Talk & Thought

Finding a new senior minister is not a walk in the park . . . at least not for First Congregational Church in Houston.   

Churches in other denominations might simply form a search committee.  Reflecting policies of the United Church of Christ, First Congregational Houston collects opinion from the congregation via a series of workshops, the most recent of which was held Saturday, January 26.  The sessions provided opportunity for plenty of discussion (a favorite activity of the membership).

All the "talk & thought" is in pursuit of two goals:
--provide a reasonably accurate profile of the church and its members for candidates for the senior minister position and
--help ensure that the minister hired is a good "fit" for the church and its current needs.

One of the workshops therefore worked on a profile of the church and its members.  Another attempted to get a sense of the theological/faith stance of the members.  The greatest number of "votes" on faith stance selected this statement:  "We tend to be theologically moderate to liberal."
 

But there was also strong preference for the statement "We tend to be quite diverse theologically."
 

As we like to say to site and bricks & mortar visitors:  "No matter where you are on your life's journey, you are welcome here!"