During the church service on December 7 (2014), Steve Hedges and Carol Houde, two members of the Ministerial Search Committee, shared how the experience searching for a new minister has transformed them. They also spoke about the opportunity we — the congregation — have before us, which brings a solemn responsibility with it. You can read their remarks here and here.

To conclude the service, Kate O'Shea, a member of the Board of Trustees, shared her perspective as a board member and congregant during this time of transition. Her remarks follow.

An ode to the Search Committee

Thank you, Steve and Carol, and all the members of the search committee for today’s service.

The search committee has done an amazing job, not just in dotting i's and crossing the t's of the search process but in their wonderful ability to share their thoughts about the process and what they have learned, to give us their own personal stories.

You heard from Steve and Carol today. I would encourage all of you to visit the search committee's blog and read or read again their words. A link to it may be found on the home page of our website www.uunashua.org.

Several weeks ago, the board had the opportunity to meet with the search committee to review some key points of the search process. It was during this meeting and subsequent opportunities for discussion that I began thinking about this narrative that I will be sharing with you today.

Both in my role as a board member and on the "negotiation team," I had been focusing on facts and figures, percentages and median numbers. But there was something else there, a click-clack of a typewriter quietly working in the background.

Last week, between grocery shopping and picking up my daughter from school, I felt called upon to sit down and dash off a quick note to myself that I subsequently sent to a few board members and to Janet. This was my check-in, my cathartic moment.

"Is this where we are?" I asked.

And while it is about my experience serving on the board, if I were to start naming my random thoughts for posterity, I would call this one an ode to the search committee.

A little over two-and-a-half years ago, the congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashua embarked on our journey to call a new settled minister. We were looking to fill a void that had been left by our longtime settled minister. The congregation had various thoughts and ideas about what the future held, but the possibilities seemed endless.

As part of the process of selecting the search committee, the Board of Trustees tasked ourselves with calling all voting members of our church, so that we could gather everyone's input. The search committee was convened, and they set out on their journey of discovery.

We can do this

It was during this time that the congregation learned a few things:

This process revealed that we were a slightly smaller congregation than we initially thought. This was surprising and a little unsettling.

Our bylaws needed some adjustments. We were told that most if not all minsters would not accept a calling of less than 95% of the (congegation's) vote. We were also out of synch with some Unitarian Universalist best practices, most noticeably our lack of a covenant of right relations.

We were told we were a church of silos.

We were told we were a church that was not welcoming.

We were told many things. And every time this happened, we the congregation responded with … we can solve this.

It was also during this time that members of the Board of Trustees were reaching beyond our sanctuary and beyond our doors. We attended UU conferences and met with members of other UU churches who were also in search or had just called a new minister.

We realized we could really do this. We could call a new settled minister. We could enact a covenant of right relations. We could be a little bit more.

During the fall of 2013, the Board of Trustees voted in a salary range for the new minster that we felt opened up the possibilities of finding a good, strong settled minister.

The year continued to flow before us. The board became more involved with the Unitarian Universalist meetings and conferences. We talked more with our fellow UUs from around New England and the country. We read and listened to what the search committee was sharing with the congregation.

We began to take note that there is something truly transformative about Unitarian Universalism. Our seven principles can guide us through life. Our covenant of right relations is a touchstone from which all may be strengthened.

We looked forward to hearing from the search committee. UU meetings and conferences are a joy to attend.

In the spring (2014), the search committee came to us and said "We do not have a ministerial candidate for you to vote on. We had two outstanding candidates that did not choose us."

We understood the depth of feeling and the courage it took for the search committee to say "We will only bring you the best there is."

And so we began our bonus year in search.

This year, when the board started the salary range decision-making process, we heard from the search committee. They wanted to seek out that very minister who will offer us an opportunity to grow within ourselves, among ourselves, and out into the greater community.

The board immediately understood that we were at a crossroads. We could continue with business as usual. We could approve a salary level that was fiscally conservative and hope the pledges covered most of it.

Love made visible

But the board had been transformed. We understood what was being put before us was not a decision that should be based solely on charts and graphs, but one that must also come from the heart and embrace a vision of the future that is Unitarian Universalism at its very best.

We understand the opportunities that exist for us.

We approved the salary level that the search committee recommended. We decided to become early pledgers as a group, and those who were able increased their pledges.

We support our church because we love our church. This is our home. This is where we find an intellectual center, a spiritual center, shared values and, most importantly, our friends.

Serving on the Board of Trustees is an honor. To quote Kahil Gilbran

Work is love made visible. And if you can't work with love, but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of the people who work with joy.

It is a joy to do this work. And thank you to the search committee and all the volunteers in our church, for your work is love made visible.