5 Jun 09
It has been quite a while since I last posted, and I have lots to share. Postings will probably continue to be sporadic, but keep checking back occasionally, as I will keep AWAC running as I enter seminary. I’m sure there will be many good stories as I begin Vanderbilt Divinity School. Stay tuned!
Family News:
Ryan, our youngest son, graduated from Tullahoma High School on 29 May, with honors (and both parents are unspeakably proud). He also won the school award for theater. After much thought and discussion with us and Marine recruiters, Ryan decided to enlist in the Marines, and hopes to go to boot camp in July (though it could be later). At his graduation, the principle announced that a few students were enlisting in the armed forces, and he asked them to stand. Out of almost three hundred students, only five stood up. Loud applause broke out, and soon everyone in the gymnasium stood and gave them a long standing ovation, much louder than any other group got that evening. I get choked up still thinking about it. Nice to know people appreciate it.
Taylor, our older son, also decided to join the military. He will attend Army boot camp in July, followed by Officer Candidate School. So both of my boys enlisted in May, and both may hit boot camp in July. Who knows, maybe one or both will pass through beautiful Camp Phoenix in Kabul in the future. Who would have thought?
Our daughter Elise graduates from her Master’s program in Chemistry this summer, and is learning how tough the economy is right now as she tries to find a job. I keep telling her to join the Air Force and keep the tradition going, but so far she isn’t tempted.
Hamid:
Hamid is also learning how tough the economy is. He managed to get sporadic work packing DVDs for shipping, but he really wants to get a job as a cultural expert/role player for military training. He knows a few Afghans who do this sort of work, so he is applying everywhere he can. He has made friends with some of the few Afghans living in Nashville, and they have given him a car. What he needs now is steady work, and he is willing to relocate. If any of you have a job lead for him, please let me know. Here you can see him with his car, as well as a photo of his apartment.
Faye:
You may remember Faye, our foster dog with the broken leg. She has gotten her cast off, and is now recovering from her spay surgery. She has proven to be a nearly perfect dog (at least by our standards) and may end up staying with us. After all, you can never have too many dogs J
Faye and her best friend, Jack
And Finally, The Sermon for the Day:
Here are notes I made for my last sermon, describing everything someone must go through to become a UU minister.
INTRODUCTION
Today I want to share with you insights I’ve gained as I prepare to go to Seminary. Becoming a fellowshipped minister involves far more than simply going to seminary, as difficult as that may be. In fact, if someone were to head off to seminary without researching what else was involved, they would probably become dismayed once they realized how far behind the power curve they actually were.
What I’d like to do today is discuss the steps one has to go through to become a minister, sharing some things you probably did not realize
- I’ve been fortunate to meet with various UU ministers and seminary students over the last few months
- Attended SEUUMA conference, TJD annual meeting, and visited the 1st UU church of Nashville
- I’ve also done a great deal of reading on the ministerial credentialing process for the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA)
My eyes have been opened, and for folks entering the ministry, they must either have a very strong calling, or they haven’t really thought it through
WHAT IS A MINISTER?
As defined by the UUA
“to qualify as active service in ministry, a position must:
- Require the use of traditional ministerial skills, such as pastoral counseling, worship and reaching, religious education, social witness and advocacy, and institutional leadership.
- Have as its central purpose service to persons or the transformation of society”
Notice there is no mention of teaching a specific doctrine. The purpose of a minister is NOT to preach a specific belief system.
WHAT IS MINISTERIAL FELLOWSHIP?
UUA Bylaws, Section C-11.1. Ministerial Fellowship.
Each member congregation has the exclusive right to call and ordain its own minister or ministers, but the Association has the exclusive right to admit ministers to ministerial fellowship with the Association. . . . No minister shall be required to subscribe to any particular creed, belief, or interpretation of religion in order to obtain and hold fellowship.
