Vancouver Unitarians Ministerial Search Committee Election
April 27-May 10, 2022
As a member of Vancouver Unitarians, you are eligible to vote for seven individuals to serve on our new Ministerial Search Committee.
Please choose your slate of seven at the following link: https://vancouver.breezechms.com/form/MinisterialSearchCommitteeElection (You may select fewer than seven.)
To read the Candidate Bios, visit this page: https://vancouverunitarians.ca/ministerial-search-committee-candidate-bios/
How the candidates were selected
There was an open process where every member was invited to submit nominations. Information was circulated in E-news, in printed form on Sundays and via an every-member phone-out. Deadline for nominations was March 28th. On March 30th, the nominations were tallied and those members with the most nominations were contacted and asked if they were willing to serve. On April 13th, a decision was made by the Board Executive to also reach out to non-members who had been nominated to see whether they would like to become a member and have their name on the ballot.
How the election works
The election will take place April 27-May 10. Members are encouraged to use online voting if possible and hard copy ballots are being mailed to those without email addresses. All the votes will be tallied and the four individuals with the most votes will be selected for the Ministerial Search Committee. The UCV Board of Trustees or a designated Board sub-group will select the other three committee members from the list of nominees on this ballot to ensure a diversity of skills, experience, and perspective. The plan is that no one else will know who was voted in and who was selected for the committee.
Did the Board of Trustees have a role in selecting the slate for the ballot?
No. In information circulated to the congregation during the nominations process, a statement was made that the Board would select candidates for the ballot, but this was based on misunderstandings and not correct.
Who developed the ballot?
A mini team with Board members, Gordon Gram and Lynn Armstrong, a representative from the Ministerial Transition Team, Tamiko Suzuki, and a representative from the Nominating Committee, Michael Clague, with advice from Interim Minister, Rev Lara Cowtan, looked after counting the nominations, contacting potential candidates, collecting photos and bios of those willing to serve and finalizing the ballot.
When will results be known?
Results will be announced at the May 15th Sunday gathering at UCV following the online CUC National Service that day. Details will be included in the following E-news. The Ministerial Search Committee will be formally commissioned at the Sunday service on May 22, 2022.
What are we looking for in a candidate?
Ideally, all members of the committee will exhibit the following qualities and characteristics.
- Committed; has demonstrated and continues to feel a deep commitment to the current and future health & prosperity of the church.
- Big-picture view; willing to reflect on and step back from personal biases of identity, interests, and roles to represent and consider the wants and needs of the whole church, not just those of individuals or groups of interest.
- Discerning; able to see and understand people, to ask tough questions, and to show good judgement.
- Confidential; can respect and keep the work of the committee in confidence when required, even with a spouse or significant others.
- Curious; can stay engaged and open to learning a new process.
- Humble; understands the importance of a diverse committee, and that others may have a different but no less valid experience or opinion.
- Respectful; can hear and consider all voices on the committee with equal regard.
- Supportive; can provide physical and emotional support of other team members as they all proceed through this sometimes-arduous process.
- Trusting & trustworthy; can be trusted to complete assigned tasks and to trust others to complete theirs.
- Sense of humor; can keep the weight and responsibility of the committee in perspective and use humor to stay in relationship with other committee members throughout the process.
- Self-confident; Ability to handle conflict, receive feed-back, and hard decision-making
Thank you for your participation. If you have questions, please contact
Gordon Gram gordongram@me.com or Lynn Armstrong lynnbea@gmail.com