Ministerial Search and Transition

In the summer of 2014, Reverend Bill Breeden retired as minister at the UUCB. Bill is now minister emeritus, along with the Reverend Barbara Carlson. After his departure, Reverend Douglas Wadkins joined the ministerial team of Senior Minister Mary Ann Macklin and Minister of Religious Education Reverend Emily Manvel Leite.

 

The Board formed a Ministerial Search Committee (MSC) using a process based on input from the UUA andthe experiences of other congregations.  The members of the Ministerial Search Committee selected were Barb Backler, Mary Boutain, Craig Coley, Michelle Cook, Abby Gitlitz, Amy Taylor, and Stuart Yoak. The MSC presented one candidate to the congregation to be considered for a call as our new associate minister in the spring of 2016.

 

 

Our congregation’s decision to call took place after the candidate (Rev. Scott) spent a week with our congregation, meeting with staff, committees, members, etc. and preaching in our pulpit twice. According to our bylaws, the vote by congregation members to call a minister requires at least an 80% approval, but common practice in the UUA currently is for ministers to accept a call only if they get 90% approval. We needed a minimum of 158 members for the appropriate quorum to “call” a minister. On Sunday, April 24, 2016, 254 members attended, with Rev. Scott receiving 98% of their vote.

 

Rev. Scott McNeill joined our ministerial team in the summer of 2016 under the leadership of our Senior Minister, Reverend Mary Ann Macklin. This installation is one of the final pieces of a transition process that began three years ago.