UUCPA Mission Statement:

To transform ourselves, each other, and the world.

Goals of this position:

Inspire, guide, challenge, comfort, and create community among UUCPA attendees by bringing excellent, in-person guest speakers, and coordinating their worship services, for 12-15 Sundays per year. The majority of these will fall in the summer months.

Time requirements (frequency, total time, term, etc.):

Bimonthly meetings to brainstorm speakers, which can be in person, on Zoom, or hybrid, as the committee chooses. 2-3 hours per month of outreach calls to / correspondence with candidate speakers; research to determine whether someone is a dynamic and responsible speaker.

Each SSC member will be the host for about three services per year, and can expect to spend several hours per service collaborating on choosing readings, songs, etc. (more if they are also the Worship Associate).

At least one member of the committee will be a Worship Associate and will attend those trainings. The Worship Associate trainings are open to other SSC members if they wish.

The committee chooses its own chair / convener and may also change the meeting frequency as they see fit.

The term is three years. Members can serve two terms before cycling off for at least one term.

Reports to: Parish Minister

Responsibilities:

In partnership with other members of the SSC, bring guest preachers to lead 12-15 UUCPA Sunday services per year. The guests can come from within UUCPA but cannot be members of this committee.

At least half of the guests must be people of color.

Contact the speaker candidates and make arrangements for them to speak at UUCPA

Coordinate with the other participants in the service: musicians, Worship Tech, Worship Associate

Manage the budget allocated for honoraria and mileage, and (in consultation with the Parish Minister) submit a budget request to the Finance Committee each winter for the coming fiscal year.

Report the list of Sunday speakers quarterly to the Board, and annually to the congregation.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Creativity and an open mind

Research to find and vet speakers

Public speaking

A commitment to diverse, richly spiritual topics and speakers

Knowledge of, and ability to articulate, the difference between a lecture and a sermon

Ability to coordinate via a shared document (we use Google Drive)

Reliability about attending meetings and following up with communications in a timely way

–or interest in acquiring the above skills.

Benefits:

Opportunity to learn and develop the above skills

Connection with interesting people

Considerable influence on the nature of UUCPA services by choosing the speakers for ¼ of the services each year

Partnership with the Parish Minister, Music Director, and others responsible for services.

If you are interested in this volunteer position, contact:

Rev. Amy Zucker Morgenstern