Training
Leaders
Training
Leaders
In 2024
Grants provided by the UUA to ministers toward seminary debt
Average educational debt held by applicants for UUA debt reduction grant
Candidates seen by the Ministerial Fellowship Committee
Candidates granted preliminary Fellowship or contingency to complete degree/internship
/chaplaincy
Candidates assigned contingency (including return)
Ministers in Preliminary Fellowship who plugged into support sessions offered by UUA
New Minister (year-long) Seminar participants
Community Ministers who attended Community Ministers Retreat
UU Institute
The UU Institute is an online learning community offering trainings and other learning experiences that support members, leaders and professionals in Unitarian Universalist communities.
Financial Support for Ministers
This year, the UUA received a $1.3 million gift to create a new endowed scholarship fund and an endowed fund to support seminary debt relief.
Did You Know? Ministerial Credentialing
The Ministerial Fellowship Committee (MFC) stewards all phases of ministerial credentialing. Candidates for ministerial fellowship are interviewed by a panel of the Committee. After the interview, some candidates are granted fellowship to serve the movement as a Unitarian Universalist minister. The MFC also oversees renewals in early ministry (Preliminary Fellowship) and grants Full Fellowship to ministers after successful renewals. While the MFC is responsible for credentialing, only congregations have the authority to ordain a Unitarian Universalist minister.
In the past handful of years, the Ministerial Fellowship Committee has updated their requirements to achieve fellowship. Those changes include increased expectations around the level of anti-oppression work engaged in by candidates before coming to the MFC.
In 2024
- The Ministerial Fellowship Committee placed renewed importance on professional development in early ministry
- They added an 8th required competency in Theology
- The MFC moved from a set of required readings to the allowance of candidates’ own list of multimedia resources, with support from a sample list and enhanced descriptions of each competency
- The Ministerial Fellowship Committee continues to engage in the big, bold work of rethinking the approach to fellowshipping entirely. The MFC is following the charge of the Commission on Institutional Change to widen the pathway to fellowshipped ministry.