The UURMaPA Spring 2016 conference was held on February 29 – March 2 at La Casa de Maria Retreat Conference Center near Santa Barbara, CA with 68 of us attending. The conference theme was “Life Transitions” with a keynote talk given by Arvid Straube. We enjoyed each other’s company at the beautiful grounds and surroundings of the retreat center, ate delicious meals, worshipped together, and were invited into the conference theme, “Life Transitions” in a keynote talk and workshops. We were entertained (in the best sense of that word as he explained) by Thomas Anastasi’s Odyssey.

The planning committee welcomed us with a vespers service and memorial to members who have died in the past year to open the retreat. Tom and Carolyn Owen-Towle offered the next morning’s worship and you can read Tom’s sermon, “Hopers Unite”

Arvid Straube

Our featured presenter, the Rev. Dr. Arvid Straube, spoke out of his experience as a long time UU parish minister (retired 2014), Buddhist practitioner, and Spiritual Director. You can read his Keynote Talk or watch him here:

Scott Tayler and Don Southworth

Special guests Don Southworth (UUMA Executive Director) and Scott Tayler (UUA Director of Congregational Life) joined us for the conference. Don talked with us about current happenings at the UUMA of special interest to retired ministers and to partners. Scott engaged us in a conversation about a new initiative under development to employ the wisdom of sages who have retired from ministry to assist in special projects with congregations, about which more will unfold as the project is refined.

2015 Gathering at Attleboro

Our 2015 Fall Conference in Attleboro was extended by an additional day. Dan McKanan, Emerson UUA Senior Lecturer in Divinity at Harvard, and author of Prophetic Encounters: Religion and the American Radical Tradition, spoke on “UU Prophetic Scholarship in the 21st Century.” The evening included a dramatic presentation of Emily Dickinson portrayed by Candice Riddington. Attendees travelled by bus to Boston for a catered lunch at the UUA’s new headquarters at 24 Farnsworth Street. Andy and Chris Backus presented their odyssey.

2014 Gathering at Attleboro

Despite the inclement weather, or perhaps because of it, the 54 people who attended this year’s UURMaPA New England conference in Attleboro, Massachusetts, wanted to add another day to a future conference. Our keynote speaker was Harvard professor Daniel Smail, who opened our minds to epochs in Deep History of the human race.

2013 Gathering at Attleboro

View a 5-1/2 minute slideshow, created by Eleanor Richardson.

2012 Gathering at Attleboro

Fall Conference Attendees, 2012. Front row (l-r): Glen Snowden, Margi Nasemann, Eleanor Richardson, Ellen Brandenburg, Richard Trudeau, Iska Cole, Sylvia Howe Second row: Gregg Carter, Janet Bowering, Robbie Walsh, Kathleen Ward, Maurice Cobb, Jim Eller Third row: Kerry Mueller, Judith Downing, Susan Weston, Doris Hunter, Joyce & Dick Gilbert, Carol Taylor, Chris Backus, Dick Fewkes, Connie Johnson, Med Anderson, Judy Mannheim, Sue Nichols, Marcia Olsen, Paul L’Herrou Fourth row: George Brandenburg, Ed Lane, Peter Richardson, Ron Marcy, Joel Weaver, Andy Backus, Dave Hunter, John Weston, Sheldon Bennett, Vern Nichols, Molly Bennett. Photo by Eleanor Richardson

Forty-one members of UURMaPA gathered for our Attleboro Conference from October 2-4, 2012, held at LaSalette Retreat Center. The keynote program was “How Shall We Be with One Another?” with members of the UUMA Task Force on Retired Ministers, including our own Jim Eller and Chris Lilly Backus. The Task Force was charged with finding and sharing best practices for right relations among retired, interim and settled ministers, and their families. After a report of their findings, we broke into small groups for further discussion.

Tuesday afternoon Iska Cole shared her remarkable experiences as a Slovak partisan during World War II. That evening Margi Nasemann presented a “History of the United States through Music,” after which we watched the first 2012 US presidential debate. During the business meeting on Thursday morning, two awards were presented: Glen Snowden was given the Unsung UURMaPA Hero Award and Andy Backus the 2012 Creative Sage-ing Award.

