Ministerial Settlement System: Congregational Record

The Unitarian Universalist Association declares and affirms its special responsibility, and that of its member congregations and organizations, to promote the full participation of persons in all of its and their activities and in the full range of human endeavor without regard to race, color, sex, disability, affectional or sexual orientation, age, or national origin.

Congregation: UU Congregation of Duluth
Website address: http://www.uuduluth.org/
Ministry title: Minister

Congregation Size: II
Congregation Wage Rate Area: 3
Salary plus Housing: $68,100

Do the benefits and professional expenses provided for this position meet (or even exceed) the UUA Transitions Office recommendations as described in the "Open for Business" section of the Settlement Handbook (PDF)? Yes

If there is a range in the S&H, describe the objective, measurable criteria you will use in categorizing a potential candidate.

High $ -
Mid $68,100 - We are offering S&H based on years of ministerial experience in providing inspiring and informative sermons and assisting congregational growth.
Low $53,400 - We are offering S&H based on years of ministerial experience in providing inspiring and informative sermons and assisting congregational growth.

Is the minister expected to occupy a parsonage? no
How much of the S&H is attributable to rental value? NA To utilities? NA
Number of adult members: 249 Av. Sunday attendance: 138
Children & youth enrollment: 50 Av. children & youth attendance: 75
Total operating expenditures: 280,000
Total operating pledge income: 253,000 Number of pledge units: 149
How many Sunday services? 2 Others during the week? 0
How many months per year is the church at full operating capacity? 12

Describe the character of the surrounding community:

Our College Street Building sits on a 4 acre property which is settled on a hillside between the University of Minnesota, Duluth to the east, the College of Saint Scholastica to the west, a residential neighborhood uphill to the north and the surprisingly wild Chester Creek and Chester Park down the hill to the South. Our micro-setting speaks to our broader community. The Twin Ports of Duluth/Superior is located at the westernmost tip of Lake Superior, the world's largest freshwater lake. Duluth's geography is dominated by the Lake Superior Shoreline and the steep, rocky hillside rising away from the Lake. Chester Creek is one of 42 streams which tumble down this rocky hillside and flow out into the Lake, providing the framework for our exceptionally extensive park- and trail- systems. The two campuses mentioned earlier represent the role of higher-education within the community, contributing cultural, intellectual and financial resources. And the surrounding residential neighborhood is typical of Duluth: a surprisingly diverse and interesting housing stock holding a surprisingly diverse and interesting populace.

The Twin Ports of Duluth/Superior statistical area numbers more than 275,000 people. Let us explain why we live here. Our proximity to accessible natural resources, a staggering number of cultural offerings, and a spirit of North Woods inventiveness and creativity often seems to move mountains. Views of Lake Superior and our inland harbor (welcomes ships from all over the world) are the prominent visual features of our community unless you want to talk about 60' pines. We're known as the "Little San Francisco" due to Duluth's steep hillsides and their associated roads which are religiously kept open all winter by snowplows while we sleep.
Duluth-Superior's largest employers are four colleges and universities providing extraordinary opportunities for learning, and two full service hospitals and associated clinics providing integrated healthcare to our region.
Cultural opportunities abound. We are abundantly entertained throughout the year with many theater productions. We have enjoyed decades of performances of The Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, we are home to the Minnesota Ballet. Recently the acoustically near perfect Weber Music Hall and the Duluth Festival Opera have been added to our dance card. For art and culture, we offer The Tweed Museum and the St. Louis County Heritage & Arts Center, home to the Duluth Art Institute, the Children's Museum, and a unique Railroad Museum. We're pretty excited about our newest entertainment addition; an independent film theater. Bay Front Festival Park is home to several annual festivals the largest of which is the Blues Festival.

