A Guide for Ministers
When embarking on the journey of negotiating a call agreement with a church, it's essential to approach this process with a combination of spiritual discernment and practical wisdom, so that you can negotiate an agreement constructively. If you are a minister in discernment or a recent seminary graduate, here are some tips to help you navigate the negotiation process.
With so much attention focused on securing networks and preventing phishing and avoiding ransomware attacks, the physical side of security sometimes goes overlooked. Even in the modern-day work environment where seemingly everything has an internet connection, we still must remain vigilant against physical threats to our security!
Parks are at the center of so many experiences and memories. Whether you’ve explored local parks in your community or visited some of the monumental national parks elsewhere in the United States, these beautiful spaces are often where we learn about nature, gather with family and friends, exercise and be active, escape from stress, and so much more! In celebration of these special places, July is designated as National Park and Recreation Month. The tips below will help you maximize your enjoyment of local and national parks.
In a typical UCC congregation, the pastor has at least three or four days a week when they’re not working for that church. That’s because 45 percent of United Church of Christ (UCC) congregations have part-time clergy, up from 35 percent in 2017.
A Conversation with Brian Williams, Lilly Endowment Inc.
Church dynamics are changing, lay leadership is evolving, ministry models are taking new forms, and at the center of it all is clergy wellness. To get a denomination-wide view of the church and ministry today, the Pension Boards interviewed Brian Williams, Program Director of Religion for the Lilly Endowment Inc., on his witness to this changing landscape.
Last summer, I took the first sabbatical in my 15-year ministry career. (Sabbatical tip #1: Pray that the Holy Spirit will not call you away from your congregation at year seven!) Although I’m no expert on the subject, my sabbatical was full of fun and adventure, and my return to ministry has brought renewal for both me and for my congregations. Think of this list below not as advice on what you should do, but as things I tried and would do again. Not tips for you, but tips from my experiences. I hope they help you to plan, inspire you to dream, and lead you to renewal.
It was the fall of 2022. I was sitting at a table in the church fellowship hall along with several Council Members. It was that time of the year when we discussed the budget for the upcoming year. Each committee took about five minutes to give their report, and when it was time for the treasurer’s report, I was hard struck by the words I heard. With well over $2 million in endowment funds, the treasurer wanted the church to become even more frugal and make staff cuts. They said, “Most churches don’t have a full-time pastor anymore.”
Recently I was asked to share my thoughts on the topic of saving for retirement and what type of questions I receive during pension counseling sessions. I reflected on the experiences that brought me to my current role as a Pension Counselor with the Pension Boards-UCC.
I recently saw the Broadway play “Home,” written by Samm-Art Williams and directed by Kenny Leon. Once called the “road trip of the soul” by the Washington Post, the play follows a man named Cephus who is trying to find a place to belong when his sweetheart, Pattie Mae, marries another man, setting him off from the rural south to the North, trying to find that place called home.
The Pension Boards journeys with the Rev. Terri Akkerman on her ministry career and how she balanced life, health, finances, and ministry, providing tips for younger ministers.