Calendar & FAQs
Overview of Phase 6 Calendar
| Task | Timeline |
|---|---|
| Negotiating team and candidate work out contract | Right after offer is accepted |
| Initiate background check on minister | Right after offer is accepted |
| Minister informs current congregation of departure | Within 10 days of accepting candidate status |
| Announcement of candidate to congregation | After all are complete:
|
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can’t we do credit checks?
Credit checks are not essential for good ministry and are invasive in ways that can lead to unnecessary judgments. Ministers generally don’t ask for a credit check from the congregation’s governing board, even though they are the ones responsible for church finances. Most ministers don’t have check signing capabilities for the congregation.
How likely is it that something will come up in a background check for our new minister?
Extremely unlikely. Chances are you’ll know anything that comes up if you’ve requested a file summary of the minister. Even then, most arrests that show up are for some sort of public protest. Still, every congregation should be able to say at some point they’ve done this as good standard hiring procedure for religious professionals and key volunteers.
Doesn’t the UUA conduct background checks? Why do we have to handle a background check?
Ministers who are eligible to use our MinistrySearch system are in fellowship with our Association. Our Association does not employ ministers who are serving congregations. As employers, congregations are responsible for the background checks of employees.
Why can’t the minister wait until after candidating week to let their congregation know they are leaving?
Such a delay would hamper the congregation’s interim minister selection. It takes about two weeks to prepare the search profile for an interim ministry search. Since most candidating weeks are late April and early May, that means the congregation’s search for a minister would miss the interim search. The minister should make sure they are giving the amount of notice of their departure that their current contract requires.