Many are drawn to the area for its accessibility to the outdoors and related active pursuits. Grandmas Marathon recently celebrated its 35 anniversary and is a favorite of international and national runners. Ice hockey is huge. Park Point provides several miles of sandy beach for picnics, bonfires and running Fido. Our boardwalk and bike path around the western tip of Lake Superior and downtown Duluth is enthusiastically used by visitors and residents year round. Duluth features an unsurpassed system of groomed cross-county ski trails and downhill skiing in our city limits. Lake Superior provides unending opportunity for sea kayaking. Hiking trails are abundant and offer varied terrain and breathtaking views. The nearby Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is renowned for its hundreds of linked lakes, beauty and solitude.

Less than three hours away on Interstate 35, the Twin Cities is home to five professional sports teams, the Tyrone Guthrie Theater (and dozens of others), the Minneapolis Art Institute, world-class shopping, and many museums, exhibitions, and festivals. However, at the end of the day most of us gladly travel home to the Twin Ports area, thrilling to the first sight of Lake Superior as we travel "over the hill" an unforgettable night time experience for the first time visitor.

What stands out most of all about our area is that for the many of us who are at our best in nature, this is an ideal place to live. We love when our Sunday services are occasionally interrupted by deer sauntering across the hill from our window view behind the pulpit; our church was built to view the outdoors from every room. We are rich with natural beauty every way you turn. Our climate—often the subject of statements such as, "We have two seasons: winter and road construction"—is also a part of who we are. Some of us travel south in winter, many of us go to cabins in the summer, but most all of us love to celebrate the winter solstice as our opportunity to hunker down and let the cold and sleeping earth inspire us to study and reflection. We consider ourselves blessed with our accessibility to the earth's rhythms in our soul-enriching Northland which fosters in us an exceptional dedication to our 7th Principle.

UUA District: Prairie Star District District Executive: Nancy Heege
APF contribution: $13,038 Fair Share? yes
Ministerial settlement rep.: Janne Eller-Isaacs Compensation Consultant: Louise Livesay

Provide your profile of the minister you seek: What We Want in a Minister

How does a congregation know? How does anyone select a car, a pair of binoculars, a paint color, a sauna, or health insurance? Do you depend on research? Intuition? Talking with others? Popular appeal? Past experience? UUCD has used all of these in its quest to discern what would create the greatest synergy between the congregation and a settled minister. A congregational survey, several cottage meetings with specific questions, interviews with paid staff, lay leaders, and community colleagues, and extensive soul-searching by the Ministerial Transition Team lead us to two kinds of ministers.

First let's consider a minister for comfort: S/he might be Scandinavian or at least northern European, because we are used to seeing our dominant genetic traits behind the pulpit: blue eyes or a last name that ends in "son." We are comfortable with liberal Democrats from the Midwest, who have spent long winters diving into books and banks of snow, and we expect sermons that exude comfortable UU ideas which inspire and inform.

Or how about a minister for growth*: perhaps someone from somewhere else who does not look particularly Scandinavian, someone who will guide our in-depth awareness of social action, stretch our inclusiveness, support our yearning for quality Religious Education for both children and adults, expand our international and intercultural awareness, and challenge us to take responsibility for the care of the Earth and its people.

Or s/he (or a co-minister team?) could be both! Someone who challenges us to grow while wrapping us in comfort. Put another way, the congregation has signaled that it wants:

a spiritual, intellectual administrator who is a person of character
a strong Sunday performer with stimulating, challenging sermons and variety in worship rituals
a pastor who fosters fellowship, a sense of community, and who can help us heal from a recent conflict
a juggler who balances congregational issues, committee work, counseling, and who is a presence in the larger community
an advocate for youth within an aging (and sometimes ignored) population
a delegator, facilitator, and a prophet who is open, respectful, and non-judgmental and is a collaborator
So that is what we want in a minister. If you can waltz through the above plus walk on water, please consider UUCD in Duluth, MN for your settled ministry.

*ALL types of growth

Afterthought: Please know that our congregation has much to offer you! We are eager to take you in and pledge to walk with you and surround you with our warmth and support.
Provide your profile of your congregation:

UUCD is a growing liberal religious community which has recently experienced great joy as well as some growing pains. After 90 years in our first church and 10 years of meeting in temporary locations, we are home. Our green building is remarkable and has benefited from much media attention throughout our region and our UU district.

