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The Eleven C’s of Ministry:
Qualities to Seek in a Minister
What expectations regarding a new minister should we bring to our UUFVB search?
The Rev. David C. Pohl and the Rev. Daniel D. Hotchkiss, both of whom held the
post of Ministerial Transitions Director at UUA, offer these Eleven C’s of
Ministry.
Character. This includes moral consistency, stability, and reliability.
Ministers of character have what might be called personal authenticity,
genuineness or transparency, the absence of phoniness, airs and self importance.
Calling. The ministry is not apart from or superior to other careers, but a
sense of calling motivates ministers to do their work well, and to be imbued
with a vision of reality and of life’s possibilities.
Culture. A cultured minister is acquainted with the arts and sciences, with
religion, politics, sports and popular culture. How else can they learn from
people with varied and differing tastes?
Caring. A minister should be genuinely interested in, and concerned for, other
persons — neither excessively self-preoccupied nor interested in others only to
the extent that they meet his or her needs.
Creative. Most of us can cultivate originality in the sense of being open to new
and disturbing ideas and ways of doing things — not venerating either the new or
the old.
Catalytic. A minister needs to see his or her role as catalytic, helping to make
things happen, galvanizing people into action.
Consultative. Another quality worth seeking in ministry is a leadership style
that is consultative and cooperative. Democratic leadership is not an abdication
of either initiative or advocacy.
Collegial. This trait points to the need to relate personally and professionally
to colleagues — both in one’s own denomination and in the interfaith community.
Competent. A minister ought to possess the theoretical knowledge and practical
skills of the craft. The minister will have mastered the art of communicating.
Teaching, counseling, witnessing, managing parish business, and empowering lay
people constitute the balance of congregational skills.
Comic. A minister needs a healthy sense of humor and an awareness of his or her
own limits in order to avoid becoming self-important or having an overdeveloped
sense of responsibility.
Conduct. Ministers meet people at their most vulnerable. Careful search
committees ask potential candidates to speak about their understanding of
professional ethics, and about specific boundaries they set for themselves in
ministry.
Return to Ministerial Search
Committee.
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