Rev. Dr. Neal Jones retired from parish ministry at the end of 2020. Because Rev. Jones departed in the middle of the church year there will be three steps for our church to take on our path to a new settled minister. First we chose a temporary minister to fill our pulpit for the remainder of the church year (Rev. Christine Robinson). Then, beginning this summer, we invited an interim minister to be our senior minister for two years (Rev. David H. Messner). During that time we will create a search committee which will undertake a search for a new settled minister. As decisions are made and information becomes available, we will report it on this page.

Ministerial Transitions

Temporary Minister

Rev. Christine Robinson
Beginning January 17, 2021

Interim Minister

Rev. David Messner
Beginning August 2021.

Settled Senior Minister

Arriving August 2023

 

The Rev. Christine Robinson will be (virtually)  filling our pulpit three times a month for the next 7 months.  She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she is the Minister Emerita of the First Unitarian Church, a church she served for nearly 30 years before retiring in 2017.  Since then she has worked part time as a church consultant, ministry mentor, and, for the last eight months, a virtual preacher.  

Christine considers herself an agnostic theist (She’ll tell us about that this Spring!) and gains inspiration from poetry, popular music, and the Tao Te Ching.   

The interim period following the end of one ministry and preceding the beginning of another provides the breathing space during which a congregation can review its goals, assess its programs, consider the quality of its life in common, and “tune up” for a new era. The interim period may be one or two years. The Interim Ministry Primer is a good resource for learning more about this.

Learn more about Rev. David Messner.

Learn more about this team and their process.

The search for a new settled minister will be carried out by a search committee, nominated by the nominating committee and elected by the congregation. The search committee will be formed in the Spring of 2022 and will introduce a candidate to the congregation in the Spring of 2023.

 

Recent Transition News

Nominating Committee Senior Minister Search Committee Process -

The Nominating Committee will soon start the process of nominating members for the 2022 Senior Minister Search Committee (SMSC). The SMSC will be charged to work for approximately 14 months to identify, vet, and present a candidate to be considered by our congregation to serve ... read more.

Introducing Rev. David Messner -

Rev. David H. Messner is the interim senior minister of the Main Line Unitarian Church. Previously he served as interim minister at the Unitarian Church in Charleston, the Mother Church of Southern Unitarianism. He was settled minister for seven years at the Unitarian Universalist Church ... read more.

Trustees: Interim Ministry will be Two Years -

 

In a unanimous decision, the Board of Trustees has decided to hire an interim minister for a two-year term.

For an explanation of this decision, you  can view either of these two videos from the Interim Search Team. To allow for an open and candid discussion of ... read more.

Interim Minister Search Team Formed -

The interim period following the end of one ministry and preceding the beginning of another provides the breathing space during which a congregation can review its goals, assess its programs, consider the quality of its life in common, and “tune up” for a new era. ... read more.

Welcome Rev. Christine Robinson -

The Rev. Christine Robinson will be (virtually) filling our pulpit three times a month for the next 7 months. She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she is the Minister Emerita of the First Unitarian Church, a church she served for nearly 30 years before ... read more.