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Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
—Viktor E. Frankl
In the last Updates from the UWM Board, I said that we had begun the process of defining the job description for our permanent CEO/Executive Director and setting a timeline for the selection process and that there would be more on that in our next update. Now is that time, and there is much to share.
 During the Board meeting in May 2020, we began the discussion regarding the skills and knowledge needed for the permanent administrative head of UWM. A Board Task Team was established to take the input from our discussion, look into differences between executive leadership in for-profit and nonprofit organizations and develop a job description. As a result of this team’s work, we came to an understanding that what may be called for is two positions:
1. Executive Director - Someone who would have a finger on the pulse of the central office organization, someone who would have extensive and cross-discipline administrative skills and could create and maintain a good personal rapport with staff, and someone who would ensure a strong and supportive service connection with ministers and ministries. The Executive Director would report to the Board of Trustees and, based on the duties and responsibilities outlined in the job description developed by the Task Team, would require primarily an in-office presence.
2. Spiritual Leader - Someone who could hold the vision for Unity Worldwide Ministries, someone who would serve as the organization’s external spokesperson, someone who would be responsible for the evolution of a culture that fosters an affirming, healthy, values-centered environment, someone who would work with, and coordinates activities with, the Board of Trustees to create position statements on world conditions.
In our discussion, the Board and Task Team were clear that the Spiritual Leader would be a Unity minister. Both were also clear that, while the Executive Director need not be Unity minister, he/she must have a spiritual consciousness that supports our principles.
The Board agreed that the most urgent need is to fill the position of Executive Director. That job description has been approved by the Board and the hiring process will begin this week. The job description is posted on the UWM website and will be included in the next issue of The Path on June 25, 2020.
Timeline
The timeline for completing this process is as follows:
June 18 - Open position for applications
July 20 - Close applications
August 1 - Complete review and selection of top five candidates
August 20 - Complete interviews by interview teams and Board
September 1 - New Executive Director hired
September - Transition month
September 30 – Rev. Patricia Bass’s last day
The Task Team will continue to explore the options that have come forward regarding the position of Spiritual Leader and the process that might be used to fill that position, with the expectation of a formal recommendation to the Board for approval this fall.
 We are moving through amazing shifts—individually and collectively—that call us all to be willing to stay in the question, very often much longer than feels comfortable. These shifts call us all to a higher consciousness, opening to possibilities newly emerging in our world. Let’s give thanks for this awesome opportunity and hold each other in prayer as we step out with Divine audacity!
To close this update, I would like to share with you something written by Jay McDaniel and published in Prayers for a Thousand Years. I have been using this in my daily practice for a while now. I did change his word century to day. May you find these words helpful in these changing times. I know I do.
“In this [day,] and in any [day,]
Our deepest hope, our most tender prayer,
Is that we learn to listen.
May we listen to one another in openness and mercy
May we listen to plants and animals in wonder and respect
May we listen to our own hearts in love and forgiveness
May we listen to God in quietness and awe.
And in this listening,
Which is boundless in its beauty,
May we find the wisdom to cooperate
With a healing spirit, a divine spirit,
Who beckons us into peace and community and creativity.
We do not ask for a perfect world.
We do ask for a better world.
We ask for deep listening.”
Our Source is infinite. Love is our foundation. And so it is. And so we let it be.
Times of change are times of fearfulness and times of opportunity. Which they are to be for you depends on your attitude toward them.
— from The Great Physician by Ernest C. Wilson
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