cast in-person in the Sanctuary or online. You must be present (online or in-person) to vote. The meeting will begin at 1 pm and the voting will begin shortly thereafter. Please use this Zoom link, passcode is 512452.
Eligibility to Vote. Only eligible members may vote. Please double-check in advance to ensure that your name is correctly listed on the Eligible Voters list. View the list of eligible voters. If you have any questions about voter eligibility, including if you feel that you were mistakenly not listed on the list of eligible voters, please contact Shannon Posern at shannon.posern@austinuu.org.
The church bylaws specify eligible voters as: “Individuals who have been members of the church for 30 days or more and who have (as an individual or part of a family unit) made a recorded financial contribution during the last 12 months and at least 30 days prior to the meeting, have the right to vote at all official church meetings.”
Voting Process. A quorum of eligible members must be present for a vote to be taken. This meeting will use a confidential voting process that is different from the voice votes used in other congregational meetings. It is the process recommended by the UUA for hybrid meetings. Details on this process will be available in advance of this meeting.
Voting Procedures.
In-person. Persons voting in-person may begin checking in outside the Sanctuary at 12:30 pm. You will be given your ballot at that time. Please enter the Sanctuary immediately after receiving your ballot and plan to remain there until you have cast your vote. This helps protect the integrity of the voting process.
Online. Members not in the sanctuary may vote by Zoom. You may begin checking in online at 12:30 pm. If you are in a household with multiple voting members, please sign in on separate devices, if possible. This will make voting easier. If you are unable to sign in from two devices, the person monitoring the Zoom link will provide instructions about how to cast your vote.
Results. The results will be tabulated when the voting is complete and will be announced that afternoon.
Materials:
We look forward to seeing you at the meeting!
The Ministerial Search Committee that you elected is pleased to announce our work is complete, and we’re asking the First UU congregation to call Rev. Chris Jimmerson as our settled minister.
We’re grateful to congregants who shared your thoughts with us on a written survey, and to congregants who attended a variety of Search Party meetings and Focus Group meetings. We heard you and appreciated you sharing the qualities and functions you want in ministry. Next, the seven of us worked together to discern your feedback. We also studied Rev. Chris’ ministerial record, references and other information, and we interviewed him. Thus, we see Rev. Chris has much to offer this congregation to meet what you’ve said you want in ministry.
We see that Rev. Chris is not only a good match, he’s a great match. Next week, we’ll work with him to create a calendar of events for you to learn more about his expertise through one-on-one meetings. There will be a candidating week to provide additional opportunities for you to get to know Rev. Chris better both individually and in groups during the week before you have an opportunity to vote.
Please join us in celebrating this important milestone in the life of the church we love so much.
Your Ministerial Search Committee
Susan Thomson, chair, Carolyn Gremminger, Tomas Medina, Peggy Morton, Celeste Padilla, Tom Shindell, Bis Thornton
