Staff in the congregation have particular boundaries during ministerial traditions to avoid interfering with or influencing the search process:

• Staff members serving UU congregations in search may not serve on the ministerial search team, except in rare cases when a minister or executive director on staff is in a co-equal role to the minister who will be identified in the search process.
• Staff members should not be interviewed by ministers in search—the one exception being other ministers serving on staff, as they are in covenant with each other by UUMA Guidelines.
• Should a staff member learn that an applicant is considering the congregation where the staff member serves, the staff member should keep confidentiality about the applicant, avoid expressing their opinions about the applicant, and avoid being a reference about the congregation.

Staff may have involvement in these ways:

• The search team may meet with staff for information and reflection about the search process
• During candidating week, the ministerial candidate and staff should have at least one meeting.

For Additional Information

Transitions Support for Congregational Staff

By Jan Gartner

From LeaderLab

The departure of a staff team member provides a fruitful time for reflection, visioning, and change. Some UU professionals are equipped to work with congregations during transitions, providing specialized skills and tools that help a congregation prepare for robust new leadership….

Transitions Support Staff