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Welcome!
Our denomination is unique because every Unitarian Universalist has the right to develop a personal philosophy of life, without being told what to believe. We can learn from all philosophies and religions, and also from science and the arts. We explore important life issues in a caring community, united by shared values rather than by shared theological opinions. And no matter what we do believe about theology or philosophy, we try to live a good life and leave the world better than we found it.
Rev. Joy Atkinson
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I am thrilled to have the opportunity to serve the Mission Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation as your interim minister, beginning on September 1. Following are a few words of self-introduction.
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In 2002, after 25 years in settled ministry, I decided to move into the specialized field of interim ministry. I have served as Interim Minister to five congregations in the years since then: the First Unitarian Church of Stockton, the UU Congregation of Marin, the UU Community of the Mountains in Grass Valley (a two-year interim), the UU Church of the Monterey Peninsula, and the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara. I have enjoyed this specialized form of ministry and I enjoy serving as your Interim Minister.
My special training relevant to interim work includes long-time service in the Pacific Central District as the Ministerial Settlement Representative (the liaison between the UUA and congregations in search of a minister), long-time service on the PCD Healthy Congregations Team (formerly the PCD Conflict Management Team), training in growth and extension through the UUA, and training in interim ministry through the UUA and the interfaith Interim Ministry Network. As of June, 2005, I became an Accredited Interim Minister with the Unitarian Universalist Association. As a "career interim minister," I have just begun a three-year term on the Accredited Interim Ministry Guild's Steering Committee.
The interim period between settled ministers is an important and potentially very productive time in the life of a congregation - a time to explore where the congregation has been and where it is going, a time to experiment with various forms of worship and organizational structure, a time to evaluate and assess current needs and a time to prepare for a new settled minister. |