Transition Team Newsletter – September 26, 2026
Dear Friends,
Welcome to a new program year! As the season turns, First Parish is back in full swing. Between Sunday services, new RE classes, and a packed schedule of social justice work and community gatherings, the building is full of life again. It’s great to be back together.
Alongside the everyday momentum of congregational life, this fall brings some major work. Over the coming months, three key leadership groups—the Settled Minister Search Committee, the Parish Committee, and the Covenant Task Force—are seeking your input to help steer the future of our ministry, staffing, and culture. The primary role of the Transition Team is to collaborate with these initiatives and to encourage clear communication to make sure everyone in the congregation has a voice.
Here is a quick breakdown of what’s on the horizon, how it all connects, and where you come in.
1. Finding Our Next Minister: Settled Minister Search Committee
The Search Committee is actively assembling our official congregational packet due in November—the showcase document that introduces First Parish to ministerial candidates. To give candidates an accurate picture of who we are, they need input from across the entire congregation.
- Take the Survey: Your input will help the committee develop questions for the small group discussions, and inform the packet of information that goes out to all prospective ministers. (The survey is live until 9/30—please fill it out!) 👉[Click HERE for the Survey Link]
- Join a Small Group: Sign up for a small group to share your hopes for our next settled minister. Sessions run October 13 – November 6. Coming soon: Dates and how to register!
- Break Barriers, Build Beliefs Workshop (October 17, 10:00am – 3:00pm): We encourage everyone to attend this interactive workshop. Facilitated by Rev. Micah Ma, this session unpacks the search process and helps us challenge assumptions so we can choose the best possible candidate. 👉 [Click HERE to Register]
2. Structuring Our Ministry: Parish Committee & Transition Team
Our ministers and staff keep First Parish running day to day—leading worship, providing pastoral care, supporting social justice efforts, guiding RE, offering music, and handling the complex operations behind the scenes. To keep our staffing model effective and financially sustainable for the long haul, we need to make smart, deliberate choices about how our team is structured.
While the Parish Committee will make the final decisions, our collective input is vital!
Join us for a feedback session to learn about our current financial realities, discuss needs and priorities, and consider potential staffing models that will provide a strong foundation for our community.
Future Staffing at First Parish: What are our options?
- Sunday, October 4: 11:45am – 1:00pm (Sanctuary)
- Wednesday, October 7: 8:00pm – 9:15pm (Zoom)
3. Living Our Values: Covenant Task Force
The Covenant Task Force is hard at work developing a congregational covenant. This isn’t just words on a page; it’s a guiding framework about how we commit to treat one another, navigate differences, and handle disagreement in healthy ways. Prospective ministers often look for congregations with a clear congregational covenant, as it signals a strong, mature community culture. Adopting a provisional covenant this spring gives us a chance to test it out, refine it together, and eventually invite our next settled minister to help shape its final form.
Join the Conversation:
- September – October: Read and review early drafts of the proposed covenant.
- Sunday, November 8: Attend a Listening Circle to share your feedback.
- January: More opportunities for discussion and discernment
- February 7: Vote with the congregation on adopting a provisional covenant.
How Does This All Fit Together?
It can feel like a lot of moving parts, but these three efforts are all tackling different sides of the same core question: Who do we want to be as a community?
- Who Will We Choose? The Search Committee helps us define the qualities, skills, and values we need in our next settled minister.
- Which Structure Will Work Best? The Parish Committee needs our collective input to inform choices about a sustainable organizational framework so our staff and ministries can flourish within our budget.
- How Do We Relate? The Covenant Task Force is drafting a congregational covenant —the ground rules of kindness, respect, and accountability—that will guide how we relate with each other and with our future minister.
Together, these initiatives lay the groundwork for First Parish’s next chapter.
Thank you for all the ways you show up for our community!
With gratitude,
The Transition Team
Marilyn Downs, Tom Estabrook, Lois Fine, Elizabeth Hunter, Marc Jacobson, and Kay Snowden
As always, we invite you to reach out to us with comments, concerns, or questions at transitionteam@firstparish.info.
