Ministerial Transition

Overview of a Ministerial Transition

The process by which a Unitarian Universalist congregation transitions from one settled minister to another is defined and managed by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). As a member congregation of the UUA, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis is following that process and utilizing the tools that the UUA provides us.

This webpage contains information about the transition process that we expect the Fellowship will experience. The links on the left side of the page lead to information about specific phases of the process, presented in chronological order from top to bottom. The last link provides further readings that describe ministerial transitions in greater detail.

End of the Current Ministry

On January 12, 2025, Rev. Jill McAllister announced her intention to retire from the ministry at the end of the Fellowship year in July. You can view her announcement below.

Following Rev. Jill’s announcement to the congregation, Sheryl Stuart and Mark Aron spoke to the congregation about getting through the transition to come. You can view their speeches below.

Rev. Jill followed the UUA’s recommendation that ministers announce their departure approximately six months before they leave. The recommendation is based in experiences that show six months provides sufficient time for transitional business to be conducted without feeling rushed, while also not dragging on so long that other work within the congregation suffers greatly.

Search for an Interim Minister

Once the current minister announces their departure, congregational leadership (the Board of Directors) forms an interim minister search team to conduct the business of using the UUA’s ministerial-search tools to find an interim minister.

For this search, the people comprising the UUFC’s search team are Rachel Houtman, Michael Molk, Laurie Reed, and Sheryl Stuart. On February 24, 2025, this team started their work on gathering materials that communicate the Fellowship’s current state, efforts, and offerings to potential candidates for interim ministry.

Key dates for the interim minister search are:

April 10, 2025: UUFC information complete and submitted to the transitional search portal
April 10-May 4, 2025: Applicants review our information and decide if they would like to join us
May 4, 2025: The UUFC search team receives 2-6 candidate names and begins reviewing applications, interviewing candidates, and ranking them–while the candidates do the same for us.
May 20, 2025: Candidate selection announced to the Fellowship
May 20, 2025: Contract finalized
August 1, 2025: Interim Minister begins work

Interim Ministry

Interim ministers are specially trained to assist a congregation on their journey from one settled minister to another. Normally, interim ministries last for two years, but this duration is not set in stone. The UUFC’s Board of Directors will hire an interim minister using the interim minister search process.

The UUA’s Transitional Ministry Handbook defines interim ministry as follows:

Interim—a transitional ministry designed to help a congregation move from one settled ministry to the next settled ministry or from a settled ministry to a developmental ministry. Most interim ministries last 24 months, though occasionally the ministry may be longer or shorter. An interim minister assists the congregation in moving beyond its last ministry and equipping itself for a new, different ministry. This preparation involves helping the congregation look at practices that may or may not be serving them well, assisting through the emotional process of transition, setting sights forward, and connecting the congregation to needed resources. The interim minister is hired by the board of trustees. Interim ministers may not be called by the congregation. Most congregations planning to continue in full-time ministry after a settlement use this option for their transition.

Search for a Settled Minister

The search for a settled minister is conducted during the last year of an interim ministry and culminates in a congregational call of the candidate identified by the settled search team.

This section will be updated with more information as the UUFC gets closer to starting this search.

What if something unexpected happens?

The transition process outlined on this page is what we expect to happen. Things don’t always go as expected. Below are some situations that the UUA has seen and is prepared to assist the UUFC with, should the Fellowship encounter them.

What if an interim minister isn’t found?

From the UUA’s Transitional Ministry Handbook:

If a congregation does not have a match on offer day, the search team notifies their board that there is no match in the current search cycle. The UUA Transitions Team is available to offer care, guidance, and perspective at this moment and to debrief with the search team and board. The UUA will convert the interim ministry search to a contract ministry search unless the congregation wishes to withdraw from search. A contract ministry search has no matching process, offer day, or deadlines; search teams interview applicants until they find the one they would like to hire. Interim work may still be done with a contract minister, and the training required for interim ministers is open to contract ministers.

Further Reading