News and Announcements

On Sunday, November 1, Trustees and Officers of the First Unitarian Church of St. Louis tallied the votes for the Ministerial Search Committee. Out of 324 eligible church members (those who signed the membership book at least 60 days prior to the election), a total of 184 members voted, including 93 absentee ballots (mailed or dropped off at church before election day).

The following seven people were elected:

Jeff Cary
Tony Fathman
Chris Fawcett
Rob Harding
Joan Kindleberger
Caitlin McQuade
Jeanette Myers

I ask the congregation to join me in extending heartfelt thanks to all ten of the candidates who were willing to commit to undertaking this important work on behalf of the congregation, and for participating in a process that allowed the congregation a choice.

Emily Troxell Jaycox
Congregation President

Tags: Board, Ministerial Search Committee, Transition by admin

The Church’s Annual Meeting is set for 11:30 a.m., Sunday, May 17, in Hope Chapel. All are invited to attend, and Sustaining Members who are present and who joined the Church at least 60 days before the meeting will be able to choose incoming Officers and Trustees, decide on the budget for 2009-10, and vote on all other business items on the agenda. Minutes of last year’s meeting, as well as biographical sketches of those on the Officers and Trustees slate, are available at the sign-up table in Fellowship Hall or by calling the Church Office. Please inform yourself and plan to participate. Childcare will be provided during the meeting.

Tags: Board, Membership by admin

As part of our transition ministry, the Board has named six church members to serve on the Transition Team. The members of the team are Joan Kindleberger (chair), Helen Cadoret, Brian Deason, Emily Gray, Susan Mueller, and Joe Polman.

According to one UUA document, the team’s role is to provide the transition minister with “insight, organization and facilitative talent, and willing hands as the ministry proceeds.” Please feel free to speak with any of the members and to Sam about the progression of our transition time. At the end of our transition ministry, they will plan Sam’s good-bye party and then disband.

Tags: Board, Ministry, Transition by admin

Your participation is not only welcome, but encouraged, in helping to select potential members of the Ministerial Search Committee. This committee’s role is to select a candidate for minister, who will be voted on by the Congregation. Its activities will include surveying Members’ and Friends’ assessments of who we are, as a church, and the kind of ministerial leadership we need.

As you consider applying to be a Committee member yourself and/or nominating someone to be a member, you can find four helpful documents on the Church’s website at the “MINISTERIAL SEARCH” heading. They are Calling a Minister: the Role of the Search Committee, which describes the Committee’s crucial role; Guidelines for Choosing Members of a Ministerial Search Committee, which gives characteristics to seek in members and ones to avoid; the Nomination Form; and Application Form. All may be downloaded.

These documents also are available at the “Ministerial Search” area of the sign-up table in Fellowship Hall or by calling Terry Smith in the Church Office, (314) 361-0595, ext. 21. Please submit your application and nomination forms at the sign-up area, or mail them to the Church Office. The deadline for applications and nominations is Sunday, March 22.

Tags: Board, Transition by admin

On Monday, Jan. 5, 2009, the Rev. Samuel Schaal is to begin an 18-month term as our Transition Minister.

Sam, our Lewis Ministerial Intern from January to June 1997, has been Associate Minister with the 800-member First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa, Wis., since 2003. He was recruited to that position after his very successful three-year transitional ministry with the Unitarian Universalist Church West, of Brookfield, Wis. Prior to that, Sam, who received full fellowship as a minister with the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) in 1998, served churches in Texas. Before being called to ministry, Rev. Sam, who is single and has two grown sons, enjoyed a successful career in the business sector.

Tags: Board, Transition, Worship by admin

Based on a survey of the congregation, the Board has decided to continue having one service only and to continue having it at 10 a.m. on Sundays for the foreseeable future.

Of the 136 persons responding to the survey on our one-service experiment for Sunday worship, 119, or 88 percent, preferred continuing to have one service only; and 60 percent preferred to continue having the service begin at 10 a.m.

Copies of the report on the survey, including responses from participants, will be available in Fellowship Hall after church on Sunday, Oct. 19, or by calling the Church Office.

When coming to the worship service, please remember that diagonal parking is available on Kingshighway Boulevard, in addition to our spaces on the south side of the alley in back of the church, in our parking lot, and in CRC’s lot.

Tags: Board, Worship by admin

We are in the process of arranging for the Rev. Dr. James Daugherty, who well served our church during two ministerial sabbaticals — one in 1982 and one in 1988 — to be our minister on a part-time, temporary basis until we have an Interim Minister.

He earned an accounting degree before earning graduate degrees from Union Theological Seminary in New York City and Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif. A United Methodist minister, Rev. Daugherty has, since coming to St. Louis in 1973, been a hospital chaplain and pastor. Now he is semi-retired.

He will deliver a sermon once a month and work one day each week, making himself available for pastoral care and counseling, as well as supporting staff, officiating at rites of passage, and collaborating with the Worship Committee.

It is expected that he will begin service with us the week of Oct. 6 and will preach on October 26, November 16, and December 7.

Tags: Board, Ministry, Transition by admin

The Interim Minister Search Committee is in the process of reviewing five prospective Interim Minister candidates suggested to them by the Rev. John Weston, Transitions Director, Unitarian Universalist Association, last Sunday, when he was here as our guest minister.

The committee is seeking an Interim who will serve us for 18 months — from January 2009 through June 2010. The committee, should it choose to recommend a candidate to the Board, likely will do so at the Board’s regular meeting on Monday, November 10.

Tags: Board, Transition by admin

The Board has accepted, with regret, the resignation of the Rev. Mary Hnottavange-Telleen, AIM, as our Interim Minister, due to medical reasons. In the past few months, she has come to know some of our history, dynamics, and talent. Her ability and experience have shown in her quick, sound insight into group and individual behavior and what makes for healthy congregational life. We regret that she is unable to be with us this year, and we wish her all the best.

Tags: Board, Ministry, Transition by admin

To help us build a stronger sense of community during this time of transition, the Board has decided to experiment with having only one service on Sunday mornings, beginning on Homecoming Sunday, Sept. 7, and extending through Oct. 19. The service will be at 10 a.m. in the Sanctuary.

Toward the end of the trial period, members and friends  will be asked for feedback on this experiment, which will be vital in determining the service schedule in the future.

Based on attendance figures at both services during the past year, space in the Sanctuary and R.E. classrooms appears adequate to handle all in one service, except perhaps at certain holidays. With regard to the issue of parking space, the parking available–in both our lot and CRC’s, as well as on Kingshighway and Waterman Boulevards–seems to be adequate.

Nancy Belt, Church President

Tags: Board, Unitarian Universalists, Worship by admin