Warm greetings to you!
I am seeking an up-and-coming congregation that wants to make a greater impact in their community. I am energized by the idea of serving a congregation that continually re-invents itself to fulfill its vision and mission. I believe Unitarian Universalism has much to offer the world and I hope to be called by a congregation that thinks likewise. The congregation I hope to serve should be willing to build a growing, healthy, and vibrant faith community that can actively engage the world as a healing presence.
My Unitarian Universalist roots are grounded in the remarkable story of the Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Appleton, Wisconsin. When my family joined this congregation 22 years ago, its membership of just under 200 met in an old tired moose lodge, had called its first minister only 4 years earlier, and was not very well known. Now the 700 member congregation has a new building, which has already undergone an expansion, and a reputation in the community for radical inclusiveness and for being a voice for justice. The Rev. Roger Bertschausen, who served this congregation for over 25 years, once said he remained so long because it kept re-inventing itself and providing the conditions to continually grow into its next phase of development. I seek a congregation with a similar spirit and attitude.
As this congregation grew, so did I; initially as a lay leader and then a lay minister. These experiences fueled my call to ministry and seminary. I graduated from Meadville Lombard Theological School in 2015 and was ordained by my beloved congregation in 2016. I am now seeking a congregation in Wisconsin, Northern Illinois, or Upper Michigan which shares this vision of ministry.
Blessings,
Jim