UCC opens search for Associate General Minister
August 30, 2018
Greetings,
In July 2019, the United Church of Christ will be electing an Associate General Minister. This designation is being used in anticipation of ratification by the Conferences of the amendments to the Constitution. The Associate General Minister may be a lay person, an authorized minister, or a person with ordained ministerial partner standing, and shall provide visionary leadership as an Officer of the Church. As directed by the General Minister and President, the Associate General Minister will oversee the programmatic work of the Global Engagement team, which shall be carried out in accordance with the denomination’s Purpose, Mission, and Vision. The Associate General Minister will contribute to the functions of the National Ministries, including visioning and planning, communications, development and management of budgets, development and leadership of staff, and implementation of policies.
In collaboration with the co-executive colleague of the Division of Overseas Ministries of Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Associate General Minister will also carry out the work of the Common Global Ministries Board with international partners through five area offices (Africa, East Asia & Pacific, Latin America & the Caribbean, the Middle East & Europe, and Southern Asia), and through the work of the offices of Mission Personnel, People to People Pilgrimage, Mission Engagement, Global Advocacy and Education, Child Sponsorship, Resource Development and Finance. The Associate General Minister is accountable to the General Synod and the United Church of Christ Board through the General Minister and President.
The Bylaws of the United Church of Christ call for an open search for this position. A search committee has been formed and is beginning the process of discernment to identify the person called to this important role in the life of the denomination. The search committee is now looking to the wider church for assistance in identifying persons whose gifts, skills, experience, and leadership abilities would qualify them as desirable applicants for this office.
Included is the link to the full position description and the online application portal click here to submit an online application. The deadline for applications is November 30th.
The Search Committee is requesting three items from each applicant. (1) A statement of interest in this position, (2) a professional profile or resume, and (3) three professional references. Applicants with ministerial standing in the United Church of Christ should also submit a current ministerial profile. In accordance with the employment policies of the United Church of Christ, the final candidate will be asked to submit to a background check. The United Church of Christ is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any applicant because of race, color, national origin, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, genetic information, or any other protected category.
Grace and Peace,
Alice Hunt
Chair, AGM Search Committee
Associate General Minister Search Committee
Cameron Barr
Cameron Barr is the pastor of United Church of Chapel Hill in North Carolina. Before joining United Church in March 2018, Barr served as a pastor for six years in Iowa. He was an associate minister of Plymouth Church in Des Moines and pastor of a congregation in Grinnell. Barr’s ministry in Grinnell has focused on strategic planning and stewardship. The church witnessed a 47 percent growth in pledge income during his first two years as pastor. Barr has also served as a Conference delegate from Iowa to the 2013 and 2015 General Synods. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Vanderbilt Divinity School.
Caroline Belsom
Caroline Belsom is a member of Waiola UCC in Lahaina, Hawaii. Belsom is an attorney in private practice, after formerly serving as General Counsel to Kapalua Land Company. She is a former assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa. Prior to a law career, Belsom was a school teacher and holds a Master’s Degree in Physics. She is also a former Assistant Moderator of the General Synod and served on its Executive Council.
John C. Dorhauer
John C. Dorhauer, author and theologian, currently serves as ninth General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ. Dorhauer began his ministry serving First Congregational United Church of Christ and Zion United Church of Christ in rural Missouri. He then served as Associate Conference Minister in the Missouri Mid-South Conference, and then Conference Minister of the Southwest Conference of the UCC prior to his election as General Minister and President. Dorhauer received a B.A. in Philosophy from Cardinal Glennon College (1983), and has a Master of Divinity degree from Eden Theological Seminary (1988), the same year he was ordained in the United Church of Christ. Dorhauer received a Doctor of Ministry degree from United Theological Seminary (2004); his area of focus – white privilege and its effects on the church. With a personal theology shaped in the passionate conviction that God is love and God is just, Dorhauer has embodied the United Church of Christ’s vision of “A Just World for All” throughout his ministry.
Darrell Goodwin
Darrell Goodwin serves as pastor of Liberation United Church of Christ in Seattle, Washington, as well as the Dean of Students at Seattle University. Previously, Goodwin served as the Assistant Director of Student Life at Creighton University in Pennsylvania. He has also served as a member of the Penn West Conference Nominating Committee and on the Global Ministries Board of Directors, a shared ministry with the Christian Church (DOC). Goodwin is currently a member of a local ecumenical clergy group and is active in various community and civic organizations.
Alice Hunt
Alice Hunt now serves as Executive Director for the American Academy of Religion. She previously served as president of Chicago Theological Seminary and a member of Trinity Church UCC in Chicago. Hunt was the Academic Dean at Vanderbilt Divinity School, worked as a systems analyst on the Hubble Space Telescope, and is a former school math teacher in Georgia, Alabama and Kenya. Hunt also served on the Executive Council under the former governance structure and serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for Progressive Renewal.
David Nelson
David Nelson is president of Nelson Equity Development, LLC and of Ocean Energy Company, both of Des Moines, Iowa, and a member of Plymouth Congregational UCC in Des Moines. Nelson holds an A.B. and an MBA from Harvard and served as the chief financial officer at various Midwestern companies. Nelson began his career as a bank officer in New York and has long been active at all levels of the local church and served on the Iowa Conference Board of Directors. He volunteers his time as President and Chair of the Board of Directors of Plymouth Place and has previously served his local YMCA and Polk County Youth Law Center as a board member and president.
Inez Reid
Inez Reid is a Senior Judge, District of Columbia Court of Appeals and a member of Peoples UCC in Washington, D.C. Reid holds a J.D. and served as General Counsel to the Department of Health, Education and Welfare prior to being appointment to the court. She served on the UCC Local Church Ministries Board of Directors, as Chair for two years under the former governance structure, and has served on the Cornerstone Fund Board of Directors. Reid was a contributing participant in the effort that brought the new governance structure to the UCC and is active in various community and civic organizations.
Diane Weible
Diane Weible is the Conference Minister in the Northern California-Nevada Conference. She grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, attended Drury College in Springfield and Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis. After being ordained in May 1991, Weible served as a missionary in Japan for 12 years. In 2004, Weible and family moved to Hawaii where she became the associate pastor at Kailua Christian Church (UCC) and two years later the Minister of Communication of the Hawaii Conference of the UCC. From 2008 to 2015 she served as the Associate Conference Minister in Hawaii before being called in2015 as Conference Minister. Weible has now served as Conference Minister over two years – traveling to visit and preach at most of the churches, and leading the Conference in exciting new directions and initiatives in the area. She has also started a program of study for a Doctorate at Chicago Theological Seminary, currently lives in Hayward and is a member at First Congregational Church of Berkeley (UCC).