Donate Online/PledgeSettled Minister Search Committee Updates
April 28, 2024
What a Sunday!!! What a week!!! What a Search!!!
Thank you to the entire congregation for giving us the honor to serve on the Search Committee. Thank you for your support over the year, and for your trust in us to do this sacred work. Thank you to Rev. Eric, Jeannette, Nonetta, Marisa, and Tim for all of your help through the process…especially this past week! Thank you to the Board and the WUC committees for being so generous with your time this week to meet with Rev. Deborah, and thank you to the Board for throwing such a rocking party! Lastly, thank you to our families and loved ones who have allowed us the ability to dedicate ourselves so fully to Search over this past year.
Our Search is over, but so much is about to begin for our beloved Westminster community. We can’t wait!
With joy,
Jim Alexander, April Cambre, Doris Duarte, Al Jeffries, Bill Stone, Bob Walker, and Tracey Wysor
April 7, 2024
Settled Minister Candidate Introduction Video
Update April 3, 2024
The Big Reveal
We are very excited to announce that our candidate will be revealed this Sunday, April 7 during service! We hope to see many of you there if you can join us in person or virtually.
Also, candidating week is set for April 20-28. In that week our candidate will give sermons each Sunday ending in a congregational vote after the sermon on April 28. We are currently in the process of planning what that week will look like so that our candidate can meet as many people as possible that week.
Stay tuned for more details and mark your calendars for the exciting vote on April 28!!
As always, please email us at searchcommittee@
In joy,
Jim, April, Doris, Al, Bill, Bob, and Tracey
Update March 21, 2024
If you have missed those of us on the Search Committee, we have been busy hosting our pre-candidates as we look for our next settled minister. We have met with them, interviewed them, shared meals, and watched them give a sermon in a “neutral pulpit“. You will start seeing more of us now as we are finished with this phase of the process.
This week we will be submitting our rank order to the UUA and then soon we will learn if we made a match! There is always a chance that we may not match and would need to enter a “round two” of search, but we are hopeful. We have thoroughly enjoyed working together and as you can see from the pictures, we love spending time together! We have also had the privilege of meeting wonderful ministers. It continues to be an honor to serve our church in this way, and we will be in touch again soon!
Update January 26, 2024
Hello Westminster! For those of you who could not be at the congregational meeting, we just wanted to give an update as to where things are in the ministerial search process and to describe the next steps over the coming weeks. This fall, with much help from all of you, we were able to gather a lot of helpful information about our church and what our church is looking for. We shared that information with prospective ministers, and we had a good amount of interest in our church. We then held zoom interviews and have been checking references. We have now narrowed down the search to a smaller number of ministers. Over the next couple of months, we will invite the ministers to other churches to a “neutral pulpit” to meet them and hear them preach, so you may not see as much of us in services in the coming weeks. After we meet them all, then we will consider which candidate has what Westminster is looking for and we will then submit our choices to the UUA who will then (hopefully) match us with our new minister!
It has become apparent to us during this process that our church is in a good place and there are several ministers who are interested in serving at Westminster. This is because of all of you and the love and care that you put into our community. If you have any questions, please email us or find one of us at coffee hour!
Settled Minister January 2024 Update
January 2024
Happy New Year! We wanted to give you an update on where things stand in our Settled Ministerial Search. Our Information has been exchanged with ministers who are currently looking for a new congregation to serve. We had a positive response from potential ministers and we are currently reviewing applications. We were the first church to get an application in this year’s search process! We will be scheduling Zoom interviews this month. We are excited about our next steps in this process!
In Faith,
Jim Alexander, April Cambre, Doris Duarte, Al Jeffries, Bill Stone, Bob Walker, and Tracey Wysor
Message from the Search Committee
The survey is closed and Search Parties are done! We wanted to thank everyone for your help. We had 116 responses to the survey which is 62% of our registered congregants! We are compiling the data and will update you in the coming weeks. We also would like to thank everyone who was able to take the time to join one of the Search Parties. Your input will help the Search Committee to understand what our congregation wants in a new minister and everyone’s input is so valuable.
It has been so heartening how everyone in the church has been so actively engaged in the process of finding our new minister. Your enthusiasm is palpable and greatly appreciated.
