Board of Human Resources – January 2026

Greetings from the Board of Human Resources. Last month you heard from the Congregation Ministry Review Board (CMRB) about their current role and the ongoing discussions about creating a Pastoral Relations Committee (PRC). This month I’d like to share with you a little about the Board of Human Resources (BHR) and the way in which we are visioning a merging of CMRB into BHR. The BHR was created in 2023 following the completion of a task force inquiry into compensation equity for the UCG staff. The BHR, as defined in the Bylaws, works closely with the Board of Business and is responsible for recommending the total compensation packages for all clergy and lay staff in the annual budget process. They review all requests for compensation changes for consistency with the UCG compensation philosophy.

The Board of Human Resources acts also in an advisory capacity to the ministers for human resource issues, reviews new or significantly changed job descriptions for compensation implications, and maintains and updates the compensation procedures and personnel policies as needed. In other words, our primary focus is compensation, and after that, ensuring that job descriptions are up-to-date and accurate. This year we created a job description sub-committee to review job descriptions, and every year in the late Spring and Summer we reach out to other organizations to review their annual pay levels. Once every three years we hire an outside consultant to conduct a comprehensive study of pay structures at various organizations in the Gainesville area. The BHR’s role to advise the ministers concerning human resource issues is still being developed as issues arise.

The BHR is not responsible for hiring and firing staff or evaluating staff and ministers. For the present, CMRB evaluates the ministers, and the ministers evaluate the staff. One of the major changes anticipated is that CMRB will evolve into something more like a PRC, becoming a true advocate for the ministers without the responsibility of evaluating them. BHR will continue to oversee compensation, ensure that the ministers complete the staff evaluations, and will be part of discussions to determine a new process for evaluating the ministers based on best practices and recommendations from the Florida Conference of the UCC and input from our congregation.

The Florida Conference of the UCC has provided several learning opportunities for best practices in implementing a successful Human Resources (or Personnel) Board including best practices for evaluating staff and clergy. Links to these resources are below. In addition, CMRB, BHR, the Board of Business, and clergy will be meeting in January to consider how these changes can best be implemented to further the vision of the church. Please review the materials from the Florida Conference and reach out to us if you have any questions.

With gratitude for our shared ministry,

Wendi Wheeler, Chair

Resources:

Effective evaluation of staff and ministry

Personnel Human Resources job description

Human Resources Committee Slides

Sure Foundation Pastoral Relations

Pastoral Relations Committee job description