Ministerial Search

Our Ministerial Search concluded very successfully on May 6, 2001 when the Society voted overwhelmingly to call the Reverend Phyllis B. O'Connell as its new settled minister. Phyllis has now joined us as we begin our new church year. On our Church Staff page you can find a biography of Phyllis. Included below is a copy of the letter from the Search Committee to members and friends of the Society recommending her.

Letter from the Search Committee

April 2, 2001

Dear Members and Friends,

Our ministerial search is near its end. We began last spring, with your help, by assessing and articulating the congregation's needs and desires. We screened many potential candidates, interviewed several, and, this winter, got to know three pre-candidates. With these three, we had intensive interviews, did reference checks, and attended worship services led by each in other local churches (neutral pulpits). We then deliberated and weighed each pre-candidate's strengths and their fit with what you have told us we want and need. Our task has been to select one final candidate for you to meet and, we hope, vote to "call" as our settled minister.

We are now delighted to recommend to you Rev. Phyllis B. O'Connell as the candidate to be our next settled minister. Phyllis is currently the minister of the Melrose Unitarian Universalist Church in Melrose, Massachusetts. Attached you will find a very brief biography.

Phyllis is our unanimous, first choice. We looked for, and found in her, a warm, intelligent, caring minister. She is insightful, an excellent preacher, a believer in the importance of worship, and a sensitive provider of pastoral care. Theologically, she is a good match for our diversity of perspectives. She impressed us with her eagerness to minister to all of us, from our very youngest to our very oldest. She is concerned about the greater community, and, in Melrose, has played a leadership role among the local clergy. She has worked to build the denomination, and is committed to developing student ministers. Some of you knew Phyllis in the mid 1980s. She remembers her time as a ministerial intern at our Society with fondness, and is eager to bring her gifts as a mature, senior minister to the community we are today.

Candidate week will begin Sunday, April 29 with a service Phyllis will lead. During the following seven days, there will be many opportunities for you to meet her. If possible, please hold Saturday May 5 for an early evening all-church event. On Sunday, May 6, Phyllis will again lead our worship, and we will then convene a meeting of the membership to vote on the call. Before April 29, and after candidating week through mid-summer, Phyllis will remain the minister at Melrose with an important responsibility for helping that congregation begin their own transition.

We are very excited about introducing Phyllis to the congregation on April 29. And, while we have not finished, we again want to thank you for entrusting us with this work. It has been a pleasure and a privilege for which we are all deeply grateful.

Sincerely,

UUSWH Ministerial Search Committee, 2000-2001

Janet Bush, Laura Cranshaw, Steve Fogg, Phyllis Joachim,
Bill Koteff (chair), Alan Ouellet, Lew Stern