As you, Dear Reader, can tell, the issue of lay pastoral leadership has gotten my attention recently, in part because it gets to the issue of “equipping the saints,” providing new options for new church leadership, and for the UUA to keep covenant with small congregations, whether they are rural Universalist and (quasi-)Christian, or suburban Unitarian and humanist.
Plus, I think the move towards a “professional” clerical class, rather than one “called and equipped” (whether or not that includes seminary and ordination) moves at cross purposes to the UUA’s stated goals and common sense.
That said, there are two study-generated reports, both by Adair T. Lummis and published by the Hartford Seminary and readable online I commend to you. These may also be downloaded, from a link within each of the below pages. Print a copy and send it to your district executive. (For those unfamiliar with “ecumencial-ese” read “UUA district” for “[middle or regional] judicatory”.) You might be impressed with the ideas.