Reports were given by UURMaPA Board members who were present, Joyce Stewart reported on the state of the UUA Retirement Plan, and Susan Weston led a discussion on future conference sites. John and Susan Weston served as conference chairs, and Richard Fewkes, Carol Taylor and Joel Weaver, and John Weston led us in worship services over the three days. As always we enjoyed our social times, with Happy Hours hosted by Ellen and George Brandenburg.

Previously at Attleboro

Fall Conference Attendees, 2011 (back row) Stephan Papa, Alan Deale, Iska Cole, John Rex, Peter Baldwin, Polly Leland-Mayer, Judy Mannheim, Harry Green, Carol Taylor, Kerry Mueller, Leigh McKay, Susan Weston, Ron Marcy, Vic Carpenter, Khoren Arisian, Peter Richardson, Dick Norsworthy, Ed Lane, Jan Kazlauskas, Joel Weaver, Gregg Carter, George Brandenburg, Dave Hubner, Med Anderson, Andy Backus, Judi Marcy (middle row) Doris Hunter, Liz Strong, Jan Bowering, Maurice Cobb, Dick Gilbert, Joyce Gilbert, Peter Morales, Margi Nasemann (front row) Chris Backus, Kathleen Hunter, Dick Fewkes, Dave Hunter, John Weston, Ellen Brandenburg, Eleanor Richardson, Glen Snowden

Peter Morales, Keynote Speaker – 2011

Dick Fewkes and Dick Gilbert — 2011. The banner was made by Iska Cole

“Olympia Brown” (Janet Bowering)

Gene and Helen Pickett Giving Their Odyssey, 2010

Peter and Carolyn Baldwin Giving Their Odyssey, 2009

Fall Conference Attendees, 2009 Back row from left: Ron Marcy, Andy Backus, Ed Lane, Maurice Cobb, Marj Lynn, Ed Lynn, Don Southworth (UUMA), Dick Fewkes, Peter Richardson, Carol Taylor, Richard Kellaway, Makanah Morriss, Peter Baldwin, Med Anderson, Gregg Carter, Dorothy Boroush, Peter Scott, Dick Gilbert, Joyce Gilbert, Ralph Mero, Judi Marcy, Vern Nichols. Seated: Jan Bowering, David Cole, Jarmila Vogel, George Brooks, Faith Scott. On ground: Glen Snowden, Chris Lilly Backus, Carolyn Baldwin, Gene Navias, Bob Morriss, Sue Nichols, Eleanor Richardson.

UURMaPA is partnering with the UUA and UUMA to offer a retirement planning seminar for UU ministers who are thinking about retirement in 5-10 years. It will be at the Newcomb Tennis Camp, outside San Antonio, Texas, March 27-31, 2017. We’ve contracted with our own Larry Peers to help lead the seminar. Any of you who have, like me, attended one of Larry’s retirement seminars know how valuable it can be.

So why are we telling already-retired ministers and partners about this? Two reasons, actually. First, while targeted invitations will be going out to UUMA members who are 5-10 years out, there’s nothing like a personal “urging.” So if you know colleagues in that target group, please have a personal conversation.

Which brings me to the second reason for telling you all about this. I took Larry’s seminar after I had retired, basically as part of UURMaPA’s investigation into whether to sponsor this seminar. During the training, over and over again I had head-slapping “I wish I had known this” moments.

So I’m asking for your help in fleshing out UURMaPA’s part of the training, which revolves around the topic, “Things I wish I had known before I retired.” I was fortunate to have engaged Alban consultant Susan Beaumont as my preretirement coach. And yet Larry’s seminar offered much that would have made the transition better for me and for the congregation.

Please drop me an e-mail (DWGallager@gmail.com) or call (248/647-1912) to share what you wish you had known before you retired. You can help make things better for colleagues, partners, congregations and community settings. Thanks for your help.

— Doug Gallager

To learn more or apply, see the UUMA Retirement Planning Seminar webpage.

from Elderberries Fall 2021:

Targeted Ministry Program, Relaunched!

