Delegates at the SWC Annual Meeting adopted a budget envisioning a settled associate conference minister (ACM) would join the staff in fiscal year 2017-2018. The search process for that person is now beginning.
“Professional Associates of the Conference Minister shall be called and elected by the Executive Board upon nomination by a subcommittee in consultation with the Conference Minister. Such Associates serving under specific job descriptions will be supervised by the Conference Minister and accountable to the Conference Minister and the EB.” (SWC Bylaws, lines 620-624) Mission and Church Vitality Committee members and conference clergy were briefed on the details of the search process at their recent meetings.
A Conference Profile Task Group has been named to begin writing the SWC profile. That group will use data from the listening sessions held earlier this year, lessons learned during the conference minister call process, and demographics information from our churches and our geography. The SWC profile will also include the job description for the settled ACM. Local congregations are invited to share thoughts and feelings for the SWC profile with members of the SWC Profile Task Group by emailing SWCsearch@uccswc.org. That email address will share your comments with all of the members of the SWC Profile Task Group:
Rebecca Glenn (Scottsdale/Scottsdale)
Lauri Hasler (West/Phoenix)
Janet Leung (First/Flagstaff)
Donna Lockridge (Church of the Good Shepherd/Albuquerque)
Randy Mayer (Good Shepherd/Sahuarita)
John Smith (Desert Garden/Sun City West)
Wendy Spurgeon (Silver City UCC/Silver City)
When the task group’s completes its work, the ACM position will be posted on UCC Ministry Opportunities. Several members of the Profile Task Group will join several members of the Executive Board to form the ACM Search Committee. Profiles will be received, interviews will be conducted, and the search committee will recommend a candidate to the Executive Board for a call. Specific questions about the process can be directed to Conference Minister Bill Lyons (blyons@uccswc.org) or to the Executive Board (executiveboard@uccswc.org).
Rev. Dr. Barbara Doerrer-Peacock is serving as our Acting Associate Conference Minister currently. She was hired in June when the board learned that our conference minister would need an extended medical leave. She was specifically hired as the acting ACM so that he could remain on staff to ease the workload as Bill came back to work and to help shape the role of an ACM in the conference. As an acting ACM Barb may apply for the settled position.
This is an exciting moment of growth and opportunity in the Southwest Conference. Please hold the Executive Board, our staff, and the Profile Task Group in your prayers. Please share your thoughts and feeling with them about our future.