A Transition in Ministry
On October 18, 2024, our senior minister Rev. Carolyn Patierno announced her retirement after 24 years of ministry at All Souls, effective at the end of June 2025. Click the link below for the June 3, 2025, letter from Rev. Carolyn to the congregation about what to expect from interactions with Rev. Carolyn after we release each other from the covenant we entered into at her installation in 2001.
Letter from Rev. Patierno June 3, 2025
The Board of Trustees had planned to follow Rev. Carolyn’s ministry at All Souls with a two-year interim minister hired through the UUA. This is a process that is held each spring for UU congregations in transition after the departure of a settled minister. We did not have a match with an interim minister in that process. Our ministerial search team continued their work and recommended, and the board hired, our new minister, Rev. Verdis LeVar Robinson. Rev. Verdis is a contract minister who will be doing the transitional work that our congregation needs with UUA support. However, since he is a contract minister, we are not constrained by the provisions of the UUA interim program. That allows All Souls to proceed organically with our transition, while all parties discern Rev. Verdis' role as we clarify our longer-term ministerial needs. We look forward to this new, shared ministry.
Five Key Tasks of Transitional Ministry
Transitional ministry helps congregations explore five areas:
Heritage - reviewing how the congregation has been shaped and formed
Mission - defining and redefining our sense of purpose and direction
Leadership - reviewing our member needs and the congregation's ways of organizing and developing leadership
Connections - nurturing our community relationships beyond our walls
Future - preparing for the next era of leadership
The following served on the Interim Search Team and are available at any time to talk about the ministerial transition:
Maggie Clouet maggieclouet@yahoo.com
Eileen Ego 4.girls@sbcglobal.net
Rebecca Graebner rjgraebner@gmail.com
Linda Sargent lindaesar@gmail.com
Additional Resources/links from the UUA
Transitional Ministry Handbook
