Ministerial Search Results

Ministerial Vote: March 3, 2024

What an exciting time to be a part of Eliot Chapel! A ministerial vote is a historical moment in any congregation. We want to let you know all of the ways you can participate in this communal process.

Three Ways to Participate in the Ministerial Vote:

IN-PERSON

In-person voting will take place in the Sanctuary on Sunday, March 3 at 12:45 pm.

Following the second service, sandwiches and drinks will be served in Adams Hall. At 12:30, people may begin re-entering the Sanctuary, after checking in at the Board table located in the hallway between Adams Hall and the Sanctuary. Members will be given a piece of paper that will serve as their ballot. 

• Non-members may attend the meeting but cannot cast a vote.
• Childcare will be provided in the Nursery until 1:30 pm. 

ONLINE

Online voting will take place on Zoom on Sunday, March 3. 

A Zoom link will be sent out the week before the meeting. Zoom voting will be “anonymous” to the extent that only two board members will be tallying the votes as they are cast in a chat that only the hosts can see.

If there are multiple members in a household on a signal Zoom call, each may cast a vote in the chat. 

We ask that:

• Only members of Eliot attend the online meeting
• Everyone be logged in by 12:30 to go through a check-in process
• Ensure your displayed Zoom name matches the membership roster

BY PROXY

If you cannot attend the meeting in person or via Zoom, you may designate another member of Eliot to vote on your behalf. To do so, please fill out the Proxy Appointment Form and submit it to the Board Secretary no later than February 29.

• The form can be found here.
• Copies will also be printed and available in Adams Hall.

Once all in-person and online members have cast their votes, the ballots will be tallied by the Board of Trustees. Once Reverend Krista has been informed of the results, the outcome will be announced to the Congregation. 

On January 14, 2024, the Eliot Chapel Search Committee shared their report to the congregation. The full report of the Search Committee includes:

• the summary report and recommendation
• the congregational survey results in graphic form
• selected verbatims from the survey
• ideas from the focus groups mapped to our ends statements
  

The Summary Report and Recommendation

Dear Friends,

We, the Search Committee chosen by the congregation of Eliot Chapel, are pleased to announce that we heartily recommend that the congregation vote to call the Reverend Krista Taves as our new settled Lead Minister.

Last spring you asked us – Bob Boyd, Janis Cox, Tanya Hull, Carl Serbell, and Rob van Alstyne – to find and recommend a new minister with Rev. Barbara Gadon’s retirement. At that time, Rev. Doug Wadkins was our Interim Minister, and Rev. Krista Taves was with us part time as Minister of Congregational Life.

The expectation at that point was that we would engage in a full nation-wide search, creating a Congregational Record document that would clearly describe Eliot Chapel for ministers in search, and then review the credentials of prospective candidates who responded to our vacancy. We were then to choose one applicant to recommend to the congregation as our new settled minister. The congregation would then vote to accept or reject our suggested candidate, and if the vote was in the affirmative, this candidate would become our settled Lead Minister in the Fall of 2024. 

In June of this year, we were informed that Rev. Doug was leaving his interim post a year early, and that the Board of Trustees had offered Rev. Krista a “contract-to-call” – a one-year appointment as Acting Lead Minister, with the understanding that she would become our ‘inside candidate.’ We were tasked to determine whether to offer her the candidacy of settled Lead Minister. With the support and guidance of UUA Congregational Life staff, we were encouraged to work with the congregation with this in mind, and provide a recommendation by January. If our recommendation was ‘yes,’ a vote of the congregation would follow. If our recommendation was ‘no,’ we would then prepare for a full search.

In these changed circumstances, the task of the Search Committee was re-defined. Under a contract-to-call, the process, as recommended by the UUA, becomes different. It focuses on the inside candidate exclusively. The Search Committee was then tasked with (a) identifying the current felt and actual needs of the congregation and (b) determining whether Rev. Krista was the right person to address those needs at this time.

Through the congregational survey and small group meetings and a number of interviews, and in every conversation at or about Eliot, we drew a detailed picture of our congregation, and we have summarized the congregation’s needs and desires in this report. We conducted 13 focus groups, and about half of our active membership (176) responded to the survey. In addition, we interviewed several individuals who worked closely with Rev. Krista at Emerson Chapel, at the Metro East Congregation in Alton, and at Eliot Chapel.

