Our church has had the great fortune of having Rev. Juniper Meadows as our contract minister for the past two years. In contract ministry, the contract is between the minister and the Board of Trustees. It is limited in its term – usually one to two years. A settled minister is one who has been called directly by a vote of the congregation’s membership and has no specific time limit. When Rev. Juniper expressed interest in becoming a settled minister with Second Unitarian, a “Call Task Force” was formed to navigate this process in accordance with the guidelines recommended by the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Task Force members job has been to engage the congregation in discerning if Rev. Juniper is a good fit for our church, then make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees as to whether we should proceed with a congregational meeting to vote on calling Rev. Juniper as our settled minister. The Task Force has recently made the recommendation that we should indeed proceed with a vote to call Rev. Juniper as our settled minister and the Board of Trustees has wholeheartedly approved their recommendation!

Next steps: Members of Second Unitarian will have the opportunity to vote whether or not to call Rev. Meadows as our settled minister on Saturday, May 18th. There will be a special “call meeting” at 9:30 a.m., prior to our annual Town Hall meeting. Ministers generally accept a call only if the vote is at least 90% positive.

Provided a positive vote and Rev. Meadows accepts the call, an “installation service” will be held this fall to formalize this special relationship with Rev. Meadows and to celebrate an exciting new chapter in the life of Second Unitarian Church. Gratitude all around to the Call Task Force, Rev. Meadows, and this remarkable congregation for bringing us to this pivotable point in the life of Second Unitarian!

~ Anita Jeck, Chair Board of Trustees