Transition Team Update - November, 2013

Transition Team update – November, 2013

            The last time you heard from us was back in early May, when we shared the Good News that we had successfully hired Rev. Tracey Robinson-Harris to serve as our second Interim Minister from August 2013 until July 2014. Understandably, attention has shifted to the very important task of selecting just the 12th Settled Minister in our long and illustrious history here at First Unitarian Church of Worcester.  That work is being capably and diligently pursued by the Settled Minister Search Committee, whose Chair (Diane Mirick) and members we appointed at a special meeting of the Parish in the middle of May.

            Meanwhile, the work of the Interim Minister Search and Transition Committee continued, albeit in a changed form. Having completed the two-stage task of recommending interim ministers to be hired, we have shifted our focus entirely to the goal of ensuring that Rev. Robinson-Harris has the best support and counsel that we can provide, throughout the remainder of the time that she will be leading worship and overseeing the work and vitality of our parish.

            Because of two key losses to our team in the spring (Alicia Lenahan took a job and relocated to Charlottesville, Virginia in April, and Jane Beckwith transferred her incredible professional human resources skills from the Interim Minister searches we successfully completed, to the Settled Minister search now underway), we keenly felt the need for some reinforcements. Prudential Committee has responded with two additional appointees to our Transition Team: Jay Lavelle joined just in time to greet Tracey when she arrived late in August, and now we are fully replenished with the recent appointment of Frankie Knapp.

            Tracey relies on the Transition Team to be her supplementary “sensory and nervous system.” We meet monthly to serve as a sounding board where she can float ideas, test and refine her sense of the priorities of what the church needs from her, and also to hear through us what we know of the congregation’s hopes, concerns, and reactions to events. To provide Tracey with all the support and counsel that she needs to do her job well, the members of the Team need to hear from you. Please be assured that while you are always welcome to communicate directly with Tracey, if you have thoughts or feelings that you are comfortable sharing through any of us, we are here to help inform and advise Rev Robinson-Harris in all her official capacities.

            On behalf of the entire Transition Team (Rudy Cepko, Marc Deshaies, Wendy Innis, Michael Keating, Frankie Knapp, and Jay Lavelle), I thank you for your continued interest and involvement in making this transition experience at First Unitarian as rich and wonderful a learning opportunity as it can be for us all.

David Spanagel, Transition Team Chair   davidspanagel@comcast.net