I have coached students who were about to interview with the Ministerial Fellowship Committee. When the prospect appeared anxious, they often began to project negative assessments onto the MFC: things like "they won't like me cause I'm a Christian," or "they won't like me cause I'm a Humanist." or "they won't like me cause I'm so young." It went on, and on, self doubt, and coupled with a resulting negative assessment of the committee: "they try to keep people like me out of the ministry." I have found that logic doesn't convince the worried aspirant whose self involvement is preventing empathetic anticipation of the committee's generous reception. I advise these students to pray for the committee, pray for each of the members by name. A minister who prays for those with whom (s)he relates is less likely to be defensive (or the flip side of the defense, antagonistic) in relation with the committee. Aspirants must learn to love the Ministerial Fellowship Committee. (There are non theist ways of praying, aspirants know that, but other readers may not know that yet.)
Ministers who serve congregations must learn to love search committees, ministers should be in a prayerful relationship to these committees. It is understandable that a minister who desires a position "to advance their career" might find this challenging, and begin to view the search committee as a "problem." In a post and subsequent comments on the UU Enforcer we read that search committees want to protect the status quo and choose to call "safe" older ministers who will not make the power structure in the congregation look old. The remark indicates a lack of empathetic experience with the dedicated Unitarian Universalists who serve on our search committees. In my experience search committees want their congregation to grow, and they look to the pre-candidates to talk convincingly about that growth.
As a sometime interim minister, and sometime settled minister, I have worked with six search committees as a consultant, and interfaced with over a dozen as an aspirant. Search committees feel responsible to bring the best possible candidates to their congregations, and they are consider documents, references, and personal impressions. They look for qualities in the prospect: wisdom, experience working with diverse and conflicted communities, proven good judgement, composure in the face of opposition, optimism in relation to congregation's prospects, initiative in getting things done, and their sense of the ministers personal energy. In some of these qualities older ministers may have an advantage, it is harder for a young minister to be perceived as wise, and their paper work may show scant evidence of experience. At the same time the older minister may have too much experience to fain optimism about the prospects of changing some of our congregations, and their aging bodies may cause the search committee to wonder about the minister's "energy."
I was speaking to a lay person in another congregation the other day. She was on a search committee four years before and the young minister that they had chosen had proven to be a disaster. The minister that they called was bright, energetic, and attractive. She was a young married professional, ideal for this congregation. The town was filling up with young affluent professionals. She would bring them in! She had never had a successful congregational ministry before, but had glowing references from non congregational, institutional ministries. The experience with that minister demoralized the congregation, and has left them with negative impressions of the younger generations of ministers. This is the third problem settlement in that congregation, all were young and full of potential. (And she tells me that all their older interims have been wise. loving and devoted.) I pray they will try again, a 30 something minister would be right for that community, but I pray as well they look closer at the human being beneath all that optimism and energy.
Search committees have a stake in the success of the minister they call, (and interim search committees have a stake in the success of the interim.) They make a choice, and that choice involves a risk. What our movement needs are ministers both younger and older who think more of the good and welfare of the congregations and are less competitive towards their colleagues. We do do ministry together.
Pray for the search committees.