We are a strong Welcoming Congregation and were the first UUA Green Sanctuary in Minnesota. Our transition from a Pastoral to a Program church is well underway. Our Program Council supports our diversity of programming with over 30 programs and groups details of which will be included in our packet. We are engaged (and intend to increase participation) in interfaith activity in the area, and there are several small UU fellowships in our region that we want to reach out to. Fifteen years ago when the congregation decided to explore the possibility of a new building, it also committed to growth (in the broad sense of the word). Presently, this includes the need to nurture, support, and grow new leaders.
Our dreams are expansive. Members have stretched to build a new building. We have staffed for growth, are proud to be a Fair Compensation congregation, and have a skilled and dedicated Finance Council that desires a minister dedicated to and experienced in helping us continue to grow in financial strength. We are concerned about mortgage debt having had none for decades. What can we do to financially support our large vision since a major contributor will now be spending less time in our community?

Our minister of 21 years left two years ago in the midst of our building project. This, along with homelessness & construction, took its toll. And although we have been relatively conflict free throughout our long history, we are unafraid of expressing our differences and are currently winding down a conflict. Though our commitment remains strong, we yearn for stability.

We like each other very much. (We especially like to work, play, and eat together.) Our congregation is largely middle-aged but we are anxious to build ranks in all age demographics. We are primarily Caucasian, middle-class, educated professionals--yet we are open to growing in membership diversity. Some of us are long-time members but many of us have been around for five years or less. Individually we have strong, divergent theological viewpoints with an appreciation for artistic, natural aesthetics and thoughtful worship. We are experimenting with more spiritual worship.

Are you the minister who wants to walk with us down a remarkable path of love as we grow, improve, adapt, as we share the principles of Unitarian Universalism, and as we continue to minister to each other and to those who join us to change the world? We hope so!

What role do the congregation and its leaders expect the minister to play in relation to the other paid staff?

The Minister supervises the Director of Religious Education and the Music Program Administrator, but it is expected that the minister will work with these positions in a collaborative rather than in an authoritarian role as the three positions develop and coordinate congregational programming, especially Sundays. The Minister and the Congregational Administrator are viewed as an executive team that collaborates on the overall success of the organization with emphasis on Programming by the Minister and emphasis on Administration by the Congregational Administrator. Both the Minister and the Congregational Administrator report to the Board of Trustees. The Director of Religious Education supervises the part-time Youth Program Administrator and the Congregational Administrator supervises the Office Assistant and janitorial service.

Congregational history:

How and when was the congregation founded?

On May 18, 1887, ten women and eight men endorsed articles of incorporation for the First Unitarian Society of Duluth, "an association where people without regard to theological differences, may unite for mutual helpfulness, intellectual, moral and religious culture, and humane work, by meetings and such other educational, social, and charitable movements as may be agreed upon."

In the first few years of the organization, a Ladies Aid Society, a Sunday school, and the Young Peoples Social Union were established. There was also a Unity Club for study and discussion of a wide range of social, moral and intellectual topics. In 1890, a membership register was begun and is still used today. Approximately 1300 people have signed this registry "the book" since its inception.

From 1887 until 1892, the Society sought a good fit in a minister. After two false starts, the church began to flourish following the arrival in 1892 of Franklin Chester Southworth. Membership increased to about 150; ancillary programs flourished, supported by a solid core of members and sound programs for each of its several groups. Two of the leading church and community members of this time were Ozora Sterns, Judge of the 11th Minnesota Judicial District since 1872, who was elected the first board Chair of the Unitarian Society, and Mrs. Sterns, a strong advocate of equal rights for women, who served as president of the Minnesota Suffrage Association. In 1882, she was the first woman elected to the Duluth Board of Education. In 1883, she founded the Ladies Relief Society that assisted in caring for infants of working mothers, and in 1885, she, along with others, founded the Women's and Children's Home.

