Targeted Ministry Program

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.