Greetings, again, Missouri Mid-South Conference -

As noted my eConnection article on January 30, the Designated Conference Minister (DCM) Search Team is charged to seek and to present a highly-qualified candidate to our Conference Council.  The Council would then interview the candidate and present her or him to the whole Conference.  Let's clarify what we're searching for - as we define what a Designated Conference Minister is - and what it isn't - as a relatively new position in the UCC.

In the recent absence of a settled Conference Minister, our Conference Council has acted twice to appoint an Acting Conference Minister - first Rev. Dr. Davida Foy Crabtree through the summer months of 2013, and then Allen Fluent to lead us from last fall into the middle of 2014.  An Acting Conference Minister leads and maintains a Conference's mission and ministry during a brief time frame.  We've been well served by these two capable, caring, leaders who've tag-teamed with us and given their gifts and wise counsel, guiding us through the first phase of a longer dynamic period of time stretching forward into the next several years.  We are also assisted currently by Jan Aerie, Minister for Strategic Innovation until June, and by our Conference Visioning Team guided by Dick Hamm, consultant, and Paul Koch, chair.  With their input, we'll prepare for the next phase of the journey!

The Conference Annual Gathering last June determined that MMSC will retain two Conference ministry positions going forward  - one of whom will continue to be Associate Conference Minister, Rev. Dale Parsons, who serves among us with pastoral skill and depth.  The Designated Conference Minister (DCM) Search Team will seek the right person to join Dale and our staff and to lead and ignite the task of reinventing who we are and where we're going.  We are not seeking an Interim Conference Minister, because the future will begin to look very different from what we've known.  It is truly a unique moment -- and opportunity!

As a denomination, the UCC is in the early years of developing this new DCM model, and a number of conferences across the denomination have embraced this transitional leadership style as something worthwhile.  As the MMSC, we seek a leader, designated for a particular length of time and designated with particular skills and sensitivities in the ways we will live and serve as a Conference deeper into the 21^st century.   Listed among the situations which call for a Designated Conference Minister are the following, identified by our national setting through the experiences of other conferences:

~ A Conference is in the process of major restructure, assessment of viability, or possible consideration of a more regional approach;

~ A Conference is in the process of staff reconfiguration, where a particular ministry will need to be staffed to maintain needed programming while the reconfiguration of responsibilities is designed and accomplished.

When a Conference considers a Designated Conference Minister, it does so in consultation with the General Minister and President of the UCC and the Minister for Conference Relations at our national setting.  The designated term is for 2-3 years.  A DCM position description and MMS Conference profile will be created by the Search Team in conjunction with the Executive Committee of the Conference Council -  and with input from our MMSC Visioning Team.  Once the position description is written, approved and ready for posting, candidates may apply for the position through the on-line UCC Opportunities Listing.  The opportunity to apply for the DCM position is open to all who believe they qualify.  You, in fact, may recommend a candidate who you believe should apply for this DCM position.

Here's how the application process works.  A candidate is responsible for providing a complete application, including a current ministerial profile, to the Office of the General Minister and President by way of a confidential email "mail box."  Both the GMP and the Minister for Conference Relations review all ministerial profiles received, do the initial discernment and vetting based on the MMSC job description, and send on to the Search Team the 3-4 candidates who best match the articulated skills and qualifications sought.  The Search Team then proceeds to interview, check references, and discern whom we recommend to the Council.   If no clear choice emerges from the first 3-4 candidates, we, the Search Team, can request additional candidates from the pool to be sent for our review.

Once the Search Team believes it has found the most qualified candidate, it presents that profile to the Conference Council.   The Council would then interview the proposed candidate and, upon the Council's discernment, would then present the candidate to the whole Conference for the delegates' approval.   That's our understanding of how the process works.   We're just beginning and, as it is appropriate, we will keep you informed.   Of course, during the process of reviewing and interviewing candidates, the highest level of confidentiality will be required of us.

At the end of the 2-3 year predetermined length of the position, there are several options open to the DCM and to the Conference:Those options include:

a)     Extending a permanent or "regular" call to the current DCM through a duly-called meeting of Conference delegates;

b)     Bidding farewell to the DCM at the conclusion of the designate time and seeking an  Interim Conference Minister;

c)     Entering into the search and call process, to seek a new permanent called Conference Minister for which the DCM may apply;

d)     Entering into another designated ministry agreement with the same DCM or another.

The length of the search process is roughly 3-6 months, depending on the time needed to create the position description and Conference profile, and the time needed for our Conference Visioning Team to do its work and to share insights gathered from across the Conference.    

Whew!   That's a lot of material.   Questions?    I hope so.   Intrigued?   I really hope so. We are nimble, flexible and graced by God.  We stand at the threshold of an extraordinary time.   Meanwhile, by God's blessing, we are the Conference together.             

Wesley Hurt,

  Designated Conference Minister Search Team members:

Rev. Laura Mignerone, Vice Chair

Loren Cope

Rev. Wayne Hoffman

Elaine Hudson

Linda Stenger

Sonya Vann

Lloyd Viehland

Karen Watson