The Reverend Southworth left Duluth in 1898, and for the next half century the Society functioned under a variety of ministers, some serving relatively short terms. During this period, construction of the church building was completed, and services began at 1802 East First Street in September of 1911.
Note the three or four most important events in the congregation's history:

Construction of our 1802 East First Street building was completed in 1911.
In the late 1940s, at a time when the membership of the Society had dwindled to only 30 adults, a small group of people, mainly women, kept the Society alive until its revival in the 1950s under Reverend Kenneth Jackson Smith.
We changed our name from First Unitarian Church of Duluth to Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Duluth in 2007 to be inviting to people from all faiths
Construction of our 835 W. College Street building was completed May 2008; a "green" building and still a work of art in progress.

List, most recent first, all clergy who have served since 1950 and earlier ministers of great importance, and interim ministers since 1980 (minister name, date arrived, date departed, reason for departure):

Gail Mariner 2 year Interim, August 2008, Anticipated departure July 2010.
Sally Hamlin 1 year Interim, August 2007, July 2008, Left for settled position
Karen Johnson Gustafson, August 1986, July 2007, Took a new position
Carol Hepokoski 1 year interim, August 1985, June 1986, Interim
Ben Bortin, October 1977, June 1985, Took a new position
Joy Atkinson, January 1975, January 1977, Took a new position
Dr. Josiah Bartlett, 1973, 1974, Took a new position
Violet Kochendoerfer, 1970, 1971, Retired
Berkley Moore, May 1965, 1969, Took a new position
Thomas L. Smith, August 1957, June 1964, Took a new position
Kenneth Jackson Smith, September 1950, June 1957, Took a new position --- records missing ---
Franklin Chester Southworth, 1892, 1898

Current clergy and staff (include all paid staff):

Position	Date of hire/call	F/T or hrs. per week	Covered by Health Plan?	Covered by Retire Plan?	Annualized Compensation (S&H for clergy)	Supervised by/ reports to:	Member?
Interim Minister	8/1/2007	FT	yes	yes	$66,933	Board	no
Congregational Administrator	10/4/2004	FT	yes	yes	$30,900	Board	yes
Music Program Administrator	1/30/2002	20	yes	yes	$17,209	Minister	yes
RE Director	9/16/2006	20	yes	yes	$16,343	Minister	yes
Youth Program Coordinator	7/15/2008	10	no	no	$5,408	DRE	yes
Office Assistant	4/23/2007	10	no	no	$5,439	Congregational Administrator	yes

Table I Membership, Attendance, and Pledging
Year Ending	Data Represents	Months	Adult Members	Average Adult Sunday Attendance	Children & Youth Enrollment	Average Children & Youth Attendance	No. of Pledge Units	Total Operating Pledges	Operating Pledge per pledge Unit (col 6/col 5)
2009	a twelve-month year	12	230	138	86	80	149	253000	1698
2008	a twelve-month year	12	217	0	50	80	114	238750	2094
2007	a twelve-month year	12	209	0	82	80	123	189685	1542
2006	a twelve-month year	12	219	0	31	50	124	139869	1128
2005	a twelve-month year	12	226	0	51	0	128	117862	921

Table II Sources of Operating Income
Year Ending	Total Operating Pledges	Other Contributions	Fundraising Events	Endowment Invesment Income	Building Rentals	Other Income	Total Income (sum of 1...6)	Total Endowment
2009	$ 253000	$ 16500	$ 7500	$ 0	$ 3000	$ 0	$ 280000	$ 14964
2008	$ 238750	$ 13500	$ 6000	$ 0	$ 1000	$ 0	$ 259250	$ 12459
2007	$ 189685	$ 26905	$ 6000	$ 0	$ 600	$ 0	$ 223190	$ 17984
2006	$ 139869	$ 15768	$ 340	$ 0	$ 800	$ 0	$ 156777	$ 15223
2005	$ 117862	$ 30984	$ 6075	$ 0	$ 750	$ 0	$ 155671	$ 0

