Update - February 15, 2024

This week, the Search Committee finalized and submitted to the Living Water Association of the Heartland Conference the Avon Lake UCC Church Profile, which is a major milestone in the search for a new Senior Minister. It provides an overview of Avon Lake UCC to interested candidates, and reflects valuable data about our church and congregation, assesses our ministry practices and includes input from the community we serve. It also reflects the results of the Church Survey. We are grateful to all of you who submitted responses to the survey and for the invaluable information it provided.

The Church Profile will go public next week, at which point interested candidates can begin applying. Conference officials will review baseline requirements of the candidates, and, assuming they meet the requirements, the Search Committee will receive the ministerial profiles, which we will review and discuss. We will also check references and, with respect to certain candidates, conduct interviews.

While the publication of the Church Profile is a significant step in the Senior Minister search process, we are still in the early stages of this journey. In talking to conference officials, while we may (and will likely) receive some profiles from candidates right away, it is not uncommon for this next phase to take many months as it is a significant undertaking for candidates to prepare their ministerial profile and have it approved for the Search Committee review. We were given a timeline of six (6) months as a good guidepost for how long the window for reviewing candidates should stay open, although that can be shorter or longer, depending on the candidate pool.

We are acutely aware that the congregation remains extremely interested in this important process. However, as we move into this next stage, much of our work will be extremely confidential in nature, and we will not be able to provide many specific details. As we have throughout this process, we will provide periodic updates as we are able.

We continue to ask for your prayers as we work through this process. Especially in light of completing the Church Profile, we are strongly reminded of how special Avon Lake UCC is, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to finding the best candidate possible so that we can continue to offer an extravagant welcome and beacon of hope for our community.

Please stay connected with us throughout this process by visiting the Avon Lake UCC website under the “Pastoral Transition” tab.

Mallory Reinking

Chair, Search Committee