Hello All,

For the past few months, I haven’t had any significant updates to share in my Moderator Minute. This month, I have some important updates on potential work with a Church Consultant. Please read on for more information.

Like a lot of you, I’m reeling from the election results.  Although it feels like many things are about to get harder, I’m still very thankful. I’m thankful for ministers who created a deeply meaningful service when the election results were released, even amid their own grief. I’m thankful for the members who have already emailed with ideas for ways UCG could be a beacon of hope at this time. I’m thankful for a community of people who just “get it.” I’m thankful for the many people involved in keeping our community operating – the staff, the ministers, the childcare aides, the board/committee chairs, and our members. 

We have some difficult months ahead. For me, it is important to name that. Ignoring the facts in front of me never serves me well, no matter how much I want to. We’ll soon say goodbye to Bromleigh, leaving us in Talia’s very capable (but very full) hands. We’ll all need to be a little extra patient, extend a little more grace, and offer a little more help – to one another and the work of the Church, in general. We will live together in a liminal space, knowing an interim will join us eventually but with little ability to predict when. We’re going to enter a fraught political climate – some of our members have very valid fears they will be targeted for their very existence, and others feel the general existential angst of not knowing what may happen (but suspecting it will be bad). 

For all these reasons and many others, I am thankful that Church Council approved a motion to host Reverend Cameron Trimble from Convergence Consulting for a weekend of workshops on January 25 and 26. Please reserve those dates on your calendar and stay tuned for more information!

 I want to make sure everyone feels informed about how we arrived at this decision, so I’d like to share the work that has been ongoing related to hiring a church consultant.

•  Many know that one of the Pathfinding Committee’s recommendations was to contract with a church consultant. Over the summer, I had a few meetings with potential groups.
• As our needs evolved, I asked Donn Smith-Lopez to help coordinate receiving updated proposals and scheduling interviews.
• Three proposals were submitted to Church Council in October. Council member contributed to a list of follow-up questions for the consultants.
• A smaller group of folks from Church Council, as well as past moderators, and members of the Pathfinding Implementation Committee, met with each consultant group. Each interview lasted one-hour and used a standard list of questions from Church Council.
• That group met afterward to share their thoughts. Two of the three rose to the top, but there was unanimous enthusiasm about working with Convergence.
• Donn and I met with representatives from Convergence to schedule a one-weekend “trial” that would allow everyone to meet them and get a sense of the work we might do together. 

I imagine you might have some questions, so I will try to address them below.

What does this cost? The weekend will cost $3,000 plus travel expenses. Reverend Trimble will be joining us from Atlanta and will stay for two nights in a hotel in Gainesville. We estimate the cost of travel to be $800-$1000.

How are we paying for this? The Florida Conference of the United Church of Christ previously pledged $3,000 to hire a consultant. This recommendation was first made by the now-retired Rev. John Vertigan (Conference minister) during talks with him over the summer. Over the summer, an anonymous donor contributed $3,000 to a designated fund for this purpose—thank you, whoever you are! The event in January is being hosted with zero dollars from the UCG budget or endowment.

Won’t this just bring up the past and stir up bad feelings?  I don’t believe so. That’s not the intention of the planned activity (or any of the future activities). For the January 2025 weekend, Rev. Cameron will lead us in a Future Lab, inviting us to think creatively about our future as a church. What do we want to hold on to? What are we willing to let go of? You can read more about the plans for that weekend in the attached proposal. Please know this is a “generic” proposal at the moment. Rev. Trimble will be meeting with Talia and other lay leaders before coming to learn more about our specific needs and preferences to tailor the workshop as needed.

So, are we just going to ignore everything that has happened this year? No, we’re not doing that either. Each person will bring to these workshops their feelings, concerns, and hopes. Through skilled facilitation, Rev. Trimble will help us to understand one another’s position and explore ways to come alongside one another if (when) disagreements do arise. The January 2025 weekend isn’t meant to be a “one-and-done” solution. It will provide a glimpse of what they can offer while engaging us in some meaningful work. 

Are we only doing work with them in January? Convergence submitted a full proposal for $20,000. We requested all the consultant groups produce a proposal for that amount as we knew that was what we could reasonably afford. The work in January is part of that proposal. If we hire them for the full proposal, the contract would be for an additional $17,000. There is a great deal of flexibility in how we choose to schedule remaining activities based on our own church calendar, our needs/progress, and the timing of an interim minister. 

What happens after January? Our Winter Congregational meeting is scheduled for Sunday, February 9th. At that meeting, we will vote on a motion to approve the full contract with Convergence. I hope that folks make the effort to attend the events on January 25-26th so that they can vote with that experience in mind (however you might feel about it).

Where is that $17,000 coming from? UCG has an endowment that can be used specifically to cover the expenses of special needs that are not included in the regular budget. It can’t be used to fund the budget or any item regularly in the budget (like copy paper or office supplies). Each year, a certain amount can be withdrawn from the endowment using the Tobin Rule – a calculation that estimates how much can be taken out and replenished in one year via interest gained from the balance. This year, the Board of Endowment voted to authorize the contribution of $10,000 toward a consultant, pending congregational approval to hire the consultant.

That leaves $7,000. As I mentioned above, a generous couple has already donated $3,000 to this purpose. Several others, including my family, have also made contributions. A number of people stopped me informally over the summer to mention they were willing to contribute—unfortunately, I don’t have a list, but I trust those folks will reach out to Catherine Cake if they are still interested. Currently, $4,500 has already been raised through private contributions. 

I really don’t think hiring a consultant is a good use of money or time. Why should I come in January? I absolutely respect the hesitancy around hiring a consultant. It still costs money, sometimes consultants don’t quite deliver, and things feel calmer, so it’s easy to think we could just move on. Hiring a consultant has been recommended to UCG by two different Florida Conference ministers, so it seems like it is worth at least investigating the option. I hope everyone will engage in the January activity with an open mind. It will only cost you time. Some of your fellow congregants feel really strongly this could be helpful. One way to show your commitment to the community is to show up for their benefit and let one another know we’re all committed to trying. After experiencing Rev. Trimble’s work, you can decide if this is the right way to show up for one another in this moment. All I ask is that you try it out.

Can’t we just wait for an interim minister to come and do this work? Not really. While some interim ministers do work on congregational health, the interim minister will have all the regular work of a minister. Remember, Talia will be alone for some time and has a much-deserved sabbatical scheduled over the summer of 2025. The interim will need to get up to speed with our congregation, support pastoral care, resource boards and committees, contribute to worship, support general church operations, and attend to the specialized work of an interim, which is to help us prepare for a settled minister. Most importantly, there is no way to predict when an interim will arrive. In 2019, we had an interim search committee after Shelly Wilson left. They worked for a year and were never able to identify a suitable candidate. 

I have more questions about this process. Who can I talk to? Please email me at moderator@ucgainesville.org. I am happy to chat. You are also welcome to stop me after church if you see me in the courtyard (at least until my kid starts whining that it’s time to go home!)

I’m thankful to be in this with all of you. 

Love and blessings,

Lindsey