Table III Operating Expenses
Year Ending	Building & Grounds & Utilities	Minister(s) S&H	Minister's Benefits & Professional Expenses	Other Staff Compensation	Religious Education	Social Justice & Service	Debt Service	Other Current Expenses	Total Expenses	Total Debt
2009	$ 29070	$ 66933	$ 29864	$ 107790	$ 2500	$ 1950	$ 0	$ 46866	$ 284973	$ 709000
2008	$ 20550	$ 52852	$ 20796	$ 112672	$ 1400	$ 1300	$ 0	$ 75990	$ 285560	$ 0
2007	$ 16745	$ 54148	$ 12162	$ 99049	$ 1000	$ 1300	$ 0	$ 44916	$ 229320	$ 0
2006	$ 15300	$ 53188	$ 8359	$ 56252	$ 1263	$ 1057	$ 0	$ 29971	$ 165390	$ 0
2005	$ 13648	$ 51572	$ 5973	$ 50333	$ 1000	$ 300	$ 0	$ 32840	$ 155666	$ 0

Explanation of any anomalies:

Current congregational life

Does the congregation have a mission -- not a mission statement, but a glowing coal at its center -- and if so, what is it?
We have decided that Unitarian Universalism will not remain a secret within our region and that our congregation will be a haven for spiritual seekers and a base for their world-changing actions.

Congregational strengths:

UUCD has an extensive network of positive connections throughout the community and has strong involvement in social justice events as well as good GLBT outreach. We do a great job at caring for one another and truly value our principles. We are fortunate to have strong lay leaders and a competent and enthusiastic staff. Our congregation has a wide variety of talents along with lots of energy, ideas, flexibility and good sense of humor. Because of our wide variety of activities, all ages feel comfortable here. We welcome new members/friends and their questions. Our new location is ideally situated between two colleges, University of Minnesota – Duluth, and St. Scholastica. In practicing our 7th principle we have put our "green" sensibility and expertise to use in the planning and designing of the building. The size of our building and our commercial kitchen lends itself nicely to be able to host non UU functions.

Congregational challenges:

We have a beautiful new building but are in need of more staff/volunteers to help care for it. We seem to have many of the same volunteers offering help and assistance on a regular basis and are growing tired, thus we're in need of a wider volunteer base. This is also the case with our lay leaders. We have staffed for growth, creating a sizeable increase in our annual operating budget.

In June, 2008 our beloved choir director resigned. The circumstances surrounding her leaving caused a great deal of concern and controversy. UUA consultant David Lauth was called to our aid and produced a report which is available upon request. We are working to heal the wounds.

We have been in transition for the last ten years. As we grow and make the change from a pastoral to a program church we need to change the way we see and govern ourselves. Many of our longer-term members valued and miss the closeness of our smaller community. We need to continue to stay connected, care for each other and still keep the warm family feeling of our smaller congregation as our membership grows. We need more people trained on Power Church, especially for membership use. We need to continue improving communication, especially digital, without leaving the digital avoiders out of the loop. This will be particularly important as we grow.

It is likely we will begin to outgrow our building. This will probably first be noticed in our Religious Education Department. We are attracting many young families and are already feeling crowded. Parking will also be an issue. We have already had to deal with this a few times during large events. In these cases we parked at one of the nearby colleges and shuttled people to the building. As our congregation ages we will need to help transport our elders to services.

We were given a very generous donation and interest free loan from the A. H. Zeppa Family Foundation to build our new church. As we now wean ourselves from their support we will need to find other sources of funding. There are still planned features that need to be completed in our Green Building. Keeping our giving at a level that is equal to our growing expenses will be important. We need to be able to support our programs, pay our staff adequately, and maintain our building.

What congregational issues are likely to be most pressing within the next couple years:

Creating and maintaining communication and organizational infrastructure sufficient to sustain and connect membership and membership activities (especially assuming continued growth).
Building and maintaining sufficient income to sustain desired programs and operating budget.

What congregational issues are likely to be most pressing over the next ten years:

Financing Our Dreams

What congregational issues may never be resolved?

Creating and maintaining communication and organizational infrastructure sufficient to sustain and connect membership and membership activities (especially assuming continued growth).
Building and maintaining sufficient income to sustain desired programs and operating budget.

