Your Ministerial Search Committee is currently in the process of assessing the needs, wants, and hopes of the Congregation as we work on finding a candidate for a settled minister.  It is our intention to be open and transparent right up to the time we start interviewing potential candidates.

In the past few weeks, we have asked all members and friends to complete a survey (http://survey.emersonsearch.org, printed copies are available upon request).  This is the first of two vital tools used by the MSC in the discernment process.  The second equally important avenue for the Congregation to express their vision and dreams for the new settled minister and for the future of our church is the “cottage meetings” which we are calling “Searchlight Gatherings” (with a tip of the hat to the UU Church of Boulder). 

The Searchlight Gatherings will provide an opportunity for members and friends to meet in small groups of 10 – 12 people and engage in a facilitated discussion along the lines of the current Small Group Ministry program.    

Several such gatherings are being organized and scheduled. In general, a pair of MSC members will attend each meeting – one to facilitate the gathering, the other to take notes (and both of them to listen hard to your comments). There will be after-service gatherings on September 13 and October 4, 2015 plus other meetings to be announced.  

The MSC urges all members and friends to be a part of the search for our new minister. The Searchlight Gatherings along with the Survey will help the MSC paint a realistic and inspirational portrait of our beloved community which will attract the best minister to walk with us.  We are hard at work on the process, and your inputs are essential as we travel this path.  

~Rhod Zimmerman for the Ministerial Search Committee