In a live video released July 27, Executive Conference Minister the Rev. Darrell Goodwin announced that the Conference has two new openings for executive staff positions: an Executive for Area Conference Ministry, and an Executive Minister for Programs and Initiatives. The Conference is also continuing to search for a Major Gifts Officer.
"If you are like me, and you've paid attention to your Facebook feed or your LinkedIn, you have seen what seems like constant announcements about people transitioning out of their roles," Rev. Goodwin said. "It's happening in the context of the local church, conference staffs across the country, and even within the national setting. This isn't just a phenomenon for those of us who are working in helping professions like the church - I'm noticing friends in other fields who are doing the same thing."
The Southern New England Conference is no different, he said, with staff leaving for other roles, for retirement, or due to health concerns. The two new executive positions are being put into place after the Rev. Dr. Audrey Price, Executive Conference Minister for Strategic Operations, announced that she was stepping down at the end of August for a position at another nonprofit.
"As a result of those transitions, the Conference needs to then discern: what will we do next?" he said. "So I wanted to, first of all, name that in this first two years of this new and exciting Conference, there's been a lot of transition. And friends, I have to invite you to know there'll be a lot more transition to come in these first couple of years of nimbleness and ferreting out what God is calling us to do and putting all of the pieces in place to truly live the love and justice of Jesus."
The two new executives, Rev. Goodwin said, will report directly to him.
The Execurtve for Area Conference Ministry will be a promotion of the current Team Leader for Area Conference Ministers role currently held by Rev. Dr. Michael Ciba, he said. The big difference, he said, is that in addition to the new executive, an area conference minister will also be called for the southern region of Connecticut, where Rev. Ciba now serves.
"The positive part about that is it allows that area in Connecticut to have a regional ACM similar to many of our other regions in the conference," he said. "But the leader of that, the area conference minister, won't also have the added responsibility of holding some of the more Conference-wide concerns we have around fitness reviews, around committees on ministry and around how do we help to continue to equip our association leadership. The Executive Minister for Area Conference Ministry will day-to-day supervise our Area Conference Ministers to make sure that we're sewing into them, that we're triaging concerns or questions that may come up for them, but they'll also be holding some big ticket items around area conference ministry for the Southern New England Conference."
The Executive Minister for Conference Programs and Initiatives, Rev. Goodwin said, "will supervise areas such as faith formation, our justice team, our camps and outdoor ministry and retreat sites, as well as thinking critically about our Center for Transformational Leadership and how we continue to work towards things like a lay leadership academy and the equipping of authorized ministers and members in discernment."
Both of these positions are posted in UCC Opportunities, and on the SNEUCC website classifieds.
Rev. Goodwin said the Conference is also searching for a Major Gifts Officer, to take on the role vacated by Lee Gagen when she went on to work for the national UCC philanthropy office.
"We continually said at the beginning of this process, that God is doing a new thing and it clearly is transparent to me that she's not done," he said. "So there's a lot more to come. I trust that you are praying for me and Conference staff as I continue to pray for you. As I know many of our local churches are also in transition, as well as other Conferences throughout the country. Let's hold each other in prayer. Let's continue to be nimble in this ever-changing time."
"If you are like me, and you've paid attention to your Facebook feed or your LinkedIn, you have seen what seems like constant announcements about people transitioning out of their roles," Rev. Goodwin said. "It's happening in the context of the local church, conference staffs across the country, and even within the national setting. This isn't just a phenomenon for those of us who are working in helping professions like the church - I'm noticing friends in other fields who are doing the same thing."
The Southern New England Conference is no different, he said, with staff leaving for other roles, for retirement, or due to health concerns. The two new executive positions are being put into place after the Rev. Dr. Audrey Price, Executive Conference Minister for Strategic Operations, announced that she was stepping down at the end of August for a position at another nonprofit.
"As a result of those transitions, the Conference needs to then discern: what will we do next?" he said. "So I wanted to, first of all, name that in this first two years of this new and exciting Conference, there's been a lot of transition. And friends, I have to invite you to know there'll be a lot more transition to come in these first couple of years of nimbleness and ferreting out what God is calling us to do and putting all of the pieces in place to truly live the love and justice of Jesus."
The two new executives, Rev. Goodwin said, will report directly to him.
The Execurtve for Area Conference Ministry will be a promotion of the current Team Leader for Area Conference Ministers role currently held by Rev. Dr. Michael Ciba, he said. The big difference, he said, is that in addition to the new executive, an area conference minister will also be called for the southern region of Connecticut, where Rev. Ciba now serves.
"The positive part about that is it allows that area in Connecticut to have a regional ACM similar to many of our other regions in the conference," he said. "But the leader of that, the area conference minister, won't also have the added responsibility of holding some of the more Conference-wide concerns we have around fitness reviews, around committees on ministry and around how do we help to continue to equip our association leadership. The Executive Minister for Area Conference Ministry will day-to-day supervise our Area Conference Ministers to make sure that we're sewing into them, that we're triaging concerns or questions that may come up for them, but they'll also be holding some big ticket items around area conference ministry for the Southern New England Conference."
The Executive Minister for Conference Programs and Initiatives, Rev. Goodwin said, "will supervise areas such as faith formation, our justice team, our camps and outdoor ministry and retreat sites, as well as thinking critically about our Center for Transformational Leadership and how we continue to work towards things like a lay leadership academy and the equipping of authorized ministers and members in discernment."
Both of these positions are posted in UCC Opportunities, and on the SNEUCC website classifieds.
Rev. Goodwin said the Conference is also searching for a Major Gifts Officer, to take on the role vacated by Lee Gagen when she went on to work for the national UCC philanthropy office.
"We continually said at the beginning of this process, that God is doing a new thing and it clearly is transparent to me that she's not done," he said. "So there's a lot more to come. I trust that you are praying for me and Conference staff as I continue to pray for you. As I know many of our local churches are also in transition, as well as other Conferences throughout the country. Let's hold each other in prayer. Let's continue to be nimble in this ever-changing time."
Author
Tiffany Vail
Tiffany Vail is the Director of Media & Communications for the Southern New England Conference.