To what degree does the congregation posses a dominant theology?

The congregation adheres to the 7 Principles with perhaps an extra attraction for the first and seventh. Beyond the seven principles of UU, there is no overwhelmingly dominant theology. According to the Congregational Survey results, nearly 60% chose Religious or Secular Humanism as being important to them, followed by 48% who chose Buddhism. Many chose both. Atheism was next, with 31.5%.

Describe the role of music and the arts in the life of the congregation:

We have a long history of valuing art and music in our congregation. We have always had a choir and a large pool of talented musicians that have shared their musical gifts. We also budget to pay musicians from the community to perform at our Sunday services. In the mid-eighties, when our organ died, our small congregation pooled our resources and bought a baby grand piano. People were most generous in supporting this. We have also hosted art shows and theater productions.

Currently in our fine new building we artfully decorate our worship space and change it on a monthly basis. Our music director, Karen Bauman, this summer began the process of becoming a UUA/UUMN credentialed professional musician. This is a three year program that involves a lot of reading, paper writing, discussion with fellow students, professors and presenters plus quite a number of congregation based projects involving worship music. We have a number of musical groups including a choral of the month, a vocal octet, kid's choir as well as individual musicians that perform at services. In November 2009 we are starting an instrumental group that will perform rock, pop and soul music. Hymn singing is also an important part of our worship service.

Describe the religious education programs for children, youth and adults:

Children:

Our RE program serves children in preschool through 8th grade. Carol Turner is our knowledgeable half-time RE Director, she is trained as an elementary school teacher. The program relies on the help of volunteers to be successful.

Our RE Program focuses on the exploration of our liberal religious roots, world religions, and what it means to live our seven principles. We seek to provide our children with a basis for a personal theology and an appreciation for, and confidence in, their spiritual life. Material is presented to our children in age-appropriate ways as they grow and mature.
For children in pre-K through 6th, we initiated an exciting new model, "Workshop Rotation" in the fall of 2009. This model allows us to explore a single theme by presenting it through various means over a four week period. Each volunteer teacher prepares for and teaches a single lesson within a prepared room and the children rotate to a new room each Sunday. This model makes good use of volunteers' time contribution and allows children to access and exercise their different intelligences over the four weeks. The physical space for each workshop is decorated according to the current theme and objective.

To replace confirmation, we offer a Coming of Age program for 7th & 8th graders alternating years. They meet Sunday morning during service. Our Coming of Age Program involves weekly lessons held at the same time as Sunday School, monthly meetings with mentors from our UU community, and writing and sharing a personal theology statement at the end of the year. It is, by all accounts, a powerful and moving experience. This year we are offering a "Neighboring Faiths" program for anyone 7th grade or older.

Youth Group:

We have a vibrant youth group (9th through 12th grade). Youth group meets Sunday mornings at the 11:30 am service. Tanya Moore is our quarter-time Youth Program Coordinator. This past summer, several members of our Youth Group attended the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair in Custer, WI, and shared their experiences in a July Service entitled "Exploring our Seventh Principle." In the summer of 2007, ten members participated in a service trip to Biloxi, Mississippi, and helped rebuild a home damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Adult Enrichment:

Our stated Adult Enrichment Committee Mission Statement is: "Our mission is to enrich the community by developing a program of classes and activities through a cooperative and creative process which fosters spiritual, intellectual and emotional growth." While we have, over the years, offered an impressive range of classes, this program area is currently underdeveloped and members are eager to see it revived.

Lay leadership

In practice, are responsibilities for governance widely shared or confined among relatively few members? Give some examples:

Our board is responsible for policy developed generally from committee and staff recommendations. Policy governance conversation occurs when there is time in the board's always cramped agenda. The day-to-day operations are the responsibility of staff and volunteers.
The norm for volunteering in organizations is usually 20% of the members do 80% of the work. We feel our formula is closer to 30% of the congregation doing 70%. We have been making efforts to get new or less involved members in more active roles including leadership, ushering, religious education, etc.; something so that they feel a part of the community of UUCD. An excellent example of this is that three members of this search committee have been with our congregation less than three years.

