Dear New Thought Unity Center Congregation,
Your board has hired me to help you complete your ministry transition work.
Here are some things I want you to know:
Ministry transition consulting goals include:
· building trust and developing a peaceful communication practice between congregation, board, minister and staff
· helping the congregation truly understand the healthy functioning of the ministry relationship, and
· preparing for a new ministerial relationship.
We will not repeat the exercises that have already been done (Who Have We Come Here To Be, Core Values, History Telling, etc). We will refer back to some of what was learned in those exercises, because there is some valuable information there.
We will:
· create a mission and vision for the future,
· develop a communication practice for peaceful, healthy community, and
· prepare for a new ministerial relationship based on known and tested criteria.
My background is:
· Church Administrator at Unity of Louisville during a conflicted transition and subsequent release of our minister.
· Certified Unity Peaceworker under Rev. Gary Simmons, Mediation Skills from the Institute of Lombard Mennonite Peace Center, and Facilitator in Healthy Congregations development
· 8+ years as spiritual leader (one of two) at Unity of Evansville.
· Served 9 GLURC Congregations as Peaceworker, Ministry Transition Consultant and Guest Speaker.
· Unity of Louisville congregant roles include:
- Chaplain (3 yrs)
- Uniteen Leader (5 yrs),
- Adult Ed teacher
- General all round volunteer and staff.
I am not, nor have I ever been, an ordained Unity minister. I hold an ordination through the Universal Brotherhood Movement, a BA in Religion from Centre College, and an MBA from the University of Louisville.
Someone asked me, “What’s the long term plan at NTUC?” The long term plan is to: prepare for a new ministerial relationship, learn new ways of communicating peacefully, create a ministry transition plan, and get a new minister, not necessarily in that order. Further, the next time a minister leaves (whether released, dies, retires), because it will happen again in the normal course of this center’s future, you will already have a written Ministry Transition Plan, which your congregation created and which is based on the spiritual principles for which Unity stands.
Someone else asked me, “Why is it important for me to show up?” The short answer is, either you help to create or your complaints are hollow. The better answer is the same one Barbara Marx Hubbard gave in the Visions of a Universal Humanity movie clip… “We need YOU! Yes, YOU!” The time is now, and those who participate co-create the next part of NTUC’s history.
As we come together in an exploration and expression of our human-ness and our Oneness, the more heart centered participation there is, the better the outcome. The truth is, regardless who facilitates, what matters far more is whether you are willing to show up and BE a part of this community in its transition.
I hope your answer will be YES!
My pledge to you is that I will be open to you and your experiences during our work together. I will do my best in service of the Good of the congregation, and I will be willing to work within the framework of whatever manifests during this process. My hope for you is that creating the most whole and healthy congregation possible will mean enough for you to participate. Did I mention, we need YOU!?
I am holding a visioning prayer of this community filled with love, elated and celebrating all it has become through the power of the willingness to BE. Many thanks for this opportunity,
Rev. Lin Schussler-Williams