By Keith Kron, Director of UUA Transitions Office (for almost 12 years now)

I am grateful to past UURMaPA leadership for proposing and working with the Transitions Office on what evolved into the Targeted Ministry Program (TMP). This may be one of the best things to happen during my tenure in this role. I’ve seen congregations enjoy ministry again and I’ve seen the same for colleagues. I even heard a lay leader say that a TMP minister restored their faith in ministry. 

It’s been for simple things—like a group needing staff supervision while they had no minister on site—to more complicated situations, such as when an experienced minister comes in following a volatile negotiated ending to a difficult ministry, as well as so many moments in between. Retired colleagues have stepped up, served, and found ways to contribute significantly to our faith.

The Targeted Ministry Program was designed for congregations to be served by retired ministers for short periods of time, perhaps two or three months, full-time. Or it might be part-time, and for longer. It could be helpful when ministers go on sabbatical or take medical leave, or following endings such as negotiations, disability, or death. We are also open to creative options and needs.

The twice-a-year settlement cycle has not worked well for all groups and we are seeing a significant number of settings without ministry. Right now I have 21 congregations that are or will be looking for some kind of short-term help, whereas normally in October we have three or four.

A few years back, and thanks to the UU Funding Panel, we got together a group to discuss what was possible, recruit ministers and do a two-year trial of the concept. Then the pandemic took over our lives. We got creative, as the world and its needs changed. I suspect all of this will shift again as we move forward. But demand for good ministry will remain.   

So the Transitions Office is relaunching the TMP, no longer calling it a pilot program; it has now even been included in the Transitional Ministry Handbook. I am hereby asking again (of retirees) to let us know about your interest in serving in the TMP—even if you have offered before, and even if you’re not quite ready yet.

I am hereby asking again (of retirees) to let us know about your interest in serving in the TMP—even if you have offered before, and even if you’re not quite ready yet. 

If you’d like to apply, or have questions, email transitions@uua.org. I will help design the best fit and parameters for your work. It may be for as much or as little as you like in terms of time, energy, geography, and difficulty. It can be virtual, in-person, or both. You can be offered an opportunity and decline and then be asked again—as long as you say, “Please, ask again.”

Congregations are required to fill out an application and, if accepted, will provide salary at the recommended geo-index midpoint, plus retirement contribution, and ideally help in finding housing, if needed. (Congregations—and ministers—are often unaware of housing costs on the rise. But it can be unwise to take a room in someone’s home. Possibilities include a reduced rental, a mother-in-law apartment, or an extended hotel stay.) 

That said, the market is also swinging toward virtual ministry. Even interims are spending less and less time on site. I saw one request for virtual-only sabbatical coverage and they got the most applicants. The biggest thing is to provide stability for a congregation, because there is a lot of anxiety out there. It is predicted that 30% of ministers are expected to leave ministry in the near future, for one reason or another. This is going to be an interesting landscape for the next decade.

Let me end by expressing my gratitude to those of you colleagues who’ve been a part of the pilot in any way.
Thank you for your support of ministry, congregational life, and Unitarian Universalism! You have made a difference.     ✰ ✰

from Elderberries, Fall 2016:

Targeted Ministry Program Offers Opportunities

by Keith Kron and Scott Tayler

How often have we seen a congregation that needs a little extra help? Perhaps they are moving toward their first ministry, or they need sabbatical coverage, or an outside voice during an interim or settled ministry, or perhaps they just need some targeted development. These needs are not new. Yet they remain timely.

Congregations are often faced with the problem of limited resources, which makes the problem of getting the help they need more complicated. I see congregations with negotiated resignations needing to go without a minister for months. I see new ministers get stuck struggling with complex systems questions. Colleagues go on sabbatical but worry that the congregation they serve may destabilize. An interim minister might benefit greatly by having an esteemed colleague repeat, differently, an idea the congregational leadership resists.

All of these situations are examples where a short-term, targeted ministry could benefit the congregation and the ministry with this congregation. UURMaPA and the UUA have joined together to address these situations, creating the Targeted Ministry Program (with the acronym, TMP).