Describe the process you used to complete this form:

UUCD will have been in transition for three years with the guidance of two interim ministers before we can settle our new minister. Under the guidance of our first interim minister, the congregation approved a plan for two additional years of interim ministry for two primary reasons: the length of the previous minister's service (21 years), and the overwhelming focus of the congregation on getting our new building built and functioning. Beginning in 2008, our second interim minister formed our Ministerial Transition Team who conducted four Soup Suppers with an emphasis on learning the congregation's views as related to the three aspects of our mission: caring for one another, growing spiritually, and working for justice. In January 2009 our congregation conducted a Twelve Models of Ministry survey. In the spring 2009 our nominating committee personally interviewed every member of the congregation soliciting their interest and willingness to serve on the search committee. In May 2009 an 8 member Search Committee was unanimously elected and immediately engaged in a retreat where we bonded, assigned roles and responsibilities, decided how we will make decisions. (the search committee requires a 100% vote to propose a candidate to our congregation), and we unanimously expressed our personal goal of finding the right minister for the congregation's wants and needs rather than our personal wishes. To accomplish our goal we are embracing the UUA's search process. We have conducted this congregation's first online survey and are delighted with attaining the most survey responses in our history. The search committee also conducted three Cottage Meetings in which members and friends were asked to discuss selected questions in an open forum with notes retained of their responses. We interviewed key leaders, current and past ministers and interim ministers, all staff, and selected ministers from diverse faiths within our community. From the entire above discovery, the Search Committee completed this Congregational Record and our Search Packet.

Committees

Name the committees that have recently had the greatest success:
UUCD has at least 30 committee/programs/groups. With all the changes in the building and the growth of the community there has been some flucuation in the groups. There is some feeling that increased coordination of, and communication about, volunteer efforts and committee activities would benefit our Beloved Community. The Committees demonstrating the most success include: Membership, Caring, Worship, Green Sanctuary, Rainbow Welcoming Congregation, Peace and Justice, Fundraising/Special Events, Kitchen Kabinet, and within a few months we anticipate success in this Search Committee!

Name the committees that have recently had the least success:

Prior to our move to our new building we had a Building & Grounds Committee. The Building part needs revitalization. While basic weekly cleaning is budgeted, we need a sexton but because we cannot afford one at this time, things often don't get the attention they need. The Grounds part is working well because our Green Sanctuary Committee has taken the reins on our exterior land management and our Garden Club is responsible for the exterior front berm and our 70 foot interiorscape. The important exterior front has berm development has unfortunately had to take a back seat due to having to constantly deal with a very difficult pest infestation in our spectacular interior garden.
Religious Education has had an explosion of children and our Director has had difficulty pulling together adequate volunteers much less a committee to plan programming. This is improving and is more effective now. Young adults seem to have splintered some and have joined covenant groups.

Major financial support

List the dollar amounts of the ten largest operating pledges received in the most recently completed fiscal year:

$37,500 2. $6,000
$4,800 4. $4,200
$4,000 6. $3,600
$3,600 8. $3,250
$3,200 10. $3,200

Give the dates of the last two capital fund drives, and the funds raised (a) by contribution and (b) by debt:

1999 – 2003 Capital Campaign: $607,578 was raised to build a new church home as our little rock church of 100 years was unsafe and smaller than our dreams. With the capital we raised we purchased a Methodist church after a local bank declined financing on our new building, but we didn't give up our dream. We also sold our little rock church to the Friends.
2006 – 2009 Building Fund Appeal: $684,437 was raised when our feasibility study projected we could raise $450,000. The Zeppa Family Foundation inspired us by saying they would be as generous with us as we are with ourselves which resulted in their matching $918,847 of our gifts. The ZFF also gifted $1,000,000. All told we owe $709,794 on a mortgage note for a $4,000,000 "green" building. We are strategizing how to deal with the note by 9/30/10 when our ZFF zero interest rate loan will convert to a market rate loan.
We sold our Methodist church building to our Muslim friends on a Contract for Deed helping to facilitate the first Mosque in the Northland. The Islamic Center of Twin Ports paid $100,000 down, are making regular timely $2,000 monthly payments, and have a $139,216 balloon payment due 9/30/2010.

