Co-Lead Ministry Announcement
On Tuesday, February 20, at our regular monthly meeting, the Board of Trustees of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin agreed that we will initiate a search for a co-lead minister this summer. We appreciate the many congregants who expressed their opinions, support for, concern with, and opposition to this model of leadership. We took all comments into consideration and spent considerable time weighing all options. In the end, we feel co-ministry is the best model for a church as large as ours (nearly 500 members). We come to this decision based primarily on the following:
- It is clear the congregation wants a called minister rather than a contract/hired minister. So the main decision point was whether to call an associate minister or a co-lead minister.
- Rev. Chris prefers working collaboratively with a partner. Having a co-equal to bounce ideas off of results in richer, more well-thought-out plans. He is very much in favor of this model.
- It aligns best with the values stated in our mission, chalice lighting, and the 8th principle, as the hierarchical model is very much aligned with the dominant white culture. Having co-lead ministers is one way we can start to dismantle systems of oppression.
- We believe it will bring us a richer pool of candidates than a search for an associate minister. We can also look for someone with skills that complement Chris’ strengths rather than duplicating them.
- While this model is not as common as the hierarchical model, it is working well for several congregations and organizations both within and outside of the UU world. Adopting it will put us on the leading edge of governance models in the UUA, especially for large churches.
- No governance model is immune to the risk of conflict. We recognize that conflicts may occur regardless of the ministry model we choose. This makes the covenant between the two ministers critical and calls us all to stay in covenant with each other.
For more details, please see this list of FAQs regarding our decision and the co-lead model, as well as a general timeline for the search. In addition, we will begin the process of creating a search committee on March 1 with a deadline to express interest or nominate someone on March 15. We are excited to embark on this process and feel it has great potential to move the church forward in our work to build the Beloved Community.
In faith,
Gretchen Riehl,
President
