After worship last Sunday, the Board and I held an “Exploratory Meeting” to present a proposal concerning ministry for the future of our Fellowship.  The proposal was well received and we had a great discussion.  Today I want to share a little about the proposal and invite you to attend a second discussion after worship on May 22.

Our Fellowship has long held a desire to grow.  We want to serve more people, offer the programs a larger church can support, and have a larger presence in our community.  But we’ve been held back from growth by our inability to afford a full time minister.  Supported by only a part time job, ministers aren’t able to move to Bakersfield or commit to being with us for more than a few years.

This is also the story for the UU congregation in Santa Clarita about an hour’s drive to our south.  They are about our size.  Like us, they are a liberal congregation in a conservative community.  And, similarly, they have been served historically by part-time ministers commuting up from the Los Angeles area.

Our proposal is to form a partnership with the Santa Clarita congregation to call a full-time minister shared between us.  We would conduct a nationwide search timed for when most UU ministers are looking for churches.  And we would hope to attract a minister who would live near us and be able to drive between the two locations.  With a full-time salary and benefits we could expect the minister to stay with us as a “settled” minister.

The partnership could be as little as sharing the minister, or the two congregations could agree to share other functions and programming as well.  The details would be decided by a “Visioning Committee” meeting this summer.  The search would take place during the 2022-2023 church year, lead by a Search Committee with elected representatives from both congregations.  If all goes well, the new minister would start in August, 2023.

Your Board and I would love to tell you more and hear your feelings and thoughts after worship on May 22.