Ministerial Search Committee

Our Church is searching for a Settled Minister in 2024.  The Search Committee, which was elected by the congregation, has seven members.

  1. Kim Aldridge
  2. Bill Bowman
  3. Carolyn Bowman, Chair
  4. Sally Cooperrider
  5. Ro Morris
  6. Jenny Redfern
  7. Robert Strong

As part of their work, the Search Committee surveyed the Congregation.  Results are provided here.  The file needs a password, which is in the weekly all-church email. If you still need the password, please contact our Office Manager at nika@sanjoseuu.org

2023 FUCSJ Congregation Survey Summary

Town hall video recording  (28 Jan 2024)

Candidating Week: The Vote on April 28 (adapted from the UUA Settlement Handbook)

Your FUCSJ Settled Ministerial Search Committee has put in tremendous time and effort to identify a ministry candidate who is a good match for our Congregation from the pool of applicants for our Congregation’s ministry position. Everyone should understand that if the vote to call this candidate fails or is too low to be accepted, there are no other ministers waiting in the wings this year to be evaluated by the Congregation. We would need another year of interim ministry while we engage in another search for a settled ministry candidate next year.

On April 28, FUCSJ members are not voting on:
● whether members think they would have chosen on their own the candidate who was
identified by the search committee, given what they know about the Congregation.
● whether members think, based on two sermons, every sermon the candidate preaches will or will not speak perfectly to the hearts and minds of every single member every single time.
● whether there might be a better match out there somewhere.
● whether the candidate is the perfect minister. Ministers come with different skills in worship arts, pastoral care, administrative and organizational work, and social witness presence. No one minister will have a high level of skill or interest in ALL of those elements of the ministry. The shared ministry of the Congregation will and should shift with the skills and interests of the new minister.
● what is best for a particular individual within the Congregation.

On April 28, FUCSJ members are voting on:
● whether they affirm the comprehensive, inclusive, collaborative, transparent process which was used to find the candidate.
● whether our Congregation was heard by the search committee.
● whether our Congregation was represented accurately by the search committee.
● whether they believe the search committee saw the gifts of ministry which the Congregation needs in the candidate.
● whether our Congregation is willing to move into a shared ministry partnership with the candidate whom the search committee identified as a good match for the Congregation’s needs.
● what is best for our whole congregation.

First Unitarian Church of San Jose, April 2024