Here are our most significant findings:

1. About Eliot Chapel:

We are overwhelmingly an old, white, and straight group; with 54.6% of survey respondents indicating that they have attended Eliot for 16 or more years. Many of our elders currently remain active in leadership roles. Likewise, in recent years a growing number of younger adults have taken roles on the Board, and other leadership positions. We also have a visible and well accepted number of LGBTQ+ congregants, many of them leaders in the congregation. Despite our older demographic, survey and focus group responses underscore that the congregation believes that it is vitally important to attract young families and to support a strong RE program. 

We found an interest in growing the congregation to pre-pandemic levels, favored by 42% of respondents. Social justice activism is viewed as an important part of our ministry by 75% of respondents. We consistently encountered high levels of positive energy and enthusiasm, indicating a desire in the congregation to move forward in growing our programs and opportunities for engagement.

Many congregants have commented on the friendly, accepting atmosphere at Eliot Chapel, and they value being among others who think and act with the kind of freedom and responsibility that they identify with. Trust that we as a congregation can minister to and accompany each other on this journey underlies our commitment to Eliot Chapel and to each other.

2. What we like about our church:

In our recent focus groups and cottage meetings, members voiced their desire to continue the momentum of welcoming and growing our congregation, especially increasing the number of younger families and children. There was also acknowledgement that we have some younger adult members who have assumed volunteer roles and leadership positions, and it is hoped the number of younger members willing to pursue leadership responsibilities will continue to increase. Very often we heard positive feelings around intergenerational social activities and pre-Covid, larger scale social events such as chili and games night and the seder dinner. Many would like to revive these events while also maintaining high-profile services like Bread Sunday and Christmas Eve, where all ages of Eliot stay for the entire service. From the response rate to the survey and the enthusiasm of participants who attended our focus groups, it is clear that we believe Eliot Chapel is a special place that we want to see grow and prosper.

3. What we want in our new minister:

The survey results suggest that the primary focus for the minister should be on activities such as “Building a Sense of Community” (76.9%), “Presenting Inspiring and Challenging Sunday Services” (76.3%), Fostering Spiritual Growth (38.7%), and “Pastoral Care” (31.2%).

In addition to the survey, our focus groups showed that it will be important for our minister to value the goals of our congregation, and to collaborate with and support the Eliot Board, staff, and committees to further our mission. Both the survey results and comments at meetings indicate that the congregation feels that social justice work is important, but that the focus of ministry ought to be primarily on the congregation and its needs.

4. Why Rev. Krista is the right person to lead us at this time:

We began our consideration of Rev. Krista from the beginnings of her ministry in St. Louis in 2005. We interviewed former members and leaders of her Emerson Chapel congregation, some of whom are now members of Eliot, about her leadership of that congregation. Their responses confirmed that her ministerial skills were widely recognized and appreciated.

From the more than a dozen individuals we interviewed who now work or have worked closely with Rev. Krista, we consistently heard appreciation and admiration for her pulpit and pastoral skills, and her compassion. We also heard praise for her sensitivity in handling delicate situations in a principled and effective way.

In our own discussions with Rev. Krista we have been impressed by her thorough and thoughtful approach to her candidacy, and by her careful consideration of the requirements of the ministry for which she is applying. She is sensitive and kind in her relationships with the congregation, and more than professional in all aspects of the business of running a church. She is a truly gifted preacher, and her Sunday services have earned high approval from the congregation for their combination of spiritual support and inclusiveness.

Understanding that any minister with such a long history with our congregation (Rev. Krista has been part of Eliot since 2020) will not have been perfect in every situation, we also recognize that the 19 years of Rev. Krista’s ministry have given her ample opportunity to learn and to grow. We know from her Ministerial Record that she has been proactive in seeking training and mentorship in all aspects of ministry since the beginning of her service, and we are confident that she will continue to learn and grow, and that we as a congregation will learn and grow along with her.

5. What happens next:

There will be time following the presentation of this report for the congregation to consider the Search Committee’s recommendation, and the congregation will have many opportunities to meet with Rev. Krista for questions and conversation before the vote to extend a call at a congregational meeting, currently scheduled for March 3. 

Respectfully Submitted, 

Your Search Committee: Bob Boyd, Janis Cox, Tanya Hull, Carl Serbell, Rob van Alstyne