Ministers at First Universalist

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Settled Minister Search Committee (SMSC)

General Description

The seven members on the Settled Minister Search Committee are responsible for the search and selection of the next senior minister of our church. No choice is more important to the future of First Universalist than its call of minister. This group must invest hundreds of hours getting to know each other, the congregation, and the ministerial prospects well. Time is also needed for in-depth reading of survey reports, resumes, and other documents. In addition, some travel may be required. Large amounts of time are also needed to host the candidates as they individually visit our congregation. The timeline for these activities is from March 2008 to May 2009.

SMSC Documents

The Settlement Handbook for Ministers and Congregations

SMSC Announcements

Settled Minister Search Committee Chosen

The Nominating Committee is pleased to present the following slate of seven candidates to form our Settled Minister Search Committee (SMSC). At the meeting of the members on March 9, the slate was elected by a unanimous vote. We want to thank all 22 members who submitted applications to serve First Universalist in this significant way.

As we pass this important work on to the members of the SMSC, we want to remind members of First Universalist that some responsibility for the search still belongs to the rest of us.

Congregational support for the search committee is extremely important. We will need to take on the church responsibilities that they need to leave. We need to visibly support them by showing up at the focus groups they schedule, complete the survey they submit to us, thank them, offer them words of encouragement and help them with some of the busy work, like assembling packets. Our Ministerial Settlement Rep, the Rev. Janne Eller-Isaacs, reports that some congregations offer child care and provide meals for the search committee meetings. Members of the Nominating Committee are starting this off by providing a meal for the first meeting of our SMSC.

The Committee Members

Working from a large group of very qualified applicants, we selected a slate that reflects our congregation’s diverse character and includes people with the array of skills and experiences that will be critical to a successful search process.

The candidates on our slate have served First Universalist Church as members of the All Church Council, Board of Trustees, Association of Universalist Women Board, Transition Team, Committee on Ministry, Personnel Committee, Young Adult Group, Compass Group, Building and Grounds Committee, and the choir. We have a number of volunteers who have served as Religious Education teachers, and a former co-chair of our Stewardship Campaign. We have a 50-year member of the congregation as well as new members. From their professional lives, our candidates bring expertise in the areas of executive assessment and coaching, non-profit management, marketing, and UU professional staff work among others. We are delighted that these seven have volunteered to serve in this important role, and we have enormous confidence in their ability to select our next Senior Minister.

Dan Bishop joined First Universalist with his family in 1956 at the age of 15. He has grown up and raised his family in this church.

Along the way he has served this church as a member of the building and grounds committee, the search committee to find this new building, a teacher of the coming of age class, the Committee on Ministry, and the Board of Trustees where he served as Treasurer for two years. Dan is proud to be selected to be on the Search Committee to find a new settled minister – a person who will bring inspiring sermons, a strong leadership ability and sense of direction to take us into the future.

Nancy Gaschott has been a member of First Universalist since 1988; she’s served as a member of the All Church Council, taught in the religious education program, sung in the choir, and helped with fundraising. She has a law degree from the University of Minnesota. She has worked at the Loft Literary Center for 15 years as its Administrative Director/CFO, during which time she was the project manager for the creation of Open Book. She brings a collaborative leadership style and financial expertise to the Search Committee.

Andrea Johnson has been a member of First Universalist since 2001. She enjoys teaching Sunday School and the work she has done as a member of the Transition Team and Personnel Committee. She is committed to this Church and excited to find the best Senior Minister to help us realize our vision for the future.

Andrea and her husband, David, have two sons. Alex is 8 and Ben is almost 6. Andrea enjoys cooking, wine tasting, travel, knitting, and running.

Her professional background is in Change Management and Training Development as an Independent Consultant. Currently she is focused on volunteering for the Church and as a Guardian ad litem for children in need of protection and services in Hennepin County. Andrea is looking forward to working on the Search Committee.

Larry LaVercombe has been at First Universalist for ten years. He has taught in the Religious Education program for five years, currently with the Senior High, and last year he served on the Compass Group, helping to define and articulate our Peace and Justice identity. Larry and his wife Patricia Francisco have two sons, Andre Francisco and Jesse LaVercombe, who have also been active members of our community.

Cindy Marsh is President of Personnel Decisions International (PDI), a global consulting firm with 28 offices throughout the US, Europe, Asia, and Middle East.

She brings unique professional expertise and leadership experience to the Search Committee; her work as a psychologist focuses on 1) evaluating leadership effectiveness and fit with organizational needs and aspirations, and 2) coaching leaders to achieve increased effectiveness, including helping them achieve a good start when taking on new roles. She is known as a collaborative leader who is skillful at building teams and bringing diverse groups of people together. As a relatively new member, Cindy is excited to deepen her involvement at First Universalist and to make a contribution to our Congregation. Cindy and her husband, Wendell Vandersluis, joined First Universalist in 2006.

Sara Smalley and her husband, Doug, joined First Universalist in 1996. They have two young children, Ike (4 ½) and Bennett (2). She says, “As a mother, I am keenly aware of how much the next minister of First Universalist will impact not only my own faith development, but also the religious identity of my children. Thus I am deeply honored to have been nominated to serve this church as a member of the SMSC.”

Sara has served on the Board of the Association of Universalist Women, co-chaired the 2005 Stewardship Campaign, and volunteered as an RE teacher for many years. She helped to create the Young Adult Group, the Parents with Young Children Group, and AUW Friendship Groups. Sara has been a staff member at two other area UU churches, has been involved in various Prairie Star District committees and initiatives, and has attended three national UU conferences. She has a Master’s degree with an emphasis in religious and spiritual life from Hamline University.

Deborah Talen has been a member of First Universalist since 1986 and has volunteered in many capacities, including serving on All Church Council as Membership Director and serving on the Board of Trustees.

Her professional background is in marketing and non-profit management. She has an MBA in Marketing from the University of Minnesota and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

In 2005 Deborah was honored with the Bush Foundation’s Community Leader Fellowship and attended Harvard, where she studied organizational development and the tactics that mega-churches use to build community in order to utilize these strategies in progressive organizations.

Deborah co-founded Rainbow Families in 1997 to provide advocacy and resources for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender parents and their children. She was Rainbow Families’ executive director for seven years, growing it to be the largest lesbian and gay parenting organization in the country. She and her spouse of twenty years, Polly, are the proud parents of Eliza, 17, Lydia, 16, and Grace Etta, 12.

This page last updated on 03/22/08