NOTE: We take pride in helping two other faiths, Friends and Muslims, establish first time religious homes in our community by selling our prior buildings to them at less than market rate.

What is the condition of the church buildings, and what funds may need to be raised in the future?

Our building is new, beautiful, green and part of our identity. UUCD is a recognized leader in sustainability throughout our region and our UUA district for building one of the "greenest" churches in the nation a year and an half ago. One of many priorities in building our new faith home was accessibility which was accomplished not only with an elevator but also a wheelchair accessible ramp that frames a beautiful interior garden from our underground garage, past our front door and into our narthex. We were honored to have UUA President, The Rev. William Sinkford, dedicate our building in May 2008. Construction of our building is complete, however, some "finishing" is on slow or hold until we can revitalize a building care committee discussed earlier in this Record.

Ministry

Describe the process by which the minister will be called:
We will follow the process outlined in the "SETTLEMENT HANDBOOK for Ministers and Congregations" published by the Ministerial Transitions Office of the UUA in Feb., 2009. The search committee has agreed that we must have a 100% affirmation of the candidate in order to present that minister to the congregation to "call".

Describe the process by which the Ministerial Search Committee (or its equivalent) was chosen:

The Nominating Committee solicited responses from members who would like to be considered for nomination to the MSC and then made requests to select other members. These candidates were then interviewed and asked a uniform set of questions to determine their background and views on the future of the congregation. Based on this process, a final slate of eight candidates was selected that represented a balance of congregational demographics and program involvement. This slate was presented to the congregation by the Nominating Committee and was approved at our annual meeting on May 15, 2009 by unanimous vote.

Ministerial skills and enthusiasms most needed by the congregation:

4 = Crucial 3 = Significant 2 = Modest 1 = Of little consequence

3 Administration
2 Adult religious education
3 Children's religious education
1 Committee work
4 Community building
1 Denominational activities
4 Facilitation
3 Stewardship
1 Home visitation
1 Hospital calling
3 Leadership Development
3 Membership growth
2 Music & liturgical arts
2 Personal counseling
4 Preaching
1 Scholarship
2 Social action
1 Spiritual guidance
1 Staff relations
4 Worship
1 Youth work

Assess the capacity of the congregation to exercise forbearance and nurture in assisting a minister's development:

Over 97% of 145 respondents indicated that they would be comfortable or enthusiastic with a minister under age 40. This seems to imply congregants feel that they would show forbearance towards mistakes and be willing to nurture and assist in a minister's development. However, we are at a critical point in our growth – we have been in a constant state of change for the past 10 years, and we are staffed for increased congregation size. The Search Committee has determined that the congregation feels the need for our institutional structure and lay-leadership to catch up with this growth. We are working toward mending some recent hurts with a need for a convergence of mission. In short, as much as we may be willing to nurture a new minister's development, we need help to relieve some of our own pressures so we can be as nurturing as we would like to be.

What expectations, however silent, may there be about the minister's family and personal life?

This congregation respects the right of a minister to have a family and/or personal life independent of the ministerial role. Therefore there are no additional expectations about this that the Search Committee is aware of. This question was not part of our Congregational Survey.

Describe the worst mistake your new minister could make:

The worst mistake would be to try and change everything all at once by taking over the staff, by being a dictator. It would also be detrimental for a new minister to dismiss our children and teens and not appreciate and involve them. We are not interested in a minister that is just looking for a pulpit; we are looking for a minister that is willing to work as hard as we work to achieve our Vision and Mission. We would not appreciate a minister with an elitist attitude, that would take sides in a dispute, and that does not have good professional boundaries. We would be disappointed if our minister does not care to grow in his/her understanding our congregation and recognize that our region stretches beyond Duluth into Superior, Cloquet, Two Harbors, and the greater northland.

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Duluth

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