Ministerial Transitions

By Congregational Life, UUA Ministries and Faith Development

Serving with Grace Lay Leadership as a Spiritual Practice

By Erik Walker Wikstrom

From Skinner House Books

Discover how to experience congregational work as an integrated element in a fully rounded spiritual life.

Buy This Book

The health and vitality of our congregations depends in part on a good fit between a congregation and their minister. The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) helps to connect ministers searching for a position with congregations which want to find a minister.

The UUA offers information and resources to help congregants, ministers, compensation consultants, and regional staff throughout the search process for all types of ministers: assistant, contract, developmental, interim, or settled.

Announcements

  • Registration for the Transition Ministers Chapter Seminar is now open! The seminar will be held April 28th - May 2nd for in-person registrants and April 29th - May 1st for virtual participants. The seminar is a continuing education experience focused on interim, developmental, sabbatical, and transition-focused contract ministry. It is open to all fellowshipped ministers who are members of the UUMA. More details regarding the seminar can be found HERE. CEU credits may be available for participants.

    REGISTER HERE

    Registration closes February 19th. Scholarships are available, please see the registration form for more details.

  • Sign up to receive our new and improved UUA Transitions Team newsletter! This newsletter is open to ministers, congregations, staff, and anyone who wants to know more about the transition cycle. Click here to sign up!

Questions about Materials or the Search Process

Please include your full name, your congregation’s full name (no acronyms), city, and state in all correspondence with the UUA Transitions Team (transitions@uua.org) and regional staff.

UUA Transitions Team:

  • Amy Szen, Administrator
  • Rev. Patrice Curtis, Transformational Interim Ministries Director
  • Rev. Eric Kaminetzky, Interim Settled Ministries Director
  • Christine Purcell, Congregational Transitions Director

Congregational Leaders and Ministers

Regarding All Active and Upcoming Searches

  1. Congregational leaders, once you have been in touch with regional staff and/or the Congregational Transitions Director about the types of ministry search which would be best or are available to your congregation, send an email to transitions@uua.org to initiate your search. Include your congregation’s full name, city, and state, and the name and email for your contact person.
  2. To view opportunity listings for ministers, religious educators, musicians, and other congregational staff, please visit the MinistrySearch Jobs Board. To post a position on the jobs board for non-ordained staff, use the Job Board Listing Request form.
  3. Congregations seeking or offering staff for collaboration may also post to the Congregational Collaboration Board.

These documents are essential reading and resources for lay leaders and ministers in search:

Congregational Leaders

Resources here are of particular use to lay leaders shepherding their congregation through the ministerial transition.

Ministers

These resources are useful for ministers in the midst of or considering a transition.

Archived Resources