Dearest Westside members and friends,

We, the Committee on Ministry, are pleased to introduce ourselves. We are Simon Knaphus, Roseanne Lorenzana, John Fawcett-Long, Naomi Bradfute, Peggy Abby, and Rev. Christopher. We were chosen by Rev. Christopher with input from last year’s Board of Trustees, and have been affirmed by the Board of Trustees this year. Although we have been meeting since May 2021, we took awhile to find our rhythm with each other and to build our container. In fact, we are still polishing our mission statement and will share it soon.

In general, a Committee on Ministry (CoM) is something that most mid-size or larger UU congregations have but they often function differently depending on the congregation. The role is not a supervisory one; that is handled by the Board of Trustees. Instead, a CoM acts as a safe and confidential sounding board for the minister to reflect and grow in their role.

Having a ministerial evaluation from a congregation’s respective CoM is a requirement of the UUA fellowshipping process for ministers who are new to the role, in a stage called Preliminary Fellowship.The UUA website offers a good explanation of the process here. While this UUA article refers to a more mature CoM than ours, some of the aspects are important to the way our CoM works.

Thank you for everything you bring to Westside, and we look forward to sharing and growing more together!