The UUA has a Ministerial Fellowship Committee which oversees the fellowshipping of UU ministers. But good luck figuring out what this actually means. I found the UUA website terribly vague on this point. After literally hours of searching and reading, I found that the best information was in the MFC. The steps you need to go through are pretty clear, but what you actually get out of all this is not. Let’s look at what you will need to go through besides seminary in order to be fellowshipped:
- The materials required to become an aspirant (biography, criminal offence disclosure, interview with an fellowshipped UU minister, financial planning worksheet, and other paperwork)
- A career assessment from a center approved by the MFC Expect to pay about $1000 out of pocket, assuming you get the additional $1000 grant from the MFC)
- Candidacy status granted through an RSCC interview (rumors have it this has been eliminated as a requirement, but you were expected to travel, at your expense, for an interview in the Northeast)
- Sponsorship by a UU Congregation;
- An approved internship (full time for one year);
- A unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (or CPE Equivalency as determined by the MFC);
- Read everything on the MFC reading list (approximately 50 books)
- A Masters of Divinity degree
- A Criminal Record/Background Check
- An interview with the Ministerial Fellowship Committee
(You get graded at this interview, and may have to come back again for another interview after completing more work.)
PRELIMINARY FELLOWSHIP
If you pass the interview, you enter preliminary fellowship. You must be in preliminary fellowship for at least three years, and each year you must provide the following for a renewal review:
A self-evaluation
An evaluation completed by one’s supervisor or supervising committee
An evaluation from one’s Committee on Ministry
A professional development plan
A form completed by the minister’s mentor confirming that the minister is in a mentoring relationship.
After three of these, you may enter final fellowship, at which point you have essentially achieved tenure. You no longer have to do annual renewal review
BENEFITS
What do you get in exchange for all this work?
1. The single most important thing is settlement assistance
2. You also get to join the UU Ministers Association and attend the meetings
3. Get Religious Leader magazine four times a year
4. You may pay in to a retirement fund
TYPES OF POSITIONS
Consulting Minister – Placed by districts as opposed to UUMA, usually part time work for small congregations
Interim Minister – Hired while a church is in search, two one-year contracts, CANNOT be hired as the settled minister
Settled ministers – Called by a church to become the long-term minister
Candidates prepare extensive package for potential churches, as do the search committees for the churches in search status.
- If a church is interested, search committee and minister go to a neutral site
- If both are still interested, the minister comes to church and candidates for two weeks.
A. THREE YEAR RULE
A minister is not eligible for settlement in a congregation for a least three years following previous engagement in a professional capacity in that congregation. This includes but is not limited to interns, field-education students, interims, contract ministers, Ministerial Settlement Representatives, religious educators, etc. Waivers may be granted by application to the MFC.
B. PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT RULE
For any given professional vacancy, a minister who has visited a congregation in any professional capacity after the most recently settled minister has announced his or her resignation to the congregation shall not be recommended to that congregation by Ministry and Professional Leadership for twelve months following the visit.
C. INTERIM MINISTERS MAY NOT BE HIRED AS THE SETTLED MINISTER
- A home-grown minister is very rare, as is a minister that stays in one church their entire career
CALLING
So what makes people go to Seminary, go through the fellowshipping process, and devote theirs lives to this thing called ministry? Keep in mind that even if you finish seminary, even if you enter into preliminary fellowship, there is no guarantee that you will find a church. If you do find one, there is little job security. The congregation can vote you out whenever they wish. You may move around many times, with periods of unemployment in between. It’s downright scary.
So why do people do it? It certainly isn’t for the money. It isn’t for job security. And despite a common misconception, it isn’t easy.
I heard it explained very well to a group of us that meet at the TJD meeting. We were told to make sure we wanted to minister. There are many ways to minister without becoming a minister. Some who start on the path to seminary switch and do something else. But the key is to want to minister.
There has to be a calling. I can’t completely define it. Some attribute it to God, others to your own soul. Whatever it is, you need to be really convinced that this is what you want to do. It cannot be approached with the casual attitude of simply finding a job. There needs to be a deep-seated conviction that this is the right path for you. And even then, you may change your direction down the road. But to go into this half-heartedly strikes me as a horrific tragedy.
I also noticed some ministers had some tough times. Many were still paying off large seminary loans. Some had psycho parishioners that had literally made their lives hell. Some had family problems. And yet all of them deal with the problems of members of their congregations. They see the sadness, the broken hearts, the lost jobs, the endless parade of human suffering, and they must listen, counsel, build up, and support. Then they go home to their own problems. Who do they turn to? It is not an easy life.