We will be in touch for the next steps.
In faith,
Jim Alexander, April Cambre, Doris Duarte, Al Jeffries, Bill Stone, Bob Walker, and Tracey Wysor
Settled Minister Search Committee Update October 16
Thank you for completing the survey!!! We really appreciate everyone’s insights and perspectives…thank you for contributing to the Search process.
We are continuing to hold more Search Parties. These are small group conversations about what Westminster is looking for in a settled minister. The groups will be kept small to help facilitate a conversation. You can participate in more than one, and we will be arranging groups such as past church leadership, RE parents, youth, and women and men’s group Search Parties. We plan to have another general Search Party, as well as a New Member/Prospective Member Search Party on Sunday, Oct. 22 during coffee hour. Please make a plan to participate! You can sign up for either of these at this link.
As always, please email us at searchcommittee@westminsteruu.org if you have any questions or concerns of the Search Committee.
Jim Alexander, April Cambre, Doris Duarte, Al Jeffries, Bill Stone, Bob Walker, and Tracey Wysor
Settled Minister Search Committee Update September 25
The survey is open! Remember, it will only take 15-20 minutes to complete. The survey will help you, the Search Committee, and our future minister understand the congregation better. It is available online and paper forms will be available during coffee hour. We will also have a laptop set up during coffee hour should you need it. This Sunday, just look for Bill Stone!
Survey Closed
The next step in our settled minister search will be the rollout of Search Parties. These will be small group conversations about what Westminster is looking for in a settled minister. The groups will be kept small to help facilitate a conversation, but there will be several options to participate. You can participate in more than one, and we will be arranging groups such as past church leadership, RE parents, youth, and women and men’s group Search Parties. We plan to have general Search Parties on Sunday, Oct. 15 during coffee hour. And also one on Wednesday, Oct. 11 in the evening. Please stay tuned for sign-ups for these very important meetings. Please make a plan to participate!
As always, please email us at searchcommittee@westminsteruu.org if you have any questions or concerns of the Search Committee.
Jim Alexander, April Cambre, Doris Duarte, Al Jeffries, Bill Stone, Bob Walker, and Tracey Wysor
Settled Minister Search Committee Update – September 11, 2023
The Search Committee will be asking for your help in finding our new minister. The first step is asking everyone to complete the Congregational Survey which will be available next week, starting September 18. The Survey will help you, the Search Committee and our future minister understand the congregation better. This is an essential piece of feedback as we do the sacred work of searching for our settled minister and we thank you in advance for participating.
This survey should only take you about 15-20 minutes to complete.
The Survey will be available online as a Google form, because this way it is easier for us to compile the data. Don’t worry, we will keep your information confidential. We plan to have a laptop available during coffee hour for you to use should you need. We also will have paper forms available for those who have difficulty with electronic forms. After we have gathered all of the survey results and compiled the information, a summary will be reported to the Congregation.
The survey is essential in our Search process and we hope that everyone is able to participate.
If you have any questions at all, please get in touch with the Search Committee at searchcommittee@westminsteruu.org.
In Faith, Jim Alexander, April Cambre, Doris Duarte, Al Jeffries, Bill Stone, Bob Walker, and Tracey Wysor
Settled Minister Search Committee Update August 28, 2023
The Search Committee will be asking for your help in finding our new minister. The first step is asking everyone to complete the Congregational Survey which will be available next week, starting September 18. The Survey will help you, the Search Committee and our future minister understand the congregation better. This is an essential piece of feedback as we do the sacred work of searching for our settled minister and we thank you in advance for participating.
This survey should only take you about 15-20 minutes to complete.
The Survey will be available online as a Google form, because this way it is easier for us to compile the data. Don’t worry, we will keep your information confidential. We plan to have a laptop available during coffee hour for you to use should you need it. We also will have paper forms available for those who have difficulty with electronic forms. After we have gathered all of the survey results and compiled the information, a summary will be reported to the Congregation.
The survey is essential in our Search process and we hope that everyone is able to participate.
If you have any questions at all, please get in touch with the Search Committee at searchcommittee@westminsteruu.org.
In Faith, Jim Alexander, April Cambre, Doris Duarte, Al Jeffries, Bill Stone, Bob Walker, and Tracey Wysor