The Targeted Ministry Program will have three purposes:

1. To support congregational program development, growth, and health
2. To utilize the expertise of retired ministers
3. To provide more flexible ministry options for congregations and ministers

The Transitions Office will oversee the process in conjunction with Congregational Life staff. Indeed, a regional staff member is likely to be a key point person to congregations, recommending the program to them and helping them refine what they need from a TMP minister. The Transitions Office will create the application for ministers who wish to apply. Along with the regional staff, we will work for good quality and good matching of ministerial skills and temperament to the congregation and its needs. The Transitions Office and the regional staff will work with the congregations to assure that an appropriate developmental covenant is reached between the TMP minister and the congregation. Congregations will be expected to compensate at the recommended rates set by the UUMA, as well as those recommended by the Office of Church Staff Finances.

UURMaPA has submitted a grant to the UU Funding Panel to help with the cost of training ministers for this new program. Initially, the effort hopes to provide training in conjunction with upcoming UURMaPA gatherings, beginning in the Fall of 2017.

While it’s hard to predict the utilization of this program for our congregations, there is a definite need. And there is a well-remembered positive history of similar efforts from the Minister On Loan program of years ago. When they speak of their ministerial history, many of our congregations don’t remember the name, but they do speak well of the effect of having a minister come visit for a month or two. Colleagues in that program saw the opportunity to utilize their skills and make a real difference in a congregation’s life. And being able to do so on a short term basis had high appeal to ministers.

Our hope is to build well with a small, more intentional start, creating a few success stories that can be widely shared. Regional staff and the Transitions Office will be looking for congregations ready to engage well with this new program, and for ministers ready to engage with them and meet the congregation where they are. Ministers with good skills around non-anxious behavior, fine preaching and pastoral skills, and specific skills around leadership development will be particularly good matches for the program, especially if they bring a positive and hopeful message. Jim Eller and Marni Harmony were instrumental supporters and workers from UURMaPA to get this program going, while Scott Tayler and Keith Kron worked diligently from the UUA’s side in support of the program.

The timeline:

• September, 2016 Grant application submitted to Funding Panel
• November, 2016 Funding Panel notifies UURMaPA of decision on application
• December, 2016 Transitions Office creates and publishes ministerial application for program (Transitions Office website)
• January, 2017 Regional staff begins to identify congregations in need of program, and creates application and covenantal forms for congregation
• October, 2017 Training for ministers in program at UURMaPA gathering
• Fall, 2017 and beyond Program begins.

Additional training for ministers at subsequent UURMaPA gatherings Interested ministers should contact the Transitions Office after the January 1, 2017 at transitions@uua.org.

Jim Eller and Nana Kratochvil

The 2014 UURMaPA Creative Sageing Award was presented at the annual luncheon at General Assembly in Providence, RI to the Rev. Dr. Nana Kratochvil for her service to the Unitarian Universalist Association, to interfaith religious cooperation, to the Democratic party, and to her own family.

Nana retired from the Unitarian Universalist Church of Muskegon, Michigan in 2006, having served there since 1995. During retirement, she served as the minister to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Michigan in Mt. Pleasant, MI. She recently completed seven years as the Ministerial Settlement Representative for the Heartland District, and is currently the Chair of the UUA’s Commission on Appraisal, where she has served for five years.

Nana helped form an Interfaith Study and Support Group in Muskegon, Michigan and continues to be an active and committed member. She also has been an active leader of the Progressive Democratic Women’s Caucus of Western Michigan for the past seven years.

Currently, her 28-year old granddaughter and 5-year old great-granddaughter share her small home in a lively and energetic household. When she can get away, Nana enjoys a quiet sail on Lake Michigan — and when she can’t, you can count on her for a wonderful conversation!

Jim Eller

Retirement offers the gift of more time to pursue longtime interests and new paths for our liberal religious spirits. UURMaPA gathers us at regional conferences and area lunches, where we enjoy catching up and exploring new perspectives.  UURMaPA has created a Caring Network of more than forty volunteers, who stay in touch with members to celebrate life’s joys and sorrows.

Best wishes,

The Rev. Jim Eller, President

Back row: John Weston (resigned 10/8/15), Judy Gibson, John Manwell (term began 10/8/15), Liz McMaster.
Front row: Joel Weaver, Doug Gallager, Judy Welles, Marni Harmony, Judy Gillis (resigned 3/1/16), Jim Eller.