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.

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